Womack bill would keep $218M pipeline safety funding through 2029

Communities near pipelines would get a longer federal safety backstop in Washington. A House spending bill sets aside $218,186,000 for pipeline safety work and Transportation Department duties under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and the money would stay available through Sept. 30, 2029.

Representative Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican, wrote the measure. The account is tied to section 60107 of title 49, the legal authority for the pipeline safety program.

The safety account

For people who live near pipelines, the practical question is whether the federal system has enough runway to keep inspections, oversight and spill-response duties moving. This line item does not create a new program, but it keeps the existing one funded beyond the usual year-end deadline.

That matters because pipeline work is not a one-off expense. Safety oversight, compliance and spill-related responsibilities can stretch across years, and the bill keeps those dollars alive until 2029 instead of forcing them to lapse at the end of the fiscal year.

The three-day pause

The bill also adds a notice rule for Transportation Department research spending. Any money under this heading, whether from this bill or earlier laws, for research contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or research other transaction agreements would have to be sent to House and Senate appropriators in writing at least three full business days before the award is announced.

That does not block the awards. It slows the clock just enough to give lawmakers a look before DOT goes public, which means more visibility into research funding that can shape pipeline safety policy and other transportation work.