Brady PieperThe U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is working to reduce its carbon footprint and make federally funded transportation projects greener by procuring more low-carbon construction materials from American-made sources.
The DOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will provide almost $1.2 billion in grants for states to implement low-carbon construction materials through the Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grant Program. Developed in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the program seeks to reimburse and incentivize state transportation agencies’ usage of sustainable, domestic construction materials and products that have lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
RELATED: $800 million available for projects utilizing green highway construction materials
Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, these Low Carbon Transportation Materials grants intend to increase the utilization of lower carbon materials, adopt innovative processes and environmental qualification technologies and advance the Federal Sustainability Plan. The funding will also support the federal government’s Buy Clean Initiative and Buy Clean Task Force, a coalition of federal agencies that provides recommendations for national environmental sustainability.
This substantial funding will support 39 state departments of transportation to promote low-carbon, made in America construction materials for federal and state procurement processes and federally funded projects. In this grant distribution, 31 transportation agencies will receive the maximum award of just under $32 million to implement unique construction sustainability initiatives.
One awardee, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), will secure a $27 million grant to efficiently select and purchase concrete and asphalt mix. Specifically, ADOT will develop a planning and implementation program to create a low-carbon material inventory and process to purchase eligible, sustainable construction materials.
Securing a $32 million max program grant, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WDOT) will focus on asphalt and concrete purchasing, including the creation of a framework that selects construction materials and tracks material usage through Environmental Product Declarations.
Ohio’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) will develop a comprehensive program to lower levels of carbon emissions. Utilizing a grant of about $32 million, ODOT’s proposed program will use low-carbon construction materials, such as alternative asphalt mixtures, concrete, cement and steel to substantially lower state projects’ carbon emissions.
Including Ohio and Wisconsin, the state transportation agencies that will receive the maximum award of $31,933,577 include:
- California Department of Transportation
- Colorado Department of Transportation
- District of Columbia Department of Transportation
- State of Delaware/Department of Transportation
- Iowa Department of Transportation
- Idaho Department of Transportation
- Illinois Department of Transportation
- Indiana Department of Transportation
- Kansas Department of Transportation
- Kentucky Executive Office of the Commonwealth of Kentucky
- Louisiana Department of Transportation
- Massachusetts Department of Transportation
- Maryland State Highway Administration/Department of Transportation
- Michigan Department of Transportation
- Minnesota Department of Transportation
- Missouri Department of Transportation
- Montana Department of Transportation
- North Carolina Department of Transportation
- North Dakota Department of Transportation
- Nevada Department of Transportation
- New York Department of Transportation
- Oklahoma Department of Transportation
- Oregon Department of Transportation
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
- Rhode Island Department of Transportation
- South Carolina Department of Transportation
- Tennessee Department of Transportation
- Virginia Department of Transportation
- Washington State Department of Transportation
The 8 state transportation agencies that will secure less than the maximum award are listed below:
- West Virginia Department of Transportation – $30.5 million
- New Mexico Department of Transportation – $29.8 million
- Hawai’i Department of Transportation – $28.9 million
- New Jersey Department of Transportation – $27.8 million
- Mississippi Department of Transportation – $26.6 million
- Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority – $24.7 million
- Vermont Agency of Transportation – $14.5 million
A full list of awardees for the program’s $1.2 billion grant distribution is available here.
Overall, the Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grant Program has access to $2 billion in funding for state and non-state entities to advance environmentally sustainable construction initiatives.
In the coming months, the FHWA will announce an additional $800 million in Low Carbon Transportation Material grants for non-state parties, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments and agencies, federally recognized tribes, land management agencies and other applicants.
The Low Carbon Transportation Materials’ Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for non-state entities will close on Nov. 25. Additional information on how to apply for the NOFO and resources for interested parties can be found here.
Image by Erich Westendarp from Pixabay
