Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has announced that $3.6 million in grants will be awarded for 24 projects in 14 states to assist in the prevention of third-party damage to pipelines and other underground facilities.

The grants will be administered by the Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) and will be used by states to upgrade their damage-prevention programs by implementing best practices from the RSPA-sponsored report, “Common Ground.” Each grant has been competitively awarded through applications from states.

The largest dollar amount will go to Virginia ($596,000) to fund four projects, with Kansas coming in a close second at $536,506. Individual grants of $300,000 will be awarded to Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, New York and Utah. Other states to receive grants include California ($142,000), Florida ($49,567), Iowa ($190,350), Maine ($152,000), New Mexico ($150,960), North Carolina ($180,400 for three projects), and South Dakota ($72,000 for two projects).

“Continued strategic investments to prevent damage to pipelines, a critical part of our nation’s transportation infrastructure, will not only strengthen our nation’s pipeline system and help up maintain its safety, but also will yield significant dividends in terms of mobility and economic growth,” Mineta said.

In a related development, RSPA Administrator Ellen Engleman has appointed James K. O’Steen as the new deputy associate administrator of the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Previously, O’Steen had served as RSPA’s director of the Office of Hazardous Materials Technology.

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