{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 52023008NOPV","title":"HARVEST ALASKA, LLC — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"historical","official":true,"published_on":"2023-07-05","effective_on":null,"summary":"CLOSED notice of probable violation citing 192.605(c)(1)(iii), 192.805(b).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52023008nopv.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52023008nopv.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52023008nopv","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/52023008NOPV","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving HARVEST ALASKA, LLC. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 192.605(c)(1)(iii),  192.805(b). The case was opened on 2023-07-05 and is reported as closed as of 2024-01-02. Proposed civil penalty: $33,500. Assessed civil penalty: $0. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n52023008NOPV_Final Order_01022024_(22-243713).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52023008NOPV/52023008NOPV_Final%20Order_01022024_(22-243713).pdf\n\n52023008NOPV_Final Order_01022024_(22-243713)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52023008NOPV/52023008NOPV_Final%20Order_01022024_(22-243713)_text.pdf\n\n52023008NOPV_Operator Response to Notice_08022023_(22-243713).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52023008NOPV/52023008NOPV_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_08022023_(22-243713).pdf\n\n52023008NOPV_PCP_07052023_(22-243713).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52023008NOPV/52023008NOPV_PCP_07052023_(22-243713).pdf\n\n52023008NOPV_PCP_07052023_(22-243713)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52023008NOPV/52023008NOPV_PCP_07052023_(22-243713)_text.pdf\n\n52023008NOPV_Final Order_01022024_(22-243713)_text.pdf\n\nJanuary 2, 2024\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: jason rebrook@harvestmidstream.com\nJason Rebrook\nChief Executive Officer\nHarvest Alaska, LLC\n3800 Centerpoint Dr., Suite 1000\nAnchorage, Alaska 99503\nRe: CPF No. 5-2023-008-NOPV\nDear Mr. Rebrook:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes a finding of\nviolation and assesses a civil penalty of $0. Accordingly, this case is now closed. Service of the\nFinal Order by e-mail is effective upon the date of transmission and acknowledgement of receipt\nas 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: Mr. Dustin Hubbard, Director, Western Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nMr. Andrew Limmer, Vice President, Harvest Alaska, LLC,\nalimmer@harvestmidstream.com\nMr. Harold Colgrove, Integrity & Regulatory Compliance Manager, Harvest Alaska,\nLLC, harold.colgrove@harvestmidstream.com\nMr. Ben Hagedorn, Regulatory Compliance Specialist, Harvest Alaska, LLC,\nben.hagedorn@harvestmidstream.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 )\nHarvest Alaska, LLC, ) CPF No. 5-2023-008-NOPV\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nFrom July 25 through July 29, 2022, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline\nand Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS),\nconducted an on-site pipeline safety inspection of Harvest Alaska, LLC’s (Harvest or Respondent)\nNorthstar Gas Pipeline in Anchorage, Alaska. Harvest, an affiliate of Harvest Midstream Company,\nis a privately held midstream services provider based in Anchorage, Alaska. Harvest operates\npipeline systems in Alaska’s Cook Inlet and on the North Slope, including the Northstar Gas\nPipeline, a 10-inch, 16-mile gas transmission pipeline.1\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Western Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated July 5, 2023, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty (Notice). In\naccordance with 49 C.F.R. § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that Harvest had violated 49\nC.F.R. § 192.805(b) and proposed assessing a civil penalty of $33,500 for the alleged violation.\nThe Notice also included a warning item pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 190.205, which warned the\noperator to correct the probable violation or face possible future enforcement action\nHarvest responded to the Notice by letter dated August 2, 2023 (Response). Harvest did not contest\nany of the allegations but requested that the proposed civil penalty be reduced. Respondent did not\nrequest a hearing and therefore has waived its right to one.\nFINDING OF VIOLATION\nIn its Response, Respondent did not contest the allegation in the Notice that it violated 49 C.F.R.\nPart 192, as follows:\n1 Harvest Midstream, History: Our Story, https://www.harvestmidstream.com/about-us/history/ (last visited Sept. 26,\n2023); Harvest Midstream, Harvest Alaska Acquires 49 Percent Stake in Taps And Alyeska (Aug. 27, 2019),\nhttps://www.harvestmidstream.com/news/harvest-alaska-acquires-49-percent-stake-in-taps-and-alyeska/.\n\n\n\nItem 2: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.805(b), which states:\n§ 192.805 Qualification program.\nEach operator shall have and follow a written qualification program. The\nprogram shall include provisions to:\n(a) . . . .\n(b) Ensure through evaluation that individuals performing covered tasks\nare qualified;\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.805(b) by failing to ensure through\nevaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are qualified. Specifically, the Notice alleged\nthat a contractor completed an inspection of shutdown valve SDV-9420 on August 26, 2020, prior\nto being qualified to complete this task.\nRespondent did not contest this allegation of violation. Accordingly, based upon a review of all of\nthe evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 C.F.R. § 192.805(b) by failing to ensure through\nevaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are qualified.\nThis finding of violation will be considered a prior offense in any subsequent enforcement action\ntaken against Respondent.\nASSESSMENT OF PENALTY\nUnder 49 U.S.C. § 60122, Respondent is subject to an administrative civil penalty not to exceed\n$200,000 per violation for each day of the violation, up to a maximum of $2,000,000 for any related\nseries of violations.2\nIn determining the amount of a civil penalty under 49 U.S.C. § 60122 and 49 C.F.R. § 190.225, I\nmust consider the following criteria: the nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation,\nincluding adverse impact on the environment; the degree of Respondent’s culpability; the history of\nRespondent’s prior offenses; any effect that the penalty may have on its ability to continue doing\nbusiness; the good faith of Respondent in attempting to comply with the pipeline safety regulations;\nand self-disclosure or actions to correct a violation prior to discovery by PHMSA. In addition, I\nmay consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any reduction because of\nsubsequent damages, and such other matters as justice may require. The Notice proposed a total\ncivil penalty of $33,500 for the violation cited above.\nItem 2: The Notice proposed a civil penalty of $33,500 for Respondent’s violation of 49 C.F.R.\n§ 192.805(b), for failing to ensure through evaluation that individuals performing covered tasks are\nqualified. Respondent argued the penalty should be reduced for two reasons. First, Harvest argued\nit faced significant hardship with operator qualifications during the COVID-19 National\nEmergency. Harvest noted it should have, but failed to notify PHMSA of this hardship, as stated in\nPHMSA’s Notice of Enforcement Discretion.3 Second, Harvest stated it has taken actions to\n2 These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. See 49 C.F.R. § 190.223 for adjusted amounts.\n3 On March 20, 2020, PHMSA issued a “Notice of Stay of Enforcement and Notice of Enforcement Discretion to\nOperators Affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak,” noting that PHMSA would refrain from enforcing\n\n\n\nsubstantially improve the operator qualification program, including the introduction of automated\nreporting capabilities to track worker credentials and qualifications. In effect, Harvest notified\nPHMSA of the operator qualification hardship in its Response, as requested in the Notice of\nEnforcement Discretion.\nPursuant to the above-mentioned Notice of Enforcement Discretion, I may consider the impact the\nCOVID-19 National Emergency had on Harvest’s ability to comply with the operator qualification\nrequirements. The Notice identified one valve inspection that was conducted by an unqualified\nindividual. Two days after that inspection, Harvest qualified the individual. I find it appropriate to\nreduce the civil penalty because the noncompliance occurred while the Notice of Enforcement\nDiscretion was in place and because the operator took prompt remedial action. Such circumstances\nwarrant assessing a reduced civil penalty under the “other matters as justice may require”\nassessment criterion. Accordingly, I assess Respondent a reduced civil penalty of $0 for the\nviolation of 49 C.F.R. § 192.805(b).\nWARNING ITEM\nWith respect to Item 1, the Notice alleged a probable violation of Part 192, but identified it as a\nwarning item pursuant to § 190.205. The warning was for:\n49 C.F.R. § 192.605(c)(1)(iii) (Item 1) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to provide a\nrecord documenting that an abnormal operating condition (AOC) had occurred after\na loss of communications was discovered.\nHarvest presented information in its Response showing that it had taken certain actions to address\nthe cited item. If OPS finds a violation of this item in a subsequent inspection, Respondent may be\nsubject to future enforcement action.\nThe terms and conditions of this Final Order are effective upon service in accordance with 49\nC.F.R. § 190.5.\nJanuary 2, 2024\n___________________________________ _________________________\nAlan K. Mayberry Date Issued\nAssociate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nprobable violations of the pipeline safety regulations if operators notify PHMSA of hardship due to COVID-19. See\nPHMSA, Notice of Stay of Enforcement and Notice of Enforcement Discretion to Operators Affected by the\nCoronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak (March 20, 2020), https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2020-\n03/PHMSA%20Notice%20on%20Enforcement.pdf. PHMSA terminated the stay on May 19, 2021. PHMSA, Notice of\nTermination of the March 20, 2020 Stay of Enforcement and Notice of Enforcement Discretion to Operators Affected\nby the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak (May 19, 2021), https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2021-\n05/Notice%20of%20Termination%20of%20COVID%20Stay%20of%20Enforcement Discretion.pdf.","truncated":false,"body_characters":10415}