Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin.
Short name: PHMSA
Pipeline safety, hazardous materials transportation, gas leak detection requirements.
Latest items
Open in Browser →Hazardous Materials: Notice of Applications for New Special Permits
In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein.
Hazardous Materials: Notice of Actions on Special Permits
In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has granted or denied the application described herein.
Hazardous Materials: Notice of Applications for Modification to Special Permits
In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein.
Pipeline Safety: Breakout Tank Inspection Rule
Breakout tanks are used to "relieve surges in a hazardous liquid pipeline system" or to "receive and store hazardous liquid transported by a pipeline for reinjection and continued transportation by pipeline." American Petroleum Institute Standard 653 (API Std 653) sets industry standards for the inspection, repair, alteration, and reconstruction of aboveground storage tanks. PHMSA currently incorporates the 3rd edition of API Std 653 (issued December 2001) by reference into its regulations for breakout tanks. In this rulemaking, PHMSA is proposing to update its regulations for breakout tanks to incorporate the 5th edition of API Std 653 (issued November 2014) by reference. As a key part of this, PHMSA is proposing to authorize the use of risk-based inspection (RBI) procedures for establishing the inspection intervals of in-service breakout tanks.
Hazardous Materials: Streamlining Requirements for the Approval of Certain Energetic Materials
PHMSA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) by streamlining the classification and approval process for transporting certain low-hazard fireworks, revising the criteria for small arms cartridges to include tracer ammunition as eligible for self- classification, designating the PHMSA portal as the sole method to submit applications for all explosives approvals, and authorizing voluntary termination of an explosive approval by the approval holder.
Pipeline Safety: Class Location Change Requirements; Correction
PHMSA is making a technical correction to a January 14, 2026 final rule that amended the class location change requirements. The final rule allows an operator to confirm or to restore the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of an eligible gas transmission pipeline segment that experiences a class location change by implementing an integrity management (IM) alternative. For MAOP restorations, PHMSA is clarifying in this correction notice that the 24-month deadline for implementing the initial programmatic requirements of the IM alternative runs from the effective date of the final rule or the date that an operator decides to initiate an MAOP restoration, whichever is later. This clarification is consistent with the requirements in the final rule, including the deadline in the IM alternative that applies to MAOP confirmations, which runs from the effective date of the final rule or the date of the class location change, whichever is later.