Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Program (NSMFHP)

Federal Agency

Sub-Department

Federal Highway Administration (FHA)

Purpose

To fund freight and highway projects that (1) Improve safety, efficiency, and reliability of the movement of freight and people; (2) Generate economic benefits and competitiveness; (3) Reduce highway congestion and bottlenecks; (4) Improve connectivity between modes of freight transportation; (5) Enhance the resiliency of critical highway infrastructure and protect the environment; (6) Improve roadways vital to national energy security; (7) Address the impact of population growth on the movement of people and freight, and (8) Mitigate negative impacts on communities.

Applicant and/or Project Eligibility Requirements

Eligible projects include (1) Highway freight projects on the National Highway Freight Network; (2) Highway or bridge projects on the National Highway System (3) Freight intermodal or freight rail projects; (4) Transportation infrastructure projects necessary to facilitate direct intermodal interchange, transfer, or access into or out of freight facilities, and (4) Railway-highway grade crossings or grade separation projects.

Decarbonization Considerations

Projects that improve the efficiency of freight travel reduce carbon emissions. Projects can also improve the resilience of freight infrastructure to climate change and extreme weather events.

Equity Considerations

IIJA increases the minimum amount (from 10% to 15%) that the Secretary shall reserve for small projects, as defined by NSMFHP, and requires that not less than 30% of funds reserved for small projects be used for certain projects in rural areas.

Other Notes

IIJA sets aside $150,000,000 per year of NSMFHP funds for a pilot program that prioritizes applications offering the greatest non-Federal share of project costs.