The US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to apply for $1 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 discretionary grant funding through the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants program.
The DOT said BUILD Transportation grants are for planning and capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure and are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. BUILD funding can support roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports or intermodal transportation.
The DOT statement said, “to better address the needs of rural America, which has historically been neglected, DOT intends to award 50 percent of BUILD Transportation grant funding to projects located in rural areas that deliver positive benefits for these communities, consistent with the Department’s R.O.U.T.E.S. initiative.”
For this round of BUILD Transportation grants, the maximum grant award is $25 million, and no more than $100 million can be awarded to a single state, as specified in the appropriations act.