Commitments and Contingent Liabilities (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Litigation — We are not a party to any significant legal proceedings, but are a party to various administrative and regulatory proceedings and commercial disputes that have arisen in the ordinary course of our business. Management currently believes that the ultimate resolution of the foregoing matters, taken as a whole, and after consideration of amounts accrued, insurance coverage or other indemnification arrangements, will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position, or cash flow.

Insurance — Our insurance coverage is carried with third-party insurers and with an affiliate of Phillips 66. Our insurance coverage includes: (i) general liability insurance covering third-party exposures; (ii) statutory workers’ compensation insurance; (iii) automobile liability insurance for all owned, non-owned and hired vehicles; (iv) excess liability insurance above the established primary limits for general liability and automobile liability insurance; (v) property insurance, which covers the replacement value of real and personal property and includes business interruption; and (vi) insurance covering our directors and officers for acts related to our business activities. All coverage is subject to certain limits and deductibles, the terms and conditions of which are common for companies with similar types of operations.

Environmental — The operation of pipelines, plants and other facilities for gathering, transporting, processing, treating, fractionating, or storing natural gas, NGLs and other products is subject to stringent and complex laws and regulations pertaining to health, safety and the environment. As an owner or operator of these facilities, we must comply with laws and regulations at the federal, state and, in some cases, local levels that relate to worker safety, pipeline safety, air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste management and disposal, and other environmental matters. The cost of planning, designing, constructing and operating pipelines, plants, and other facilities incorporates compliance with environmental laws and regulations, worker safety standards, and safety standards applicable to our various facilities. In addition, there is increasing focus from (i) regulatory bodies and communities, and through litigation, on hydraulic fracturing and the real or perceived environmental or public health impacts of this technique, which indirectly presents some risk to our available supply of natural gas and the resulting supply of NGLs, (ii) regulatory bodies regarding pipeline system safety which could impose additional regulatory burdens and increase the cost of our operations, (iii) state and federal regulatory officials regarding the emission of greenhouse gases and other air emissions, which could impose regulatory burdens and increase the cost of our operations, and (iv) regulatory bodies and communities that could prevent or delay the development of fossil fuel energy infrastructure such as pipelines, plants, and other facilities used in our business. Failure to comply with these various health, safety and environmental laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil and potentially criminal enforcement measures, including citizen suits, which can include the assessment of monetary penalties, the imposition of remedial requirements, and the issuance of injunctions or restrictions on operation. Management believes that, based on currently known information, compliance with these existing laws and regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

The following pending proceedings involve governmental authorities under federal, state, and local laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment. It is not possible for us to predict the final outcome of these pending proceedings; however, we do not expect the outcome of one or more of these proceedings to have a material adverse effect to our results of operations, financial position, or cash flows:

•In 2018, the New Mexico Environment Department (“NMED”) issued two separate Notices of Violation (“NOV”) relating to upset and malfunction event emissions at two of our gas processing plants. Following information exchanges and discussions with NMED regarding the events and the propriety of the alleged violations, in February 2019 we entered into preliminary settlement agreements to resolve the alleged violations under each NOV for administrative penalties approximating $150,000 and $142,000, respectively. We intend to mitigate a portion of each administrative penalty through the implementation of environmentally beneficial projects.

•In 2018, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (“CDPHE”) issued a Compliance Advisory in relation to an improperly permitted facility flare and related air emissions from flare operations at one of our gas processing plants that we self-disclosed to CDPHE in December 2017. Following information exchanges and discussions with CDPHE, a resolution was proposed pursuant to which the plant's air permit would be revised to include the flare and emissions limits for such flare in addition to us paying an administrative penalty as well as an economic benefit payment generally covering the period when the flare was required to be included in the facility air permit, in a combined amount expected to be between approximately $375,000 and $460,000. We are still evaluating and holding discussions with CDPHE as to the foregoing amounts and proposed settlement terms.

•In January 2019, CDPHE issued a Compliance Advisory in relation to an improperly configured facility flare meter, which failed to accurately track air emissions from the flare at one of our gas processing plants resulting in the flare exceeding its permitted emissions limits. Following information exchanges and discussions with CDPHE, a resolution was agreed upon in December 2019 that included DCP completing a project to reduce levels of vapors directed to the flare, amending the air permit, and paying an administrative penalty of approximately $37,000, and making expenditures on an environmentally beneficial project of approximately $149,000. DCP made the required payment and expenditures in the first quarter of 2020 and this proceeding is now complete.