{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 42021047NOPV","title":"ENABLE GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2021-10-21","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.619(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42021047nopv.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42021047nopv.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-42021047nopv","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/42021047NOPV","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving ENABLE GAS TRANSMISSION, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulation as 192.619(a). The case was opened on 2021-10-21 and is reported as closed as of 2024-10-04. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n42021047NOPV_Closure Letter_10042024_(21-202129).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_Closure%20Letter_10042024_(21-202129).pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_Closure Letter_10042024_(21-202129)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_Closure%20Letter_10042024_(21-202129)_text.pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_Final Order_03312022_(21-202129).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_Final%20Order_03312022_(21-202129).pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_Final Order_03312022_(21-202129)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_Final%20Order_03312022_(21-202129)_text.pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_Operator Response to Notice_11122021_(21-202129).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_11122021_(21-202129).pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_PCO_10212021_(21-202129).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_PCO_10212021_(21-202129).pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_PCO_10212021_(21-202129)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42021047NOPV/42021047NOPV_PCO_10212021_(21-202129)_text.pdf\n\n42021047NOPV_Closure Letter_10042024_(21-202129)_text.pdf\n\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: tom.long@energytransfer.com\nOctober 4, 2024\nThomas Long\nChief Executive Officer\nEnergy Transfer, LP\n8111 Westchester Drive\nDallas, Texas 75225\nCPF 4-2021-047-NOPV\nDear Mr. Long:\nOn March 31, 2022, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)\nissued to Enable Gas Transmission, LLC (Enable) a Final Order in the above-referenced case.\nThis Order included a Compliance Order. Enable has been acquired by Energy Transfer\nCompany (ETC). Based on our review of the documentation provided by ETC, it has been\ndetermined that ETC has complied with the terms of this Order.\nAccordingly, this case is now closed, and no further action is contemplated with respect to the\nmatters involved in this case. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nBryan Lethcoe\nDirector, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\ncc: Greg McIlwain, Executive Vice President, Operations, Energy Transfer LP,\ngreg.mcilwain@energytransfer.com\nEric Amundsen, Senior Vice President, Operations, Energy Transfer LP,\nEric.Amundsen@energytransfer.com\nTodd Stamm, Senior Vice President, Operations, Energy Transfer LP,\ntodd.stamm@energytransfer.com\nJennifer Street, Senior Vice President, Operations Services, Energy Transfer LP,\njennifer.street@energytransfer.com\n\n\n\nKeegan Pieper, Assistant General Counsel, Energy Transfer LP,\nkeegan.pieper@energytransfer.com\nMatthew Stork, Vice President, Technical Services, Energy Transfer LP,\nmatthew.stork@energytransfer.com\nTodd Nardozzi, Director – DOT Compliance, Energy Transfer LP,\ntodd.nardozzi@energytransfer.com\nSusie Sjulin, Director – DOT Compliance, Energy Transfer LP,\nsusie.sjulin@energytransfer.com\n\n42021047NOPV_Final Order_03312022_(21-202129)_text.pdf\n\nMarch 31, 2022\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: rod.sailor@enablemidstream.com\nMr. Rodney J. Sailor\nPresident and Chief Executive Officer\nEnable Gas Transmission, LLC\n499 West Sheridan, Suite 1500\nOklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102\nRe: CPF No. 4-2021-047-NOPV\nDear Mr. Sailor:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and specifies actions that need to be taken by Enable Gas Transmission, LLC, to\ncomply with the pipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been\ncompleted, as determined by the Director, Southwest Region, this enforcement action will be\nclosed. Service of the Final Order by e-mail is effective upon the date of transmission and\nacknowledgment of receipt as provided under 49 C.F.R. § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nAlan K. Mayberry\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Ms. Mary McDaniel, Director, Southwest Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. Cary Watson, Vice President, Safety, Environmental, and Technical Programs,\nEnable Midstream Partners, cary.watson@enablemidstream.com\nMr. Jimmy Cross, Senior Manager, Regulatory Compliance, Enable Midstream Partners,\njimmy.cross@enablemidstream.com\nCONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT REQUESTED\n\n\n\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20590\n_____________________________________________\nIn the Matter of )\nEnable Gas Transmission, LLC, ) CPF No. 4-2021-047-NOPV\na subsidiary of Enable Midstream Partners, LP, )\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n_____________________________________________)\nFrom December 21, 2020, through March 2, 2021, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117,\nrepresentatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office\nof Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted an investigation of the operations and maintenance records\nand procedures of Enable Gas Transmission, LLC (Enable or Respondent), a subsidiary of\nEnable Midstream Partners, LP, following the report of a natural gas release on Enable’s 16-inch\nLine A-South in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Respondent, along with Enable Mississippi River\nTransmission, LLC, another subsidiary of Enable Midstream Partners, LP, operates\napproximately 7,900 miles of interstate pipelines located in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas,\nLouisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as six storage facilities.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Southwest Region, OPS (Director), issued to\nRespondent, by letter dated October 21, 2021, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed\nCompliance Order (Notice). In accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed\nfinding that Enable violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.619(a) and proposed ordering Respondent to take\ncertain measures to correct the alleged violation.\nEnable Midstream Partners, LP, on behalf of Respondent, responded to the Notice by letter dated\nNovember 12, 2021 (Response). Enable contested the allegation, offered additional information\nin response to the Notice, and requested that the proposed compliance order be eliminated.\nRespondent did not request a hearing, but stated that it was submitting written comments\n“[w]ithout waiving its right to request a hearing.”\nPursuant to § 190.208, within 30 days of receipt of a notice of probable violation, a respondent\nmust answer the Director in one of several ways. When a notice of probable violation contains a\nproposed compliance order, if the respondent is contesting the allegation of probable violation or\nFINAL ORDER\n1 Welcome to the Enable Gas Transmission, LLC (EGT) Website, http://pipelines.enablemidstream.com/EGT html\n(last accessed January 18, 2022).\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2021-047-NOPV\nPage 2\ncompliance terms, but is not requesting a hearing under § 190.211, the respondent may object to\nthe proposed compliance order and submit written explanations, information, or other materials\nin answer to the allegations in the notice. Alternatively, the respondent may request a hearing\nunder § 190.211. On March 4, 2022, PHMSA contacted Respondent, seeking clarification as to\nwhether they requested a hearing.2 PHMSA contacted Respondent a second time regarding this\nmatter on March 7, 2022.3 On March 8, 2022, Respondent replied: “we did not want to waive\nour right to a hearing, but we were first seeking further clarification of the NOPV/PCO because\nof the confusion associated with the way it was drafted and claims made.”4 As PHMSA has\npreviously stated, where an operator does not request a hearing in accordance with §§ 190.208\nand 190.211, a respondent “may not indefinitely reserve its right to a hearing.”5 On March 10,\n2022, PHMSA reiterated this long-standing position to Respondent, and informed Respondent it\nwould treat its Response as a written response contesting the NOPV, noting the company had not\nexplicitly requested a hearing under § 190.211. Since Respondent did not request a hearing as\nset forth in §190.208(b)(4), I find Respondent has waived its right to one.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. Part 192, as follows:\nItem 1: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.619(a), which states, in\nrelevant part:\n§ 192.619 Maximum allowable operating pressure: steel or plastic\npipelines.\n(a) No person may operate a segment of steel or plastic pipeline at a\npressure that exceeds a maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP)\ndetermined under paragraph (c), (d), or (e) of this section, or the lowest of\nthe following.…\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.619(a) by failing to establish an\nMAOP for its 16-inch Line A-South pipeline. Specifically, the Notice alleged that Enable was\nunable to provide records demonstrating the establishment of the MAOP for its pipeline.\nIn its Response, Respondent argued that the records it provided to PHMSA meet the\n2 Email from PHMSA Attorney Advisory to Respondent Sr. Manager, Regulatory Compliance (March 4, 2022) (on\nfile with PHMSA).\n3 Email from PHMSA Attorney Advisory to Respondent Sr. Manager, Regulatory Compliance (March 7, 2022) (on\nfile with PHMSA).\n4 Email from Respondent Sr. Manager, Regulatory Compliance to PHMSA Attorney Advisory (March 8, 2022) (on\nfile with PHMSA).\n5 Explorer Pipeline Co., Order Directing Amendment, CPF No. 4-2002-5005-M, 2003 WL 25429894 (Dec. 17,\n2003).\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2021-047-NOPV\nPage 3\nrequirements of § 192.619(a). In particular, Respondent noted that it had established its MAOP\naccordance with § 192.619(a)(4) using industry and agency guidance. Respondent stated that it\nhad provided copies of that guidance, including INGAA Fitness for Service bulletins and a 2013\ndraft PHMSA integrity verification process flowchart, to the PHMSA inspectors. Respondent\nacknowledged these materials were originally produced to assist operators that did not have\nadequate records for MAOP, but that such efforts have since been superseded by PHMSA\nregulation § 192.624, which was adopted in 2019. Respondent also noted § 192.624 does not\nactually apply to its pipeline, so Respondent continues to rely on the guidance documents to\nestablish an MAOP. Respondent further argued that the PHMSA inspection focused only on the\nfailure location and that PHMSA never requested records for the entire A-South pipeline.\nSection 192.619 states that no person may operate a segment of steel or plastic pipeline that\nexceeds an MAOP determined under paragraph (c), (d), or (e), or the lowest of the conditions\nestablished by paragraph (a), subparagraphs (1) through (4). Respondent asserted that it had\nestablished its MAOP pursuant to paragraph (a)(4), but § 192.619 requires that Respondent\ndemonstrate such pressure is “the lowest” of all four calculations that would otherwise be\nestablished by paragraph (a), subparagraphs (1) through (4). Respondent did not produce\npressure test records, logs, highest actual operating pressure data, material records, or supporting\ncalculations to substantiate that it had appropriately established the MAOP for its 16-inch Line\nA-South in accordance with § 192.619(a). With regard to the industry and agency guidance that\nRespondent referenced, by its own admission those materials were intended for purposes that\nwere superseded by PHMSA’s adoption of § 192.624, a regulation that is not applicable to\nRespondent’s pipeline. Moreover, such guidance documents, whether draft or final, and whether\npublished by PHMSA or another entity, are not regulations and do not take the place of or act as\na substitute for the requirements of §192.619(a).\nFinally, Enable contended that various state and PHMSA inspectors in the past found its records\nadequate, and that Enable is unclear how PHMSA determined that the MAOP for the entire 22.3\nmiles of Line A-South is not supported by adequate records. With respect to the first argument,\nthe occurrence of prior inspections that did not result in a citation of § 192.619 does not rebut the\nallegation of violation. It is well established that the absence of a citation from a prior inspection\ndoes not guarantee a future inspection will not identify a violation.6 Moreover, prior inspections\ndo not relieve an operator from its ongoing obligation to maintain and provide documentation of\ncompliance for subsequent periodic inspection or verification. Regarding the determination that\nthe MAOP for the entire 22.3 miles of Line A-South is not adequately supported, PHMSA made\nmultiple requests for documentation substantiating the MAOP for the entire Line A-South\npipeline.7 Respondent failed to provide such records in response to those requests. In addition,\nRespondent had ample opportunity to submit such records for the entire Line A-South pipeline in\nresponse to the Notice, but failed to do so.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.619(a) by failing to establish a MAOP for its 16-inch Line A-South pipeline.\n6 National Fuel Gas Supply Corp., Final Order, CPF No. 1-2016-1005, 2019 WL 6840337, at *4 (Apr. 18, 2019).\n7 PHMSA representatives requested MAOP records via email on February 4 and February 10, 2021, and verbally\nduring the virtual meeting with Enable held on April 20, 2021.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2021-047-NOPV\nPage 4\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Item 1 for violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.619(a). Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the transportation of gas\nor who owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the applicable safety\nstandards established under chapter 601.\nWith regard to the violation of § 192.619(a) (Item 1), Respondent argued the compliance terms\nshould be withdrawn because Respondent complied with the regulation. For the reasons\ndiscussed above, I found that Enable violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.619(a) by failing to establish an\nMAOP for its 16-inch Line A-South pipeline. Consequently, the Compliance Order is not\nwithdrawn.\nPursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.217, Respondent is\nordered to take the following actions to ensure compliance with the pipeline safety regulations\napplicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of § 192.619(a) (Item 1), Respondent must establish\nan MAOP for Line A-South in accordance with 49 CFR § 192.619(a). Enable must\nsubmit its proposed plan for establishing the MAOP on Line A-South prior to\nexecution for PHMSA’s review and approval within 30 days of the issuance of the\nFinal Order. Additionally, Respondent must establish the MAOP and submit\ncorresponding documentation to PHMSA within 180 days of the issuance of the Final\nOrder.\nThe Director may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a\nwritten request timely submitted by the Respondent and demonstrating good cause for an\nextension.\nPHMSA requests that Respondent maintain documentation of the safety improvement costs\nassociated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to the Director. It is\nrequested that these costs be reported in two categories: (1) total cost associated with\npreparation/revision of plans, procedures, studies and analyses; and (2) total cost associated with\nreplacements, additions and other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in the administrative assessment of civil penalties\nnot to exceed $200,000, as adjusted for inflation (see 49 C.F.R. § 190.223), for each violation for\neach day the violation continues or in referral to the Attorney General for appropriate relief in a\ndistrict court of the United States.\n\n\n\nCPF No. 4-2021-047-NOPV\nPage 5\nUnder 49 C.F.R. § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final\nOrder to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New Jersey\nAvenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590, with a copy sent to the Office of\nChief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address, no later than 20 days after receipt of this Final\nOrder by Respondent. Any petition submitted must contain a statement of the issue(s) and meet\nall other requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 190.243. The terms of the order, including corrective\naction, remain in effect unless the Associate Administrator, upon request, grants a stay.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nMarch 31, 2022\n___________________________________ __________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":17148}