U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced $392 million in grants to support 130 projects aimed at fixing aging natural gas pipelines, helping reduce air pollution and reducing costs for ratepayers in 26 states. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorized the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program, which provided nearly $1 billion in funding over the course of five years to modernize community-owned natural gas distribution pipes and help to keep communities across the country safe from dangers associated with pipeline leaks. 

“Gas pipeline leaks are dangerous, harm the environment, and cost families more on their bills, which is why President Biden created the first program of its kind to help communities fix aging gas pipelines,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Today, we’re proud to award $392 million to help 130 communities—from Texas to Nebraska to Pennsylvania—modernize their gas pipelines to keep people safe, keep energy costs down, and keep methane out of our air.”

Today, Department of Transportation officials will begin efforts to spread out across the country to announce grant funding to more than 65 communities. The events will kick off in North Carolina today where PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown will award grants totaling: 

• $5.4 million to the City of Rocky Mount to replace 9.8 miles of natural gas pipelines, reduce up to 11 metric tons of methane annually, and help create 53 jobs.
• $3.1 million to the City of Wilson to replace 2,200 actively leaking tapping tees to reduce environmental impacts related to methane releases and safety risks to the public.

PHMSA will make additional individual announcements in the coming weeks for all grant recipients.  Follow along for funding announcements on PHMSA’s social media channels (LinkedIn and X).  PHMSA will also post the full list of selections on its website.

“This first-of-its-kind infrastructure grant program is both making communities safer and helping those rural and urban communities most in need, save money on their energy bills,” said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown. “We are helping communities that are still relying on pipes from the 1800s modernize their systems and reduce emissions of harmful pollution.”

The first year of the program attracted nearly $1.8 billion worth of applications for the first $200 million in grants that were available, demonstrating the need for investments around the country. This round of grant selections combined funding for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. These awards will support 130 projects in disadvantaged communities, including underserved rural and urban communities. Grant funding recipients will repair, rehabilitate, or replace nearly 500 miles of pipe, resulting in a reduction of nearly 1,400 metric tons of methane pollution emissions, annually– the equivalent of taking nearly 10,000 vehicles off the road. 

These projects will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, by which the United States is leveraging all available tools to reduce methane emissions while protecting public health, promoting U.S. innovation in new technologies, lowering energy costs for families by reducing inefficiency and waste, and supporting good-paying jobs for thousands of skilled workers across the country.

In the development of this first-of-its-kind infrastructure grant program, PHMSA also developed a new tool for applicants to facilitate the Federal environmental review process for projects, which will provide efficiencies for applicants and expedite necessary repairs that will reduce environmental impacts. 

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out, not top-down – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.  The President is committed to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change, advance environmental justice, and make our communities safer and more resilient.