National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Discretionary Safety Grants and Cooperative Agreements

This Assistance Listing 20.622 created in August 2025 was included in the previous ALN 20.614, please refer to former ALN 20.614 for FY24 and FY25 financial obligations. The new Assistance Listing 20.622 will be utilized by DOT at the start of FY 202

Provide technical and financial assistance to State and local government agencies, for-profit and non-profit organizations, educational institutions, hospitals, and other persons (as defined in Title 1 USC Chapter (1)) in support of highway safety research and development, special studies, educational and public awareness projects related to or involving: 1) Activities, including demonstration projects to study vehicle, highway, driver, passenger, motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian characteristics; 2) Emergency medical services communications and transportation of the injured; 3) Human behavioral factors such as driver education, impaired driving, and distracted driving; 4) Evaluation of the effectiveness of countermeasures to increase highway and traffic safety, including occupant protection and alcohol- and drug-impaired driving technologies and initiatives; 5) Development of technologies to detect drug impaired drivers; 6) Research, evaluation, and identification of best practices related to driver education programs (including driver education curricula, instructor training and certification, program administration, and delivery mechanisms) and recommendations for harmonizing driver education and multistage graduated licensing systems; and 7) Effect of State laws on any aspects, activities, or programs described above.

Eligibility requirements will be specified on a project-by-project basis.

The grants and cooperative agreements can only be used for those projects as authorized under Section 403. The grants and cooperative agreements can only be used for those projects as authorized under Section 403. All projects falling within this Assistance Listing (CFDA) are subject to 100% discretionary funding.

Funds are restricted to activities authorized under 23 U.S.C. § 403. Assistance may not be used for general highway construction or standard law enforcement equipment unless specifically authorized in the project agreement.

The period during which assistance is available is determined on a project-by-project basis. However, typically, projects will not exceed five years. The timeframe in which funding must be spent is dependent upon the specific project's budget, the nature of the project, and the type of funding allocated to that project. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Monthly/Quarterly to coincide with submission of invoices. Financial assistance is released, on a cost-reimbursement basis, upon receipt and approval of monthly or quarterly invoices and supporting project progress reports.

Grantee criteria for selecting proposals will be developed on an on individual grant or cooperative agreement basis by the NHTSA Program and Acquisition Team.

Competitive project grants and cooperative agreement applications must be submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration via the grants.gov website. Project grants and cooperative agreements which are to be awarded without competition shall be submitted directly to the NHTSA point of contact identified for that financial assistance opportunity. Grantees will be required to complete the suite of SF 424 forms, representations and certifications, project plan and budget. NHTSA's Office of Acquisition Management in cooperation with the applicable NHTSA program office will review project plans and budgets. Awards will be based upon the application of defined evaluation factors to applicants' project plans and upon analysis of applicants' project budgets.

The deadlines shall be established for each grant or cooperative agreement application package. Refer to deadlines established for each Request for Application as presented in Grants.gov.

Renewals and/or extensions vary on a project-by-project basis. Some discretionary grants and cooperative agreements may include option periods