PHMSA Announces Pipeline Safety Priorities -7-22-25

Today, DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced their first pipeline inspection and enforcement (I&E) priorities. Those priorities are outlined in some depth in a memo from PHMSA’s Linda Daugherty, Acting Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety. The memo outlines the responsibilities of the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) and explains the following priories for that Office:

• Incidents and Accidents (pg 5);

• High and Moderate Consequence Areas (pg 6);

• Control Room Management and Leak Detection (pg 6);

• Damage Prevention (pg 7); and 

• Transactions and Due Diligence (pg 7)

This does not appear to be inherently a reduction in enforcement activities, but I suspect that PHMSA’s OCS has some level of staffing shortage from the early DOGE efforts and the OMB’s voluntary resignation program. That will inevitably result in reduced enforcement activities and make prioritization of efforts that much more important.