# PIPELINE SAFETY $ $ $ $ $

**Agency:** Transportation  
**Account:** PIPELINE SAFETY $ $ $ $ $  
**Source document:** PHMSA · p. 1  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/budget/transportation/pipeline-safety  

> **Trust:** parsed from the agency Congressional Justification. Approximate, **not summable**, verify at the cited page.

## Funding ($M)

| Fiscal year | Basis | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FY2025 | enacted | 218.2 |
| FY2026 | enacted | 214.8 |
| FY2027 | request | 218.2 |

## Transportation discretionary budget authority (OMB PBDB — authoritative)

FY2027 $22.40B, FY2026 $61.90B. This is the agency total, not a sum of the parsed lines.


## What this funds

PHMSA's Pipeline Safety Research Program supports the safe and efficient transportation of energy products. Research priorities are identified through a collaborative process that includes reviewing accident trends, collecting input through a public portal, holding biennial forums with industry and researchers, and partnering with government and non-government organizations. PHMSA also evaluates past research to identify opportunities for follow-on work. This collaborative approach helps focus resources on the most important and impactful research PHMSA's safety focus will encourage future innovation. PHMSA's pipeline research is driving new safety solutions and innovative technologies with research projects through the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Center of Excellence. With natural gas production and LNG terminals expanding, the Center of Excellence will help unleash American energy in its work on operational safety practices and as a repository on best practices for facility operators and and threat prevention from geohazard, seismic, floods, human causes, and third-party damages. This directly improves pipeline safety and industry reliability which ensures more of the Anticipated Program Activities: The FY 2027 PHMSA research priorities for the Pipeline Safety RD&T Program will focus on the following areas: to be a priority as expansion of the sector continues. Coordination with LNG sector stakeholders will develop research solutions to address performance-based risk reduction at every type of LNG facility during site location, design, construction, operations, maintenance, and fire protection activities. LNG funding was reduced in 2026 to complete and evaluate results from prior years' research, ensuring future funding targets unresolved research related to detecting and characterizing anomalies in pipeline systems continues to be a priority. Detection capability should be improved for corrosion, cracks, dents, gouges, and other anomaly types. With a focus on infrastructure and product movement, funding has been increased to address identified safety and integrity gaps to prevent incidents and accidents. of releases, reduces adverse consequences, and keeps more product in the pipe. Maintaining funding levels in this area will continue to advance and modernize technology to develop better ways to identify, locate, and quantify hazardous liquid leaks in pipeline systems. ' Pipeline Threat Prevention ($2.0 million): Investment in research related to excavation, natural forces, and other outside force damage to pipelines continues to be the cause of serious incidents.1 Preventing or reducing this damage would greatly increase pipeline safety and reduce impact to communities. Threat prevention and managing risk continue to play a key role in pipeline safety. Increasing research levels will help to identify and determine best ways to reduce those risks and develop necessary tools. ' Repair/Rehabilitation ($2.0 million): Investment in research related to better understand damaged coatings, corrosion, and other defects is a priority due to increases in system conversions. Improving existing, and creating new, reliable repair methods is critical to the safe and economical operation of pipelines. This increase will address gaps identified in ' Design, Materials, and Welding/Joining ($2.0 million): Investment in research related to pipeline materials and design continues to be a priority, including research on how pipeline materials and design can mitigate or minimize integrity threats to hazardous liquid, gas transmission and distribution pipelines, UNGS facilities, and LNG facilities. Welding and joining requires automation and inspection capabilities that can safely improve the strength of construction activities in economical ways. To enhance the safety and integrity of pipeline infrastructure, funding has been increased to address identified gaps in these areas. This investment aims to prevent incidents and accidents by strengthening pipeline design, material


**Where it sits:** Civilian / Non-Defense › Transportation › PHMSA › PIPELINE SAFETY $ $ $ $ $


*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. government. Civilian line dollars are parsed from agency Congressional Justifications and are approximate.*