Federal records identify almost 200 proposed or in-the-works pipeline projects

Pipeline enforcement actions initiated fell in half on average; 117 recorded by 2025

A review of federal records by the Environmental Integrity Project identified almost 200 proposed or in-the-works fossil-fuel pipeline projects totaling 17,000 miles (27,000km). Most would carry natural gas across 42 states, though the proposed set also includes the Santa Ynez oil pipeline in California. The projects are concentrated in several fossil-fuel-producing regions: about 42 are in or cross Texas, 27 are in Louisiana, and nine each are in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

The review identifies two sources of demand. The pipelines could help supply at least 98 gas-fired power plants proposed to serve datacenters, and projects are also being built to meet demand for natural-gas exports fueled by the wars in Ukraine and Iran. If all the projects are completed, they would transport about 40% more natural gas daily than the system carries today.

An accompanying photograph shows excess natural gas being flared off at the Odessa-Ector power plant in Odessa, Texas, on 15 October 2026. The image is credited to Bloomberg/Getty Images. Another photograph shows protesters demonstrating against building new natural gas pipelines in New York on 9 August 2025, also credited to Bloomberg/Getty Images.

Alexandra Shaykevich, research manager with the Environmental Integrity Project, said, “This is the largest boom in a couple decades … and it coincides with all this deregulation.” She said, “That’s concerning because the pipelines do usually operate safely, but they can leak and explode, and so there are big risks for communities across the United States.”

The Trump administration has targeted laws that protect the environment and human health from pipeline risks and has pledged not to enforce regulations around them, the review says. More than 25% of the projects have requested an expedited environmental review, and the report alleges that the administration is largely using “legally dubious mechanisms” to push them through, including invoking the “energy emergency.”

The report alleges that those mechanisms have accelerated permit approvals, reduced the scope of environmental studies and limited public and community input. Advocates said they were especially worried about “wide-ranging attacks on foundational environmental protections” spanning from the Clean Water Act to the Endangered Species Act. They said those protections had until recently been used to stop the riskiest projects, protect against accidents or hold polluters accountable.

The administration has used the Defense Production Act to advance projects over state objections. In March, it jump-started the Santa Ynez oil pipeline in Santa Barbara, California, after California shut the line down in 2015 following a major spill that harmed about 150 miles (240km) of coastline. The act is also being used in an attempt to advance the 125-mile (200km) Constitution pipeline from Pennsylvania to upstate New York, a state that has opposed the project.

In January, the administration issued a memo stating that it would “refrain from taking any enforcement action” against companies that violated Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulations. By 2025, the administration had cut the average number of pipeline enforcement actions initiated in half, recording 117.

The report also alleges that the administration is raising the risk of accidents and explosions by allowing companies to increase pressure in pipelines located in densely populated areas and by letting them conduct fewer pressure tests. The US already records about 1.7 pipeline accidents, spills, fires or explosions per day, the review says, and the proposed projects would almost certainly lead to more.

The report points to a March 2023 disaster in which a crack in a gas pipeline in West Reading, Pennsylvania, caused an explosion in a chocolate factory that killed seven workers and injured 10 others. Last month, two workers were killed when a New Mexico pipeline exploded.

At least 81 of the projects are expected to damage more than 19,000 acres (7,700 hectares) of federally protected wetlands, the review found. The proposed development comes as the administration attempts to remove 94% of federal wetland protections.

South-west Louisiana has a large concentration of pipelines because of the high number of export terminals along the Mississippi River. James Hiatt, executive director of For a Better Bayou, said the existing lines already cut through and harmed sensitive wetlands and fishing grounds. He said, “The people who live here carry the risks and bear the burden while the profits go elsewhere.”