Notices of Violation (NOV) Tracker
Equitrans Midstream is committed to minimizing our environmental footprint – requiring the highest standards of environmental performance in all areas of our operations. This concept is applied throughout our daily business, from activities in our corporate environment, to the construction of projects and maintenance of our assets in the region. We acknowledge the guiding principles of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its related 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must be integrated into our environmental stewardship. In doing so, we are able to balance the need for sustainability and environmental protection as we continue the delivery of reliable, affordable, clean-burning energy to support a healthy, robust economy for everyone. Equitrans believes it is equally important to be transparent when we do not live up to our expectations, and especially so when we do not meet federal, state, or local requirements for environmental compliance. To ensure transparency, Equitrans Midstream is disclosing formal notices of non-compliance, or notices of violation (NOV), in a comprehensive and accessible manner through our “NOV Tracker.” Through routine disclosure, our NOV Tracker will allow us to be measured not just by the words we use, but by the actions we take.
NOV Data
(current year’s data is updated at the end of each quarter)
Environmental Notices of Violation Issued per Year, by Type
| Year | Administrative | Air Release | Erosion | Plugging / Abandonment | Fluid/Material Release | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 42 |
| 2020 | 2 | - | 19 | 5 | 2 | 28 |
| 2021 | 15 | 5 | 32 | 5 | 7 | 64 |
| 2022 | 8 | 4 | 26 | 17 | 3 | 58 |
| 2023 | 4 | - | 20 | 43 | 15 | 82 |
Environmental Notices of Violation Issued per Year, by State
| Year | Ohio | Pennsylvania | West Virginia | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 12 | 24 | 6 | 42 |
| 2020 | 4 | 23 | 1 | 28 |
| 2021 | 3 | 58 | 3 | 64 |
| 2022 | 7 | 49 | 2 | 58 |
| 2023 | 1 | 80 | 1 | 82 |
Environmental Notices of Violation Issued per Year, by Category
| Year | Administrative | Operational | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 11 | 31 | 42 |
| 2020 | 2 | 26 | 28 |
| 2021 | 20 | 44 | 64 |
| 2022 | 13 | 45 | 58 |
| 2023 | 7 | 75 | 82 |
Pipeline Safety Enforcement Actions
| Year | Enforcement Actions | Penalties Paid per Year | Agency Audits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | - | - | 4 |
| 2020 | 2 | - | 9 |
| 2021 | 3 | - | 18 |
| 2022 | 7 | - | 12 |
| 2023 | 2 | - | 8 |
Our NOV Tracker disclosure summary will be an evolving practice, with plans to provide updates on a quarterly basis. Parameters to consider when reviewing this information:
- This summary provides all relevant enforcement actions due to non-compliance issued by a governmental agency. NOVs for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project are not included. This data includes all environmental NOVs received by Equitrans or fines paid by the Company during the current year and four preceding years. Pipeline safety enforcement actions include NOVs, NOAs (Notices of Amendment), NOPSOs (Notice of Proposed Safety Order), and Warning Letters from state utility commissions and the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
- As presented, Environmental NOVs are based on the date on which a non-compliance event occurred. Due to the inherent lag time between the event date and the potential NOV issuance date, previously reported data has been restated to accurately reflect the time period in a which non-compliance event occurred.
- Based on their respective oversight functions, there is a difference in federal, state, and local governmental authorities’ enforcement and implementation of non-compliance notices – from warning letters, to NOVs, to formal consent agreements – therefore, there is also a difference between how non-compliance actions are undertaken, the terminology employed, how fines and penalties are levied, if at all, and commitments for future remedial actions. Our NOV tracker captures these different enforcement actions and aggregates them based on their functionality, even if the nomenclature slightly varies.
- Equitrans respects the professional judgment and efforts of all governmental authorities that have oversight of our operations. There are times; however, that we may disagree with a claim of non-compliance or an enforcement action taken by an agency in a specific situation. When that occurs, Equitrans will cooperate with the governmental agency and address our objections consistent with the due process provisions afforded in the respective jurisdiction. To meet the requirements of transparency, we will include disputed non-compliance matters within our NOV Tracker until the matter is resolved.
- There are many times our facilities are inspected or observed and there are no issues of non-compliance identified; these are not included in the NOV Tracker summary. The summary will provide all formal notices of non-compliance by a governmental agency, rather than include a full listing of all compliance inspections and observations. The only exception is pipeline safety inspections, which are listed in the “Pipeline Safety Enforcement Actions” table.
- NOVs related to the November 2022 incident at Equitrans’ Rager Mountain Storage facility are included in the above charts and tables. For full transparency, all NOVs will remain in the tracker until the agency’s resolution process is finalized.