The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) just rolled out an update to its enforcement proceedings: a revamp that caters to due process and sticks closer to the rulebook when it comes to applying penalties for pipeline safety violations. PHMSA's Chief Counsel dropped a memo on us outlining this shift, signaling a move away from practices that may have pushed the envelope on PHMSA’s traditional mandate.
"Inspections and enforcement actions are a critical part of PHMSA’s safety program," PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman noted in the DOT release. The new approach focuses on legal fairness and accountability, ensuring offenders are judged by the rules in place at the time of their violations—not by stricter rules added later. This jump back to basics also means a stronger commitment to transparency, as the agency promises to fork over all relevant records to those on the defense side of an enforcement action. This includes potentially exculpatory evidence that might have been kept under wraps before.
Under the wing of the prior administration, the folks roped into PHMSA enforcement proceedings didn’t see all the cards on the table—they were only dealt a hand spelled out by a 2013 regulation. But a 2020 congressional directive shook the table, mandating that PHMSA show all agency records pertinent to the matters of fact and law asserted. Acting on this directive, the agency is setting a course to ensure full compliance with the call for openness. The full text of the memos detailing these updates isn’t hidden behind a government firewall; it’s available on PHMSA’s website.
