USDOT Enhances Pipeline Enforcement Policies to Protect Due Process, Refocus Agency

Prior administration disregarded legal rights to focus on environmental agenda

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently announced changes to its procedures for pipeline safety enforcement proceedings. The new procedures outlined in a memorandum from PHMSA’s Chief Counsel will ensure due process (legal sufficiency), including by holding parties accountable to the penalties that were in place during the time of an alleged violation and requiring the agency to provide requested records. These recent changes to PHMSA’s civil penalty policy and procedures reflect DOT’s commitment to following the law and protecting the legal rights of all Americans. 

“Inspections and enforcement actions are a critical part of PHMSA’s safety program,” said PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman. “After four years of the Biden Administration’s misguided attempts to turn PHMSA into an environmental regulator, we are ensuring due process and putting safety front and center. These long overdue reforms will refocus our enforcement program, so the law is applied fairly, transparently, and in a way that respects the core legal principle of due process.” 

Additional Information: 

In a memo issued by the Chief Counsel, PHMSA announced changes to its policy for calculating civil penalties in enforcement proceedings. PHMSA updated this policy to require that operators be held to the penalties in place at the time a violation occurred rather than subjecting them to enhanced penalties instituted after-the-fact.  

PHMSA will also be disclosing all pertinent agency records, including potentially exculpatory evidence. Those subject to agency enforcement actions will have fair access to the agency’s records in order to mount an effective defense.  

Under the previous administration, parties before PHMSA for an enforcement proceeding only received certain agency records specified in a 2013 regulation. In 2020, Congress directed PHMSA to provide “all agency records pertinent to the matters of fact and law asserted.” PHMSA will ensure that it complies with this mandate. 

The full text of both memos is available on PHMSA’s website.  

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s mission is to protect people and the environment by advancing the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials that are essential to our daily lives.  Please visit https://www.phmsa.dot.gov for more information. 

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