Notice of Funding Opportunity: PIDP Amended

On March 15, 2022, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103, “FY22 Appropriations Act”), which appropriated $234,310,000 to be awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for PIDP for FY 2022. These funds are in addition to the funding ($450 million) provided for the FY 2022 PIDP grant program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The NOFO announcing that funding was published on Grants.gov on February 23, 2022. MARAD has recently amended that NOFO to reflect the additional funding provided for the PIDP in the FY22 Appropriations Act. It also incorporates related statutory and programmatic guidance.

The amendment to the FY 2022 PIDP NOFO makes changes to the NOFO published on February 23, 2022 to incorporate provisions in the FY22 Appropriations Act, including:

1. Adds $234,310,000 in funding to the FY22 PIDP opportunity. Funding for the FY 2022 PIDP competition now totals $684,310,000.
2. Incorporates the requirement that $209,310,000 of the $234,310,000 provided through the FY22 Appropriations Act be reserved for grants to coastal seaports or Great Lakes ports.
3. Establishes that the minimum PIDP award size for grants awarded under the FY22 Appropriations Act is $1 million.
4. Adjusts the restrictions for certain categories of awards to reflect the increase in the total amount of funding for the FY 2022 PIDP competition.
   1. Increases the limit on funding that may be awarded for projects in any one State to $171,077,500 (25 percent of the total funding available for the FY 2022 PIDP competition).
   2. Increases the amount of funding reserved for small projects at small ports to $171,077,500 (25 percent of the total funding available for the FY 2022 PIDP competition). Of this amount, no more than $17,107,750 may be for development phase activities under 46 U.S.C. 54301(b)(3)(A)(ii)(III).
   3. Increases the amount of funds not reserved for small projects at small ports that may be awarded for development phase activities to $51,323,250.
5.  Incorporates the provision from the FY22 Appropriations Act that states that the cost effectiveness determination under 46 U.S.C. 54301(a)(6)(A)(ii) does not apply to projects located in noncontiguous States or U.S. territories awarded funding under the FY22 Appropriations Act.

The amendment does not change the ceiling – set in the NOFO at $11,250,000 – for any single grant award under 46 U.S.C. 54301(b) (Assistance for Small Inland River and Coastal Ports and Terminals). It also does not extend the due date for grant applications: applications are still due by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 16, 2022.

Read the full amendment on Grants.gov.  The PIDP 2022 Applications FAQs have also been updated.