Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects

 

The Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (NSFHP) program will provide Federal financial assistance to highway, freight rail, port, and intermodal projects of national or regional significance.

Active 20.934 Office of The Secretary, Department of Transportation B - Project Grants Not applicable. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), Section 1105—Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (NSFHP) program, Pub. L. 114-94, section 1105 (23 U.S.C. 117)., Public Law 114-94, 23 U.S.C. 117 Eligible applicants for NSFHP grants are 1) a State or group of States; 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; or 8) a multi-State or multijurisdictional group of public entities. Multiple States or jurisdictions that submit a joint application must identify a lead applicant as the primary point of contact. Each applicant in a joint application must be an Eligible Applicant. Joint applications must include a description of the roles and responsibilities of each applicant and must be signed by each applicant. Eligible applicants for NSFHP grants are 1) a State or group of States; 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; or 8) a multi-State or multijurisdictional group of public entities. Multiple States or jurisdictions that submit a joint application must identify a lead applicant as the primary point of contact. Each applicant in a joint application must be an Eligible Applicant. Joint applications must include a description of the roles and responsibilities of each applicant and must be signed by each applicant. To submit an application through Grants.gov, applicants must: Obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number; Register with the System Award for Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov; Create a Grants.gov username and password; and The E-business Point of Contact (POC) at the applicant's organization must respond to the registration email from Grants.gov and login at Grants.gov to authorize the POC as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). Please note that there can only be one AOR per organization. Preapplication coordination is required. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. For additional information, please contact Paul Baumer at: Paul.Baumer@DOT.GOV 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applications are solicited through Grants.gov and the publication of a Notice of Funding Opportunity in the Federal Register. Applications must be submitted for each round by the published application deadline. Additional information on Application requirements can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The FAST Act authorizes the NSFHP program at $4.5 billion for fiscal years (FY) 2016 through 2020, to be awarded by DOT on a competitive basis to projects of national or regional significance that meet statutory requirements. NSFHP grants may be used for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, acquisition of property (including land related to the project and improvements to the land), environmental mitigation, construction contingencies, equipment acquisition, and operational improvements directly related to system performance. NSFHP grants may also fund developmental phase activities, including planning, feasibility analysis, revenue forecasting, environmental review, preliminary engineering, design, and other preconstruction activities, provided the project meets statutory requirements including that they are based on the results of preliminary engineering. All projects funded with NSFHP grants must be reasonably expected to begin construction not later than 18 months after the date funds are obligated for the project. June 29, 2017 to November 2, 2017 Projects will be awarded NSFHP funding no later than September 30, 2018. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines Not applicable. Not applicable. Not applicable. The selection criteria are published in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The FAST Act authorizes the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects program at $4.5 billion for fiscal years (FY) 2016 through 2020, to be awarded by DOT on a competitive basis to projects of national or regional significance that meet statutory requirements. NSFHP grants may be used for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, acquisition of property (including land related to the project and improvements to the land), environmental mitigation, construction contingencies, equipment acquisition, and operational improvements directly related to system performance. NSFHP grants may also fund developmental phase activities, including planning, feasibility analysis, revenue forecasting, environmental review, preliminary engineering, design, and other preconstruction activities, provided the project meets statutory requirements including that they are based on the results of preliminary engineering. All projects funded with NSFHP grants must be reasonably expected to begin construction not later than 18 months after the date funds are obligated for the project. The Department will divide grants under the NSFHP program into large and small projects. For large projects, the FAST Act specifies that NSFHP grants must be at least $25 million. For small projects, the grants must be at least $5 million. For both large and small projects, maximum NSFHP awards may not exceed 60 percent of future eligible project costs. Ten percent of available funds, are reserved for small projects. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit applications only for eligible award amounts. Pursuant to the FAST Act, not more than $500 million in aggregate of the $4.5 billion authorized for NSFHP grants over fiscal years 2016 to 2020 may be used for grants to freight rail, water (including ports), or other freight intermodal projects that make significant improvements to freight movement on the National Highway Freight Network. Only the non-highway portion(s) of multimodal projects count toward the $500 million maximum. Improving freight movement on the National Highway Freight Network may include shifting freight transportation to other modes, thereby reducing congestion and bottlenecks on the National Highway Freight Network. The Federal share for projects that count toward the $500 million maximum may fund only elements of the project that provide public benefit. Grade crossing and grade separation projects do not count toward the $500 million maximum for freight rail, port, and intermodal projects. The FAST Act directs at least 25 percent of the funds provided for NSFHP grants, are to be used for projects located in rural areas, as defined in Section C.3.iv. If the Department does not receive enough qualified applications to fully award the 25 percent reserved for rural projects, the Department may use the excess funding for non-rural awards. DOT must consider geographic diversity among grant recipients, including the need for a balance in addressing the needs of urban and rural areas. The FAST Act allows an NSFHP grant recipient to use NSFHP funds granted to pay the subsidy and administrative costs necessary to receive credit assistance for the associated project under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998 (“TIFIA”) program. Not applicable. The program follows 2 CFR 200 audit requirements. Any awarding procedures, documentation of expenditures and copies of reports as well as policies and procedures for the life of the grant. Statutory Formula: Title 23 Chapter 202 Part 117 Public Law 114-94 section 1105 23

Matching is voluntary. 20%. NSFHP grants may be used for up to 60 percent of future eligible project costs. Other Federal assistance may satisfy the non-Federal share requirement for an NSFHP grant, but total Federal assistance for a project receiving an NSFHP grant may not exceed 80 percent of the future eligible project costs. Unless otherwise authorized in statute, local cost-share that exceed the 80 percent Federal-share maximum will not be considered matching funds if the source of those funds is ultimately a Federal program. Non-Federal sources include State funds originating from programs funded by State revenue, local funds originating from State or local revenue funded programs, private funds or other funding sources of non-Federal origins. Funds from the Tribal Transportation Program (23 U.S.C. 202), TIFIA, a Federal land management agency, or other Federal source that is expressly authorized in statute may be used for the non-Federal share. Unless otherwise authorized in statute, local cost-share may not be counted as non-Federal share for both the NSFHP and another Federal program. For any project, the Department cannot consider previously incurred costs or previously expended or encumbered funds towards the matching requirement. Matching funds are subject to the same Federal requirements as awarded funds.

This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. Additional Information: INFRA funding is available to be obligated for up to 3 years following the year of authorization. For FY 2020 funding, INFRA funding is available to be obligated until September 30, 2023. Funding can be awarded through the approval of an allocation of funding to a State Department of Transportation, a metropolitan planning organization, or through the successful execution of a grant agreement. Additional information is available at www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/infragrants, or at infragrants@dot.gov. Paul Baumer
U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE,
Washington, DC 20590 US
INFRAgrants@dot.gov
Phone: (202) 366-1092 http://www.transportation.gov/NSFHP 69-0170-0-1-401 (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 18$825,300,000.00; FY 19 est $856,950,000.00; FY 20 est $900,000,000.00; - For large projects, the FAST Act specifies that an INFRA grant must be at least $25 million. The average proposed award for Small Projects in FY 2019 was $77 million. The largest proposed award was $125 million. For small projects, the minimum award is $5 million. The average proposed award was $8.5 million. The FAST Act directs that at least 25 percent of the funds provided for INFRA grants must be used for projects located in rural areas. The USDOT must consider geographic diversity among grant recipients, including the need for a balance in addressing the needs of urban and rural areas. Not applicable. Fiscal Year 2016 On September 7, 2016, Secretary Anthony Foxx awarded $759.2 million to 18 projects across the nation. For example, $42 million was awarded to the Massachusetts Port Authority for the Conley Terminal and Intermodal Improvements and Modernization Project.
Fiscal Year 2017 To date, 16 of the 18 projects awarded on September 7, 2016 have been obligated.
Fiscal Year 2019 In FY 2019, the Department proposed 20 projects would receive funding, including examples such as the Howard Street Tunnel project in Baltimore, MD, and the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Replacement Project in Mobile, AL. For a full list of projects from FY 2019 and previous rounds, visit www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/infragrants.