PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program

Program Overview       

    The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has announced the availability of $848 million for the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program. The purpose of the new BIL program is to make surface transportation more resilient to natural hazards, including climate change, sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters by funding planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk costal infrastructure.

     To promote innovative approaches risk reduction, the program encourages “nature-based solutions,” or natural infrastructure strategies to reduce flood risks, erosion, wave damage, and heat impacts while also creating habitat, filtering pollutants, and providing recreational benefits. Examples of nature-based solutions include the conservation or construction of riparian and streambed treatments, marshes, wetlands, native vegetation, stormwater bioswales, breakwaters, reefs, dunes, and shade trees.

Categories of Funding

     There are four categories of funding under the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program. One category is for Planning grants ($45 million), with the remaining three categories for Resilience grants, including Resilience Improvement ($638 million), Community Resilience and Evacuation Routes ($45 million), and At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure ($120 million) projects. Applicants can use one application to submit the same project for multiple funding categories if the project meets the eligibility criteria.

Planning Grants are for resilience planning, design, or the development of data tools to simulate transportation disruption scenarios that help prepare for future implementation.

Resilience Improvement Grants will improve existing surface transportation to withstand weather events or natural disasters, or to increase the resilience of infrastructure from the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters.

Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants will strengthen and protect evacuation routes that are essential during emergency events, including improvements to evacuation routes for increased safety during an evacuation or projects reduce the risk of damage to evacuation routes during an emergency. This can also include the acquisition of equipment, signage, or projects that will ensure access or service to critical destinations.

At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants will strengthen, stabilize, harden, elevate, relocate or otherwise enhance the resilience of highway and non-rail infrastructure from future weather events or natural disasters to improve public safety and reduce costs by avoiding future maintenance or rebuilding costs.

Eligibility    

Eligible Applicants are as follows: 

• States (including, D.C. and Puerto Rico) or political subdivision of a State 

• Metropolitan planning organizations 

• Units of local government 

• Tribes  

• Federal land management agency that applies jointly with a State or group of States 

• Special purpose districts or public authorities with a transportation function, including a port authority 

• a multi-State or multi-jurisdictional group of entities consisting of any eligible entities listed above 

Note: Eligible applications for At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure grants must be bordering the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes 

Cost Sharing or Matching:

• 20% for Resilience grants

• N/A for Planning grants

Key Dates 

Applications are due August 18, 2023 

Resources: 

View the Opportunity here. 

Register for the Webinar:  

Monday, May 8, 2023 from 1-2 PM | Register here. 

Thursday, May 11, 2023 from 1-2 PM | Register here.