A provision in pending pipeline safety legislation would limit the conditions that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) can attach to special permits, setting up a debate between industry advocates seeking greater regulatory certainty and lawmakers concerned about preserving safety oversight. The proposal comes as PHMSA faces increasing demands on its resources, including enforcement responsibilities and ongoing rulemaking efforts.
“What I heard when I was at PHMSA for many years, and still hear now, was that PHMSA was including conditions that not only addressed the provision being waived, but then additional conditions that weren’t directly related to that provision,” Bracewell’s Lauren Clegg told Energy Intelligence. “So the concern was the conditions were overboard.”
Clegg acknowledged that the waiver process “does put some guardrails up,” but noted that PHMSA “still has full ability to just deny the waiver altogether” – it “just requires PHMSA to make clear to the operator how the condition is related to the regulation being waived.”
