• PROTECT Formula Program
• PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program
  • Previous Selections
• PROTECT Resources
• Resilience Improvement Plans

PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program

Program Overview

PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program Fact Sheet

The Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost- Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program is a competitive grant program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to plan for and strengthen surface transportation to be more resilient to natural hazards, including climate change, sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides over $1.4 billion over five years through this program to fund projects that address the climate crisis by improving the resilience of the surface transportation system, including highways, public transportation, ports, and intercity passenger rail.

• Grant Types
• Who is Eligible to Apply?
• Previous Selections
• PROTECT Metrics

Grant Types

There are four types of PROTECT grants:

1. Planning
2. Resilience Improvement
3. Community Resilience and Evacuation Route
4. At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure

Who is Eligible to Apply?

Eligible applicants for Planning, Resilience Improvement, and Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants:

• States (including D.C. and Puerto Rico) or political subdivision of a State
• Metropolitan planning organizations
• Units of local governments
• Special purpose districts or public authorities with a transportation function, including a port authority or a public transit agency
• Indian Tribes
• Federal land management agencies that apply jointly with a State or group of States
• A multi-State or multi-jurisdictional group of entities consisting of any eligible entities listed above

Eligible applicants for At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants:

• States (including D.C., Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the North Mariana Islands) in, or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes
• Political subdivisions of a State described above
• Metropolitan planning organizations in a State described above
• Units of local governments in a State described above
• Special purpose districts or public authorities with a transportation function, including a port authority or a public transit agency, in a State described above
• Indian Tribes in a State described above
• Federal land management agencies that applies jointly with a State or group of States described above
• A multi-State or multijurisdictional group of eligible entities listed above

Previous Selections

For information about past grant award recipients and NOFOs, see below:

• FY2022-2023 PROTECT Grant Awards

PROTECT Metrics

Under 23 U.S.C. 176(f), FHWA is directed to establish metrics for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness and impacts of PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program-funded projects and procedures for monitoring and evaluating projects based on those metrics. The FHWA will select a representative sample of projects to evaluate using these metrics. A notice was published in the Federal Register to solicit comments on the proposed metrics before they are adopted. The public comment period was open until May 20, 2024: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/21/2024-05934/promoting-resilient-operations-for-transformative-efficient-and-cost-saving-transportation