Pipeline Safety Trust filed a petition challenging a federal pipeline safety rule change and demanding the agency follow proper legal procedures – and now, in apparent response to that challenge, federal regulators have opened a public comment period.
Bellingham, WASHINGTON – [Aug. 8, 2025] – On July 31, Pipeline Safety Trust (PST) filed a petition for reconsideration after the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued what it called a ‘technical correction’ without allowing public input. Following PST’s petition, PHMSA opened a 30-day comment period on August 6, but PST argues this reactive step does not address the fundamental legal violations.
The technical correction in question significantly reduces the amount of gas pipelines subject to maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) reconfirmation and guts an important safety provision that originated from the 2010 San Bruno, CA pipeline disaster that killed eight and injured 51. Before its July 1 technical correction, PHMSA had codified MAOP reconfirmation into regulations and stated, “[r]econfirming MAOP for pipes with incomplete and grandfathered records is intended to prevent future incidents, and focuses on location where the risk of injuries, death, and damages is highest.”
MAOP refers to the maximum internal pressure at which a pipeline or pipeline segment may be continuously operated. MAOP can be based on a variety of different factors such as pipeline location, pipe wall thickness, pressure ratings of various components, and previous pressure tests. MAOP reconfirmation is the process of making certain a pipeline is operating at the correct pressure in order to ensure safe operation. PHMSA’s recent technical correction exempts pipelines built before 1970 from the MAOP reconfirmation process if the operator believes the pipeline was pressure tested, even if there are no records supporting that belief.
Following the deadly 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion, Congress directed PHMSA to require operators to confirm the material strength of certain previously untested or underdocumented natural gas transmission pipelines, which would make communities safer. PHMSA’s technical correction walks that back. According to the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and PHMSA untested, underdocumented, undertested, or untested pipe could total 40,000 to 50,000 miles. PST’s petition argues that a change affecting this much pipeline infrastructure should have gone through full rulemaking procedures from the start. In 2019, PHMSA estimated that approximately 3,700 miles would be applicable to the provision related to inadequate pressure test records now being modified, however drastically reducing the applicable mileage to only those pipelines installed after 1970 is significant in terms of both safety and financial impact.
“If PHMSA continues on this course, it means that both an NTSB recommendation and a Congressional mandate will have been ignored and unfulfilled,” PST Policy & Program Director/Counsel Erin Sutherland said. “This irresponsible action will leave communities across our country vulnerable to potentially devastating pipeline incidents caused by operators not knowing enough about their systems to operate safely.”
In most cases, for new rules, federal agencies are required to offer a public comment opportunity. Certain exceptions do exist in what is called the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), such as the use of the “good cause” exception, which is what PHMSA claims to have used in this scenario. The “good cause” exception allows for public comment periods to be ignored if they are deemed “unnecessary and contrary to the public interest.”
It is PST’s position the rule violates the APA as it fails to meet the requirements of the “good cause” exception to notice and comment on rulemaking.
“PHMSA’s decision to open a comment period shows the agency knows this affects the public interest, but you can’t fix a procedural violation after the fact,” Sutherland said. “This substantive policy change should have gone through the full rulemaking process from day one. We’re asking PHMSA to withdraw this rule and start over with proper transparency.”
PST’s petition requests that PHMSA’s technical correction, “Pipeline Safety: Clarifying Recordkeeping Requirements for Testing in MAOP Reconfirmation Regulation,” be suspended until after the petition is fully resolved.
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About Pipeline Safety Trust: The Pipeline Safety Trust is a nonprofit public watchdog promoting pipeline safety through education and advocacy by increasing access to information, and by building partnerships with residents, safety advocates, government, and industry, that result in safer communities and a healthier environment.
For more information, contact Kenneth Clarkson, Communications Director – .
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Many of these pipelines sit dangerously close to neighborhoods, schools, and fragile ecosystems — a ticking time bomb that threatens not just lives, but the safety of entire communities and the health of our environment for generations. I stand with the Pipeline Safety Trust — PHMSA must withdraw this reckless rollback and honor its duty to protect the public, not weaken the very safeguards born from tragedy.