The Department is combining three major discretionary grant programs and two fiscal years of funding into one Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant (MPDG) opportunity to reduce the burden for state and local applicants and increase the pipeline of “shovel-worthy” projects that are now possible because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program is a competitive program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides approximately $8 billion for INFRA over 5 years, of which approximately $2.7 billion will be made available through this NOFO.
Applications will be evaluated on six outcome criteria, economic analysis, project readiness, and statutory requirements. The six outcome criteria are: (1) safety; (2) state of good repair; (3) economic impacts, freight movement, and job creation; (4) climate change, resilience, and the environment; (5) equity, multimodal options, and quality of life; and (6) innovation areas: technology, project delivery, and financing.
Applicants that wish to submit the same application to be considered for more than one grant program under the MPDG combined NOFO only need to submit their application through one Grants.gov opportunity number and that application will be considered for all programs for which it is not opted-out or ineligible. It is not necessary to submit multiple of the same application under the other MPDG Grants.gov opportunities.
Eligible applicants for INFRA grants are: 1. a State or group of States (For INFRA, the definition of State includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico);2. a metropolitan planning organization that serves an Urbanized Area (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) with a population of more than 200,000 individuals; 3. a unit of local government or group of local governments; 4. a political subdivision of a State or local government; 5. a special purpose district or public authority with a transportation function, including a port authority; 6. a Federal land management agency that applies jointly with a State or group of States; 7. a tribal government or a consortium of tribal governments; 8. a multistate corridor organization; or 9. a multistate or multijurisdictional group of entities described in this paragraph. Eligible project types for INFRA are:1. A highway freight project on the National Highway Freight Network 2. A highway or bridge project on the National Highway System 3. A freight intermodal, freight rail, or freight project within the boundaries of a public or private freight rail, water (including ports), or intermodal facility and that is a surface transportation infrastructure project necessary to facilitate direct intermodal interchange, transfer, or access into or out of the facility4. A highway-railway grade crossing or grade separation project 5. A wildlife crossing project 6. A surface transportation project within the boundaries or functiona...
Most applications submitted through Grants.gov need the following. Registration can take several weeks, so start early. The notice lists the exact requirements.