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Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Program: Community Planning Grants - FY 2023

Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation
CFDA: 20.940, 20.205
Federal FON: DOT-RCP-FY23-01
Office: Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST)
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: 09/28/2023 (Application)
Solicitation Date: 07/05/2023
   
Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $188,000,000 (Max)
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to advance community-centered connection transportation projects, with a priority for projects that benefit disadvantaged communities by improving access to daily needs such as jobs, education, health care, food, nature, and recreation; fostering equitable development and restoration; and reconnecting communities by removing, retrofitting, or mitigating highways or other transportation facilities that create barriers to community connectivity, including to mobility, access, or economic development. Funds and technical assistance issued through this program will support planning activities for future construction projects and allow for innovative community planning to address localized transportation challenges.

For awards funded with Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) funds, proposed projects must address an eligible facility, which is defined as a highway or other transportation facility that creates a barrier to community connectivity, including barriers to mobility, access, or economic development, due to high speeds, grade separations, or other design factors. Eligible facilities may include limited-access highways; viaducts; any other principal arterial facilities; and other facilities such as transit lines, rail lines, gas pipelines, and airports.

For awards funded with Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) funds, proposed projects may address one of the following two eligible facilities:

  • Dividing facilities: surface transportation facilities that create an obstacle to community connectivity by high speeds, grade separation, or other design factors
  • Burdening facilities: surface transportation facilities that are a source of air pollution, noise, stormwater, heat, or other burdens to a disadvantaged or underserved community

For awards funded with both RCP and NAE funds, eligible activities and costs may include:

  • Public engagement activities, including community visioning or other place-based strategies for public input into project plans
  • Planning studies to assess the feasibility of removing, retrofitting, or mitigating an existing eligible dividing facility to reconnect communities, including assessments of:
    • Current traffic patterns on the facility and the surrounding street network
    • Capacity of existing transportation networks to maintain mobility needs
    • Alternative roadway designs or other uses for the right-of-way
    • The project's anticipated impact on mobility of freight and people
    • The project's anticipated impact on safety
    • The estimated cost to restore community connectivity and to convert the facility to a different design or use, compared to any expected maintenance or reconstruction costs
    • The project's anticipated economic impact and development opportunities
    • The project's anticipated environmental, public health, and community impacts
  • Other planning activities in advance of the project, such as:
    • Conceptual and preliminary engineering or design and planning studies that support the environmental review for a construction project
    • Developing local anti-displacement policies and community benefit agreements
    • Associated needs such as locally driven land use and zoning reform; transit-oriented development; housing supply, in particular location-efficient affordable housing; managing gentrification and neighborhood change; proposed project impact mitigation; green and open space; local history and culture; access and mobility barriers; jobs and workforce; or other necessary planning activities as put forth by the applicant that do no result in construction

For awards funded with NAE funds only, eligible activities and costs may include:

  • Planning and capacity-building activities in disadvantaged or underserved communities to identify, monitor, or assess local and ambient air quality; emissions of transportation greenhouse gases; hot spot areas of extreme heat or elevated air pollution; gaps in tree canopy coverage; or flood prone transportation infrastructure
  • Planning studies to assess the feasibility of removing, retrofitting, or mitigating an existing eligible burdening or dividing facility, and predevelopment activities for eligible NAE capital construction projects
  • Assessing transportation equity or pollution impacts
  • Administering or obtaining technical assistance related to any of the other aforementioned eligible planning activities

Optional webinars are scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for additional information.

Last Updated: April 15, 2024

Eligibility Notes:

For awards funded with Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) funds, eligible applicants are:

  • States
  • Units of local government
  • Tribal governments
  • Metropolitan planning organizations
  • Nonprofit organizations

For awards funded with Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) funds, eligible applicants are:

  • States or U.S. territories
  • Units of local government
  • Political subdivisions of a state
  • Tribal governments
  • Special purpose districts or public authorities with a transportation function
  • Metropolitan planning organizations
  • Nonprofit organizations or institutions of higher education that have entered into a partnership with an aforementioned eligible entity and that are applying for an award for planning and capacity-building activities in disadvantaged or underserved communities, as defined on pages 40-43 of the NOFA file

To maximize their potential for receiving federal support, applicants are encouraged to submit applications that meet the statutory requirements for both RCP and NAE funds. As long as they meet the statutory requirements, applicants will be considered across both programs unless they opt out from consideration for one of the programs.

To minimize delays in establishing and implementing funding agreements, applicants that do not have experience with the funding requirements of the funding agency may opt to jointly apply with a partner in the same state or region that has an established financial relationship with the funding agency and knowledge of federal award administration requirements.

The funding agency encourages joint applications from place-based partnerships headed by a lead applicant.

For awards funded with NAE funds, the funding agency encourages that all lead applicants be the owner of the facility proposed in the project or, if the lead applicant is another eligible entity, to demonstrate a partnership with the facility owner.

Applicants may propose projects in rural and/or disadvantaged communities.

Lead applicants may submit no more than three applications. Unrelated project components should not be bundled in a single application for the purpose of adhering to the limit.

Previous award recipients include:

  • Cherokee Nation (OK)
  • City of Chicago (IL)
  • Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (WA)
  • Anchorage Neighborhood Housing Services (AK)
  • California Department of Transportation (CA)

Refer to the Award file for additional information on previous award recipients.

Eligible Applicants:
Local Government
Academic Institutions
Consortia
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
State Government
Application Notes:

Applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on September 28, 2023.

Applications must be submitted online at usg.valideval.com.

Applications must include:

  • SF 424
  • SF 424A
  • SF 424B
  • Key information questions
  • Narrative (10 pages max)
  • Budget
  • Project location file

The narrative must be in .pdf format and must use Times New Roman font no smaller than 12-point, single spacing, page numbers, and margins of at least one-inch on all sides. Acceptable file types for the project location file include Shapefile, GEOJSON, KL/KMZ, or CSV.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

  • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
  • SAM (System for Award Management) registration

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.

Optional webinars will be held for this program as follows:

Interested in Applying? Reconnecting Communities Grant Program Overview for Prospective Applicants:
July 11, 2023
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
usdot.zoomgov.com

Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods - Tribal Focus:
July 27, 2023
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
usdot.zoomgov.com

Interested in Applying? Reconnecting Communities Grant Program Overview for Prospective Applicants - Encore:
August 9, 2023
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET

Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods - Rural/Nonprofit Focus:
August 15, 2023
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET

Recordings of webinars held for this program can be found online at www.transportation.gov/grants.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following merit criteria:

  • Equity and environmental justice
  • Access
  • Facility suitability
  • Community engagement and community-based stewardship, management, and partnerships
  • Equitable development
  • Climate and environment
  • Workforce development and economic opportunity

Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.

Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $188,000,000 (Max)
Match Notes:

For awards funded with Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) funds, applicants must provide at least 20 percent of the total project costs via cash and/or in-kind contributions.

In general, for awards funded with Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) funds, applicants must provide at least 20 percent of the total project costs via cash and/or in-kind contributions. NAE projects in a disadvantaged or underserved community, as defined on pages 40-43 of the NOFA file, do not require matching funds.

Matching funds may include nonfederal sources such as:

  • State funds originating from programs funded by state revenue
  • Local funds originating from state or local revenue-funded programs
  • Philanthropic funds
  • Private funds

In-kind contributions may include:

  • Compensation for community members' time
  • Materials
  • Pro bono work provided to the project by third parties
  • Donations from private sponsors

Unless granted pre-award authority by the funding agency, award recipients may not use pre-award costs for matching funds.

Funding Notes:

Up to $188 million is expected to be available to support awards and technical assistance through this program. Of the total funding available, up to $50 million is expected to be made available in RCP funds, and up to $135 million is expected to be made available in NAE funds. The maximum award amount for awards funded with RCP funds is $2 million. There is no maximum award amount for awards funded with NAE funds.

In general, funds will be provided on a reimbursement basis.

RCP funds will be available until expended, and NAE funds will be available to be obligated until September 30, 2026; however, to ensure that projects are started and completed efficiently, the funding agency encourages all funds to be obligated by the same date of September 30, 2026.

NAE funds may not be used for a project for additional through travel lanes for single-occupant passenger vehicles.

Funds may not be used for:

  • Pre-award costs, unless authorized in writing by the funding agency
  • Supporting or opposing union organizing

For FY 2023, 72 awards ranging from $100,000 to $7 million were provided through this program. For FY 2022, 39 awards ranging from $67,444 to $2 million were provided. Refer to the Award file for details.

Contacts:

Program Staff
ReconnectingCommunities@dot.gov

Andrew Emanuele
andrew.emanuele@dot.gov

Tameka Macon-Ryan
tameka.maconryan@dot.gov

Agency Address
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to the program contacts provided. Answers to questions and requests for clarifications will be posted online at www.transportation.gov.

Applications must be submitted online at usg.valideval.com.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_Webinar_FY2023.pdf (135.3 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_FAQ_FY2023.pdf (171.0 Kb)
NOFA File: US17222_NOFA_FY2023.pdf (635.2 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_Amendment_FY2023.pdf (219.8 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_WebinarPresentation_FY2023.zip (10.3 Mb)
Award File: US17222_Award_FY2023.pdf (958.5 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SF 424 (144.4 Kb)
SF 424B (64.2 Kb)
SF 424A (131.6 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the revised full solicitation for this program. The Webinar file contains information regarding optional webinars scheduled for this program. The FAQ file contains a list of answers to frequently asked questions regarding this program. The Amendment file contains information regarding revisions to the solicitation. The WebinarPresentation folder contains presentation slides for the webinars held for this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients. The required federal forms are attached.

April 15, 2024
Information regarding awards through this program has been released and appended to the Award file. A brief summary of the awards has been added to the Financial section, and a sample of award recipients has been added to the Eligibility section.

September 7, 2023
Recordings of the webinars held for this program have been released, and a link to the presentations is available in the Application section. Presentation slides for the webinars have also been released and attached as the WebinarPresentation folder.

August 30, 2023
A revised full solicitation for this program has been released and attached as the NOFA file. In addition, information regarding revisions to the solicitation has been released and attached as the Amendment file.

July 19, 2023
A list of answers to frequently asked questions regarding this program has been released and attached as the FAQ file. The Eligibility section has been updated accordingly.

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Grant Categories
Community Development
Human Services
Transportation