{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 520131008W","title":"DOMINION ENERGY QUESTAR PIPELINE, LLC — Warning Letter","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2013-07-25","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED warning letter citing 192.616(b), 192.616(c), 192.616(c)(i), 192.616(f), 192.616(g).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520131008w.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520131008w.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-520131008w","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/520131008W","body":"Warning Letter involving DOMINION ENERGY QUESTAR PIPELINE, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.616(b),  192.616(c),  192.616(c)(i),  192.616(f),  192.616(g). The case was opened on 2013-07-25 and is reported as closed as of 2013-07-25. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n520131008W_Warning Letter_07252013.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520131008W/520131008W_Warning%20Letter_07252013.pdf\n\n520131008W_Warning Letter_07252013_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/520131008W/520131008W_Warning%20Letter_07252013_text.pdf\n\n520131008W_Warning Letter_07252013_text.pdf\n\nWARNING LETTER\nCERTIFIED MAIL - RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED\nJuly 25, 2013\nMr. Alan Bradley\nPresident\nQuestar Pipeline Company\n333 South State Street\nSalt Lake City, UT 84111-2302\nCPF 5-2013-1008W\nDear Mr. Bradley:\nOn November 28-29, 2012, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA), the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Idaho Public Utilities\nCommission, the Utah Department of Commerce, and the Wyoming Public Service Commission\npursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code, inspected Questar Pipeline Company’s and\nQuestar Gas Company’s (Questar) procedures for its Public Awareness Program required under\n49 C.F.R. §192.616. Total combined pipeline mileage for these pipeline systems is 114,552\nmiles.\nAs a result of the inspection, it appears that Questar has committed probable violations of the\nPipeline Safety Regulations, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations. The items inspected and the\nprobable violations are:\n1. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(b) The operator's program must follow the general program recommendations of\nAPI RP 1162 and assess the unique attributes and characteristics of the operator's\npipeline and facilities. Per API RP 1162 Section 2.7 and Section 4 the\ncommunications should include enough information so that in the event of a pipeline\nemergency, the intended audience will know how to identify a potential hazard,\nprotect themselves, notify emergency response personnel, and notify the pipeline\noperator.\n\n\n\nQuestar has not provided key emergency response information, specifically outreach\ncommunications, to the stakeholders near storage facilities and critical valves. Questar’s Public\nAwareness Program (PAP) lists all of the operator’s gas and storage fields but does not\ncommunicate relevant safety information concerning gas and storage fields to the potentially\naffected residents. Furthermore, references to the unique attributes and characteristics of these\nfacilities were not provided in Questar’s Public Awareness Plans.\n2. § 192.616 Public Awareness\n(f) The program and the media used must be as comprehensive as necessary to\nreach all areas in which the operator transports gas. Per API RP 1162 Section 2.2,\nSection 3 and Appendix B.1.1 For the sub-groups Residents located along\ntransmission pipeline ROW and Places of Congregation, it is recommended that\ntransmission pipeline operators provide communications within a minimum\ncoverage area distance of 660 feet on each side of the pipeline, or as much as 1000\nfeet in some cases. The transmission pipeline operator should tailor its\ncommunications coverage area (buffer) to fit its particular pipeline, location, and\npotential impact consequences.\nThe distances for its communication coverage areas were not calculated or verified by Questar.\nQuestar listed minimum communication distances per API 1162 recommendations without\nverifying that 660 feet is adequate. Questar needs to document a method to confirm their\ndistances are adequate to cover potentially impacted parties.\n3. § 192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety.\n(i) The operator's program documentation and evaluation results must be available\nfor periodic review by appropriate regulatory agencies.\nPer API RP 1162 Section 8, 8.1 A secondary purpose for Public Awareness Program\nevaluation is to demonstrate to company management and regulators, for pipelines\nsubject to federal or state pipeline safety jurisdiction, the status and validity of the\noperator’s Public Awareness Programs.\nQuestar did not have procedures or document how they determine a statistical sample size and\nmargin-of-error for performing Public Awareness Program Effectiveness Evaluations (PAPEEs)\nwhen using stakeholder surveys. Questar PAP, Part 5.4.8, also did not specify that the reviews\nwould be performed annually. In addition, Questar did not have written documentation that the\nrequired effectiveness evaluations would be conducted on a set periodic cycle.\n4. § 192.616 Public Awareness\n(g) The program must be conducted in English and in other languages commonly\nunderstood by a significant number and concentration of the non-English speaking\npopulation in the operator's area. Per API 1162 Section 2.3.1 Regulations require\npipeline operators to establish continuing education programs to enable the public,\n2\n\n\n\nappropriate government organizations, and persons engaged in excavation-related\nactivities to recognize a pipeline emergency and to report it to the operator and/or\nthe fire, police, or other appropriate public officials. The programs are to be\nprovided in both English and in other languages commonly used by a significant\nconcentration of non-English speaking population along the pipeline.\nQuestar or their contractor, Paradigm, did not document their process for determining whether\nthere was a significant Spanish speaking population along the pipeline. In addition, Questar’s\nPAPs did not specify how Questar determines whether there are other areas along the ROW\nwhere non-English was the primary spoken language.\n5. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 4.4 Communicating periodically\nwith local emergency officials is an important aspect of all Public Awareness\nPrograms. Operators should provide a summary of emergency preparedness\ninformation to local public officials and should indicate that detailed information\nhas been provided to emergency response agencies in their jurisdictions.\nIn Section 3, Questar did not have a procedure stating how they follow up with Emergency\nResponders that do not attend their Paradigm/PAPA Emergency Responder meetings. Questar\ndid not have any documentation verifying that the Emergency Responders have adequate and\nproper resources to respond to a pipeline emergency. Questar did not document how\ninformation was provided to those emergency responders that did not attend the operator’s\ntraining and information sessions.\n6. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 8.3\n(i) The operator's program documentation and evaluation results must be available\nfor periodic review by appropriate regulatory agencies. Per API RP 1162 Section\n8.3 The operator should complete an annual audit or review of whether the program\nhas been developed and implemented according to the guidelines in this RP. The\npurpose of the audit is to answer the following two questions:\nHas the Public Awareness Program been developed and written to address the\nobjectives, elements and baseline schedule as described Section 2 and the remainder\nof this Recommended Practice? Has the Public Awareness Program been\nimplemented and documented according to the written program?\n3\n\n\n\nQuestar did not document the occurrence of annual reviews between 2007 thru 2011. Questar\ndeveloped a form for recording annual reviews but it appears they performed only one annual\nreview on 10/31/2012. Even though Questar worked with Paradigm and PAPA to acquire public\nawareness review data, Questar did not have specific annual review documentation. Questar now\nhas a process to ensure annual reviews and Public Awareness Programs (PAPs) changes are\nmade and documented. Regardless, Questar did not document these changes in their written\nPAPs from 2006 to 2011.\n7. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 8.4.1 This is a basic measurement\nindicating whether the operator’s public awareness messages are getting to the\nintended stakeholders. A baseline evaluation program should establish a\nmethodology to track the number of individuals or entities reached within an\nintended audience (e.g., households, excavating companies, local government, and\nlocal first responder agencies). Additionally, this measure should estimate the\npercentage of the stakeholders actually reached within the target geographic region\nalong the pipeline. This measurement will help to evaluate the effectiveness of the\ndelivery methods used.\nParadigm determined the statistical size and margin of error per Section 1.06 of Questar’s\nPAPs. However, Questar did not document this in their procedures in Section 1.06 of their\nPAPs.\n8. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 8.4.2 This measure would assess\nthe percentage of the intended stakeholder audience that understood and retained\nthe key information in the message received. This measurement will help to\nevaluate the effectiveness of the delivery media and the message style and content.\nThis measurement will also help to assess the effectiveness of the delivery methods\nused.\nQuestar did not provide a process for verifying they assessed the percentage of intended\nstakeholder audience that understood and retained the key information provided. Questar also\ndid not have a process or document how they are going to pretest the delivery media message and\ncontent.\n4\n\n\n\n9. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 8.4.3 This measure is aimed at\ndetermining whether appropriate prevention behaviors have been learned and is\ntaking place when needed and whether appropriate response or mitigation\nbehaviors would occur and have taken place. This is a measure of learned and, if\napplicable, actual reported behavior.\nQuestar did not specify how they determined whether appropriate prevention behaviors have\nbeen learned and are taking place when needed.\n10. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 8.4.4 One measure of the bottom-\nline results is the damage prevention effectiveness of an operator’s Public\nAwareness Program and the change in the number and consequences of third-party\nincidents. As a baseline, the operator should track the number of incidents and\nconsequences caused by third party excavators. This should include reported near\nmisses; reported pipeline damage occurrences that did not result in a release; and\nthird-party excavation damage events that resulted in pipeline failures. The\ntracking of leaks caused by third-party excavation damage should be compared to\nstatistics of pipelines in the same sector (e.g. gathering, transmission, local\ndistribution). While third-party excavation damage is a major cause of pipeline\nincidents, data regarding such incidents should be evaluated over a relatively long\nperiod of time to determine any meaningful trends relative to the operator’s Public\nAwareness Program. This is due to the low frequency of such incidents on a specific\npipeline system. The operator should also look for other types of bottom-line\nmeasures. One other measure that operators may consider is the affected public’s\nperception of the safety of pipelines.\nQuestar Gas uses a customer satisfaction survey and bounce back cards. Questar did not\nspecify that they use a customer satisfaction survey and bounce back cards in their written\nPublic Awareness plans.\n11. §192.616 Public Awareness\n(c) The operator must follow the general program recommendations, including\nbaseline and supplemental requirements of API RP 1162, unless the operator\nprovides justification in its program or procedural manual as to why compliance\nwith all or certain provisions of the recommended practice is not practicable and\nnot necessary for safety. Per API RP 1162 Section 2.7 Step 12 and 8.5 SUMMARY\n5\n\n\n\nOF BASELINE EVALUATION PROGRAM Table 8-1—Summary of Baseline\nEvaluation Program. The results of the evaluation need to be considered and\nrevisions/updates made in the public awareness program plan, implementation,\nmaterials, frequency and/or messages.\nQuestar did not have a written Public Awareness evaluation that was based on a four (4)\nyear cycle. Also, they could not document that one was performed. Furthermore, Questar\ndid not have a process for making changes in their Public Awareness plans.\nUnder 49 United States Code, § 60122, you are subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $200,000\nfor each violation for each day the violation persists up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for any\nrelated series of violations. We have reviewed the circumstances and supporting documents\ninvolved in this case, and have decided not to conduct additional enforcement action or penalty\nassessment proceedings at this time. We advise you to correct the items identified in this letter.\nFailure to do so will result in Questar Gas Company and/or Questar Pipeline Company being\nsubject to additional enforcement action.\nNo reply to this letter is required. If you choose to reply, please send all documents to our office\nat 12300 West Dakota Avenue, Suite 110, Lakewood, CO 80228, and in your correspondence\nplease refer to CPF 5-2013-1008W. Be advised that all material you submit in response to this\nenforcement action is subject to being made publicly available. If you believe that any portion of\nyour responsive material qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b), along with\nthe complete original document you must provide a second copy of the document with the\nportions you believe qualify for confidential treatment redacted and an explanation of why you\nbelieve the redacted information qualifies for confidential treatment under 5 U.S.C. 552(b).\nSincerely,\nChris Hoidal\nDirector, Western Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\ncc: PHP-60 Compliance Registry\nPHP-500 T. Finch (#141036)\nQuestar - Mr. Craig Wagstaff\nArizona Corporation Commission - Robert Miller and Ryan Weight\nIdaho Public Utilities Commission – Ellis Hire\nUtah Department of Commerce – Al Zadeh\nWyoming Public Service Commission – David Piroutek\n6","truncated":false,"body_characters":16462}