The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has taken a step forward by introducing a new set of enforcement priorities to strengthen pipeline safety. In an effort to harness data for better regulatory oversight, PHMSA detailed these priorities in a memo to its Office of Pipeline Safety, documents which can be accessed on PHMSA's website.
These priorities are not just a list; they provide a focused approach for inspection and enforcement (I&E) activities, designed to target concerns with the greatest potential impact on public safety. According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, who mentioned in the memo, "PHMSA regulations should be used to ensure the safe transportation of energy products — not as a tool to drive fossil fuels out of business. Our new transparent, data-driven approach to enforcement will pinpoint key areas of concern, keep communities safe, and refocus PHMSA on its core mission – improving pipeline safety."
The areas identified include incidents and accidents, high and moderate consequence areas, control room management and leak detection, damage prevention, and transactions and due diligence. In aligning the PHMSA's direction with these data-backed concerns, the expectation is that pipeline operators will be held to a heightened level of responsibility and preventive measures.
Moreover, PHMSA is determined to ensure operators comply with recent regulations implemented in the wake of significant accidents and incidents, focusing on rules that include mandates for rupture mitigation valves and the reconfirmation of Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure. PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman emphasized, "We will continue to hold operators to the highest, most stringent safety standards," and added, "We won’t hesitate to use every enforcement tool at our disposal when those standards aren’t met," as mentioned in the agency's announcement.
