Federal grant programs / Department of Transportation

Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant Program (20.708)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$784 million
• Grant awards158
• Typical award$2.5 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$587 million
• Size rank286 of 1824
• Type of assistanceGrant

Key findings

• It is the 286th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 62% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 29 states and territories.

What the program funds

Grant funds will be made available to municipality or community owned utilities (not including for-profit entities) seeking assistance in repairing, rehabilitating, or replacing high-risk, actively leaking, or leak-prone natural gas distribution infrastructure or portions thereof or acquiring equipment to reduce incidents and fatalities and to avoid economic loss. This grant program also strives to create jobs; benefit both rural and urban communities with safe provision of natural gas; and remediate aged and failing natural gas distribution pipelines and distribution pipe prone to leakage.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Municipality-owned utilities, community-owned utilities, or Federally recognized Native American tribal governments owning and operating a natural gas distribution system. Not Eligible: For-profit entities or any pipeline asset(s) owned by a for-profit entity.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Grant funds will be made available to municipalities or community owned utilities (not including for-profit entities) to repair, rehabilitate, or replace natural gas distribution pipeline systems or portions thereof or to acquire equipment to reduce incidents and fatalities, and to avoid economic loss. $196,000,000 - annually as appropriated. Not open to for-profit organizations.;

Matching requirements

Statutory Formula: Title This listing has no statutory formula., Part 0, Subpart 0,Public Law 0.Statutory formula is not acceptable to this assistance listing.Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Refer to Notice of Funding Opportunity posted on grants.gov.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Award(s) to a single entity may not be more than 12.5 percent of the total available funds for the grant program ($1 billion). Average award amount in FY22 was $5,282,709. Average award amount in FY 2023 was $6,122,589.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2021: N/A – New Grant ProgramFiscal Year2022: Construction expenses to repair, rehabilitate, or replace natural gas distribution pipeline infrastructure involving cast iron, bare steel, and/or other high-risk, actively leaking or leak-prone pipe(s). Acquire equipment to assist with leak mitigation and methane reduction on natural gas distribution pipeline infrastructure.Fiscal Year2024: In fiscal year 2024, PHMSA announced the selection of 131 projects in 65 communities totaling nearly $392 million. 98 projects fund construction expenses related to repairing, replacing, or rehabilitating natural gas distribution pipeline infrastructure involving cast iron, bare steel, and/or other high-risk, actively leaking or leak-prone pipe(s). 22 projects fund equipment expenses related to assisting with leak mitigation on natural gas distribution pipeline infrastructure. 11 projects fund miscellaneous expenses related to the replacement of natural gas distribution pipeline infrastructure components, such as meters, gate stations, regulator stations, risers, odorant injection metering systems, and tapping tees.Fiscal Year2025: In fiscal year 2025, PHMSA announced the selection of 60 projects in 56 communities states totaling more than $196 million. 43 projects are construction only, 10 projects are equipment only and 7 projects are miscellaneous.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Almost all of the money went to state and local governments.

By state

25 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.