On October 6, the Pipeline Integrity, Protection, and Enhancement for Leveraging Investments in the Nation’s Energy to assure Safety Act of 2025, otherwise known as the PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025 (S. 2975), was introduced on a bipartisan basis by Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.). If enacted, it would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) through 2030. This is the Senate’s first PHMSA reauthorization bill since PHMSA’s authorization expired in 2024 and follows the House-introduced PIPES Act of 2025.
The PIPELINE Safety Act would authorize PHMSA through 2030, providing $222 million via user fees in 2026 that will incrementally increase to $248.4 million for fiscal year 2030. The bill also authorizes PHMSA to make safety and educational grants to local communities dedicated to pipeline safety.
Like the PIPES Act, the PIPELINE Safety Act outlines leading practices states should consider implementing for their one-call center systems, as well as considerations that the U.S. Secretary of Transportation should consider in making a damage prevention grant to a state. Data from the Common Ground Alliance indicates that facility marking errors and inaccurate markings are two of the most common causes of incidents when digging, which can lead to costly damages and project delays. Additionally, an AGC of America 811 survey found that 87% of contractors report that it takes longer than one business day for locators to arrive at a project site to mark underground utilities and that nearly two-thirds of utility strikes occur at least two feet away from where they were marked prior to digging. The bill’s inclusion of leading practices ensures that local communities will have more support to correctly and expeditiously locate and mark underground utility lines, mitigating challenges and weaknesses that could cause a critical accident.
The bill also establishes a Volunteer Information-Sharing system that will encourage the exchange of pipeline safety data in a non-punitive context, including but not limited to providing contractors and excavators with further information on the causes of damage, pipeline safety survey information and technologies used during and to prevent accidents. A full list of the key provisions within the PIPELINE Safety Act, prepared by professional staff on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, may be found here.
The Committee is expected to consider the PIPELINE Safety Act on October 21 after postponing the hearing from October 8.
For more information, please contact John Chambers.