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May 10, 2022

This issue of our Federal Funding Opportunities Notice will provide the latest resources and information about current and upcoming federal funding opportunities. As a reminder, these funding opportunities are discretionary grants made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), for which local communities may be eligible to apply. We’ll also provide a brief update on Congressional Community Project Funding (Earmark) requests.


Upcoming Federal Grant Opportunity Deadlines


 


Upcoming Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Transportation has indicated that the following NOFOs will be released over the coming months:


  • Safe Streets and Roads for All (May) Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) will provide $5-6 billion in grants over the next five years to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. The program is expected to include $1 billion in funding per year exclusively for local governments to make improvements to reduce fatalities, especially for cyclists and pedestrians, commonly referred to as ‘‘Vision Zero’’ or ‘‘Toward Zero Deaths’’ initiatives. Eligibility includes the creation of a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, as well as planning, design, and construction of projects identified in a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
  • Bridge Investment Program (May) The purpose of the bridge investment discretionary grant program is to improve condition, safety, efficiency, and reliability. The $12.5 billion program will provide grants to states, MPOs, local governments, and tribal governments to replace, rehabilitate, preserve, or protect one or more bridges on the National Bridge Inventory. This program works in conjunction with formula funds the Utah Department of Transportation has received to serve these same purposes. UDOT’s bridge program funding was prioritized in the April 29th State Transportation Commission meeting and can be found HERE.
  • Transit-Oriented Development Pilot Program (May) This program provides funding for efforts associated with an eligible transit project for which the project sponsor will seek funding through FTA’s Capital Investment Grants Program. TOD focuses growth around transit stations to create compact, mixed-use communities with easy access to jobs and services. Grants are available to assist in financing comprehensive or site-specific planning associated with eligible projects that seek to enhance economic development and ridership, facilitate multimodal connectivity, increase access to transit hubs, and enable mixed-use development.
  • Railroad Crossing Elimination Program (June) This program provides $500 million per year to fund highway-rail or pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects that focus on improving the safety and mobility of people and goods. Eligible projects include track relocation, improvement or installation of protective devices and signage, grade separation or closure, planning, environmental review, design, and other safety measures. 
  • Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program (June) This $1 billion Pilot Program seeks to restore community connectivity by removing, retrofitting, or mitigating highways or other transportation facilities that create barriers to community connectivity, including to mobility, access, or economic development. Grants are available for capital projects to remove or replace existing facilities. Planning grants are also available.



Webinars

The U.S. Department of Transportation has been hosting a series of webinars on various discretionary grant programs over the last several weeks. If you’ve been unable to catch some of them, you can find the webinar recordings and materials below. 

We anticipate additional webinars will be scheduled for upcoming programs. Feel free to keep an eye out for those that interest you, or sign up for USDOT’s email alerts for programs that interest you.


Community Project Funding (Earmarks) Update

Though requests for community project funding to Utah’s congressional offices were due in early to mid-April, those requests are still working their way through the congressional appropriations process. House Offices have now submitted their requests to the Appropriations Committee, and we anticipate we’ll see a published list of requested projects by mid-May. Those requests, now being reviewed, are under consideration for inclusion in the FY23 appropriations bill which will likely be voted on in June, with approximately 1% of discretionary federal spending available for these projects.


Resources

If you have any questions regarding federal funding opportunities or potential projects in your community, please reach out to federalgrants@wfrc.org and we will be happy to assist. You can also find further information on these various federal programs and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) here:


  • For a list of current and upcoming transportation-related IIJA grants and the information shared in these emails, visit the WFRC Federal Funding Webpage.


  • For a timeline of transportation-related Notice of Funding Opportunity Releases, see the U.S. Department of Transportation timeline.



While WFRC will provide information and answer questions about these funding opportunities, communities are responsible for completing applications for their desired projects. As a reminder, registering with grants.gov is required before submitting an application (a process that may take 2-4 weeks). The annual funding cycle will repeat over the five years, and as additional funding opportunities arise from the IIJA and other sources, WFRC will communicate them as appropriate. Again, if you have any questions about transportation-related federal funding opportunities, please feel free to contact us at federalgrants@wfrc.org.



Best,

Miranda Jones Cox

Visit WFRC's Federal Funding Opportunities Webpage
Build.gov
Utah IIJA Resources
Grants.gov
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