Emergency Relief Program – 2023 NAERF (Re-Opened)

Details: 8/2/2023. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is re-opening the application submission period for 90 days. Applicants who submitted proposals prior to May 26, 2023, do not need to re-submit.  FTA will review applications and make additional funding allocations on a rolling basis, with the first review taking place for any application submitted within the first 30 days (9/1/2023) of the publication of this notice. If funding remains, additional applications will be evaluated after the final submission deadline of 11/02/2023.

FTA announces the opportunity to apply for $109,975,497 in grants under the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program (Emergency Relief Program) to States, territories, local governmental authorities, Indian tribes, and other FTA recipients affected by major declared disasters occurring in calendar years 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Projects may include costs for disaster response, recovery, and rebuilding activities. Costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not eligible for this funding. A synopsis and full announcement of this funding opportunity is posted on Grants.gov as FTA-2023-011-TPM-ER. Proposals must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. EST 11/02/2023. 

Summary: FTA makes available $109,975,497 in funding under the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program (Emergency Relief Program).

Extreme weather and other destructive events occurring during calendar years 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022 resulted in major disaster declarations across the Unites States.  Transit systems in these disaster-affected areas may have provided emergency transportation services and may also have sustained damage to capital assets. 

Federal public transportation law (49 U.S.C. § 5324) provides FTA with the authority to reimburse public transportation emergency response and recovery costs after an emergency or major disaster that affects public transportation systems when funding is appropriated.  As such, public transportation agencies, States, territories, local governmental authorities, Indian tribes, and other FTA grant recipients that provide or fund public transportation service in the affected areas may be eligible for Emergency Relief funding under the program contingent upon having experienced an eligible disaster and incurred associated costs that have not yet been reimbursed by FEMA or another entity.  FTA will allocate funds consistent with the requirements of the final rule for the Emergency Relief Program, 49 C.F.R. Part 602.  

Link and Instructions for attaching the supplemental form to the SF-424: A complete proposal submission will consist of at least two files: (1) the SF 424 Mandatory Form and (2) the supplemental form for the Emergency Relief program. Once completed, the applicant must place the supplemental form in the attachments section of the SF-424 Mandatory form. Applicants must use the supplemental form designated for the Emergency Relief program and attach the form to their submission in Grants.gov to complete the application process. A proposal submission may contain additional supporting documentation as attachments.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is re-opening the application submission period for 90 days. Applicants who submitted proposals prior to May 26, 2023, do not need to re-submit.  FTA will review applications and make additional funding allocations on a rolling basis, with the first review taking place for any application submitted within the first 30 days (9/1/2023) of the publication of this notice. If funding remains, additional applications will be evaluated after the final submission deadline of 11/02/2023.  FTA requires that all project proposals be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. EST 11/02/2023. Mail and fax submissions will not be accepted.   

Eligible Applicants: Public transportation agencies, States, territories, local governmental authorities, Indian tribes, and other FTA grant recipients that provide or fund public transportation service are eligible for Emergency Relief funding under the program. To be considered eligible to apply for the funding described in this NAERF, such entities must provide or fund public transportation services in counties designated as eligible for any category of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Public Assistance for a major declared disaster with an incident period partially or entirely occurring within calendar years 2017, 2020, 2021, or 2022. Costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not eligible for this funding.

Dates: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is re-opening the application submission period for 90 days. Applicants who submitted proposals prior to May 26, 2023, do not need to re-submit.  FTA will review applications and make additional funding allocations on a rolling basis, with the first review taking place for any application submitted within the first 30 days of the publication of this notice. If funding remains, additional applications will be evaluated after the final submission deadline of 11/02/2023.  An applicant must submit a proposal electronically by 11:59 p.m. EST 11/02/2023. Any agency intending to apply should initiate the process of registering on the Grants.gov site immediately to ensure completion of registration before the submission deadline.

FTA urges applicants to submit their project proposals at least 72 hours prior to the due date to allow time to receive the validation message and to correct any problems that may have caused a rejection notification. FTA will not accept submissions after the submission deadline. Grants.gov scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the website. The deadline will not be extended due to scheduled maintenance or outages.

Webinar: FTA hosted a webinar about this funding opportunity at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 6, 2023.  A recording of this webinar This webinar presents potential applicants with information about the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Notice of Availability of Emergency Relief Funding (NAERF) for transit systems affected by Major Declared Disasters in calendar years 2017 & 2020-2022. Projects may include costs for disaster response, recovery, and rebuilding activities. Costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not eligible for this funding. FTA is committed to providing equal access to this session for all participants. If you need alternative formats, options, or services, please email Thomas Wilson.

• FTA Emergency Relief for Major Declared Disasters in 2017 & 2020-2022
  Apr 6, 2023 03:00 PM in Eastern Time
  • Webinar slides (PDF)
  • Webinar recording

For Further Information Contact: For information on proposal content, please contact Thomas Wilson, Program Manager, Office of Program Management, 202-366-5279.