U.S. Department of Transportation: Mega Grants

The National Infrastructure Project Assistance grants program (Mega) will provide grants to support multijurisdictional or regional projects of significance that may also cut across multiple modes of transportation.

Mega is one of three funding opportunities under the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Opportunity. The Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant allows applicants to apply for one, or up to all three opportunities through a single application. Applicants are encouraged to apply for multiple programs, to maximize their potential of receiving Federal support. See solicitation for details.

Eligible projects include:

• a highway or bridge project on the National Multimodal Freight Network;
• a highway or bridge project on the National Highway Freight Network;
• a highway or bridge project on the National Highway System;
• a freight intermodal (including public ports) or freight rail project that provides public benefit;
• a railway-highway grade separation or elimination project;
• an intercity passenger rail project;
• a public transportation project that is eligible under assistance under Chapter 53 of title 49 U.S.C. and is a part of any of the project types described above;
• or a grouping, combination, or program of interrelated, connected, or dependent projects of any of the projects described above.

Projects that may benefit an Area of Persistent Poverty or a Historically Disadvantaged Community will receive additional consideration.

Mega grants may be used for development-phase activities and costs, including planning, feasibility analysis, revenue forecasting, alternatives analysis, data collection and analysis, environmental review and activities to support environmental review, preliminary engineering and design work, and other preconstruction activities, including the preparation of a data collection and post-construction analysis plan. Grants may also be used for construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, acquisition of real property including land relating to the project and improvements to that land, environmental mitigation including projects to replace or rehabilitate culverts or reduce stormwater runoff for the purpose of improving habitat for aquatic species, construction contingencies, acquisition of equipment, protection, and operational improvements directly relating to the project. Applicants will be expected to submit a plan for the collection and analysis of data to identify the impacts of the project and the accuracy of any forecast prepared during the development phase of the project. An application may describe a project that contains more than one component. See solicitation for details.

An application may describe and request funding for a network of projects. A network of projects is a single grant award that funds multiple projects addressing the same transportation problem.

Awards will be made to projects greater than $500 million in cost, and to projects greater than $100 million but less than $500 million in cost. See solicitation for details of project size requirements.

Projects must meet all five requirements described below. If the project consists of multiple components with independent utility, each component must meet each requirement.
#1: The project is likely to generate national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits.
#2: The project is in significant need of Federal funding.
#3: The project will be cost-effective.
#4: With respect to related non-Federal financial commitments, one or more stable and dependable funding or financing sources are available to construct, maintain, and operate the project, and to cover cost increases.
#5: The applicant has, or will have, sufficient legal, financial, and technical capacity to carry out the project.

Amount: A total of $1 billion is available to make awards of up to $500,000,000.

Note: Mega grants may be used for up to 60 percent of future total eligible project costs. Other Federal assistance may satisfy the non-Mega share requirement for a Mega grant, but total Federal assistance for a project receiving a Mega grant may not exceed 80 percent of future total eligible project costs. See solicitation for details.

Eligibility: Eligible entities include a State or a group of States; a metropolitan planning organization; a unit of local government; a political subdivision of a State; a special purpose district or public authority with a transportation function, including a port authority; a Tribal government or a consortium of Tribal governments; a partnership between Amtrak and one or more entities described above; a group of entities described in this paragraph.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338855

This post was filed under: