What good practices should municipalities follow in identifying applicable federal code provisions that they would be required to comply with when allocating and using federal transportation infrastructure funding?

Municipalities planning to allocate and use federal grant funding for transportation infrastructure projects should adhere to all applicable federal laws, codes, and regulations. Municipalities may consider the following non-exhaustive good practices and sources of information for evaluating compliance with federal transportation infrastructure grant funding.

1. Comply with All Applicable Laws, Codes, and Regulations

The U.S. Department of Transportation (the “USDOT”) is a primary funder of federal transportation infrastructure projects. The USDOT website outlines a non-exhaustive list of public laws, U.S. Codes, and federal regulations with which municipalities should comply.[1] Municipalities should also, where applicable, comply with any other relevant laws, codes, and regulations that other (non-USDOT) U.S. federal departments may require.

2. Comply with the Uniform Guidance

Municipalities seeking federal grant funding should also comply with the Uniform Guidance outlined by the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”).[2] The Uniform Guidance is defined as a “government-wide framework for grants management” and is an authoritative set of rules and requirements for federal awards which synthesizes and supersedes guidance from earlier OMB circulars.[3] The Uniform Guidance can be found here.[4]

Municipalities may find sam.gov (“System for Award Management”) helpful for identifying compliance requirements specific to individual grant programs. Sam.gov provides an Assistance Listing Number (“ALN”) for each individual grant. Each ALN references specific compliance requirements such as Code of Federal Regulation (“CFR”) requirements specific to individual grants. For example, the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) provides funding for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (“RAISE”) discretionary grants. The ALN for RAISE is 20.933 and it informs the grantee of specific compliance requirements provided in CFR requirements.[5] 

3. Comply with Conditions of a Notice of Funding Opportunity

Generally, if a municipality anticipates applying for federal award funding, they should review each funding opportunity’s accompanying Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”), which will likely be provided for any federal transportation infrastructure grant funding opportunity. For further reference, municipalities are encouraged to review exemplar NOFOs related to the IIJA.[6]

NOFOs typically outline award terms and any unique conditions required for federal funding opportunities, including applicable laws, codes, and regulations municipalities will be required to comply with. 

4. Communicate with Stakeholders

To better prepare themselves to use transportation infrastructure funding in a compliant manner, municipalities should coordinate and communicate with their respective regional planning councils (“RPCs”), Metropolitan Planning Organizations (“MPOs”), or other planning organizations that seek to utilize and pass through federal transportation infrastructure funding. Oftentimes, these stakeholders can help municipalities identify and better understand the applicability of key federal code provisions and other laws and regulations associated with given funding opportunities.

Another resource that can be leveraged for executing infrastructure projects is Unified Planning Work Programs (“UPWPs”). In discussing UPWPs, the Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”) has explicitly stated:

A Unified Planning Work Program . . . is an annual or biennial statement of work identifying the planning priorities and activities to be carried out within a metropolitan planning area. At a minimum, a UPWP includes a description of the planning work and resulting products, who will perform the work, time frames for completing the work, the cost of the work, and the source(s) of funds. Metropolitan Planning Organizations . . .  are required to develop UPWPs to govern work programs for the expenditure of [Federal Highway Administration] . . . and FTA planning funds. [23 CFR 450.308)(b)][7]

Finally, a municipality should review its state’s transportation improvement plan (“TIP”). A TIP can provide helpful insight into federal transportation infrastructure funding opportunities available to municipalities. A TIP may also include other relevant guidance municipalities may consider as they work to understand applicable federal code provisions and general compliance requirements for transportation infrastructure funding.

Last Updated: March 1, 2023