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The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $1.5 billion in grant funding through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program for 2024. The popular program helps communities around the country carry out projects with significant local or regional impact.
RAISE discretionary grants help project sponsors at the state and local levels, including municipalities, Tribal governments, counties, and others complete critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects. The eligibility requirements of RAISE allow project sponsors to obtain funding for projects that may be harder to support through other U.S. DOT grant programs.
Recent examples of funded projects include a grade separation project in Chula Vista, Calif., a new downtown transit center in New Orleans, and reconstruction of Route 6 on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota. A full list of 2023 awarded projects is available HERE.
“Across the country, I have seen firsthand how projects funded by our RAISE program are helping communities realize long-held dreams and well-planned visions for better infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, we are delivering safer, cleaner infrastructure to communities of every size and in every part of the country, creating a new generation of jobs and helping families build generational wealth in the process.”
In 2023, RAISE funding supported 162 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands. RAISE projects are rigorously reviewed and evaluated on statutory criteria of safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, mobility and community connectivity, economic competitiveness and opportunity including tourism, state of good repair, partnership and collaboration, and innovation.
Additionally, projects designated “RCN Program Extra” during the new FY 2023 Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Program competition and submitted for consideration under the FY 2024 RAISE NOFO will have a greater opportunity to be advanced during the FY 2024 RAISE evaluation process, as described in the NOFO.
Half of the funding will go to projects in rural areas, and half of the funding will go to projects in urban areas. At least $15 million in funding is guaranteed to go towards projects located in areas of persistent poverty or historically disadvantaged communities, and projects located in these areas will be eligible for up to 100 percent federal cost share, as directed by Congress in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
As was the case in previous years, the department is encouraging applicants to consider how their projects can address climate change, ensure racial equity, and remove barriers to opportunity. The department also intends to use the RAISE program to support lowering costs for household budgets, wealth creation and the creation of good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union, the incorporation of strong labor standards, and training and placement programs, especially registered apprenticeships.
The NOFO is available here. The deadline for applications is February 28, 2024, and selections will be announced no later than June 27, 2024.