FY 2026 BUILD NOFO

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 2021, IIJA) authorized and appropriated $1.5 billion to be awarded by the Department of Transportation (“DOT”) for FY 2026 for Local and Regional Project Assistance Program Grants under National Infrastructure Investments. The program is codified at 49 U.S.C. 6702. IIJA requires the DOT to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) no later than 60 days after enactment, which is November 30, 2025. In order to comply with this requirement, this (NOFO) solicits applications for projects to be funded under the Local and Regional Project Assistance Program, known as the BUILD Grants program.  The current Notice of Funding Opportunity is attached. However, the Department intends to amend this NOFO to provide more details on application requirements.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

BUILD grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, per statute, for planning or constructing surface transportation infrastructure projects that will improve safety; environmental sustainability; quality of life; mobility and community connectivity; economic competitiveness and opportunity including tourism; state of good repair; partnership and collaboration; and innovation. Funding $1.5 billion in FY 2026 IIJA funds Minimum

Award Size

• $1 million for rural capital projects 
• $5 million for urban capital projects
• Planning projects do not have a minimum award size  
• Maximum Award Size $25 million

Applications must be submitted online no later than 5:00 pm eastern on February 24, 2026.   Complete instructions on how to apply will be posted at grants.gov and the BUILD program website  Selections are expected to be announced no later than June 28, 2026. 

Prior Awards – For FY 2025 BUILD Round 2, the Department received 815 eligible applications requesting over $10 billion. 30 projects were awarded a total of $488 million; awards were made to projects in 27 states and ranged from $239,000 to $25 million

FY 2025 PIDP

Thank you to all who applied for this grant (the applications were due 10 September). 

Update: Many reviewers for this program were affected by the government lapse of funding. This has affected the review schedule. It is uncertain when the review will be completed and projects selected, but it is may be after the New Year. 

FY 2026 PIDP

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 2021) (“IIJA”) provided $2.25 billion for the PIDP program over five years (2022-2026), $450,000,000 of which has been made available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. 

We anticipate that the Notice of Funding Opportunity may be released before the end of December 2025 for this IIJA program, with a possibility of additional funds or NOFO through the annual appropriations process. I will send more details when the NOFO is released but be on the lookout. We anticipate that FY 2025 awards will be announced prior to the FY 2026 NOFO due date. Our team is working hard on this and this estimate is to help you plan. During normal times unsuccessful PIDP applicants have had a chance to have a debrief for the prior year applications. However, program staff are restricted from talking project specifics during an active NOFO. This may impact debriefs during the FY 2026 NOFO for unsuccessful FY 2025 applications based on these prior procedures. 

I am ethically separated from the grant review team and can help with scoping and review. Please reach out as you develop applications.

FY 2025 United States Marine Highway Grant Program

Reviews have been largely completed for the US Marine Highway Grant FY 2025 cycle, but no timetable has been established for grant award announcements, (senior staff review is ongoing).  The US Marine Highway program was not funded for FY 2026 in the IIJA, which means that the program relies solely on annual appropriations for it funding. While the continuing resolution provides funding it is on a prorated basis from prior year funding levels, it is typical that the program wait until a full fiscal year (through September 30, 2026) is completed before a NOFO is released – to make sure that congress’ directions for funding are known along with a dollar amount. Standby for more news on FY 2026 funding and FY 2025 awards.