April 30, 2026
Bellingham, WA – A new Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Advisory Bulletin again chooses voluntary guidance over a rulemaking needed to close critical safety gaps and help prevent excavation damage.
In reaction to this bulletin, Pipeline Safety Trust issued the following statement:
While PHMSA has issued a voluntary advisory bulletin for Safe Digging Month, operator compliance with the bulletin’s findings is not a requirement. The recent bulletin correctly acknowledges excavation damage as a leading cause of pipeline incidents, and provides recommended measures – but it does not create any binding obligation for operators.
The bulletin expressly identifies one-call exemptions as a significant pipeline safety risk, citing over 2,000 incidents in one state alone as a result of this issue. PHMSA’s suggestion that operators improve public awareness programs rings hollow given that the agency has delegated the substance of those requirements to industry and has incorporating API RP 1162 by reference rather than developing its own public awareness regulations from a community protection perspective. PST recognizes that PHMSA’s authority on one-call exemptions is limited, but the agency could use its state program certification process to pressure states to narrow these exemptions rather than simply identifying the problem without acting upon it.
PHMSA has a documented pattern of substituting non-binding guidance for rulemaking on the very issues their own data identifies as leading causes of incidents. The agency needs to focus on solutions that mandate operators to change behavior to improve pipeline safety outcomes. Excavation damage is a major cause of pipeline incidents, but for some reason PHMSA seems to believe that it cannot promulgate regulations to address this issue.
PST calls on PHMSA to strengthen regulatory damage prevention program requirements, replace industry deference with public awareness standards written from a community-protection perspective, and mandate consistent operator reporting on excavation damage near-misses.
Read the PHMSA Advisory Bulletin here.
For More Information Contact: Kenneth Clarkson , Communications Director –
The oil companies have gotten a pass for far too many “accidents”!
We NEED to force responsibility upon them NOW!
An important point about how excavation damage can create serious risks around underground infrastructure. I especially found the discussion about one-call exemptions interesting because it highlights how much coordination and awareness matter before work begins. Clear communication between utility operators, contractors, and property owners can go a long way toward preventing damage and keeping excavation work safer.