Dear CAGTC Members,
On September 16, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its 2020 round of BUILD grant awards. USDOT awarded just over $1 billion in grants to 70 projects in 44 states. The fiscal year 2020 appropriations act provided $1 billion in funding for this year’s BUILD grants, of which USDOT could retain $25 million for administrative and oversight costs. However, two projects were awarded BUILD 2019 funds, explaining why the total amount exceeds the $1 billion provided by Congress. USDOT received 656 eligible BUILD applications this year requesting more than $9.18 billion in funding, approximately $9.18 in requests for every $1 in available funding. The full list of awards can be found here.
Please find some key takeaways summarized below:
- Award Size
- As directed by Congress, the maximum award size was $25 million (received by six projects). The minimum grant size for capital projects was $5 million for urban projects and $1 million for rural projects. No parameters were set for planning grants.
- The average award amount was $14.2 million, with a median size of $15 million.
- Planning vs. Capital Grants
- In both 2018 and 2019, Congress gave USDOT the option to award at least $15 million in grants for planning projects, though USDOT declined to do so. This year however, the provision was mandatory.
- USDOT awarded $20.4 million to 12 planning projects, for an average award size of $1.7 million.
- The remaining $979.7 million went to 58 capital projects, averaging $16.9 million per project.
- Project Type
- Distribution per project category: 76% road projects; 12% transit; 8% maritime; 2% rail; and 2% aviation.
- Urban vs. Rural
- Congress required USDOT to divide funding evenly between urban and rural projects, with neither receiving more than 50% of available funding. This year, 50.71% went toward rural projects and 49.29% to urban projects. This slight discrepancy is due to funding retained for administrative purposes and USDOT’s use of unobligated 2019 funds.
As a reminder, BUILD grants are funded through the annual appropriations process. The current fiscal year ends on September 30 so Congress must act before that deadline to ensure federal agencies receive funding for next year and to prevent a government shutdown. While the House has passed several of its appropriations bills for fiscal year 2021 (including a minibus containing transportation funding, incorporating $1 billion for the BUILD program), the Senate has not yet introduced any FY21 appropriations legislation of its own. As time is running out before the September 30 deadline, it appears likely that Congress will instead opt to pass a continuing resolution (CR) extending current funding levels through the election or into early 2021.
Thank you,
Cecile
Cecile Entleitner
Manager, Member Communications & Policy
Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors
1625 K Street NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
tradecorridors.org
T: (202) 828-9100
C: (850) 766-2411