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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is soliciting grant applications for nearly $200 million as part of a program established by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November 2021. The Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program aims to mitigate safety risks and methane emissions from high-risk, leak-prone legacy natural gas distribution pipes.
To date, the grant program has provided nearly $600 million in funding to create pipeline jobs, lower energy costs for consumers, and modernize infrastructure that has been around for decades. "Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we're making critical infrastructure updates in every region of the United States—and this work includes repairing and replacing corroded and outdated natural gas pipes that in some instances have been underground for over a century," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "The round of grants we are opening today will help reduce methane pollution and make it possible for over 100 communities to access safer, more reliable energy and potentially lower energy bills."
The funding opportunity is open to all municipal or community-owned utilities seeking assistance in repairing, rehabilitating, or replacing high-risk natural gas distribution infrastructure. Examples of projects funded by the program include:
- Richmond Gas Works (Richmond, VA): $49 million to replace over 42 miles of cast-iron, ductile iron, and steel natural gas mains.
- City of Donaldsonville (Donaldsonville, LA): $30 million to repair and replace existing gas lines.
- Philadelphia Gas Works (Philadelphia, PA): $85 million to replace 46 miles of cast iron pipes in historically disadvantaged areas.
Funds can also be used to acquire equipment that will assist in reducing natural gas distribution pipeline incidents and fatalities.
"This first-of-its-kind program established by the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is saving lives and ensuring work that would otherwise take decades is completed in a matter of years," said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown. "We are seeing huge interest from rural, urban, and tribal communities for this program—and we're eager to get this additional round of funding to those in need."
Collectively, these projects aim to reduce methane leakage risk—methane having nearly 80 times the global warming potential as carbon dioxide—create jobs for pipeline workers, and reduce energy costs associated with legacy pipe repairs.
Final award selections will consider a project’s economic benefit to disadvantaged communities among other factors listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The deadline to apply for the latest request for grant applications is June 20, 2024.
For more information on eligibility requirements and application instructions, visit Grants.gov or PHMSA’s NGDISM Grants page.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration develops regulations for safe operation of the nation's pipeline transportation system. Visit https://www.phmsa.dot.gov for more information.