Direct Final Rule Withdrawals, Confirmations, and the LNG Public Meeting

Today the Federal Register published updates on 20 of PHMSA’s Direct Final Rules (DFRs) that were released earlier this year. This update includes three withdrawals and 17 confirmations of effective dates.

Yesterday PHMSA also sent a notification to the Federal Register announcing a public meeting to clarify comments from stakeholders regarding the LNG Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM).


DFR Withdrawals

Three DFRs from PHMSA’s July Rulemaking were published in the Federal Register for withdrawal. In the original rulemaking PHMSA indicated that the rules would be effective October 9th of 2025 unless adverse comments were received. All three rulemakings received comments from industry organizations or other stakeholders. Subsequently, the DFRs were withdrawn. PHMSA has indicated that they may incorporate the comments into a future DFR or may elect to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). As the NPRM process is much longer than the DFR it may be some time before we see changes to these subject areas. Withdrawn DFRs include:


DFR Confirmation of Effective Date

The DFR titled Rationalize Calculation of Regulatory Filing and Compliance Deadlines was sent to the Federal Register for confirmation of effective date. Due to procedural rule publication requirements the effective date is updated to November 3rd 2025.


DFR Confirmation of Effective Date - IBR Documents

The remainder of the update was confirmation that the below listed Incorporated by Reference (IBR) DFRs from PHMSA’s July Rulemaking did not receive any adverse comments and would go into effect on January 1st 2026 as previously stated. The IBR documents include:


LNG Public Meeting

Finally, PHMSA issued a notice of a virtual public meeting to be held October 22nd of 2025. However, the public meeting did not appear on today’s Federal Register publication. At the time of this newsletter, portions of the Department of Transportation, which PHMSA is under, were included in a government shutdown. It’s unclear how the shutdown may affect the progression of  the public meeting.

The purpose of the meeting is to provide the agency an opportunity to obtain stakeholder clarification or supplementation of comments previously received on PHMSA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in May of this year. PHMSA would be soliciting stakeholder feedback on potential amendments to safety regulations governing LNG facilities at 49 CFR Part 193. The public meeting would consist of brief presentations and panel discussions by PHMSA, other regulators, technical subject matter experts, industry, and other stakeholders. Following each presentation or panel discussion, PHMSA may pose questions to speakers and panelists. PHMSA may also provide an opportunity for members of the public to pose questions to speakers and panelists. Meeting information, including registration, would be posted here when details are finalized.


Operators will want to stay up-to-date on all the changes issued by PHMSA and other relevant agencies. If you would like to receive our expert analysis please contact Lauren.Tipton@ElementalCompliance.com for further details and to keep your pipeline safety programs up to speed with the rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

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