EXCLUSIVE — The Trump administration is moving to overhaul federal pipeline and fuel transportation rules in an effort to lower energy costs, a package of changes the Transportation Department says will save the industry more than $600 million annually without compromising safety standards.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Monday that the department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has finalized two major rules and adopted a new enforcement policy aimed at reducing regulatory costs tied to moving energy products across the country.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re driving down energy costs by encouraging innovation and cutting unnecessary red tape,” Duffy said in a statement released to the Washington Examiner. “These commonsense changes will make day to day life more affordable for American families while continuing to maintain the highest levels of safety.”
The administration estimates the combined changes will generate more than $600 million in annualized savings.
Officials argue those savings matter not just for energy producers and transporters, but for consumers as well, because transportation costs are ultimately built into fuel and utility bills.
Officials say cutting compliance and transportation costs should ease price pressure over time, but the department has not laid out a formal way to track whether those savings ultimately translate into lower bills. Instead, they describe the impact as indirect, with efficiencies earlier in the supply chain expected to ripple through a competitive energy market.
Rather than eliminating safety rules outright, the administration is formalizing regulatory practices that federal pipeline regulators have quietly allowed for decades through special permits. By writing those practices directly into the rulebook, the changes reduce case-by-case approvals and give operators clearer, more permanent guidance on how to comply.
The biggest cost reduction comes from a rule that updates how gas transmission pipelines are regulated when population growth changes the classification of areas surrounding existing lines. Under the previous system, operators were often required to reduce pressure or replace pipeline segments when development increased nearby population density, even if the pipeline itself remained in good condition.
The new rule allows companies to rely on modern, risk-based integrity management practices instead. Those approaches have been used for decades under existing exemptions and have not been linked to pipeline failures. By formally incorporating those practices into regulation, operators can avoid unnecessary construction, pressure reductions, and service disruptions, according to the PHMSA.
Agency officials estimate that change alone will save more than $460 million per year and prevent roughly 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas from being lost annually due to pipeline replacements and maintenance work that can now be avoided.
A second rule focuses on fuel transportation by cargo tank and targets requirements officials say add cost without improving safety. The changes allow video technology to be used for internal cargo tank inspections, permit electronic registration for tank facilities, and restore a long-standing exemption that reduces how often truckers must physically change hazard placards when hauling different petroleum fuels.
Agency officials said the placarding requirement had forced drivers to stop and swap signage even when the emergency response and fire risk were the same, adding time and labor costs with no safety benefit. The fuel transportation changes are expected to save about $145 million annually.
The PHMSA also issued a new enforcement policy tied to the national energy emergency declared by President Donald Trump. The policy allows regulated companies, particularly on the West Coast, in the Northeast, and Alaska, to seek temporary relief from certain compliance deadlines if meeting them would disrupt energy transportation, as long as safety is not compromised.
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“Demand for American energy is growing, and today’s actions will reduce the cost of transporting it to consumers while prioritizing safety,” PHMSA Administrator Paul Roberti said.
The rules were sent to the Federal Register on Monday, but they don’t all start at once. Pipeline class location changes take effect 60 days after publication, hazardous materials updates follow after 30 days, and the enforcement policy is already in effect.
