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On October 28, Erin Kurilla, APGA’s Vice President of Operations & Safety, met with the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) during their fall meetings in Grand Rapids, MI. Contractor members of the DCA are “contractors who provide specific distribution construction services, including fiber optic, cable and duct installation, and the installation, replacement and rehabilitation of gas pipelines.”

Erin presented to the DCA Government Relations Committee and shared information about the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety & Modernization Grant program. She relayed the pending increase in construction activities from the public natural gas distribution sector. The contractors understand the task before them but were transparent about their own workforce challenges and supply chain delays. APGA and DCA will continue to advocate for reasonable period-of-performance expectations from PHMSA for grant-related construction projects.

Attendees of the APGA Operations Conference also heard members of the DCA discuss these challenges during a panel session at the conference in Savannah, GA.

For questions on this article, please contact Erin Kurilla of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at ekurilla@apga.org.