Fiscal Year 2023 Pollinator-Friendly Practices on Roadsides and Highway Rights-of-Way Program | 693JJ324NF00015

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JJ324NF00015

The Fiscal Year 2023 Pollinator-Friendly Practices on Roadsides and Highway Rights-of-Way Program is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It was created by Section 11528 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and is codified at 23 U.S.C. 332. This notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is the first issued under this specific program and makes up to $3 million available to support projects that improve habitat for pollinators along roadsides and highway rights-of-way on routes eligible for Federal-aid.

The central purpose of the program is to help transportation and land management agencies turn roadside corridors into functional pollinator habitat through practical, on-the-ground actions and better long-term planning. FHWA highlights the scale of the opportunity: the United States has roughly 3.9 million miles of roadway, and the adjacent roadside and right-of-way areas represent a large, often underused land base that can be managed to support native bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. The program emphasizes that roadsides can provide places for pollinators to feed, nest, and breed, and that these linear corridors can also connect otherwise fragmented habitats, helping pollinators move across landscapes. By serving as refuges in areas dominated by development or intensive agriculture, roadside habitat can contribute to healthier ecosystems and support services people rely on, including crop pollination.

Funding is aimed at what FHWA calls a Pollinator Friendly Practices Plan (referred to as a Plan). Applicants can seek support to implement pollinator-friendly practices (PFPs) already included in their Plan, to improve an existing Plan, or to further develop a Plan. The full set of activities an award supports is referred to in the NOFO as the applicant’s “Roadside Pollinator Project.” While the NOFO description points generally to activities such as planting native plants and wildflowers, the broader idea is to move roadside management toward practices that measurably benefit pollinators and can be sustained over time as part of routine right-of-way management.

This program is described as meaningfully different from many other FHWA and State DOT discretionary grant programs in three key ways. First, submitting a Plan is not optional; it is a statutory requirement under 23 U.S.C. 332(c) and (d). Second, FHWA is required to fund all satisfactory applications under 23 U.S.C. 332(e)(1), which shifts the focus toward meeting the program’s required elements and standards rather than competing for a limited number of awards in the traditional sense. Third, FHWA must base award amounts on the number of pollinator-friendly practices an applicant has implemented or plans to implement, as directed by 23 U.S.C. 332(e)(2)(A). Because of these unique statutory rules, FHWA requires applicants to apply using a specific Application Template, rather than relying solely on a free-form narrative.

Eligible applicants are limited to three categories identified in statute: State departments of transportation, Indian Tribes, and Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs). For this program, “State” includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (consistent with 23 U.S.C. 101(a)(28)). “Indian Tribe” follows the definition used in 23 U.S.C. 171 and includes federally recognized Indian and Alaska Native tribes, bands, nations, pueblos, villages, or communities, and also includes Alaska Native villages and Native Corporations as defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

From the published opportunity data, the funding opportunity number is 693JJ324NF00015, the assistance listing (CFDA) number is 20.205, the funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is transportation. The total program funding available under this NOFO is up to $3 million, and the listed award ceiling is $150,000 per award. The NOFO was created on April 8, 2024. The deadline was extended by Amendment 1 from June 18, 2024 to July 18, 2024, making July 18, 2024 the closing date applicants must meet.

• The DOT Federal Highway Administration in the transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fiscal Year 2023 Pollinator-Friendly Practices on Roadsides and Highway Rights-of-Way Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.205.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-18. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $150,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 693JJ324NF00015

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