Latest news with #PHMSA
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oil and Gas Pipeline Safety Cases Plunge in First Months of Trump's Second Term
(Bloomberg) -- US regulatory actions to ensure oil and gas pipeline safety have plummeted to a record low for the start of a presidential administration as Donald Trump pushes to streamline the government and cut red tape. Singer Akon's Failed Futuristic City in Senegal Ends Up a $1 Billion Resort Are Tourists Ruining Europe? How Locals Are Pushing Back Can Americans Just Stop Building New Highways? Why Did Cars Get So Hard to See Out Of? Denver City Hall Takes a Page From NASA The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration opened 40 enforcement cases between January 20 and the end of June, according to filings from the regulator. That's the least for the beginning of any presidential term in data going back two decades and a 68% slide compared with Trump's first months in office eight years ago. The drop-off in enforcement comes as the White House backs fossil fuels in pursuit of 'energy dominance' and moves to reverse regulations imposed by former President Joe Biden, arguing that they burden companies with unnecessary costs. It also coincides with an exodus of senior officials from PHMSA earlier this year amid a move to shrink the federal government. PHMSA said the slowdown occurred because it was in the midst of issuing two revisions to its pipeline safety enforcement process. The changes, which took effect in May, concerned how the agency calculates civil penalties and discloses records. 'We didn't want to be issuing new cases while we knew that those pretty significant changes to our process were underway,' Emily Wong, PHMSA's director for governmental, international and public affairs, said in an interview. Still, the agency has opened just five enforcement cases since early June, well below the monthly average of around 17, the data going back to 2002 show. PHMSA typically initiates cases when pipeline companies violate federal regulations, or to require steps to prevent future leaks or explosions. Its responses range from warning letters to orders requiring measures from operators. While it's not unusual for enforcement activity to fall during the transition to a new presidential term, the drop in the first months of the Trump administration was steeper than usual. The low number of cases has stoked concern that a decline in oversight will lead to a ramp-up in pipeline accidents and their severity, putting people living near the conduits at heightened risk and allowing companies to evade accountability for repeat offenses. Yvette Taylor, chair of the board of supervisors in Upper Makefield Township, Pennsylvania, is among those calling for stronger enforcement in her community. In late January, a leak was discovered on an Energy Transfer LP jet-fuel pipeline running through the town. The company later confirmed that the fuel had contaminated seven private water wells. Yet several months later, Energy Transfer still hasn't performed a full remediation of the site, state lawmakers Steven Santarsiero and Perry Warren wrote in a letter to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in June. Taylor says PHMSA should have ordered the company to shut the pipeline down completely. 'The Township and elected officials requested that the pipeline be shut down and the only response to date is to reduce the flow, which does not address the potential for future leaks,' she said. 'We believe that as long as product is flowing through the pipeline, a leak can occur.' Energy Transfer continues to conduct water tests, install advanced filtration water systems at no costs to residents and work with state, federal and local authorities to address the situation, a company spokesperson said in an email. 'Our work to remediate all impacted areas is ongoing as we are committed to the full cleanup and restoration' of the neighborhood affected, the spokesperson said. Wong said PHMSA took 'very swift and very firm corrective action' in addressing the incident in Upper Makefield, as well as an April spill from South Bow Corp.'s Keystone oil pipeline in North Dakota. 'Regarding Upper Makefield, PHMSA has made clear to the board of supervisors and the community in multiple public forums that we cannot shut down a pipeline without evidence it is hazardous to life, property, or the environment,' Wong said in an email. 'Our investigation is ongoing, but we have seen no evidence that suggests the Twin Oaks pipeline is still leaking or that there is cause for us to shut down the pipeline,' she added. But some observers remain skeptical. If pipeline operators sense that there's no one policing the industry, safety lapses could proliferate, said Bill Caram, executive director of the watchdog group Pipeline Safety Trust. 'I certainly worry that we're going to see an increase in the amount of failures that happen and the severity of the failures that happen,' Caram said. --With assistance from Ari Natter. (Updates with additional comment from PHMSA from fourth paragraph from bottom. An earlier version of the story corrected month in fourth paragraph and clarified timeframe in sixth paragraph.) Will Trade War Make South India the Next Manufacturing Hub? Trump's Cuts Are Making Federal Data Disappear 'Our Goal Is to Get Their Money': Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions 'Telecom Is the New Tequila': Behind the Celebrity Wireless Boom For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
10-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Oil and Gas Pipeline Safety Cases Plunge in First Months of Trump's Second Term
US regulatory actions to ensure oil and gas pipeline safety have plummeted to a record low for the start of a presidential administration as Donald Trump pushes to streamline the government and cut red tape. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration opened 40 enforcement cases between January 20 and the end of June, according to filings from the regulator. That's the least for the beginning of any presidential term in data going back two decades and a 68% slide compared with Trump's first months in office eight years ago.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MCR Oil Tools Announces PHMSA Confirmation of Non-Explosive, Non-Hazmat Status For Shipment Of Its Thermite Tools
ARLINGTON, Texas, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MCR Oil Tools announced approval from PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration), a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, to transport the company's renowned thermite-based Radial Cutting Torches (RCT) as non-hazardous. The RCT is used worldwide for severing oil well pipe in pipe retrieval work on land and in deep water situations. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July 2024 that PHMSA had in 2022 arbitrarily and capriciously designated MCR's Radial Cutting Torches (RCT's) as "explosives" without justification, apparently relying solely upon complaints from competitors. These complaints ignored factual evidence including test results from PHMSA's own thermite study as well as those from their own designated test labs. MCR tools have a pristine safety record of more than 40 years of global shipping without a single safety incident. And the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the MCR thermite classification to PHMSA in October 2024 for further consideration. The PHMSA classification from 2022 is problematic in that hazardous and flammable materials can encounter shipping delays and require a notably greater amount of administrative paperwork which combine to increase costs for MCR and the oil and gas industry more broadly. PHMSA's authorization for MCR to ship its RCTs as non-explosive and non-hazardous recognizes the truly safe nature of MCR's technology and simplifies the continued distribution of MCR Torches to oil and gas producers and service firms around the world. Mike Robertson, Founder and C.E.O. of MCR Oil Tools, stated "We are pleased with the outcome of this lengthy and difficult period of struggle with PHMSA concerning the correct classification for our tools. We have always maintained product safety and will continue to do so while providing the most efficient pipe cutting technology for the energy industry." Mr. Robertson also stressed that PHMA's decision approving MCR to ship its RCT as non-hazmat vindicated the efforts of the company in the interest of its dozens of Licensees as well as the hundreds of producer customers around the world. MCR intends to rely upon the Fifth Circuit decision as well as the recent PHMSA action to pursue those who leveled false accusations against its proven safe tools. For More Information, please contact Pouya Mahbod Phone: 817 – 704 - 6678 Email: View original content: SOURCE MCR Oil Tools LLC Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
E&E News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Pipeline safety enforcement stats rebound after plunge
Federal pipeline regulators filed more than two dozen enforcement actions last month, a surge in enforcement that followed a sudden drop in the early weeks of the second Trump administration. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration filed 29 cases in May, newly updated records show, after filing only five between President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration and early May. Of the new batch of cases, 22 were 'warning letters' or 'notices of amendment,' which are relatively minor but common actions. Seven cases were the more serious 'notices of probable violation.' PHMSA did not seek a fine in any of the cases. The agency has not sought fines since former President Joe Biden left office. Advertisement PHMSA filed only one case in February. In March, zero cases were brought, the first time in the agency's 20-year history it went a month without filing an enforcement action. Agency data, which is updated monthly, showed the number of cases ticked up to four in April.
E&E News
21-05-2025
- Business
- E&E News
Trump admin seeks input on overhauling pipeline standards
U.S. pipeline regulators are kick-starting an overhaul of repair requirements for natural gas and carbon dioxide lines — and asking about how to make standards more cost-effective. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration put out a call Tuesday for public input on the agency's plans to modernize decades-old regulations for gas transmission and hazardous liquid lines. Ben Kochman, the agency's acting administrator, said federal regulations need to keep up with advancements in pipeline safety technology. The repair criteria and 'remediation timelines' for hazardous liquid and CO2 pipelines, PHMSA said, have been 'relatively static for decades.' Advertisement 'Modernizing pipeline repair requirements will encourage innovation and improve the safety and efficiency of energy infrastructure throughout the country,' Kochman said in a news release.
