AASHTO Journal - Build America Bureau Offers $46M in IFAC Grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau recently issued a notice of funding opportunity or NOFO that makes nearly $46 million available via its Innovative Finance and Asset Concession or IFAC grant program to assist public entities in facilitating and evaluating public-private partnerships and exploring innovative financing and alternative delivery opportunities for infrastructure projects.

[Above photo by USDOT]

This is the second NOFO for the IFAC grant program, with funds allocated from fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026 (if available), with grant amounts offered up to $2 million, with the first $1 million requiring no local match, the Bureau said. Applications are due no later than October 1. Eligible applicants include state, tribal, and local governments; special purpose public authorities; and agencies chartered by a state, tribal, or local government. 

Projects eligible for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act or TIFIA funding can apply for one of the two types of grants available under this program, the Bureau noted: technical assistance and expert services.

[Editor’s note: The USDOT made a range of updates to its TIFIA program in July; a program that provides flexible, long-term, low-interest loans that enable public and private project sponsors to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure at a lower financing cost and must be repaid using non-federal funding.]

Technical assistance grants enable recipients to build organizational capacity and identify a portfolio of underutilized assets by hiring qualified employees or procuring advisors, while expert services grants enable recipients to procure expert professionals in connection with the development of a specific asset or assets. Applicants must choose one of the grant types to apply for in this round of funding, noted Morteza Farajian, the Bureau’s executive director, in a statement.

“The Bureau is constructing a bridge between our state, tribal, and local partners who have valuable underutilized assets and private partners who have expertise and financial capital to generate additional value from those assets to address community needs faster and at lower cost,” he said. “This novel program is promoting efficient and effective use of publicly owned assets, by enabling communities to find answers to this basic question: do they have underutilized assets that can be leveraged to address their infrastructure needs?”

The Bureau will host a free informational webinar about the IFAC NOFO and program on August 27 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. To register for this webinar, click here. While participation in the webinar is not mandatory to receive funding, the Bureau encourages potential applicants to learn about the application process and activities that can be funded before applying.