The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021. BIL authorizes funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, transit programs as well as broad band access, clean water, and electric grid renewal. This Guide establishes overall direction and consistency in the development of high-quality, competitive BIL grant proposals. It identifies key steps and defines relevant roles and responsibilities in the grant-development process. Ultimately, proposals must make a persuasive case that the grant is worth funding while meeting all of the specified requirements.

The Guide addresses the key considerations for the common components of most Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) applications to guide the process in a straightforward and efficient manner.

Where applicable, checklists and templates are provided to support the application. In addition to covering the key components of applications, the Guide focuses on the roles and responsibilities throughout the application-development cycle. It is designed to ensure a shared understanding among those involved and to promote efficient and orderly grant applications. The landscape for transportation funding has changed in significant ways through the IIJA/BIL legislation. While enormous opportunity has been afforded by the Act, the volume and level of competition has increased commensurately. Many state DOTs and other transportation agencies have placed increased emphasis on pursuing and securing discretionary grant funds to significantly augment traditional federal funding. In this new landscape, applications must differentiate themselves through innovation, creativity, and case-making.

As such, this document is organized to support the development of the most competitive proposals possible for submissions. It is essential to be mindful of federal emphasis areas and priorities in developing and executing a strategic approach to grant proposal development. Areas such as equity, innovation, safety, sustainability, resiliency, and environment must be recognized as key competitive factors and be addressed as such in proposal conceptualization, drafting, review and finalization. The Guide includes both process steps and tools to use in approaching a grant application.

Tools are identified by an icon with the process step they support, are summarized in each section, and are provided in “Tools” at the end of the Guide. The Guide will be periodically reviewed and reissued to reflect lessons learned from experience gained in actual applications.