Biden Administration Opens Applications for $848 Million in Competitive Grant Funding
New Bipartisan Infrastructure Law program supports projects to protect roads, bridges, transit, rail and ports from natural hazards and climate change impacts, including through nature-based solutions.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) opened applications for the first round of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program.
As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, the program will invest in projects to make the country’s surface transportation system – including highways, public transportation, pedestrian facilities, ports, and intercity passenger rail – more resilient to the worsening impacts of climate change, while reducing long-term costs by minimizing demands for more expensive future maintenance and rebuilding. The program prioritizes innovative and collaborative approaches to risk reduction – including approaches that harness the power of nature to protect against flood, erosion, wave damage, and heat impacts.
“Climate change threatens not just our lives and livelihoods, but the infrastructure we rely on every day,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With these grants, we will help ensure that our roads, bridges, and highways are resilient enough to withstand extreme weather, and will create good-paying jobs along the way.”
