US Department of Transportation
11 March 2024
On March 11, 2024, the Bureau issued the Notice of Funding Opportunity for Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program for three fiscal years of awards totaling $57.72 million. No more than $4 million can be awarded to grantees in a single state. The NOFO can be found on grants.gov. Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on May 10th. Please find application submission information on the grant opportunity site at grants.gov.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorized this new program totaling $100 million over five years to fund state and local government technical, financial, and legal advisory service costs for alternative project delivery. The Bureau is administering the program through its technical assistance team. The grants will enable recipients to facilitate and evaluate public-private partnerships in which the private sector partner could assume a greater role in project planning, development, financing, construction, maintenance, and operation, including by assisting eligible entities in entering into asset concessions.
Eligible applicants are public entities that own, control, or maintain assets that could be enhanced through projects eligible for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) credit assistance. Grants can support a variety of asset development tasks, such as: identification of appropriate assets; planning and design; soliciting and negotiating contracts or concession agreements; cost/benefit or value for money analyses; lifecycle cost analysis; securing financial expertise or legal service; or other pre-construction or pre-development activities.
Two types of grants will be available: Technical Assistance Grants will be awarded to build organizational capacity to develop, review, or enter into asset concessions to advance TIFIA-eligible projects. Expert Services Grants will be awarded for project development of identified assets, including hiring professional services to explore opportunities for leverage. Applicants can seek either type of grant but must choose one for this round of funding.
The Bureau will host two informational webinars. The webinars will be recorded, and the recording and presentation will be posted on this website.
Register for the Technical Assistance Grants webinar on March 21 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET.
Register for the Expert Services Grants webinar on March 21 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.
Please sign up for email updates here and email InnovativeFinanceTA@dot.gov with any questions.
[Ref: Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program | Build America (transportation.gov)]
