EWN Transmission Discussion with Former Regulators

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"

Alan Mayberry described 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, and 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."

The Cost of Poor Qualification Is Bigger Than the Fine

Operators still underestimate the operational impact of qualification failures. 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, and increased scrutiny across operations.

The operational disruption tied to qualification gaps often dwarfs the civil penalty itself. Both former regulators repeatedly returned to the same principle: "Operators own the responsibility — even when contractors perform the work."

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. 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.

The operators making the biggest strides today are focusing on real-time operational visibility, stronger safety culture, workforce engagement, contractor alignment, data integrity, and continuous improvement systems — not simply "passing the audit."

Safety Culture Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Wiese specifically warned against treating culture as a survey exercise or executive talking point. Culture becomes visible when frontline employees feel empowered to speak up, surface operational risk, challenge unsafe assumptions, share lessons learned, and participate in improvement. Operators who fail to build that environment often miss critical warning signs before incidents occur.

Control Rooms and Cybersecurity Remain High-Consequence Risks

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, and ensure pipelines can continue operating safely even if SCADA systems are compromised.

PSMS Momentum Is Accelerating

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.

The conversation is no longer "Should we adopt PSMS?" It's rapidly becoming "How mature is our system really?"

What's Next

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, and continuous improvement discipline.

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