Examples of Current Municipal Grant Opportunities

Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2024 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2024”. The 2024 BENEFIT FOA will invest up to $30M (subject to appropriations) across four topic areas: Topic 1: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning and Water Heating Technologies with improved materials, components, equipment design, and engineering, lower cost manufacturing processes, and easier installation. Topic 2: Innovative, Replicable, and Low-Cost Roof and Attic Retrofits Technologies for affordable and scalable roof and attic retrofits that improve energy efficiency and address air and water infiltration. Topic 3: Building Resilience and Capacity Constraints Novel approaches to maintain essential loads during blackouts and add power capacity to buildings without the need for major infrastructure upgrades; localized thermal management systems and thermally resilient building envelopes to provide cooling and overheating protection against extreme heat events. Topic 4: Commercial Lighting Retrofit Advancements Low-cost, high-quality retrofit solutions for lagging sectors in energy-efficient lighting adoption (schools, certain commercial buildings).

WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects For Fiscal Year 2024 and Fiscal Year 2025

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s (Department) WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) Program provides a framework for Federal leadership and assistance to stretch and secure water supplies for future generations in support of the Department’s priorities. Through WaterSMART, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) leverages Federal and non-Federal funding to work cooperatively with States, Tribes, and local entities as they plan for and implement actions to increase water supply sustainability through investments in existing infrastructure and attention to local water conflicts. WaterSMART provides support for priorities identified in Presidential Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (E.O. 14008) and aligned with other priorities, such as those identified in Presidential Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (E.O. 13985). The WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects also support the goals of the Interagency Drought Relief Working Group established in March 2021 and the National Drought Resiliency Partnership. These grants will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. Established by E.O. 14008, the Justice40 Initiative has it made it a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Federal agencies are using the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to help identify disadvantaged communities. The objective of this NOFO is to invite States, Indian Tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, and other organizations with water or power delivery authority to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with Reclamation on small-scale on-the-ground projects that seek to conserve, better manage, or otherwise make more efficient use of water supplies. Proposed projects that are supported by an existing water management and conservation plan, System Optimization Review, or other planning effort led by the applicant are prioritized. This prioritization will help ensure that projects funded under this NOFO are well thought out, have public support, and have been identified as the best way to address water management concerns. Reclamation has simplified the evaluation criteria and streamlined the application process for this category of WaterSMART Grants to ensure that the process works for smaller entities. Simplified evaluation criteria are intended to provide each applicant with an opportunity to succinctly explain how the proposed project would meet a defined need identified through a prior planning effort.

FY 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program

The Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announces the opportunity to apply for $20 million in FY 2024 Airport Infrastructure Grant funds for the FCT competitive grant program, made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA), Pub. L. 117-58, herein referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The purpose of the FCT competitive grant program is to make annual grants available to eligible airports for airport-owned airport traffic control tower (ATCT) projects that address the aging infrastructure of the nation’s airports. The FAA will consider ATCT projects that sustain, construct, repair, improve, rehabilitate, modernize, replace, or relocate non-approach control towers; or acquire and install air traffic control, communications, and related equipment to be used in those towers; or construct a remote tower certified by the FAA including acquisition and installation of air traffic control, communications, or related equipment.

 In addition, FT grants will align with DOT’s Strategic Framework FY2022-2026 at https://www.transportation.gov/administrations/office-policy/fy2022-2026-strategic-framework. The FY 2024 FCT will be implemented consistent with law and in alignment with the priorities in Executive Order 14052, Implementation of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (86 FR 64355), which are to invest efficiently and equitably; promote the competitiveness of the U.S. economy; improve job opportunities by focusing on high labor standards; strengthen infrastructure resilience to all hazards including climate change; and to effectively coordinate with State, local, Tribal, and territorial government partners.

Fiscal Year 2023 Presidential Residence Protection Assistance Grant Notice Of Funding Opportunity

The objective of the FY 2023 PRPA Grant Program is to reimburse extraordinary costs state and local agencies while protecting the President’s non-federal residences. Among the goals outlined in the DHS Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2020-2024, the FY 2023 PRPA Grant Program supports the goal to Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security Threats, Objective 1.3: Protect Designated Leadership, Events, and Soft Targets. It also supports the 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan, Objective 3.2: Posture FEMA to Meet Current and Emergent Threats. 

Rural Health Network Development Planning Program

The purpose the Rural Health Network Development Planning Program (“Network Planning Program”) is to plan and develop integrated health care networks that collaborate to address the following legislative aims: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to and improve the quality of basic health care services and health outcomes; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system. This program supports one year of planning and brings together members of the health care delivery system, particularly those entities that may not have collaborated in the past, to establish and/or improve local capacity in order to strengthen rural community health interventions and enhance care coordination. The Network Planning program uses the concept of developing networks as a strategy toward linking rural health care network members together to address local challenges, and help rural stakeholders achieve greater collective capacity to overcome challenges related to limited economies of scale for individual hospitals, clinics, or other key rural health care stakeholders. For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations.

Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Research Programs is accepting applications for the Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence (AI) program. Launched through NEH’s new Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence initiative, the purpose of the program is to create new humanities research centers on AI at eligible institutions. Centers must focus their scholarly activities on exploring the ethical, legal, or societal implications of AI, as outlined by the 2023 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan. Centers should include scholars from multiple disciplines, but they must be led by scholars in the humanities or humanistic social sciences. NEH is particularly interested in Centers that explore the impacts of AI-related technologies in the areas of equity, privacy, or civil rights.

 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity (RMUC) Advanced Cybersecurity Technology Funding Opportunity Announcement (ACT FOA) Last Updated: 10/23/2023

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) provides $70 million in federal funding to support the RMUC Program’s goals. The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is issuing this FOA on behalf of the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). These investments will improve the reliability and cybersecurity resilience of the energy infrastructure in rural America, decrease the energy burden on utility members and customers, and increase the cybersecurity knowledge, skills, and abilities of utility employees in rural communities.

FY 2023 Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program Phase 2 Notice of Funding Opportunity

This is Phase 2 of a two-phase competition. Applications received after this deadline will not be reviewed or considered. Only applicants that EDA Designated as Tech Hubs in Phase 1 will be permitted to apply to Phase 2. 

Pursuant to section 28(c) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. § 3722a(c)), consortia that EDA Designated as Tech Hubs under the Phase 1 NOFO are eligible applicants under this NOFO. An eligible consortium must include one or more of each of the following: (i) institutions of higher education, which may include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions; (ii) State, territorial, local, or Tribal governments or other political subdivisions of a State, or a consortium thereof; (iii) industry groups or firms in relevant technology, innovation or manufacturing sectors; (iv) economic development organizations or similar entities focused primarily on improving science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, or access to capital; and (v) labor organizations or workforce training organizations. See section A.1.b.iii. for additional requirements related to consortia. See section C.1. of this NOFO for a list of other entities that may also be part of a consortium. 

Subject to the availability of funds, awards made under this NOFO will seek to strengthen U.S. economic and national security through place-based investments in regions with the assets, resources, capacity, and potential to become globally competitive Tech Hubs, within approximately ten years, in the technologies and industries of the future, and for those industries, companies, and the good jobs they create to start, grow, and remain in the United States. Through this NOFO, EDA will award approximately $50-75 million in implementation grants to each of approximately 5-10 Designated Tech Hubs.

Landmarks of American History and Culture

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tackling Acquisition of Language in Kids (TALK) initiative seeks to support activities to better understand early language learning and delay. NIH TALK invites applications for research projects that aim to better understand the information and practice needs of caregivers, professionals, and other invested parties who support late talking children and to determine whether those needs are being effectively met. Community engaged research combined with rigorous qualitative research and diverse perspectives is needed to enrich our understanding of how to get state-of-the-science information and practice to those who need it most to guide decisions about late talking children.

National Digital Newspaper Program

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Preservation and Access is accepting applications for the National Digital Newspaper Program. This program creates a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 from all 56 states and U.S. jurisdictions. The Library of Congress (LOC) maintains this freely accessible, searchable online database.

FY 2022-23 Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems Program Competitive Funding Opportunity

FTA’s Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation is pleased to announce the launch of a new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) provision, the Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems (ADCMS) Program. The statutory goal for the FTA ADCMS Program (49 U.S.C. § 5312(b)(4)) is to: “promote, implement, deploy, demonstrate, showcase, support, and document” advanced digital construction management systems. One of the US Department of Transportation’s major initiatives is to increase infrastructure project excellence. Accelerating the use of digital tools across the lifecycle of an infrastructure program can result in significant benefits to transit agencies, especially to reduce cost overruns and mitigate potential schedule changes. FTA sought input from transit agencies to assess their current level of implementation of digital construction management systems. Based on their input, FTA designed this program for the current state of ADCMS implementation in the transit industry. The first funded activity for ADCMS will be a new $5M notice of funding opportunity for a demonstration program.

FY2024 Farm to School Grants

The Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program is designed to increase the availability of local foods in schools and help connect students to the sources of their food through education, taste tests, school gardens, field trips, and local food sourcing for school meals. Grants can launch new farm to school programs or expand existing efforts. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Farm to School Grant awards projects of 24 months in length for funding up to $500,000. Applicants are required to provide matching support of at least 25 percent of the total project budget in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. The RFA offers three tracks - Implementation, State Agency, and Turnkey - to support a variety of projects and implementation stages. Eligible applicants may include schools and other institutions that operate Child Nutrition Programs, Indian Tribal Organizations, agricultural producers or groups of agricultural producers, nonprofit entities, and State and local agencies.

FY 2024 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Rail Vehicle Replacement Grant Program (RAIL)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for approximately $197 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Section 5337 State of Good Repair Program funds (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance #20.525) authorized for competitively selected rail vehicle replacement projects. As required by Federal public transportation law and subject to appropriations, funds will be awarded competitively to States and local governmental authorities to assist in the funding of capital projects to replace rail rolling stock.

Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 – 2026 Bridge Investment Program, Large Bridge Project Grants

The purpose of this notice is to solicit applications for Large Bridge Project grants (a project with total eligible costs greater than $100 million) for awards under the Bridge Investment Program (BIP). This notice establishes a “rolling application” process for Large Bridge Project applications by providing the schedule, requirements, and selection process for such projects for the remaining available amounts of BIP funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” or BIL) for FY 2023 through FY 2026, which total up to $9.62 billion (see section B.1 for details for funds available for each fiscal year). The FHWA will solicit applications for the other two BIP project categories in a subsequent NOFO: (1) Planning and (2) Bridge Project (a project with total eligible costs not greater than $100 million).

Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy

The purpose of this notice is to solicit applications for Large Bridge Project grants (a project with total eligible costs greater than $100 million) for awards under the Bridge Investment Program (BIP). This notice establishes a “rolling application” process for Large Bridge Project applications by providing the schedule, requirements, and selection process for such projects for the remaining available amounts of BIP funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” or BIL) for FY 2023 through FY 2026, which total up to $9.62 billion (see section B.1 for details for funds available for each fiscal year). The FHWA will solicit applications for the other two BIP project categories in a subsequent NOFO: (1) Planning and (2) Bridge Project (a project with total eligible costs not greater than $100 million).

Inflation Reduction Act - Transmission Siting and Economic Development Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is issuing, on behalf of the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Awards made under this FOA will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by Section 50152 of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) – Grants to Facilitate the Siting of Interstate Electricity Transmission Lines. Modification 000001 - the purpose of this mod is to extend due date of concept paper submission for the first phase and add two additional phases. Modification 000001 - the purpose of this mod is to extend due date of concept paper submission for the first phase and add two additional phases.

Materials, Operation, and Recycling of Photovoltaics (MORE PV) - Funded in part by BIL

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) will provide funding for research and development to reduce material usage, improve installation quality and resilience of photovoltaic (PV) systems, and address handling of PV systems at the end of life. Topic Area 1 will use $12 million of non- Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding to fund collaborations of diverse stakeholders who can bring expertise from all life stages of the PV system lifecycle to reduce cost and lifecycle impacts of a PV system and its components, including co-located storage. Projects funded in this topic area will develop technology and design solutions to optimize the interconnected energy, economic, and environmental impact metrics in pursuit of rapid and sustainable scale-up of PV technologies. Topic area 2 uses funds designated by the BIL and seeks to fund one research partnership at a maximum of $8 million dedicated to improving materials recovery efficiency and developing safe end-of-life (EOL) practices for PV system components, including modules, inverters, and other balance-of-system (BOS) components. The partnership will focus on technologies and methods to enable low-cost reuse, refurbishing, repair, and recycling of photovoltaic materials, and best practices for safe disposal of these materials, and will include data collection, analysis, and working groups to enable effective collaborations and technology transfer.

BIL - Carbon Utilization Procurement Grants under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Section 40302

Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002829, titled BIL-Carbon Utilization Procurement Grants Under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Section 40302 The overall objective of the planned Funding Opportunity Announcement is to support DOE’s current vision of the Carbon Utilization Procurement Grants Program which will illustrate that several incumbent products can be replaced or supplemented with alternatives that are derived from the conversion of anthropogenic carbon oxides, demonstrating that significant net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are possible. These grants will illustrate that more sustainable alternatives are viable and will promote the deployment of these products even after the grant ends.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Weatherization Program Assistance (WAP) Enhancement & Innovation

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) Enhancement & Innovation grant, in support of Section 40551 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP). This FOA provides $25 million in competitive funding for WAP Grantees and Subgrantees (state, local, or Tribal governments) and non-profit organizations, with a $2 million maximum per award. This FOA seeks applications to expand the impact of DOE's existing residential weatherization programs by utilizing leveraged resources and enhanced community partnerships to perform deep energy retrofits of low-income residential buildings and empower local community representation within the energy workforce. DOE seeks proposals that drive innovative approaches to program coordination and service delivery, while fostering the collaboration of dynamic and diverse teams. Applicants can apply for one of the following three topic areas: 1) Multifamily Housing 2) Single Family and Manufactured Housing 3) Workforce Development While cost share is not required, applicants are encouraged to use awarded E&I funds in conjunction with DOE WAP formula awards and leverage other funding sources to deploy demonstration projects that have potential to be scaled nationally, enhance the benefits realized by underserved communities, and accelerate an equitable transition to a clean-energy economy. To view the full FOA Document, visit the Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding Opportunity Exchange website at https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov/Login.aspx and search for the document by the FOA Number