FY 2024 RAISE NOFO Amendment 1 Summary.pdf

Opportunity Number DTOS59-24-RA-RAISE

Amendment 1

U.S. Department of Transportation Amendment 1 to Notice of Funding Opportunity Number DTOS59-24-RA-RAISE

“FY 2024 National Infrastructure Investments” Amendment 1 issued February 23, 2024

The purpose of this amendment is to edit the Notice of Funding Opportunity to reflect the Department may consider, on a case-by-case basis, recipient requests for advance payment, as described in 2 CFR 200.305(b), and to make clerical corrections. Accordingly, the Notice of Funding Opportunity is hereby amended.

The application due date remains unchanged as February 28, 2024 at 11:59:59 pm Eastern Time through www.grants.gov

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions remain unchanged and in full force and effect.

This amendment revises the text of the NOFO in the section identified below.

• Deleted text is shown in strikethrough.

• Added text is both underlined and bolded.

If a section or paragraph is not listed below, no text changes apply to that section or paragraph as a result of this amendment.

SECTION B.3 Restrictions on Funding, paragraph 1

No more than 15 percent (or $225 million) made available for RAISE grants may be awarded to projects in a single State. DOT must award at least 5 percent (or $75 million) to planning projects and at least 11 one percent (or $15 million) to projects located in historically disadvantaged communities or areas of persistent poverty. Not more than 50 percent of the funds provided for RAISE grants (or $750 million) shall be awarded to rural projects (as defined in section C.4) and not more than 50 percent of the funds provided for RAISE grants (or $750 million) shall be awarded to urban projects (as defined in section C.4). The Department may retain up to $30 million for oversight and administration of grants.

SECTION B.4 Availability of Funds, paragraph 3

In general, RAISE Program funds are administered on a reimbursement basis. Grant recipients will generally be required to pay project costs upfront using their own funds, and then request reimbursement for those costs. If a recipient cannot complete a project on reimbursement basis, DOT will—on a case-by-case basis—consider recipient requests to use alternate payment methods as described in 2 CFR 200.305(b), including advance payments.

SECTION D.2.c Project Budget, paragraph 8 and 9 above tables 2b and 2c, paragraph 10

Table 2b:

Note: Please refer to the Disadvantaged Census Tracts from CEJST (2010 Census) layer in the Grant Project Location Verification mapping tool to identify 2010 Census tracts.

Table 2c:

Note: Please refer to the Census Designated Urban Areas with Population of More Greater Than 200,000 (2020 Census) layer in the Grant Project Location Verification mapping tool to identify urban areas.

The project budget narrative should include:

• Sources, Uses, and Availability – Provide complete information on how all capital or planning project funds may be used, their availability, and documented funding commitments. For example, if a source of funds is available only after a condition is satisfied, the application should identify that condition and describe the applicant’s control over whether it is satisfied. Similarly, if a source of funds is available for expenditure only during a fixed period, the application should describe that restriction.

Examples of documentation include, but are not limited to, a letter signed by a governing official or chief financial officer confirming the amount and source of funding, a page or pages from the STIP or TIP (please do not include a link to the entire STIP/TIP), a signed city ordnance ordinance, or a county administrator committing previously approved general obligation bonds.

SECTION E.1.a Merit Criteria, Environmental Sustainability High rating, bullet 2 and 10

Environmental sustainability is a primary project purpose AND the project has clear, direct, data-driven (for capital projects only), and significant benefits that explicitly considers climate change and environmental justice, by doing one or more of the following:

• Address the disproportionately negative environmental impacts of transportation on local disadvantaged communities such as by reducing exposure to elevated levels of air, water, and noise pollution; or

• Incorporate nature-based solutions or natural infrastructure with the use of native plants;

or Incorporate nature-based solutions or natural infrastructure with the use of native plants; or

SECTION E.1.a Merit Criteria, Quality of Life High rating, bullet 2 https://maps.dot.gov/BTS/GrantProjectLocationVerification/ https://maps.dot.gov/BTS/GrantProjectLocationVerification/

• Reduce transportation and housing cost burdens by integrating mixed-use development and a diversity of housing types, including by reducing barriers to such development and increasing the supply of affordable housing, with multimodal transportation infrastructure; or

SECTION E.1.c Benefit-Cost Analysis, paragraph 2

To evaluate the costs and benefits of a proposed project, the Department will assign the project as either negative net benefits (costs exceed benefits) or positive net benefits (benefits exceed costs.) Projects with negative net benefit ratings will not be selected for an award, unless the project receives a “Highly Recommended” rating and demonstrates exceptional benefits for underserved or disadvantaged communities, as identified by the Senior Review Team.

SECTION F.2.b Program Requirements, paragraph 2

Land Use and Housing Affordability Impact Consideration Each applicant selected for RAISE grant funding must demonstrate effort to consider housing affordability impacts of the grant, and particularly how local land use and zoning practices already allow for, or have been modified to, ensure adequate affordable housing supply proximate to the transit investment. Applicants will be required to memorialize commitments they have made in their applications in one or more of the activities in Section E.1.