FY2021 - State Damage Prevention Program Grants | 693JK321NF0001

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JK321NF0001

The FY2021 State Damage Prevention Program Grants opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 693JK321NF0001) is a discretionary grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The program sits under CFDA 20.720 and is aimed at strengthening damage prevention efforts, especially those that reduce the risk of accidental damage to underground pipelines and related infrastructure during excavation and construction activities. In practical terms, the grant is designed to support initiatives that improve how states and partner organizations prevent, track, enforce, and educate around excavation safety and "call before you dig" style practices, which ultimately helps avoid service disruptions, environmental harm, injuries, and costly emergency response events.

This funding opportunity is structured as a grant (not a contract) and is categorized as discretionary, meaning proposals typically compete based on program priorities and applicant readiness rather than being allocated automatically by formula. The listed activity categories are broad and reflect the real-world impact of damage prevention work: community development and regional development (because safe, reliable utility infrastructure underpins growth), disaster prevention and relief (because preventing strikes can avert incidents), transportation (because pipelines and utility corridors intersect transportation projects), and environment and natural resources (because releases can harm land and water). The opportunity was created on January 12, 2021, with an original application closing date of March 9, 2021.

Eligible applicants include a wide range of public and nonprofit entities that are commonly involved in excavation damage prevention systems. These include state governments as well as local governments such as counties, cities or townships, and special district governments. Federally recognized Native American tribal governments are eligible, and the opportunity also allows participation by Native American tribal organizations that are not themselves federally recognized tribal governments. In addition, nonprofits may apply whether or not they hold 501(c)(3) status, as long as they are not institutions of higher education. This eligibility structure suggests PHMSA intended the program to reach both governmental oversight bodies and non-governmental partners that may deliver education, training, outreach, or other supporting functions tied to damage prevention.

The maximum award amount listed for this opportunity is $100,000 (the award ceiling). The source data provided lists expected awards as 0, which can sometimes indicate that awards are contingent on appropriations, application volume/quality, or that the expected award count was not populated in the summary record. Even with that field shown as zero, the presence of a defined ceiling and a formal closing date indicates it was a real competitive funding announcement with a set submission window.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as support for efforts that make excavation work safer and more accountable, such as improving state-level damage prevention programs, strengthening enforcement and reporting processes, enhancing coordination among stakeholders (utilities, excavators, regulators, and one-call systems), and expanding public and workforce education to reduce strikes on buried pipelines. The administering agency, PHMSA, is the federal body responsible for pipeline safety oversight, which fits the program emphasis on preventing incidents before they occur through better systems, training, and compliance approaches.

• The Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin in the community development, disaster prevention and relief, education, employment, labor and training, environment, natural resources, regional development, transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2021 - State Damage Prevention Program Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.720.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 12, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 09, 2021. (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 $100,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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