Original article published by PHMSA
First-of-its-Kind program is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, will protect communities across the country from dangerous gas leaks and create jobs
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will announce a historic $196 million in grants for 37 projects spread across 19 states. This new grant program helps improve public safety, protect public health, and reduce methane emissions from natural gas distribution pipes. The Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program, established by President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides nearly $1 billion in funding over the course of five years to modernize municipally and community-owned natural gas distribution pipes, helping to keep communities across the country safe from pipeline leaks.
“This funding to modernize our gas pipelines will help protect residents from dangerous leaks, create good-paying jobs, and reduce methane emissions in communities across the nation, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
These grants are projected to create hundreds of jobs in rural and urban communities around the U.S. Grant funding recipients will repair, replace, or rehabilitate nearly 270 miles of pipe, thereby reducing methane emissions by approximately 212 metric tons, annually. Ultimately, these projects will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which enables the United States to leverage 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.
“Investments in pipeline safety are investments in community safety and our shared environment,” said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown. “For far too long, underserved communities have had to bear the brunt of aging and dangerous pipelines. This funding will finally give communities the resources they need to replace legacy pipelines— improving safety, protecting the environment, and creating jobs.”
Beginning today, Department of Transportation officials will spread out across the country, delivering the grant funding to more than 20 communities, as part of President Biden’s Invest in America Tour. Secretary Pete Buttigieg will kick off the week of events in Las Cruces, New Mexico, awarding $10 million to the City of Las Cruces. Follow along for this week of funding on PHMSA’s social media channels (Twitter and LinkedIn).
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, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities safer and more resilient.
The next funding opportunity of $392 million is expected to be released in May of this year. For more information about this grant, including additional resources and information for applicants and stakeholders, click here
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration develops and enforces regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound operation of the nation’s 3.4-million-mile pipeline transportation system and the nearly 1.2 million daily shipments of hazardous materials by land, sea, and air. Please visit https://www.phmsa.dot.gov for more information.
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