PIPES Act Boosts Safety Funding, Adds CO2 Rules, and Funds $150M in Community Gas Line Upgrades

The Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety Act of 2025, or the PIPES Act, is a massive legislative package focused on modernizing pipeline safety standards, greatly increasing federal funding for safety programs, and formally bringing carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines under federal regulation for the first time.

This bill starts by authorizing big spending increases for pipeline safety programs through fiscal year 2029. For example, funding authorization for general gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety jumps from $181.4 million in 2026 to $206.6 million in 2029. Crucially, the bill establishes a brand new grant program called “Safe Energy for Communities” that authorizes $150 million annually from 2027 through 2029. This money is specifically for publicly owned natural gas distribution systems—like those run by a city or town—to upgrade old, leaky pipelines. For a small community struggling to replace aging infrastructure, this grant could be the difference between a major safety risk and a necessary modernization.

The CO2 Connection: A New Era of Regulation

If you’ve heard about carbon capture, this section is the real-world policy follow-up. The PIPES Act explicitly expands federal pipeline safety law to include carbon dioxide pipelines alongside natural gas and hazardous liquids. This means that CO2 pipelines must now adhere to the same safety standards, inspection protocols, and high-consequence area protections as other critical energy infrastructure (SEC. 3, SEC. 25).

Operators of these CO2 lines must now conduct vapor dispersion modeling to predict how far a leak would spread and which populated areas would be affected. While the Secretary can withhold security-sensitive details like worst-case scenarios from the public, the general requirement is a significant step toward ensuring public safety planning keeps pace with the growing CO2 transport industry. This is a big deal for anyone living near a proposed CO2 route, as it mandates a technical safety assessment that hasn't always been required before.

Clearing the Bureaucratic Backlog

For anyone frustrated by government inefficiency, the bill includes a major push for regulatory transparency. The Act requires the Department of Transportation to publish a public update every 30 days detailing the status of any final safety rule mandated by Congress that hasn't been published yet (SEC. 5). This update must include timelines, staffing levels dedicated to the rule, and explanations for any delays, especially if the rule is stuck in the Secretary’s office for more than 45 days. This is essentially Congress installing a bright, blinking progress bar on the agency’s rulemaking process, which should mean faster safety updates for everyone.

To support this, the bill authorizes the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to hire up to 30 additional technical experts (engineers, scientists) to help develop and enforce these safety rules and meet deadlines (SEC. 4). This move recognizes that you can’t regulate complex infrastructure without the right expertise on staff.

Data Sharing with Legal Protection

The bill creates a new, confidential Voluntary Information-Sharing System (VIS) for pipeline safety data (SEC. 24). The idea is simple: Pipeline companies and others can share safety data, lessons learned from near misses, and risk analysis information without fear of that data being used against them in court or enforcement actions. The goal is to create a safe space for sharing information that improves the overall safety culture.

While this is a great idea for fostering communication, it comes with a catch: data submitted to the VIS is exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and generally cannot be used as evidence in lawsuits. This legal shield is crucial for encouraging participation, but it also means that safety information shared confidentially might be hidden from public view, prompting questions about accountability if a major incident occurs.

Greener Rights-of-Way and Higher Penalties

In a nod to environmental concerns, the bill encourages pipeline operators to adopt alternative maintenance methods for pipeline rights-of-way (SEC. 13). This allows operators to use practices like planting native grasses and wildflowers, or adjusting mowing schedules, to create habitats for pollinators like monarch butterflies, provided the alternative methods maintain the required safety level.

On the enforcement side, the maximum civil penalty for certain safety violations is significantly increased from $2 million to $3.412 million (SEC. 22). Furthermore, the bill establishes a new federal crime with penalties of up to 10 years in prison for knowingly and intentionally causing a defect in or disrupting the operation of pipeline equipment (SEC. 21). This is a clear response to intentional damage or unauthorized tampering that could lead to catastrophic failure. If you're an operator, the cost of cutting corners just went up; if you're a regular citizen, the government is taking intentional sabotage very seriously.