Planning Grants, Resilience Improvement Grants, and Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants (23 U.S.C. § 176(d)(2))
1. A State or political subdivision of a State. (Includes the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico)
2. A metropolitan planning organization (MPO).
3. A unit of local government.
4. A special purpose district or public authority with a transportation function, including a port authority.1
5. An Indian Tribe (as defined in 23 U.S.C. § 207(m)(1)).
6. A Federal land management agency that applies jointly with a State or group of States.
7. A multi-State or multijurisdictional group of entities described in (1) through (6).
At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants (23 U.S.C. § 176(d)(4)(C)(i)(I-VIII))
1. A State (including the U.S. Territories Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) in, or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes.
2. A political subdivision of a State described in (1.) above
3. An MPO in a State described in (1.) above
4. A unit of local government in a State described in (1.) above.
5. A special purpose district or public authority with a transportation function, including a port authority, in a State described in (1.) above.
6. An Indian Tribe in a State described in (1.) above.
7. A Federal land management agency that applies jointly with a State or group of States described in (1.) above.
8. A multi-State or multijurisdictional group of entities described in (1.) through (7.) above.
The purpose of this NOFO is to provide grants on a competitive basis for projects that seek to strengthen surface transportation to be more resilient to natural hazards, including climate change, sea level rise, heat waves, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters through support of planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure.
The vision of the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program is to fund projects that address the climate crisis by improving the resilience of the surface transportation system, including highways, public transportation, ports, and intercity passenger rail. Projects selected under this program should be grounded in the best available scientific understanding of climate change risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities. They should support the continued operation or rapid recovery of crucial local, regional, or national surface transportation facilities. Furthermore, selected projects should utilize innovative and collaborative approaches to risk reduction, including the use of natural infrastructure, which is explicitly eligible under the program. Also called nature-based solutions, these strategies include conservation, restoration, or construction of riparian and streambed treatments, marshes, wetlands, native vegetation, stormwater bioswales, breakwaters, reefs, dunes, parks, urban forests, and shade trees. They reduce flood risks, erosion, wave damage, and heat impacts while also creating habitat, filtering pollutants, and providing recreational benefits. Projects in the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program have the potential to demonstrate innovation and best practices that State and local governments in other parts of the country can consider replicating.
Opening Dates
• FY 2024 and 2025 Opening: October 25, 2024
• FY 2026 Opening: October 27, 2025
Deadlines
• FY 2024 and 2025 Deadline: February 24, 2025, 11:59 p.m. ET
• FY 2026 Deadline: February 24, 2026, 11:59 p.m. ET
There are four categories of funding under the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program. One category is for Planning Grants. The other three categories are for Resilience Improvement, Community Resilience and Evacuation Routes, and At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure projects, and throughout this NOFO are collectively referred to as Resilience Grants.