PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025

New Section 225 requires the Secretary to act on nonemergency waiver applications within 180 days (or notify the applicant of the need for more time at least every 180 days), requires a comment period, and mandates public posting of reasons for granting or denying waivers. Also tightens the standard from 'not inconsistent' to 'consistent' with safety objectives.

Section 222 expands the definition of 'applicable weather event' to explicitly include Winter Storm Uri (February 2021) and Winter Storm Elliott (December 2022), and adds a new requirement for the Secretary to review distribution integrity management plans for pipelines at increased risk of such events within 90 days after submitting the related report.

Section 210 broadens the composite materials safety assessment from covering 'natural gas liquids' to covering all 'hazardous liquids,' and extends the rulemaking deadline from 180 days to 1 year after the report is submitted to Congress.

Section 304 removes explicit reference to 'the public' from the sense-of-Congress language on PHMSA engagement during predrafting stages, changing it to 'a broad range of pipeline stakeholder groups.'

Section 212 shifts the additional $5 million per year funding for the Voluntary Information Sharing system from fiscal years 2024 through 2027 to fiscal years 2026 through 2030, delaying the start and extending the end of the funding period.

Section 602 clarifies that the 12.5 percent cap on awards to a single utility applies per fiscal year rather than as a cumulative limit across all years of the program.

New subsection (d) in Section 207 limits the application of new civil penalty provisions (section 60117(b)(1)(K)) to violations occurring on or after the date of enactment, preventing retroactive application.

Section 214 extends the Inspector General review of alternative rights-of-way maintenance methods from 3 years after enactment to 5 years after enactment.

Section 219 changes the MAOP working group composition requirement from fixed members as of January 1, 2025 to 'members representing the same stakeholders,' allowing personnel turnover while preserving stakeholder representation.

Section 501 changes the regulatory citation for diluted bitumen response plans from section 60102(d)(5) of title 49 U.S.C. to part 194 of title 49 C.F.R., and Section 507 adds a reference to section 60138 alongside 60102(d)(5) for response plans.

Section 221 removes the word 'update' from the potential impact radius methodology review title, changing it from 'Review and update of methodology' to simply 'Review of methodology.'

Section 505 removes 'utility bill inserts' from the list of outreach methods for the Office of Public Engagement.