Pipeline operators can now write their own inspection schedules (more or less)

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is proposing an overhaul of its rules for aboveground "breakout" tanks, the massive structures used to manage pressure surges and store crude oil or chemicals mid-transit. The new rule allows pipeline operators to abandon fixed, calendar-based inspection schedules in favor of their own private Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) models.

Right now, federal law keeps pipeline operators on a tight leash when it comes to hazardous liquid storage. Under current rules, companies are legally required to physically check the structural integrity of these massive tanks on a strict, predictable schedule—at least once a calendar year. If a tank holds millions of gallons of corrosive crude oil, you inspect it when the calendar says to inspect it, period.
This document breaks that baseline.
Instead of forcing companies to stick to strict deadlines, the new rule allows operators to use automated risk models to determine their own timelines. A pipeline company can feed its own data, like a tank's age, design, and calculated corrosion rates, into software to mathematically justify stretching the time between physical safety inspections.

The industry fought hard for this because physical inspections are incredibly disruptive and expensive. Taking a massive breakout tank offline to inspect it costs a fortune. By letting companies use software models instead, the government expects the pipeline industry to save up to $150 million a year.

The compromise here is obvious. While modern data tracking is great, switching to risk-based schedules means you are trusting the pipeline operators to accurately report their own data. If an operator skimps on tracking corrosion or plugs optimistic numbers into their risk software, the model will say a tank is perfectly fine, right up until the moment it structurally fails and dumps crude oil into a local water table.