From Piracy to Participation: Why Standards in the Training Industry Matter | Risk Matrix Episode 115
THE RISK MATRIX Cutting-edge podcast on occupational safety and risk management. Hosted by industry titans: JAMES JUNKIN, MS, CSP, MSP,…
Veriforce 2025 Year-End Regulatory Wrap-Up
Posted on: October 28, 2025 in Oil & Gas
By: Veriforce Team
From the Veriforce Regulatory Team: Key Updates, Insights, and Priorities for Operators and Contractors
As 2025 comes to a close, the Veriforce Regulatory Team is sharing an overview of the year’s most significant regulatory changes, industry insights, and PHMSA enforcement priorities. Our goal is to help operators and contractors focus on the areas that directly impact compliance, safety, and operational efficiency.
1. Industry Insights
Our 2025 Operator Steering Committee highlighted key trends shaping pipeline safety and compliance:
- Compliance & Documentation: Consistent tracking of variances, inspections, and FVRs is increasingly critical. Gaps in documentation can create audit and operational risks.
- Training & Workforce Readiness: Ensuring field personnel understand new regulatory changes remains essential for safe, reliable operations.
- Technology & Innovation: Operators are exploring drones, digital patrols, and integrated reporting tools, but adoption remains cautious due to regulatory uncertainty.
- Regulatory Focus: PHMSA continues to prioritize incidents, high- and moderate-consequence areas, control room management, damage prevention, and transactions or due diligence. Active monitoring of NPRMs and ANPRMs, including Type C gathering lines, rupture-mitigation valves, and reporting thresholds, remains critical.
Takeaway: Pipeline safety is a shared responsibility. Aligning compliance programs with consistent documentation, workforce readiness, and thoughtful technology adoption reduces risk and supports audit-ready operations.
2. Regulatory Updates
Throughout 2025, PHMSA introduced several important regulatory changes affecting both gas and liquid pipeline operators. Staying informed about these updates is essential to maintain compliance, readiness, and risk reduction. Examples include:
- Pipeline Safety Management Systems (PSMS) (March 25, 2025)
- Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM)
Takeaway: Operators should carefully review and stay updated on these regulatory changes to ensure programs, processes, and documentation remain aligned with federal requirements.
3. PHMSA Enforcement Priorities (July 17, 2025 Memo)
In 2025, PHMSA reinforced its inspection and enforcement focus to enhance pipeline safety. Key areas include:
- Incidents & Accidents: Focus on preventing and minimizing risks from corrosion, third-party damage, control room errors, incorrect operations, and equipment failures.
- High & Moderate Consequence Areas: Emphasis on pipelines in populated or environmentally sensitive areas. Risk-based integrity management programs are critical.
- Control Room Management & Leak Detection: Ensure effective monitoring, operational procedures, and rapid response capabilities to reduce incidents.
- Damage Prevention: Prioritize effective programs for third-party damage prevention, including public awareness and coordination with one-call systems.
- Transactions & Due Diligence: Ensure safety and compliance responsibilities are fully transferred during pipeline ownership changes, with accurate records and adherence to ongoing compliance orders.
Takeaway: Aligning operations with PHMSA enforcement priorities reduces risk, improves safety outcomes, and ensures compliance with federal oversight.
Closing Thoughts
This year highlighted a clear industry trend: modernized, risk-focused compliance is no longer optional. Operators who integrate updated standards, consistent documentation, and regulatory changes into their operations will improve safety outcomes, reduce exposure, and protect their workforce and communities.
From all of us at the Veriforce Regulatory Team, thank you for your continued partnership. We look forward to supporting your compliance and operational success in 2026.
