Compliance and Enforcement Action Processing (CEAP)
The Department has consistently engaged in enforcement actions with upstream oil and gas production operators regarding findings of unlit control devices (flares) and open thief hatches at their facilities. Many of the alleged violations in these actions are found to have resulted from a variety of reasons that appear to affect operators (companies) industry-wide and are therefore resolved in much the same way between actions.
For questions related to this process/option, please contact Myles Erb at 701-328-6622.
Regulatory Basis and Process
The actions described above are most often in reference to violation of North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC) 33.1-15-07-02.1, which states,
No person may cause or permit the emission of organic compounds gases and vapors, except from an emergency vapor blowdown system or emergency relief system, unless these gases and vapors are burned by flares, or an equally effective control device as approved by the department. Minor sources, as determined by the department and not subject to New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), may be granted exemptions to this subsection.
With the goal of minimizing air emissions as much as possible, the physical contributing factors to these violations are addressed immediately; often, repairs are made in less than 24 hours. With a return to compliance already being achieved, what remains is to formally close out the violation(s) with an enforcement action. To provide efficiency and to further develop quality enforcement measures, the Department, with insight from industry and legal experts, has incorporated an expedited enforcement option into the Combined Environmental Regulatory Information System - North Dakota (CERIS-ND), known as Compliance and Enforcement Action Processing (CEAP), for the resolution of unlit flare and open thief hatch violations of this regulation.
This enforcement option provides for effective, comprehensive, and secure enforcement within a shorter time frame than any other option available to the Department. This is achieved through the identification of enforcement users for any interested upstream oil and gas producer prior to any future action, generation of agreement conditions within the CERIS-ND process, and facilitation of payment/agreement signing before action closure. The company will also be able to defer from the CEAP process, at any point up until payment/signature of the agreement, which will result in the Department issuing a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the company for resolution of the violation.
The CEAP option will be limited by company to 5 violations/year within a 12-month rolling period. Exceedances of this limit will result in enforcement using the standard NOV and Administrative Consent Agreement (with associated penalty) process that the Department currently utilizes.
The Department maintains all records of any enforcement actions, including CEAP actions and penalty payments, and will continue to maintain its responsibility to maintain legal provisions identified by state and federal regulations in its conduct of enforcement action and proceedings.
Associated Links:
Delegate Authority (EnfAgrCertAcc) form
Example ESA Conditions
CEAP Informational Presentation:
Last Updated: 6/17/2026
