Stakeholder Communications

Virtually all aspects of the energy transportation pipeline industry are regulated to some extent by federal, state, and local agencies.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is the primary federal regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that pipelines are safe, reliable, and environmentally sound. From the federal level, we oversee the development and implementation of regulations concerning pipeline construction, maintenance and operation, and we share these responsibilities with our state regulatory partners. The pipeline safety regulations implement the laws found in the U. S. Code. The Federal Pipeline Safety Laws can be found here. Additionally, the Federal Oil Pollution Act laws can be found here.

Regulatory Perspective

PHMSA has a limited number of inspectors in the field. Along with our state partners we oversee over 2 million miles of pipelines. Due to this and other limitations, our past focus had to be fairly narrow in order to have any impact. We concentrated on defining and ensuring industry compliance with minimal design, operational, and maintenance practices. That regulatory approach produced a good safety record; pipelines today are the safest, most environmentally-friendly and reliable mode of hazardous liquid and gas transportation. However pipeline accidents still happen - sometimes with tragic consequences. Therefore, we have to do better, and we are.

Looking Forward

PHMSA has significantly transformed itself and the way it regulates the pipeline industry over the last few years. We have new people in new jobs with new skills. We have written new, more focused regulations, and we are enforcing them in a tough but fair manner. These transformations are driven by one objective - to maximize the positive impact that we have on the safety, integrity, and reliability of our nation's pipeline systems.

The rules governing pipeline safety are included in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 190-199. Individual states may have additional or more stringent pipeline safety regulations.

Pipeline Safety Regulations

Part 190 describes the procedures used by OPS in carrying out their regulatory duties. This part authorizes OPS to inspect pipelines and describes the procedures by which OPS can enforce the regulations. This part also describes the legal rights and options that the operating companies have in response to OPS enforcement actions.

Part 191 describes requirements on operators of gas pipelines (including gas gathering, transmission, and distribution systems) for reporting of incidents, safety-related conditions, and annual summary data.

Part 192 prescribes a wide variety of minimum safety requirements for gas pipelines. These regulations contain sections applicable to gas gathering, transmission, and distribution lines.

Part 193 addresses safety standards for liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.

Part 194 contains requirements for oil spill response plans. This part is intended to reduce the environmental impact of oil discharged from onshore oil pipelines.

Part 195 prescribes the safety standards and reporting requirements for oil and carbon dioxide pipelines. As with the gas regulations, these regulations include detailed requirements on a broad spectrum of areas related to the safety and environmental protection of hazardous liquid pipelines. Part 195 also includes minimum requirements for operator qualification of individuals performing tasks required by the regulations.

Parts 196-197 are currently reserved for future use.

Part 198 prescribes regulations governing grants-in-aid for State pipeline safety compliance programs.

Part 199 requires operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to establish programs for preventing alcohol misuse and to test employees for the presence of alcohol and prohibited drugs and provides the procedures and conditions for this testing.

All of the noted regulations are available for review. More...