The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced the opening of the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) discretionary grant program. The INFRA program will make approximately $1.5 billion available to infrastructure projects. In addition to providing direct federal funding, the INFRA program is partnering with state, local, and private partners to increase the total investment.
INFRA grants may be used to fund a variety of components of an infrastructure project, especially, those focused on projects in which the local sponsor is significantly invested and is positioned to proceed rapidly to construction. Eligible INFRA project costs may include: reconstruction, rehabilitation, acquisition of property, environmental mitigation, construction contingencies, equipment acquisition, and operational improvements directly related to system performance.
The Department will make awards under the INFRA program to both large ($25 million minimum) and small ($5 million minimum) projects. For each fiscal year of INFRA funds, 10 percent of available funds are reserved for small projects.
The INFRA advances a pre-existing grant program established in the FAST act of 2015. The grant program preserves the statutory requirement to award at least 25 percent of funding for rural projects.