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A bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA’s) pipeline safety programs for the next four years and provide an efficient, effective framework to advance the safety of U.S. energy infrastructure was introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

H.R. 5301, the Promoting Innovation in Pipeline Efficiency and Safety (PIPES) Act of 2025, was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO); Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA); Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Webster (R-FL); and Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member Dina Titus (D-NV).

“The United States is blessed with abundant energy resources, and we must remain a global leader in the production and exportation of energy,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves. “This bill helps ensure that PHMSA remains focused on its critical safety mission so that we can transport our traditional and future forms of energy safely, efficiently, and responsibly. I want to thank Chairman Webster and Ranking Members Larsen and Titus for their bipartisan cooperation in helping develop this bill.”

“The tragic 1999 Olympic pipeline explosion in my district has motivated me to improve pipeline safety throughout my entire time in Congress, and this bipartisan bill brings us one step closer to achieving that," said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen. “The PIPES Act will reinforce the safety oversight of millions of miles of existing pipelines – as well as new carbon dioxide and hydrogen pipelines – and dedicate funding to replacing aging pipes. Thank you to my colleagues Chairman Graves, Chairman Webster, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Titus for their partnership, and I look forward to the T&I Committee marking up this important bill.”

“Pipelines are the vital link that deliver America’s oil, gas, and hazardous materials to the market safely and efficiently,” said Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Webster. “The PIPES Act of 2025 helps restore American energy independence by reauthorizing PHMSA’s pipeline safety program for the next four years, ensuring this critical infrastructure remains secure and dependable. Safety is improved through proven industry standards, tougher penalties on those who seek to damage our energy infrastructure, and streamlining regulations so energy can move to markets without unnecessary delays.”

“There are 3.4 million miles of pipelines carrying hazardous materials in the United States, and more than 20,000 of those are in Nevada,” said Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Ranking Member Dina Titus. “The PIPES Act will protect our communities from pipeline incidents by modernizing and improving federal safety regulations. I am especially proud that this legislation raises the maximum civil penalty for pipeline safety violations by 25 percent, ensures our first responders have the information they need to effectively respond to incidents, and creates a new grant program to fund critical repairs to publicly owned natural gas pipelines.”

Highlights of the PIPES Act of 2025 include:

Improves and Reemphasizes PHMSA’s Safety Mission
The PIPES Act of 2025 recognizes that PHMSA’s mission is to advance pipeline safety. The bill directs PHMSA to move forward rulemakings allowed by Congress in previous laws to improve pipeline operations, strengthens criminal penalties for pipeline damage or disruption, increases civil penalties on operators that violate safety rules, authorizes the hiring of additional pipeline safety experts to address workforce shortages, updates best practices for preventing excavation damage, establishes a voluntary safety information sharing system for pipeline operators, directs the National Academies to study PHMSA’s integrity management regulations and their impact on safety, and more.  

Fosters Collaboration and Transparency
The PIPES Act of 2025 improves clarity, transparency, and accountability at PHMSA. The bill requires PHMSA to maintain a list of industry standards considered for adoption and the agency’s adjudication of those standards, improves PHMSA’s public outreach and engagement efforts, makes publicly available a report of PHMSA’s inspection and enforcement priorities, permits pipeline operators to develop alternative methods of maintaining pipeline infrastructure rights-of-way, encourages the issuance of guidance to improve pipeline safety information sharing with the public, increases the available funding for small and mid-sized educational institutions to participate in PHMSA’s competitive academic agreement program efforts, and more.

Advances Traditional and Emerging Fuels and Technology
The PIPES Act of 2025 supports the safe operations of both traditional and innovative, emerging energy sources and the technology to support them, strengthening the foundation for an all-of-the-above American energy future.  Provisions in the bill authorize a study of current hydrogen blending projects, require PHMSA to complete a rulemaking on standards for the transportation and temporary storage of carbon dioxide, direct a study of composite pipeline material for potential hydrogen service, create a federal working group to clarify regulation and oversight of liquefied natural gas facilities, and more.

Full legislative text of H.R. 5301

Section by section summary of H.R. 5301