The DOT/PHMSA Pipelines Safety Program has released the seventh in the series of Broad Agency Announcements (BAA-7) seeking white papers on individual projects and consolidated Research and Development (R&D;) programs addressing the pipeline safety program areas.

This BAA-7 is a result of the June 2009 Government and Industry Pipeline R&D; Forum that very successfully identified 23 detailed technical gaps as potential new research projects. The Forum also identified several dozen additional topics of high interest that could in the future be solicited through the PHMSA R&D; Program.

However, resource constraints do not allow the support of each and every research topic identified at R&D; Forums. The chosen topics for BAA-7was determined after carefully reviewing Forum findings, available funding and ensuring the proposed work is more short-term in nature and past proof of concept. PHMSA is directed by the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 to coordinate and execute its program in this manner.

Interested offerors should first visit http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/rd/mtg_062409.htm to understand how the R&D; Forum crafted the topics solicited in this BAA. Before submitting, offerors should also visit http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix to review all related ongoing and prior research. The merit review panels will not evaluate any white paper that duplicates current or recent research efforts or addresses topics not solicited in this BAA.

Researchers should visit http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/rd to understand more about the PHMSA pipeline research strategy and performance and visit http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix to review all related current and previous research. Again, the merit review panel will not evaluate any white paper that duplicates current or previous research efforts.

To view the public announcement now posted in the FedBizOpps for the DOT/Pipeline Safety R&D; BAA-7 click here.