FY22 PIDP NOFO Short Signed PDF 02-14-2022.pdf

G4910-81-P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure

Development Program (PIDP) under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

(“Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”)

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT

ACTION: Notice of Funding Opportunity

SUMMARY: This notice solicits applications for Port Infrastructure Development Program

(PIDP) grants. Funds for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 PIDP grant program will be awarded on a competitive basis to make grants for projects for coastal seaports, inland river ports, and Great

Lakes ports. This notice announces the availability of $450 million in funding for grants under this program and establishes selection criteria and application requirements. All PIDP grant recipients must meet all applicable Federal requirements, including Buy American requirements.

The Department intends to update this Notice of Funding Opportunity on or before February 24, 2022 with complete program requirements and application information.

DATES: Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. E.D.T. on May 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning this notice, please contact the PIDP grant program staff via email at PIDPgrants@dot.gov, or call

Aubrey Parsons at (202) 366–8047. A TDD is available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at (202) 366–3993. In addition, the Department of Transportation (DOT) may post answers to questions and requests for clarifications as well as information about webinars for further information at www.maritime.dot.gov/PIDPgrants.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

A. Program Description

B. Federal Award Information

C. Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

E. Application Review Information

F. Federal Award Administration Information

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

H. Other Information

A. Program Description

1. Overview

The PIDP was amended under Section 3513 of the National Defense Authorization Act for

Fiscal Year 2022 (Pub. L. 117-81, December 27, 2021) (“NDAA”), and is now codified at 46

U.S.C. 54301. The statute authorizes the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a port and intermodal improvement program to improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods through ports and intermodal connections to ports. The Infrastructure

Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 2021) (“Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” or “BIL”) appropriated $450 million to the PIDP for fiscal year 2022 to make discretionary grants for eligible PIDP projects. The authorizing statute at 46 U.S.C. 54301(a)(5)(B) requires

DOT to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) no later than 90 days after the date that funds are made available for grants. In order to comply with this requirement, this NOFO solicits applications for projects to be funded under the PIDP grant program. It includes the funding appropriated by the BIL and may include any additional funding appropriated in FY

2022 for PIDP under the annual appropriations act. If the annual appropriations act for FY 2022 increases funding for PIDP and/or significantly alters requirements for PIDP funds, DOT will amend this notice with guidance on any changes or additional requirements.

2. Additional Information

The PIDP is described in the Federal Assistance Listings under the assistance listing program title “Port Infrastructure Development Program” and assistance listing number 20.823.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Amount Available

The BIL authorized and appropriated $450 million to be awarded by DOT for PIDP grants.

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February 24, 2022. The amended NOFO will be posted on Grants.gov, the PIDP website

(www.maritime.dot.gov/PIDPgrants) and in the Federal Register.

2. Award Size

The minimum PIDP award size is $1 million. Except as limited by the amount of available funding and statutory restrictions on funding identified in the BIL, 46 U.S.C. 54301, and the

NDAA, there is no maximum award size.

3. Restrictions on Funding

Pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 54301, not more than 25 percent of the available funds ($112.5 million) can be used to make grants for projects in any one State and 25 percent of the available funds ($112.5 million) is reserved for small projects at small ports. The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February 24, 2022.

C. Eligibility Information

To be selected for a FY 2022 PIDP discretionary grant, an applicant must be an eligible applicant and the project must be an eligible project.

1. Eligible Applicants

An eligible applicant for a FY 2022 PIDP discretionary grant is a port authority, a commission or its subdivision or agent under existing authority, a State or political subdivision of a State or local government, an Indian Tribe, a public agency or publicly chartered authority established by one or more States, a special purpose district with a transportation function, a multistate or multijurisdictional group of entities, or a lead entity described above jointly with a private entity or group of private entities (including the owners or operators of a facility, or collection of facilities, at a port). Federal agencies are not eligible applicants for the FY 2022

PIDP.

If submitting a joint application, applicants must identify in the application a lead applicant as the primary point of contact and identify the primary recipient of the award. The applicant that will be responsible for financial administration of the project must be an eligible lead entity described above (i.e., not a private entity). Joint applications must include, as an attachment, a memorandum of understanding signed by all the entities that includes a description of the roles and responsibilities of each entity.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have the authority to carry out the project and must submit information related to an assertion with citation of authority with their application. In the case of joint applications, at least one of the eligible applicants must demonstrate this authority.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

This section of the notice describes cost share requirements for a FY 2022 PIDP grant award.

Per 46 U.S.C. 54301(a)(8), the Federal share of the costs for which an expenditure is made under a PIDP grant may not exceed 80 percent; however, the Secretary may increase the Federal share of costs above 80 percent for: (1) a grant for a project that is located in a rural area; or (2) a grant awarded to a small project at a small port under 46 U.S.C. 54301(b).

Non-Federal sources include State funds originating from programs funded by State revenue, local funds originating from State or local revenue-funded programs, or private funds. The application must demonstrate, such as through a commitment letter or other documentation, the sources of the non-Federal funds. Unless otherwise authorized by statute, State or local cost-share may not be counted as the non-Federal share for both the FY 2022 PIDP grant award and another Federal grant program. Matching funds are subject to the same Federal requirements as awarded funds.

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

3. Eligible Projects

Eligible projects for FY 2022 PIDP grants shall be located either within the boundary of a port, or outside the boundary of a port and directly related to port operations or to an intermodal connection to a port. Grants may be made for capital projects that will be used to improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of:

(I) the loading and unloading of goods at the port, such as for marine terminal equipment;

(II) the movement of goods into, out of, around, or within a port, such as for highway or rail infrastructure, intermodal facilities, freight intelligent transportation systems, and digital infrastructure systems;

(III) operational improvements, including projects to improve port resilience; or

(IV) environmental and emissions mitigation measures; including projects for—

(aa) port electrification or electrification master planning;

(bb) harbor craft or equipment replacements or retrofits;

(cc) development of port or terminal microgrids;

(dd) provision of idling reduction infrastructure;

(ee) purchase of cargo handling equipment and related infrastructure;

(ff) worker training to support electrification technology;

(gg) installation of port bunkering facilities from ocean-going vessels for fuels;

(hh) electric vehicle charging or hydrogen refueling infrastructure for drayage and medium or heavy duty trucks and locomotives that service the port and related grid upgrades; or

(ii) other related port activities, including charging infrastructure, electric rubber-tired gantry cranes, and anti-idling technologies.

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request Application Package

Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov. Instructions for submitting applications can be found at https://www.maritime.dot.gov/office-port-infrastructure-development/port-and-terminal-infrastructure-development/how-apply-port.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

3. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM)

Each applicant must: (1) be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (2) provide a valid UEI in its application; and (3) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with https://www.maritime.dot.gov/office-port-infrastructure-development/port-and-terminal-infrastructure-development/how-apply-port https://www.maritime.dot.gov/office-port-infrastructure-development/port-and-terminal-infrastructure-development/how-apply-port current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency.

DOT may not make a FY 2022 PIDP Grant award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time DOT is ready to make a PIDP grant award, DOT may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a PIDP grant award and use that determination as a basis for making a PIDP grant award to another applicant.

4. Submission Dates and Times

Applications must be submitted to Grants.gov. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m.

E.D.T. on May 16, 2022. The funding opportunity on Grants.gov will open by February 24, 2022.

To submit an application through Grants.gov, applicants must: (1) obtain a UEI1 number, (2) register with SAM.gov, (3) create a Grants.gov username and password, and (4) respond to the registration email from Grants.gov. Please note that the Grants.gov registration process usually takes 2-4 weeks to complete and that DOT will not consider late applications that are the result of a failure to register or comply with Grants.gov applicant requirements in a timely manner. For information and instructions on each of these processes, please see instructions at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs.html. If applicants experience difficulties at any point during the registration or application process, please call the Grants.gov

Customer Service Support Hotline at 1 (800) 518-4726, Monday thru Friday from 7:00 am to

9:00 am ET.

1 On April 4, 2022 the Federal government will stop using the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number to uniquely identify entities. At that point, entities doing business with the Federal government will use a Unique

Entity Identifier (UEI) created in SAM.gov. If your entity is currently registered in SAM.gov, your UEI has already been assigned and is viewable in SAM.gov. This includes inactive registrations.

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-faqs.html

5. Funding Restrictions

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

6. Other Submission Requirements

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

The purpose of the PIDP is to improve the safety, efficiency, or reliability of the movement of goods through ports and intermodal connections to ports. The Department will evaluate projects that meet the purpose of the PIDP based on their alignment with the following merit criteria: achieving safety, efficiency, or reliability improvements; supporting economic vitality at the regional or national level; addressing climate change and environmental justice; advancing racial equity and reducing barriers to opportunity; and leveraging Federal funding. Projects will also be evaluated for project readiness, domestic preference compliance, and impact on port resilience.

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

2. Review and Selection Process

24, 2022.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notice

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

3. Reporting

The Department intends to amend this notice to provide more details on or before February

24, 2022.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

For further information concerning this notice, please contact the PIDP staff via email at

PIDPgrants@dot.gov, or call Aubrey Parsons at (202) 366–8047. A TDD is available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at (202) 366–3993. In addition, DOT will post answers to questions and requests for clarifications at www.maritime.dot.gov/PIDPgrants. To ensure applicants receive accurate information about eligibility or the program, the applicant is encouraged to contact DOT with questions directly, rather than through intermediaries or third parties. DOT may also conduct briefings on the PIDP grants selection and award process upon request.

H. Other Information

24, 2022.

file:///C:/Users/Peter.Simons/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/XBZLAW0J/www.maritime.dot.gov/PIDPgrants