DOT/PHMSA: 2023 Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is soliciting proposals for its Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant.

Donor Name: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 07/24/2023

Size of the Grant: $125,000,000

Grant Duration: Up to 60 months

Details:

The Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant’s eligible entities are municipality- or community-owned utilities, not including for-profit entities, needing assistance in repairing, rehabilitating, or replacing high-risk, leak-prone natural gas distribution infrastructure, or in acquiring equipment to reduce incidents and fatalities and avoid economic losses. The NGDISM Grant Program also strives to create good-paying jobs,2 promote economic growth, and benefit disadvantaged rural and urban communities with safe provision of natural gas.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of the NGDISM Grant Program are to:

• advance the safe delivery of energy through reducing the risk profile of existing municipal- and community-owned natural gas distribution infrastructure that contains high-risk, leaking, and/or leak-prone pipe;
• focus on projects that will have the greatest benefits for communities of all sizes needing the most support to make their natural gas distribution pipelines safer for their residents and businesses, and to protect their environment from dangerous incidents and/or leaks;
• benefit underserved and/or disadvantaged communities, in both rural and urban areas, by reducing incidents and fatalities, and avoiding economic losses caused by natural gas distribution pipeline failures;
• protect their environment and reduce climate impacts by remediating aged and failing natural gas distribution pipelines and distribution pipe prone to leakage;
• provide positive economic impact and growth; and
• create and sustain good-paying infrastructure-related jobs.

The Administration’s priority and Departmental Strategic Plan priorities are:

• Safety
  • The Department is committed to advancing safe, efficient transportation, including in the NGDISM Grant Program.
• Climate Change and Sustainability
  • The Department seeks to fund projects under the NGDISM Grant Program that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector; incorporate evidence-based climate resilience measures and features; reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from the project materials and avoid adverse environmental impacts to air or water quality, wetlands, and endangered species; and address the disproportionate negative environmental impacts of transportation on disadvantaged communities, consistent with Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
• Equity
  • The Department seeks to award projects under the NGDISM Grant Program that will create proportional impacts to all populations in a project area, remove transportation-related disparities to all populations in a project area, and increase equitable access to project benefits, consistent with Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government .
• Workforce Development, Job Quality, and Wealth Creation
  • The Department intends to use the NGDISM Grant Program to support the creation of good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union, and the incorporation of strong labor standards and training and placement programs, especially registered apprenticeships, in project planning stages, consistent with Executive Order 14025, Worker Organizing and Empowerment, and Executive Order 14052, Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Program Funding: $392,000,000
• Award Ceiling: $125,000,000

Period of Performance

The period of performance is up to 60 months.

Eligibility Criteria

The FY 2023 NGDISM Grant Program is open to the following entities:

• City or township governments owning and operating a natural gas distribution system
• Community-owned utilities owning and operating a natural gas distribution system (owned by the customers it serves)
• County governments owning and operating a natural gas distribution system
• Municipality-owned utilities owning and operating a natural gas distribution system (owned by a local government)
• Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) owning and operating a natural gas distribution system
• For-profit entities are not eligible for NGDISM grant funding.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.