{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 52021017NOA","title":"KUPARUK TRANSPORTATION CO — Notice of Amendment","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2021-06-22","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of amendment citing 195.446(a), 195.446(b)(5), 195.446(c)(5), 195.446(d)(1), 195.446(e)(5), 195.446(g)(1), 195.446(h), 195.446(h)(6).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52021017noa.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52021017noa.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52021017noa","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/52021017NOA","body":"Notice of Amendment involving KUPARUK TRANSPORTATION CO. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 195.446(a),  195.446(b)(5),  195.446(c)(5),  195.446(d)(1),  195.446(e)(5),  195.446(g)(1),  195.446(h),  195.446(h)(6). The case was opened on 2021-06-22 and is reported as closed as of 2022-04-11. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n52021017NOA_Closure Letter_04112022_(20-187751).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52021017NOA/52021017NOA_Closure%20Letter_04112022_(20-187751).pdf\n\n52021017NOA_Closure Letter_04112022_(20-187751)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52021017NOA/52021017NOA_Closure%20Letter_04112022_(20-187751)_text.pdf\n\n52021017NOA_Notice of Amendment_06222021_ (20-187751).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52021017NOA/52021017NOA_Notice%20of%20Amendment_06222021_%20(20-187751).pdf\n\n52021017NOA_Notice of Amendment_06222021_ (20-187751)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52021017NOA/52021017NOA_Notice%20of%20Amendment_06222021_%20(20-187751)_text.pdf\n\n52021017NOA_Operator Response to Notice (REDACTED)_07222021_(20-187751).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52021017NOA/52021017NOA_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice%20(REDACTED)_07222021_(20-187751).pdf\n\n52021017NOA_Operator Response to Notice_02212022_(20-187751).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52021017NOA/52021017NOA_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_02212022_(20-187751).pdf\n\n52021017NOA_Closure Letter_04112022_(20-187751)_text.pdf\n\nVIA E-MAIL TO MR. BEN STEVENS\nApril 11, 2022\nMr. Ben Stevens\nPresident\nKuparuk Transportation Company\nP.O. Box 100360\nAnchorage, AK 99501\nCPF 5-2021-017-NOA\nClosure Letter\nDear Mr. Stevens:\nFrom August 31 through September 4, 2020, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration (PHMSA), pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code (U.S.C.), performed\na virtual inspection of Kuparuk Transportation Company’s (Kuparuk) procedures for pipeline control\nroom operations for the two control rooms (Alpine and Kuparuk) located in the North Slope Borough,\nAlaska. As a result of the inspection, Kuparuk was issued a Notice of Amendment on June 22, 2021,\nwhich proposed amendment of your procedures.\nKuparuk submitted its amended procedures on July 22, 2021. My staff reviewed the amended\nprocedures, and sent Kuparuk a response on December 29, 2021 stating that amendments proposed in\nresponse to Item 4 did not meet the intent of the NOA or §195.446(d)(1). On February 21, 2022,\nKuparuk submitted additional amendments to address Item 4; the amended procedures are adequate.\nThis letter is to inform you no further action is necessary and this case is now closed. Thank you for your\ncooperation.\nSincerely,\nDustin Hubbard\nDirector, Western Region\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\ncc: PHP-60 Compliance Registry\nPHP-500 J. Dunphy (#20-187751)\nMr. Erec Isaacson, President, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc.,\nerec.s.isaacson@conocophillips.com\n\n52021017NOA_Notice of Amendment_06222021_ (20-187751)_text.pdf\n\nNOTICE OF AMENDMENT\nVIA E-MAIL TO MR. BEN STEVENS\nJune 22, 2021\nMr. Ben Stevens\nPresident\nKuparuk Transportation Company\nP.O. Box 100360\nAnchorage, AK 99501\nCPF 5-2021-017-NOA\nDear Mr. Stevens:\nFrom August 31 through September 4, 2020, representatives of the Pipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety Administration (PHMSA), pursuant to Chapter 601 of 49 United States Code\n(U.S.C.), performed a virtual inspection of Kuparuk Transportation Company’s (Kuparuk)\nprocedures for pipeline control room operations for the two control rooms (Alpine and Kuparuk)\nlocated in the North Slope Borough, Alaska.\nOn the basis of the inspection, PHMSA has identified the apparent inadequacies found within\nKuparuk’s plans or procedures, as described below:\n1. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) General. This section applies to each operator of a pipeline facility with a\ncontroller working in a control room who monitors and controls all or part of a\npipeline facility through a SCADA system. Each operator must have and follow\nwritten control room management procedures that implement the requirements of\nthis section. The procedures required by this section must be integrated, as\n\n\n\nappropriate, with the operator’s written procedures required by § 195.402. An\noperator must develop the procedures no later than August 1, 2011, and must\nimplement the procedures according to the following schedule. The procedures\nrequired by paragraphs (b), (c)(5), (d)(2) and (d)(3), (f) and (g) of this section\nmust be implemented no later than October 1, 2011. The procedures required by\nparagraphs (c)(1) through (4), (d)(1), (d)(4), and (e) must be implemented no later\nthan August 1, 2012. The training procedures required by paragraph (h) must be\nimplemented no later than August 1, 2012, except that any training required by\nanother paragraph of this section must be implemented no later than the deadline\nfor that paragraph.\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-5404 Controller Roles and Responsibilities, defines a\nControl room. The definition of “controller” reads: “A qualified individual who remotely\nmonitors and controls the safety related operations of a pipeline facility via a Supervisory\nControl and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system from a control room; and who has operational\nauthority and accountability for the remote operational functions of the pipeline facility.” The\ndefinition does not indicate instances where the controller is controlling part of a pipeline facility\nthrough a non-SCADA means of control.\n2. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a)\n(b) Roles and responsibilities. Each operator must define the roles and\nresponsibilities of a controller during normal, abnormal, and emergency operating\nconditions. To provide for a controller’s prompt and appropriate response to\noperating conditions, an operator must define each of the following:\n(5) The roles, responsibilities and qualifications of others who have the authority to\ndirect or supersede the specific technical actions of controllers.\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-5405, does not define the roles, responsibilities, and\nqualifications of others who have authority to direct or supersede the specific technical actions of\ncontrollers, and under what circumstances that authority may be exercised. Further, the\nprocedure does not state that others are prohibited from having the \"authority to direct or\nsupersede the specific technical actions of controllers.\"\n3. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(c) Provide adequate information. Each operator must provide its controllers with\nthe information, tools, processes and procedures necessary for the controllers to\ncarry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has defined by performing each\nof the following:\n(5) Implement section 5 of API RP 1168 (incorporated by reference, see § 195.3) to\nestablish procedures for when a different controller assumes responsibility,\nincluding the content of information to be exchanged.\n2\n\n\n\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-5407, Controller Shift Management, fails to provide\nadequate clarity on what information is required to be exchanged when a different controller\nassumes responsibility.\n4. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(d) Fatigue mitigation. Each operator must implement the following methods to\nreduce the risk associated with controller fatigue that could inhibit a controller's\nability to carry out the roles and responsibilities the operator has defined:\n(1) Establish shift lengths and schedule rotations that provide controllers off-duty\ntime sufficient to achieve eight hours of continuous sleep;\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-5407, Controller Shift Management, does not address\nmethods to mitigate travel fatigue associated with controllers commuting long distances for their\nfirst controller shift at the duty station. During the inspection operator staff stated some\ncontrollers commute from their homes in the lower-48 states.\n5. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(e) Alarm management. Each operator using a SCADA system must have a written\nalarm management plan to provide for effective controller response to alarms. An\noperator’s plan must include provisions to:\n(5) Monitor the content and volume of general activity being directed to and\nrequired of each controller at least once each calendar year, but at intervals not\nexceeding 15 months, that will assure controllers have sufficient time to analyze and\nreact to incoming alarms;\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-4906 SCADA and Alarm Management, does not\nprovide a method to quantify the amount of general activity a controller is responsible for\nmanaging during a shift. Kuparuk seems to have defined total workload to be the number of\nalarms received on a shift. Kuparuk discusses the workload qualitatively, but does not address\nquantity of general activity or provide a benchmark to measure against.\n6. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(g) Operating experience. Each operator must assure that lessons learned from its\noperating experience are incorporated, as appropriate, into its control room\nmanagement procedures by performing each of the following:\n(1) Review accidents that must be reported pursuant to § 195.50 and 195.52 to\ndetermine if control room actions contributed to the event and, if so, correct, where\nnecessary, deficiencies related to:\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-5407 Controller Shift Management, does not include a\n3\n\n\n\nrequirement for determining whether controller fatigue contributed to an accident/incident, and\ndoes not direct the reader to NSPL-0000-5120 Incident Investigation.\n7. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(h) Training. Each operator must establish a controller training program and review\nthe training program content to identify potential improvements at least once each\ncalendar year, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months. An operator's program\nmust provide for training each controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities\ndefined by the operator. In addition, the training program must include the\nfollowing elements:\nKuparuk document, titled NSPL-0000-PL-5404, does not have adequate details on the elements\nof training for its controllers, and instead refers to the Operator Qualification program procedure\nNSPL-0000-PL-5403. Procedure NSPL-0000-5403 does not detail the requirements for an\nemployee to become a qualified controller.\nAdditionally, NSPL-0000-PL-5404 does not provide a method detailing how to conduct the\nannual review of the controller training program.\n8. § 195.446 Control room management.\n(a) …\n(h) Training. Each operator must establish a controller training program and review\nthe training program content to identify potential improvements at least once each\ncalendar year, but at intervals not to exceed 15 months. An operator's program\nmust provide for training each controller to carry out the roles and responsibilities\ndefined by the operator. In addition, the training program must include the\nfollowing elements:\n(6) Control room team training and exercises that include both controllers and other\nindividuals, defined by the operator, who would reasonably be expected to\noperationally collaborate with controllers (control room personnel) during normal,\nabnormal or emergency situations. Operators must comply with the team training\nrequirements under this paragraph no later than January 23, 2018.\nKuparuk’s Training Program neither discusses nor describes the team members or employees\nidentified to take team training.\nAdditionally, the Team Training section of the Training Program does not incorporate \"lessons\nlearned from actual historical events and other oil-gas industry events\".\n4\n\n\n\nResponse to this Notice\nThis Notice is provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60108(a) and 49 C.F.R. § 190.206. Enclosed as\npart of this Notice is a document entitled Response Options for Pipeline Operators in\nCompliance Proceedings.\nPlease refer to this document and note the response options. Be advised that all material you\nsubmit in response to this enforcement action is subject to being made publicly available. If you\nbelieve that any portion of your responsive material qualifies for confidential treatment under 5\nU.S.C. 552(b), along with the complete original document you must provide a second copy of\nthe document with the portions you believe qualify for confidential treatment redacted and an\nexplanation of why you believe the redacted information qualifies for confidential treatment\nunder 5 U.S.C. 552(b).\nFollowing the receipt of this Notice, you have 30 days to submit written comments, revised\nprocedures, or a request for a hearing under § 190.211. If you do not respond within 30 days of\nreceipt of this Notice, this constitutes a waiver of your right to contest the allegations in this\nNotice and authorizes the Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety to find facts as alleged in\nthis Notice without further notice to you and to issue an Order Directing Amendment. If your\nplans or procedures are found inadequate as alleged in this Notice, you may be ordered to amend\nyour plans or procedures to correct the inadequacies (49 C.F.R. § 190.206). If you are not\ncontesting this Notice, we propose that you submit your amended procedures to my office within\n60 days of receipt of this Notice. This period may be extended by written request for good\ncause. Once the inadequacies identified herein have been addressed in your amended\nprocedures, this enforcement action will be closed.\nIt is requested (not mandated) that Kuparuk Transportation Company maintain documentation of\nthe safety improvement costs associated with fulfilling this Notice of Amendment\n(preparation/revision of plans, procedures) and submit the total to Dustin Hubbard, Director,\nWestern Region, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In correspondence\nconcerning this matter, please refer to CPF 5-2021-017-NOA and, for each document you\nsubmit, please provide a copy in electronic format whenever possible.\nSincerely,\nDustin Hubbard\nDirector, Western Region, Office of Pipeline Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nEnclosure: Response Options for Pipeline Operators in Compliance Proceedings\ncc: PHP-60 Compliance Registry\nPHP-500 J. Dunphy (#20-187751)\nMr. Erec Isaacson, President, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc.,\nerec.s.isaacson@conocophillips.com\n5","truncated":false,"body_characters":14588}