On May 30, 2024, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the second round of Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant. This grant will build a better America by deploying tens of thousands of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations throughout the U.S. in urban and rural communities and along alternative fuel corridors, particularly in neighborhoods most vulnerable to climate change and air pollutants
Top 10 Takeaways
- Goal: To create an electrified transportation system that is convenient, affordable, reliable, equitable, accessible, and safe.
- Eligible Applicants: States, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), local governments, public authorities with transportation function, Tribes, territories, authorities owned by one or more entities listed above, a group of the above, or a state or local entity with ownership of publicly accessible transportation facilities. Private entities are eligible to participate in projects if contracted through a public entity.
- Due Date: Applications are due August 28, 2024, by 11:59 p.m. ET via grants.gov. Questions may be submitted to CFIgrants@dot.gov until July 29, 2024.
- Cost Share: There are two grant categories under this NOFO: Community Programs and Corridor Programs. Both have an 80% cost share, meaning awardees must match the remaining 20% of the project. For the Corridor Program, the minimum award size is $1 million with no maximum monetary cap. The Corridor Program must be contracted with a private entity. The Community Program has a minimum cap of $500,000 with a monetary cap of $15 million. Contracting with a private entity is optional for the Community Program.
- Total Funding: $1.3 billion will be awarded under this NOFO. This includes the $500,000 and $600,000 allocated for FY24 and FY25, as well as the 10% of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program funds set aside for 2023– The FHWA anticipates splitting the funding evenly between community and corridor projects.
- Funding For Previous Applicants: $521 million of the $1.3 billion is reserved for unawarded applications from the previous FY2022/2023 competition. All “highly qualified” and “qualified” applicants who met one or more Department of Transportation (DOT) priority considerations are eligible, and those applicants will be evaluated based on the FY2022/2023 rubric. If you meet these criteria and want your application re-evaluated, you must email CFIGrants@dot.gov by July 1, 2024. No re-submission is required.
- Application Specifics: If an eligible applicant is interested in applying for both the Community and Corridor funding categories in a single application, they must clearly separate the proposed work, selection criteria, and budget requested for each category. Separate applications are also welcome. Project narratives cannot exceed 25 pages.
- Expansion of Eligible Corridor Sites: For corridor applicants, EV charging equipment must be within 5 miles of an alternative fuel corridor; this is an expansion of the previous 1-mile requirement.
- Expansion of Eligible Community Sites: Grant recipients may place charging and fueling infrastructure in parking garages, on-street parking locations, and other parking facilities that charge a parking fee, so long as the parking fee is included in the price structure and complies with federal regulations.
- Merit Criteria: Applications will be preliminarily evaluated based on five merit criteria: Safety; Climate Change, Resilience, and Sustainability; Equity, Community Engagement, and Justice40; Workforce Development, Job Quality, and Wealth Creation; and CFI Program Vision.
All EV-related projects will be subject to the minimum standards set forth Title 23, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 680, as well as the Build America, Buy America provisions of IIJA.
Please reach out to the Electrification Coalition team at infrastructure@electrificationcoalition.org with any questions.