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Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program: Capital Construction Grants - FY 2024

Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation
CFDA: 20.940
Federal FON: DOT-RCP-FY24-01
Office: Office of the Secretary of Transportation
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: 09/30/2024 (Application)
Solicitation Date: 07/03/2024
   
Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $457,000,000 (Max)
Award Range: $5,000,000 (Min) / $100,000,000 (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 providing technical assistance to further these goals. Specifically, award recipients will carry out projects to remove, retrofit, mitigate, or replace existing eligible facilities with new facilities that reconnect communities.

Projects must address an eligible facility, which for the purposes of this program 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 include limited-access highways, viaducts, any other principal arterial facilities, and other facilities such as transit lines and rail lines.

Eligible projects include those for which all necessary feasibility studies and other planning activities have been completed, including those for which adequate planning activities, such as engaging with the public to understand the public’s needs and interests, evaluating relevant data, and/or developing a conceptual design, have been completed.

Projects must be consistent with the long-range statewide transportation plan; included in the metropolitan long-range plan, if applicable; and included in the metropolitan transportation improvement program (TIP) and/or statewide transportation improvement program (STIP), tribal transportation program (TTIP), or equivalent, as applicable, prior to the obligation of the award. Transit projects must be included in the investment prioritization of the relevant transit asset management (TAM) plan by the time of the obligation of the award.

Eligible construction activities include:

  • Preliminary and detailed design activities and associated environmental studies
  • Preconstruction
  • Construction
  • Permitting activities, including the completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process
  • The removal, retrofit, or mitigation of an eligible facility
  • The replacement of an eligible facility with a new facility that restores community connectivity
  • Meaningful public involvement throughout the project delivery process
  • Delivering community benefits and the mitigation of impacts identified through the NEPA process or other planning and project development for the capital construction project

Funding and technical assistance will be provided to reduce inequities across transportation systems and the communities they affect. The program is intended to redress the legacy of harm caused by transportation infrastructure, including barriers to opportunity, displacement, damage to the environment and public health, limited access, and other hardships. In pursuit of this goal, the program will support and engage economically disadvantaged communities to increase affordable, accessible, and multimodal access to daily needs, such as jobs, education, health care, food, nature, and recreation, and foster equitable development and restoration

In addition, the following strategic priorities will be considered:

  • Safety
  • Equity
  • Climate and sustainability
  • Workforce development, job quality, and wealth creation

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

This program is related to the RCP Program: Community Planning Grants, known in eCivis Grants Network as US17222.

Last Updated: July 30, 2024

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants must be the owner(s) of the eligible facility proposed in the project for which adequate planning activities, such as engaging with the public, evaluating relevant data, and developing a conceptual design, have been completed. Owners of an eligible facility, for the purposes of submitting an application, may submit a joint application with:

  • States, including the District of Columbia, as well as the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
  • Units of local government
  • Tribal governments
  • Metropolitan planning organizations
  • Nonprofit organizations

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.

The funding agency will consider benefits to economically disadvantaged communities, urban/rural/tribal balance, and geographic and organizational diversity when selecting awards. Refer to page 38 of the NOFA file for information regarding the definition and designation of economically disadvantaged communities for purposes of this program.

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:

  • City of Atlanta (GA)
  • Central Ohio Transit Authority (OH)
  • City and County of Denver (CO)
  • Michigan Department of Transportation (MI)
  • New York State Department of Transportation (NY)

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

Eligible Applicants:
Local Government
Consortia
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
Other
Private Sector
State Government
Application Notes:

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on September 30, 2024.

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

Applications must include:

  • SF 424
  • SF 424C
  • SF 424D
  • Key information questions
  • Key information table
  • Narrative (20 pages max)
  • Budget
  • Project location file

Narratives must be formatted on single-spaced, numbered pages with one-inch margins on all sides using a Times New Roman font no smaller than 12-point. Narratives must be submitted in .pdf format. Refer to page 20 of the NOFA file for the acceptable file types for the project location file.

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 are scheduled for this program as follows:

Interested in Applying/General Webinar:
July 9, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
Registration: usdot.zoomgov.com

RCP Merit Criteria Webinar:
July 23, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
Registration: usdot.zoomgov.com

RCP Webinar for Tribal Communities:
August 6, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
Registration: usdot.zoomgov.com

RCP Capital Construction Webinar:
August 20, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
Registration: usdot.zoomgov.com

RCP Rural/Nonprofit Webinar:
August 27, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
Registration: usdot.zoomgov.com

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

Additionally, optional officer hours for this program are scheduled as follows:

August 22, 2024
11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET
Register: events.teams.microsoft.com

September 16, 2024
11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. ET
Register: events.teams.microsoft.com

Applications will be evaluated according to the following merit criteria:

  • Equity and Justice40 initiative
  • Access
  • Facility suitability
  • Community engagement and community-based stewardship, management, and partnerships
  • Equitable development
  • Climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and resilience
  • Workforce development and economic opportunity
  • Planning integration

Refer to pages 21-32 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding the application evaluation process.

Refer to the NOFA and WebinarsSchedule files for additional application information.

Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $457,000,000 (Max)
Award Range: $5,000,000 (Min) / $100,000,000 (Max)
Match Notes:

Applicants must provide at least 50 percent of the total project costs via cash and/or in-kind contributions.

Federal assistance other than this program may be used to partially satisfy the match requirement, as long as the total federal assistance does not exceed 80 percent of the total project costs. Award recipients must contribute at lease 20 percent of project costs via local contributions. In addition, 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
Funding Notes:

Up to $457 million is available to support awards of at least $5 million through this program, with a total of $150 million available in FY 2024, $152 million in FY 2025, and $155 million in FY 2026. It is anticipated that awards may range up to $100 million.

In addition to monetary awards, award recipients will also receive technical assistance from the funding agency, including through the Reconnecting Communities Institute (RCI) program, as detailed on pages 5-6 of the NOFA file.

Award recipients that do not receive the full amount of funds requested will receive a Reconnecting Extra designation, which encourages and facilitates award recipients’ pursuit of supplemental funding agency discretionary program funding. Refer to page 6 of the NOFA file for additional information.

Generally, funds will be provided on a reimbursement basis. The funding agency will consider alternate payment methods on a case-by-case basis, when needed.

Funding is available until expended; however, the funding agency encourages FY 2024 award recipients to obligate all funding by September 30, 2027; FY 2025 award recipients to obligate all funding by September 30, 2028; and FY 2026 award recipients to obligate all funding by September 30, 2029.

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, 52 awards ranging from $1.94 million to $450 million were issued through this program. For FY 2022, six awards ranging from $5,354,695 to $55,597,500 were issued. Refer to the Award file for details.

Contacts:

Program Staff
reconnectingcommunities@dot.gov

Andrew Emanuele
andrew.emanuele@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/reconnecting.

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

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
NOFA File: US17225_NOFA_FY2024.pdf (718.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17225_WebinarsSchedule_FY2024.pdf (113.6 Kb)
Award File: US17225_Award_FY2024.pdf (958.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17225_WebinarPresentation_FY2024.pdf (3.4 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17225_WebinarPresentation2_FY2024.pdf (2.5 Mb)
Federal Forms:
SF 424 (144.4 Kb)
SF 424C (1.7 Mb)
SF 424D (64.9 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The WebinarsSchedule file contains information regarding optional webinars scheduled for this program. The WebinarPresentation and WebinarPresentation2 files contain slides from webinars held for this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients. The required federal forms are attached.

July 30, 2024
Slides from a second webinar held for this program have been released and attached as the WebinarPresentation2 file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

July 19, 2024
Slides from a webinar held for this program have been released and attached as the WebinarPresentation file.

July 9, 2024
The registration link for one of the webinars scheduled for this program has been released. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

Grant Keywords
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Grant Categories
Community Development
Human Services
Transportation