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Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program: Community Planning 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 (OST)
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: $150,000,000 (Max)
Award Range: $2,000,000 (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. Ultimately, funding and technical assistance will allow award recipients to plan how to address infrastructure barriers, restore community connectivity, and improve peoples' lives. Transformative solutions that knit communities back together may include infrastructure removal, pedestrian walkways and overpasses, capping and lids, roadway redesigns, complete streets conversions, and main street revitalization.

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 may include limited-access highways, viaducts, any other principal arterial facilities, and other facilities such as transit lines and rail lines.

Priority will be given to projects that demonstrate the following characteristics:

  • Equity and Justice40 considerations, including benefits to economically disadvantaged communities
  • Access
  • Facility suitability
  • Community engagement and community-based stewardship, management, and partnerships
  • Equitable development
  • Climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and resilience
  • Workforce development

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 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 impact on mobility of freight and people
    • The project's 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 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
    • Associated needs such as locally driven land use and zoning reform, transit-oriented development, housing supply, in particular affordable housing, managing gentrification and neighborhood change, proposed project impact mitigation, climate resilience and sustainability, green and open space, local history and culture, access and mobility barriers, jobs and workforce, or other necessary planning activities that do not result in construction

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: Capital Construction Grants, known in eCivis Grants Network as US17225.

Last Updated: July 30, 2024

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are:

  • 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.

Priority will be given to projects that benefit disadvantaged communities, including projects that address equity and the federal Jusitce40 initiative. Refer to pages 4-5 and 21-22 of the NOFA file for additional information.

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 (OPCD) (WA)
  • University of Arkansas (AR)
  • 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 30, 2024.

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

Applications must include:

  • SF 424
  • SF 424A
  • SF 424B
  • Key information questions
  • Key information table
  • Narrative (12 pages max)
  • Budget
  • Project location file

The narrative must be submitted in .pdf format, and must be formatted on single-spaced, numbered pages with one-inch margins on all sides using 12-point Times New Roman font. Acceptable file types for the project location file include Shapefile, GEOJSON, or KML/KMZ.

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/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 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 file for additional application information.

Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Cash/In-Kind
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Range: $150,000,000 (Max)
Award Range: $2,000,000 (Max)
Match Notes:

Applicants must provide at least 20 percent of the total project costs via cash and/or in-kind contributions.

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 $150 million is expected to be available to support awards of up to $2 million through this program. Up to $50 million is expected to be available through this program for each of FY 2024, FY 2025, and FY 2026.

In addition to monetary awards, award recipients will receive technical assistance from the funding agency, and the opportunity to participate in a community of practice. Refer to pages 5-6 of the NOFA file for details. 

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

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, 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

Agency Address
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
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: US17222_NOFA_FY2024.pdf (718.5 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_Webinars_FY2024.pdf (116.8 Kb)
Award File: US17222_Award_FY2024.pdf (958.5 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_WebinarPresentation_FY2024.pdf (3.4 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US17222_WebinarPresentation2_FY2024.pdf (2.5 Mb)
Federal Forms:
SF 424 (144.4 Kb)
SF 424B (64.2 Kb)
SF 424A (131.6 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Webinars 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.

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Grant Categories
Community Development
Human Services
Transportation