U.S. Department of Transportation releases guidance for $36 billion in CARES Act funds

Key Takeaways

Throughout the month of April, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released guidance on CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) funds from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The CARES Act provided DOT $36.1 billion in overall funding for various programs to provide relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. NACo published a comprehensive analysis of the legislation, which can be found here.

Federal Aviation Administration

The FAA released a document this month to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) county governments may have related to the $10 billion provided for in Airport Improvement Program formula funds to airports under the CARES Act. The funds do not require any local match, are available to all airports that are a part of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems and make lost revenues incurred as a result of the pandemic an eligible cost. Additionally, the FAA has published information unrelated to CARES Act grants for airport sponsors considering COVID-19 restrictions and/or accommodations. That information is available here.

Find FAA’s COVID-19 landing page here. You may send any questions about this funding directly to FAA at caresairports@faa.gov.

Federal Transit Administration

The FTA also released guidance on the CARES Act, along with apportionment tables that breakdown funding amounts for recipients across four formula grant programs (5307, 5311, 5337, 5340) through which $25 billion in federal funding for public transit systems was allocated in CARES. Of this amount, $22.7 billion is provided for large and small urban area transit systems and $2.2 billion for those located in rural areas, including $30 million for the Tribal Transit Formula Grants program (5311(c)(1)(B)). Similarly to FAA, this funding is provided at a 100 percent federal share, with no local match required, and is available to support capital, operating and other expenses generally eligible under the grant programs incurred since January 20, 2020 as a result of a county’s efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19, including lost revenue. Notably, FTA will also waive local match requirements for COVID-19 related activities funded out of previously apportioned urbanized area formula funds (49 U.S.C. 5307) and previously apportioned rural formula program funds (49 U.S.C. 5311). The 100 percent federal share does not apply to competitive funds, although FTA did extend the due date for open notices of funding opportunities by one month on March 27. 

The FTA also published FAQs regarding recommended transit workforce protections, including best practices around the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing.

Find FTA’s COVID-19 landing page here. You may send any send questions about this funding directly to FTA at ftaresponse@dot.gov.

Federal Motor Carrier Administration

Finally, the FMCSA published FAQs regarding actions State Driver Licensing Agencies or commercial driver’s license holders may take during the public health crisis.

Counties are leaders in the nation’s transportation system, owning and operating 45 percent of all public roads (compared to the 32 percent of public roads owned by cities and townships, 19 percent by states and 3 percent by the federal government) and 38 percent of the National Bridge Inventory. We also directly support 34 percent of the nation’s public airports and 78 percent of public transit systems and appreciate Congress’ bipartisan action to provide relief for these sectors within the transportation industry that have been among the hardest hit by COVID-19; however, additional assistance is badly needed for counties who are currently facing a projected $144 billion budget shortfall. NACo will continue to work with lawmakers in both the House and Senate to advocate for necessary further federal investments critical to facilitate the response and recovery efforts of our nation’s 3,069 counties, who are on the frontlines of this global health crisis each day.