Infrastructure Grants You Might Not Have Heard Of
November 26, 2024

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is over 1,000 pages of dense legislative text. The Local Infrastructure Hub (LIH) was created to help applicants navigate the many funding opportunities and take the guesswork out of the application process. There are still plenty of opportunities available that we strongly encourage cities to take advantage of; this resource describes some grant programs of which applicants might not be aware.

Grants for rural communities:

  • Rural Surface Transportation Grant – These grants are for projects that improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas. Projects should increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of transportation, and generate regional economic growth and improve quality of life.
  • Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas – This grant program funds projects in communities with less than 10,000 people that improve the resilience, safety, reliability, and availability of energy in rural areas. Funds can also be used to address adverse impacts of energy generation.

Grants for large cities:

  • The Congestion Relief Program provides funding for multimodal traffic congestion relief projects in cities with a population of over 1 million.

Grants for communities near a waterway:

  • National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant Program and the Fish Passage grants program improve fish passageways, especially for fish that are economically important, endangered, or at risk. A culvert is a pipe or similar structure that re-routes water under or around an obstacle. Both of these grant programs provide passageways for fish in places where roads and other transportation infrastructure intersects with waterways. The National Culvert program focuses on anadromous fish, which are saltwater fish that are born in freshwater and thus have to migrate to spawn. Salmon are the classic example, but steelhead trout, shad, river herring, lamprey, and sturgeon are also included. The Fish Passage grant is a more inclusive program for all types of fish.
  • The Watershed Rehabilitation Program provides technical and financial assistance to localities to rehabilitate dams that are aging or no longer meet safety criteria and performance standards.

Grants for coastal communities:

  • Marine Debris Program – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides grants for marine debris prevention, education, and removal. Projects in Great Lakes habitats are also eligible for some funding programs.

Grants for communities at risk for drought:

  • Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART programs work with local entities to modernize water infrastructure, increase water supply, and avoid potential water conflicts in Western U.S. states.

Grants for communities susceptible to wildfires:

  • The Department of the Interior has several BIL grant programs for wildfire preparedness as well as restoration and resilience. 

Other location-specific funding that is available to local governments:

Other Resources

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