The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that their Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will begin accepting applications for its Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant program that was created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant program will distribute approximately $200 million in the form of competitive grants to projects that "improve the safety of high-risk, leak-prone natural gas distribution infrastructure and create good-paying jobs, with an emphasis on benefiting underserved communities, in both rural and urban areas,” a recent DOT press release said.
“We’re announcing new funding today to help communities of all sizes make their natural gas pipelines safer, create good jobs, and reduce the risks to residents, businesses, and our environment from dangerous accidents or leaks,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “This funding became available through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which we are hard at work implementing across every area of our Department's responsibility.”
The funds are available to "all municipal or community-owned utilities (excluding for-profit entities) seeking assistance in repairing, rehabilitating, or replacing high-risk, leak-prone natural gas distribution infrastructure,” the release said.
“These grants will help communities upgrade piping that in some cases is older than any American alive today,” PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown said in the release. “All eligible entities are encouraged to apply, with a focus on projects that will have the greatest benefits for the communities that need the most support.”
Much of the funding will go to equipment that will be used to mitigate the dangers and incidents of pipelines, such as leaks or physical injury; the release said.
