FY 2023 Pipeline Emergency Response Grant (PERG) NOFO | 693JK323NF0002

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JK323NF0002

The FY 2023 Pipeline Emergency Response Grant (PERG) Notice of Funding Opportunity is a competitive, discretionary grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) under Assistance Listing (CFDA) 20.706. The purpose of PERG is to strengthen public-sector emergency preparedness and incident response capabilities for accidents or incidents involving the transportation of gas or hazardous liquids by pipeline, with a specific emphasis on high consequence areas (HCAs). In practical terms, the program is designed to make sure that the governmental agencies and jurisdictions most likely to face serious consequences from a pipeline incident have the training and readiness needed to protect people, property, and the environment.

Eligibility is limited strictly to governmental entities at the state, county, and local levels, including city or township governments. Other types of applicants (such as nonprofits, universities, private companies, or individuals) are not eligible under this opportunity. PHMSA will accept only one application per applicant, which means an eligible government entity needs to consolidate its proposed activities into a single submission rather than submitting multiple separate applications.

The grant is centered on training-related projects for individuals who have statutory responsibility to respond to pipeline incidents in HCAs. The main intent is not general community education or broad safety outreach, but targeted training that improves the operational effectiveness of emergency responders and other responsible personnel when a pipeline incident occurs. PHMSA frames this as a core component of hazardous materials transportation safety, because well-trained responders can reduce the severity of impacts by acting quickly, coordinating effectively, and applying appropriate response tactics in situations involving gas releases, fires, explosions, or hazardous liquid spills.

Administratively, PHMSA places strong emphasis on documenting both the training activities and the use of federal funds. Applicants are expected to identify specific training projects based on demonstrated needs and to maintain detailed records throughout the grant. At a minimum, recordkeeping must include the number of people trained, the type of course provided, the cost of training, the location where training occurred, and the name, title, and position of each trainee. In addition, PHMSA requires a detailed accounting of every grant expenditure, including how much was spent and the purpose of each expense. This reflects the program's focus on accountability and on being able to clearly connect expenditures to concrete preparedness outcomes.

Performance under the award is measured against what the applicant proposed and PHMSA approved in the grant application. In other words, success is evaluated by whether the applicant delivered the training projects described in its application and whether those projects address the training needs laid out in the applicant's statement of need. This makes the quality and specificity of the proposed training plan especially important, because the plan becomes the basis for both oversight and performance evaluation.

For FY 2023, the funding opportunity number is 693JK323NF0002. The notice was created on December 15, 2022, with an original application deadline of February 15, 2023, and applications submitted after that deadline may not be considered. PHMSA anticipated making about 20 awards, with an award ceiling of $500,000 per award. The overall funding activity aligns most directly with employment, labor and training, and transportation, reflecting that the program's core deliverable is workforce readiness and emergency response capability tied to pipeline safety in high-risk areas.

• The Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin in the employment, labor and training, other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification), transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 2023 Pipeline Emergency Response Grant (PERG) NOFO" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.706.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 15, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 15, 2023 Applications received after this deadline may not be considered. PHMSA will only accept one application from each applicant.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments.

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