(B) a unit of local government;
(C) a political subdivision of a State;
(D) a territory of the United States;
(E) an entity described in 23 U.S.C. 207(m)(1)(E);
(F) a recipient of funds under 23 U.S.C. 203;
(G) a MPO (as defined in section 23 U.S.C. 134(b)(2));
(H) a special purpose district or public authority with a transportation function.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (Pub. L. 117-169, Aug. 16, 2022) established the LCTM Program (23 U.S.C. 179), which provides funding for the use of construction materials that have substantially lower levels of GHG emissions.
The purpose of the LCTM Program is to reimburse the incrementally higher costs of using or provide an incentive1 amount to eligible recipients for the use, in projects, of construction materials and products that have substantially lower levels of embodied GHG emissions, as described by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), associated with all relevant stages of production, use, and disposal as compared to estimated industry averages of similar materials or products, hereafter referred to as low carbon transportation materials.
The program will also serve to help eligible transportation agencies update or develop specification language and conduct identification activities needed to demonstrate materials are appropriate for use on Federal-aid construction projects.
Funds made available for the LCTM Program will be awarded for the use of substantially lower carbon materials and products on construction projects funded under title 23 U.S.C. and necessary work to identify appropriateness for use of these materials on eligible projects.
FHWA is requesting applications from eligible applicants other than the State DOTs. State DOTs were eligible to apply for LCTM funds under a Request for Applications, posted on FHWA’s Webpage at www.fhwa.dot.gov/lowcarbon/funding.cfm.
As part of the LCTM Program, this notice will result in the distribution of up to $800 million, subject to the availability of funds. This notice describes the application requirements, selection, and evaluation criteria.
For the purposes of this NOFO, materials/products available for reimbursement or incentives are those identified by the EPA Administrator2. In alignment with the Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, EPA released an Interim Determination (ID) in December 20223 that outlined an approach to establish thresholds and data requirements for qualifying concrete (and cement), glass, asphalt mix, and steel materials/products that meet the substantially lower embodied carbon requirements. For purposes of this NOFO, these are the only materials/products categories that are currently eligible.
An agency shall determine the substantially lower embodied carbon thresholds (i.e., best performing 20 percent, 40 percent, and industry averages) for materials/products eligible for reimbursement or incentive under this program through the following options:
Option (1): An agency may reference the established thresholds as published on the FHWA Website4. Stakeholders from concrete, glass, asphalt, and steel industries are working to provide industry-average data to support implementation of the LCTM Program5.
Option (2): An agency may determine local or regional thresholds for concrete (and cement), glass, asphalt mix, and/or steel. In this option, the agency shall follow accepted International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards to develop thresholds. Agencies shall disclose the Global Warming Potential (GWP), the methodology for determining the percentiles and averages, the source(s) used for each material/product, and the parameters (including performance specification) used to set the GWP.
Agencies may also use a combination of these two options for this program. Under this NOFO, the LCTM Program will provide funds directly to recipients that will implement the provisions of the EPA’s ID for eligible low carbon transportation materials/products. Recipients may also be reimbursed for identification of eligible materials and work needed to determine their appropriateness for use on eligible projects, as discussed more in Section C Eligibility Information of this NOFO.
2. LCTM Program Goals
Program goals include, but are not limited to:
Increase the use of lower carbon materials and products that are used in projects funded under Title 23.
Facilitate the use of low carbon transportation materials while ensuring appropriateness for use in projects eligible under Title 23.
Promote technology transfer and enhance workforce development to increase the adoption of environmental quantification techniques used in decision making by transportation agencies.
Encourage eligible recipients to begin LCTM activities and build successful low carbon transportation material identification frameworks.
The LCTM Program will not fund entire construction projects, but provides funds for eligible activities highlighted in Section C.5, including the use of eligible materials on construction projects funded under 23 U.S.C., including projects on:
Federal-aid highways;
Tribal transportation facilities;
Federal lands transportation facilities; and
Federal lands access transportation facilities.
Funds are also available to use for activities required to develop a process to demonstrate
materials meet the standard of ‘substantially lower embodied carbon’ and are appropriate for use. For purposes of this program, eligible materials categories7 are concrete (and cement), glass, asphalt mix, and steel.