Grant Opportunities

Back to all Grants

Railroad Crossing Elimination Program

  • Granting Agency: Federal Railroad Administration, USDOT
  • Appropriation Amount: $573.2 Million
  • Grant Amount: >$1 Million, 20% Match
  • Announcement Date: June 30, 2022
  • Closing Date: September 28, 2022

Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity (PDF)

Purpose:
The RCE Program is to fund highway-rail or pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects that focus on improving the safety and mobility of people and goods. This NOFO is funded through the
advanced appropriation in Division J of IIJA. The RCE Program provides a Federal funding opportunity to improve American rail infrastructure to enhance rail safety, improve the health and safety of communities, eliminate highway-rail and pathway-rail grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains, and reduce the impacts that freight movement and railroad operations may have on underserved communities. Discretionary grant awards, funded through the RCE Program, will support projects that improve safety, economic strength and global competitiveness, equity, and climate and sustainability, consistent with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) strategic goals.

Eligible Expenditures:
The following Highway-Rail or Pathway-Rail Grade Crossing Improvement Projects that focus on improving the safety and mobility of people and goods are eligible for funding under 49 U.S.C. § 22909(d), and this NOFO:
(1) Grade separation or closure, including through the use of a bridge, embankment, tunnel, or combination thereof;
(2) Track relocation;
(3) The improvement or installation of protective devices, signals, signs, or other measures the improve safety, provided that such activities are related to a separation or relocation project described in paragraph (1) or (2);
(4) Other means to improve the safety and mobility of people and goods at highwayrail grade crossings (including technological solutions);
(5) A group of related projects described in paragraphs (1) through (4) that would collectively improve the mobility of people and goods; or
(6) The planning, environmental review, and design of an eligible project described in paragraphs (1) through (5).

b. Project Component Operational Independence
If an applicant requests funding for a project that is a component or set of components of a larger project, then the project component(s) must be attainable with the award amount and must comply with all eligibility requirements described in Section C. In addition, the component(s) must enable independent analysis and decision making, as determined by FRA, under NEPA (i.e., have independent utility, connect logical termini, and do not restrict the consideration of alternatives for other reasonably foreseeable rail projects).

c. Rural or Tribal Lands Project
FRA will consider a project to be in a Rural Area or on Tribal Lands if all or the majority of the project (determined by geographic location(s) where the majority of the project funds will be spent) is located in a Rural Area or on Tribal Lands. However, in the event FRA elects to fund a component of the project, then FRA will reevaluate whether the project is in a Rural Area or on Tribal Lands.

Eligible Applicants:
The following entities are eligible applicants for all projects permitted under this notice:
a. A State, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other United States territories and possessions;
b. A political subdivision of a State;
c. A federally recognized Indian Tribe.
d. A unit of local government or a group of local governments.
e. A public port authority.
f. A metropolitan planning organization.
g. A group of entities described in any of paragraphs (1) through (6).

Additional information can be found in the NOFO. For further information related to this notice, please contact Douglas Gascon, Office of Policy and Planning, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W38-212, Washington, DC 20590; douglas.gascon@dot.gov; 202-493-0239.

 

Pending Grants