PHMSA Guidance

PHMSA guidance is intended to help regulated entities and the public to understand PHMSA’s regulations. The guidance documents contained herein lack the force and effect of law, unless expressly authorized by statute or incorporated into a contract. DOT may not cite, use, or rely on any guidance that is not available through this guidance portal, except to establish historical facts.

Although some of the materials that can be accessed from this page may fall outside the definitions of “guidance” set forth in Executive Order 13891 and 49 CFR 5.25(c), PHMSA has determined that they include potentially useful information for stakeholders and is including them in this database in an effort to make these materials easier for members of the public to find. You may also find useful information that is potentially not accessed from the page in the links below:

• PHMSA FAQs
• PHMSA Advisory Bulletins
• Pipeline Enforcement Guidance
• Pipeline Glossary
• Pipeline Guidance Manuals
• Pipeline Operator Resources
• Pipeline Technical Resources
• Hazardous Materials Publications
• Hazardous Materials Safety Field Operations and Enforcement Guidance

For more information regarding the procedures associated with the development and issuance of DOT guidance documents, please see the Department’s regulations on “Administrative Rulemaking, Guidance, and Enforcement Procedures” (December 27, 2019). Members of the public may submit comments on draft guidance documents noticed in the Federal Register through Regulations.gov. Comments on any guidance document; requests for issuance, reconsideration, modification, or rescission of any guidance document; or concerns about PHMSA’s compliance with the OMB Good Guidance Bulletin regarding existing guidance documents may be submitted to PHMSA_Guidance@dot.gov. Please identify the guidance document in your request.

Search Instructions

• To search for PHMSA Guidance Documents (not including Interpretations), use the Keywords or Issued Date fields on the left side of the search box below. Your search results will display in the table below.
• To search for PHMSA Regulations Interpretations, use the Interpretations Keyword Search on the right side of the search box, or click the “PHMSA Interpretations Advanced Search” link. Results using the Interpretations Keyword Search will open in a new browser window.