Title 23 › Chapter 1— FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS › § 117
Creates a competitive grant program to pay for large freight and highway projects that matter to the nation or a region. The program aims to make travel safer and faster, help the economy, cut congestion, connect different freight modes, make key roads and freight hubs more resilient and environmentally sound, support energy-related routes, and handle growth. Eligible applicants include States (or groups of States), metropolitan planning organizations for urban areas over 200,000 people, local governments or groups of them, special districts or public authorities (like port authorities), Federal land agencies that apply with a State, tribal governments or groups of tribes, multistate corridor organizations, and similar multijurisdictional groups. Grants usually must be at least $25,000,000. Eligible projects are specific types of highway, bridge, freight, rail, port, intermodal, grade separation, wildlife crossing, international border crossing, and linked marine highway projects, or projects on the National Multimodal Freight Network. Most projects must have expected costs at least the lesser of $100,000,000 or certain percentages of a State’s annual apportionment (30% for a single-State project; 50% when multiple States are involved). No more than 30% of funds for FY2022–2026 may go to freight rail or intermodal projects inside facilities unless they clearly improve the National Highway Freight Network and federal money only pays for public-benefit parts. The Transportation Secretary can keep up to 2% of program funds for application review and oversight. At least 15% of yearly funds must be set aside for projects that don’t meet the big-project dollar test; those grants must be at least $5,000,000 and at least 30% of that set-aside must go to rural projects. Overall, at least 25% of program funds each year must go to rural areas (rural means outside an urbanized area with more than 200,000 people). Federal funding normally pays up to 60% of a project’s cost, but pays up to 80% for the smaller-project set-aside. A pilot program is reserved $150,000,000 each year with a 50% federal share cap and gives priority to applicants offering more non-Federal money. Grants can pay for planning, design, environmental review, land, construction, mitigation, equipment, and related work. Projects chosen must show national or regional benefits, be cost-effective, meet federal goals, be based on preliminary engineering, have stable non-Federal funding and contingencies, need federal help, and be likely to start construction within 18 months after funds are committed. The Secretary must notify Congress 60 days before a grant and cannot fund a project if Congress passes a joint resolution disapproving it in that period. Applicants not chosen must be told and can get a debrief. The law requires reporting to Congress and reviews by the Government Accountability Office and the DOT Inspector General. Authorized appropriations: $1,000,000,000 for FY2022; $1,100,000,000 for FY2023; $1,200,000,000 for FY2024; $1,300,000,000 for FY2025; and $1,400,000,000 for FY2026. Definitions (one line each): Multistate corridor organization — a group of States that work together on a shared transportation corridor. Rural area — an area outside an urbanized area with a population over 200,000. Pilot program — a trial grant stream that rewards applicants who offer higher non-Federal funding.
Full Legal Text
Highways — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
23 U.S.C. § 117
Title 23 — Highways
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60