Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Research Initiative – FY2026 BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)
PHMSA is awarding competitive research contracts for research, testing, modeling, and related technical/policy work that improves hazardous materials transportation safety across modes.
⚑ Federal procurement BAA under FAR 35.016; awards are contracts, not grants. · Two-phase process: white paper first, invited full proposal only. · Awards up to $2,000,000 and up to 36 months. · No set-aside stated.
This is primarily a transportation safety, packaging, and engineering R&D BAA centered on hazardous materials rail, battery safety, and containment design. IPPRA’s team could contribute only marginally on risk communication or emergency-response perception, but none of the named researchers has this as a core PI-level research line.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-08-21
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 90 strong | technical depth: central; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 58 good | portfolio topics: emergency_disaster_resilience, environment, energy; signature methods: policy analysis; social/behavioral work is minor; funds applied research |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 30 weak | funds applied research; deep-tech content |
Description
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS), is soliciting white papers and full proposals under Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) PHMSA-26HM-BAA pursuant to FAR 35.016. The objective of this announcement is to award competitive research contracts that advance scientific, technical, engineering, and policy solutions to prevent incidents and enhance safety during the transportation of hazardous materials across all modes. Offerors are invited to submit innovative research proposals addressing one or more of the following core topic areas: 26HM-ESS (Efficient Safety Standards): Research to modernize safety standards and testing, streamline certification, leverage safety data, and evaluate risk landscapes to reduce regulatory burden while maintaining safety. 26HM-SST (Safe Energy Storage Technologies): Research assessing transportation risks of energy storage systems, battery chemistries, thermal runaway detection and mitigation, and critical mineral recovery. 26HM-IPG (Innovative Packaging): Development and evaluation of advanced packaging materials, containment designs, integrity monitoring, and predictive failure simulations. 26HM-RER (Risk Reduction for Emergency Response): Innovations, technologies, data analysis, and materials to enhance emergency responder safety, communication, and preparedness. 26HM-RTS (Hazardous Materials Rail Transportation Safety): Research advancing scientific understanding of rail tank car performance under derailment conditions, crashworthiness materials, thermal shielding, and predictive risk modeling. A two-phase selection process (Phase I: White Paper; Phase II: Invited Full Proposal) will be used. Awards will be procurement contracts (Firm-Fixed-Price or Cost-Reimbursement) up to $2,000,000 with a total performance period of up to 36 months. Full eligibility, formatting, and submission instructions are detailed in the solicitation document attached to this notice.
Eligibility
Applicant restrictions (federal contract). Set-aside: No Set aside used. Notice type: Combined Synopsis/Solicitation. Organization: TRANSPORTATION, DEPARTMENT OF / PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION / 693JK3 ACQUISITION SERVICES DIV..
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Proposal shell · Federal (generic) conventions SEE A FEDERAL EXAMPLE →
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