Beyond Compliance: What Former PHMSA Leaders Say About the Future of Pipeline Safety

The pipeline industry is entering a new era of scrutiny, demand, and operational complexity. Data centers are driving massive infrastructure expansion. Regulatory expectations continue to evolve. And operators are being asked to move faster without sacrificing safety, compliance, or public trust.

That tension sat at the center of EWN’s recent webinar featuring former PHMSA leaders Jeff Wiese and Alan Mayberry, moderated by EWN’s James Cross. The conversation covered everything from contractor oversight and control room management to safety culture, PSMS, cybersecurity, and the operational realities facing pipeline operators today.

One theme surfaced repeatedly:

Compliance alone is no longer enough.

The Industry Is Entering a “Decade of Demand”

At both API and AGA events earlier this year, one topic dominated conversation: energy demand is accelerating faster than many expected.

Alan Mayberry described it simply as the industry entering a “decade of demand,” driven heavily by the explosion of data centers and energy-intensive infrastructure. But alongside growth comes pressure:

• Faster construction schedules
• Increased contractor reliance
• More public scrutiny
• Greater operational complexity
• Higher expectations from regulators and communities alike

And according to both Wiese and Mayberry, rapid expansion historically creates one major risk:

"Quality suffers when speed takes priority."

That concern is especially relevant as operators expand systems, connect new loads, and accelerate project schedules to meet growing energy demand.

The Cost of Poor Qualification Is Bigger Than the Fine

One of the clearest takeaways from the discussion was that operators still underestimate the operational impact of qualification failures.

As Mayberry and Wiese emphasized, OQ issues rarely stop at a regulatory citation. The downstream effects often include:

• Idle crews
• Wasted truck rolls
• Rework
• Delayed projects
• Permit extensions
• Audit escalation
• Investigations
• Increased scrutiny across operations

This aligns with what EWN sees across the industry every day. The operational disruption tied to qualification gaps often dwarfs the civil penalty itself.

That’s why both former regulators repeatedly returned to the same principle:

"Operators own the responsibility — even when contractors perform the work."

The expectation is no longer passive oversight. Operators are expected to maintain visibility, accountability, and confidence in the qualifications of everyone touching the system.

“Compliance” Is Not the Same as “Safety”

Perhaps the strongest statement from the webinar came from Jeff Wiese:

“I don’t think compliance should be our objective.”

That comment wasn’t dismissive of regulations. It was a recognition that compliance represents a negotiated baseline — not the ceiling for operational excellence.

According to Wiese, many of the industry’s largest incidents occurred at organizations technically operating within compliance frameworks, but lacking deeper operational visibility, engagement, or safety culture maturity.

That distinction matters.

Because modern pipeline risk increasingly lives in the gaps between:

• Documentation and field reality
• Policy and execution
• Awareness and engagement
• Qualification and competence

The operators making the biggest strides today are focusing on:

• Real-time operational visibility
• Stronger safety culture
• Workforce engagement
• Contractor alignment
• Data integrity
• Continuous improvement systems

Not simply “passing the audit.”

Safety Culture Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Another major theme throughout the conversation was safety culture.

Not as a slogan.
Not as a poster.
As an operational system.

Wiese specifically warned against treating culture as a survey exercise or executive talking point. In his view, culture becomes visible when frontline employees feel empowered to:

• Speak up
• Surface operational risk
• Challenge unsafe assumptions
• Share lessons learned
• Participate in improvement

And operators who fail to build that environment often miss critical warning signs before incidents occur.

This growing emphasis on safety culture aligns directly with the industry’s broader movement toward Pipeline Safety Management Systems (PSMS), where continuous improvement and organizational learning are becoming central expectations.

Control Rooms and Cybersecurity Remain High-Consequence Risks

Although pipeline incidents tied directly to control rooms are relatively infrequent, both Mayberry and Wiese emphasized that they remain among the industry’s most impactful failures.

From Bellingham to Marshall, Michigan, history has shown that delayed recognition, alarm fatigue, or operational confusion inside control rooms can dramatically increase incident severity.

But the discussion went even further.

Mayberry identified cybersecurity as one of the largest unresolved risks facing operators today:

“We’re just waiting for something to happen at some point.”

His recommendation was direct:

• Build operational resilience now
• Prepare for manual operations when systems fail
• Exercise contingency plans regularly
• Ensure pipelines can continue operating safely even if SCADA systems are compromised

The message was clear:
Operational readiness now includes cyber readiness.

PSMS Momentum Is Accelerating

The webinar also reinforced a larger industry shift already underway: Pipeline Safety Management Systems are moving from voluntary aspiration toward operational expectation.

Recent PHMSA actions, including the 2025 Advisory Bulletin encouraging implementation of API RP 1173-aligned PSMS programs, have significantly increased pressure on operators to mature their systems and demonstrate continuous improvement.

At the same time:

• API RP 1173’s 2nd Edition is approaching publication
• Smaller operators are being pushed toward “size-scaled” PSMS adoption
• Safety culture expectations are expanding
• Stakeholder engagement requirements are increasing

The conversation is no longer:
“Should we adopt PSMS?”

It’s rapidly becoming:
“How mature is our system really?”

The Operators That Win Will Be the Ones That See Risk Earlier

Across every topic discussed — OQ, construction quality, contractor oversight, safety culture, cybersecurity, and PSMS — one common thread emerged:

The future belongs to operators that can identify operational risk before it becomes operational disruption.

That requires:

• Stable, auditable systems
• Real-time qualification visibility
• Alignment between training and field practice
• Strong contractor oversight
• Frontline engagement
• Continuous improvement discipline

Because in today’s environment, reactive compliance is increasingly expensive.

Operational maturity is becoming the differentiator.

Final Thought

As James Cross noted during the webinar, these conversations are not about judgment. They’re about bringing experienced voices together to share lessons learned and help the industry improve collectively.

And if there was one lesson echoed throughout the session, it was this:

"The strongest operators are no longer treating safety, compliance, and operational excellence as separate conversations."

They’re treating them as the same system.

What’s next