# 119-hr-5301: PIPES Act of 2025 119-hr-5301, PIPES Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Graves, Sam [R-MO-6] (R-MO); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-30). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5301 - As of: 2026-09-30 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-5301 - Congress: 119 - Title: PIPES Act of 2025 - Status: in_committee - Introduced: 2025-09-11 - Sponsor: Rep. Graves, Sam [R-MO-6] (R-MO) - Cosponsors: 4 - Policy area: Transportation and Public Works - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-09-30 ## Summary **Would expand and modernize federal pipeline safety to explicitly cover carbon dioxide pipelines.** It would also boost funding, create a confidential data‑sharing system, and set new grant and inspection rules to raise safety across gas, CO2, and hazardous liquid systems. - Families and communities: Would create a Safe Energy for Communities grant program that provides $150 million per year for FY2027–FY2029 for publicly owned natural gas distribution systems and allows funding prioritization for rural or high‑safety‑need areas. - Pipeline operators and industry: Would extend safety and reporting rules to CO2 pipelines, require dispersion modeling for CO2, raise the civil penalty cap to $3,412,000, and add criminal penalties up to 10 years for causing pipeline defects or disruption. - Federal, State, and emergency responders: Would increase PHMSA capacity with up to 30 additional full‑time staff, fund annual fee and Trust Fund appropriations beginning at $181.4 million in FY2026 plus Oil Spill Trust Fund support, and create a Voluntary Information‑Sharing System with statutory confidentiality protections and initial funding of $1 million in FY2026 and $10 million annually thereafter. *Would increase federal spending by adding General Fund grants and expanded appropriations and Trust Fund allocations to support PHMSA programs.* ## Cosponsors (4) - Rep. Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2] (D-WA), 2025-09-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11] (R-FL), 2025-09-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV), 2025-09-11T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Van Drew, Jefferson [R-NJ-2] (R-NJ), 2025-09-16T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Better public alerts and safety info: benefit, high. DOT would review how pipeline owners share safety info with the public and responders and report to Congress within 180 days after that review. GAO would study whether to require local emergency alerts near at‑risk facilities and report in 18 months. PHMSA would publish yearly summaries of Pipeline… - New criminal penalties for pipeline sabotage: benefit, high. This bill would make it a crime to knowingly damage pipeline parts or to turn a valve without authorization. The penalty could be a fine, up to 10 years in prison, or both. It would cover parts in transit to staging or construction sites and parts at those sites. - New grants for public gas utilities: benefit, high. This bill would create a grant program for publicly owned gas utilities. It would fund $150 million each year in FY2027–FY2029 to fix or replace old pipes. A single utility could not get more than 12.5% of that year’s money. Grants would cover at least 90% of eligible project costs. Rural and econo… - Stronger safety rules for CO2 pipelines: benefit, high. This bill would add clear legal definitions for carbon dioxide and CO2 pipeline facilities. It would fold CO2 pipelines into existing safety programs and fees. CO2 pipeline operators would have to model vapor dispersion to find high‑consequence areas and keep records. DOT would have to finish a fin… - Multi-year funding for pipeline safety: benefit, high. If enacted, PHMSA would receive fee-based funding of $181.4 million (FY2026), $189.8 million (FY2027), $198.2 million (FY2028), and $206.6 million (FY2029). It would also draw $30.0–$31.5 million each year from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for hazardous liquid programs. Underground gas storag… - Stronger one-call rules for digging: benefit, medium. State 811 one‑call programs would need to adopt leading practices to cut excavation damage. The practices would cover ticket size and life, fewer exemptions, better markings, white lining, training, and reporting. Federal grants would depend on adoption or progress. DOT would report within 3 years… - Faster decisions and more transparency: benefit, medium. DOT would post rulemaking status updates every 30 days until each required final rule is published. It would regularly review industry standards, post which ones it considered, and ensure adopted standards are free to read online. Special permit decisions would be published and finished within 18 m… - Independent studies on pipeline risks and costs: benefit, medium. DOT would hire the National Academies within 45 days to study pipeline integrity and report within 2 years. Another Academies study would measure the direct and indirect costs of pipeline failures and finish within 3 years. GAO would review geohazard requirements and practices within 1 year and fla… - More grants for safety and community info: benefit, medium. The bill would fund $2 million per year in FY2026–FY2029 for damage prevention grants to States. It would raise community information grants to $2.25–$3.0 million over FY2026–FY2029. It would raise technical assistance awards from $1.25 million (FY2026) to $2.0 million (FY2029). - More staff and hiring tools at PHMSA: benefit, medium. PHMSA would be allowed to add up to 30 technical staff to speed rulemaking and oversight. The bill would set hiring and retention funds of $3.4 million (FY2026), $5.1 million (FY2027), $6.8 million (FY2028), and $8.5 million (FY2029). DOT would report to Congress on hiring progress within one year. - New LNG safety coordination group: benefit, medium. DOT would set up an LNG Safety Working Group. It would clarify agency roles, reduce overlap, and negotiate interagency agreements. The agreements would be due within 2 years after enactment. - Full federal grants for small colleges: benefit, low. This bill would let small and mid-sized colleges get a 100% federal share on certain pipeline safety research awards. The school would need to ask in writing before the award. Eligible schools are those with 17,500 students or fewer. The Secretary would report to Congress who got full funding after… - Less money for some pipeline grants: cost, low. This bill would cut one pipeline safety grant program’s yearly authorization. It would drop from $3 million to $2 million for fiscal years 2026–2029. Grantees could face less money available for their projects. - Higher cap on pipeline safety fines: cost, low. Pipeline operators could face a higher maximum civil penalty. The cap would rise from $2,000,000 to $3,412,000 upon enactment. - Updates to gas pipeline safety rules: mixed, high. DOT would issue a final rule on class‑location changes within 90 days of enactment. It would propose rules within 180 days on safety requirements for idled pipelines. DOT would review who counts as “occupied” or an “identified site” and may tighten definitions to raise safety. A temporary exception… - Confidential safety data-sharing program: mixed, medium. The bill would create a voluntary, confidential system to share pipeline safety data. DOT would fund it with $1 million in FY2026 and $10 million each year in FY2027–FY2029. Non‑public data accepted by the system would be confidential and exempt from FOIA and most lawsuits. Criminal evidence and da… - Planning for hydrogen in gas pipelines: mixed, medium. GAO would study pipelines with more than 5% hydrogen blended into natural gas and report in 1 year. DOT would study using composite materials for hydrogen pipelines, take public comment, and start a rulemaking after the study and meetings. DOT could issue other hydrogen rules even before the GAO re… - Greener right of way maintenance: mixed, low. Pipeline operators could choose voluntary conservation‑minded right‑of‑way practices if safety stays at least equal to current rules. Examples include reduced mowing and planting deep‑rooted grasses and wildflowers. Operators would still have to follow all other safety laws. ## Related bills - 119-hr-4275: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 - 119-hr-8870: BUILD America 250 Act - 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025 - 119-hr-9497: Water Resources Development Act of 2026 - 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act - 119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-hr-5301 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5301) ## Related - [119-hr-4275: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4275) - [119-hr-8870: BUILD America 250 Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8870) - [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669) - [119-hr-9497: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9497) - [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842) - [119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1422) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5301 (as of 2026-09-30).