Georgia-Pacific Crossett LLC (Georgia-Pacific) Assessed a Penalty of $1,200,000 by FERC

On September 13, 2023, the Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Georgia-Pacific Crossett LLC (Georgia-Pacific). In its Order, the Commission found the settlement is in the public interest because the Agreement resolves on fair and equitable terms Enforcement’s investigation into whether Georgia-Pacific violated any Commission statutes, rules, regulations, or orders, including but not limited to 18 C.F.R. section 157, in connection with the abandonment of the 19.5 mile, 8-inch diameter interstate pipeline at issue in Commission Docket No. CP22-16. During its investigation, Enforcement concluded that Georgia-Pacific (a) violated section 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. § 717f(b), by abandoning the pipeline without Commission approval, and (b) violated section 157.5 of the Commission’s regulations, 18 C.F.R. § 157.5, by failing to set forth all information necessary to fully advise the Commission concerning the company’s request for approval to abandon the pipeline. In its abandonment application and in its later communications with the Commission in response to Commission information requests, Georgia-Pacific described abandonment activities that already occurred as if they would be occurring in the future. Georgia-Pacific stipulated to the facts set forth in Section II of the Agreement and neither admitted nor denied the violations described in Section III of the Agreement.