Funding Database - PROTECT Discretionary Program

Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Program

The Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Program funds projects that make surface transportation more resilient to natural hazards and climate change.

Eligible hazards include climate change, sea level rise, flooding, wildfire, extreme weather and other natural disasters. The program provides four types of grants which have separate allocations: planning grants, resilience improvement grants, community resilience and evacuation route grants, and at-risk coastal infrastructure grants.

Funded projects aim to reduce flood risks, erosion, wave damage and heat impacts to roads, rail facilities and services, public transit facilities and services, and port facilities, including associated infrastructure like culverts. Projects selected under this program should be grounded in the best available scientific understanding of climate change risks, impacts and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, selected projects should use innovative and partnership-based approaches to risk reduction.

Natural infrastructure, also called nature-based solutions, is explicitly eligible under the program. These strategies include conservation, restoration and construction of natural areas designed to reduce risk to transportation assets. Examples include streams, marshes, wetlands, native vegetation, stormwater bioswales, breakwaters, reefs, dunes and shade trees.

US Department of Transportation (US DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) manages the program.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants include state and local governments and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). Special purpose districts and public authorities with a transportation function are also eligible. American Indian tribes, federal land management agencies and multi-state or multi-jurisdictional groups are encouraged to apply.

Eligible Projects

Projects should improve the resilience of the surface transportation system. Eligible projects focus on highways, public transportation, ports and intercity passenger rail.

The program provides:

• Planning Grants fund technical capacity building and evacuation planning and preparation. Planning Grants also fund resilience planning, predesign, design or the development of data tools to simulate transportation disruption scenarios. This track also funds vulnerability assessments. States and MPOs may use planning grants to develop resilience improvement plans (RIP). Projects identified in the RIP have a higher federal cost share under PROTECT construction grants.
• Resilience Improvement Grants fund projects that improve the ability of an existing surface transportation asset to withstand a natural disaster.
• Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants fund projects that strengthen and protect evacuation routes. These roads are essential for supporting evacuations caused by emergency events.
• At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants fund projects that strengthen, stabilize, harden, elevate, relocate or otherwise enhance the resilience of highway and non-rail infrastructure. This non-rail infrastructure can include bridges, roads, pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes. Other eligible infrastructure includes culverts and tide gates that protect highways from climate impacts.

Funding Amount

The funding amount will vary depending on the project.

Match Requirements

For planning activities, the federal cost share is 100%. 

For resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure grants, federal funds will not exceed 80% of the total project cost, except:

• The federal cost share for American Indian tribes may be up to 100%.
• PROTECT offers federal cost-share increases for states and MPOs developing or with a developed RIP. The plan should be created in accordance with federal recommendations. 

See the program fact sheet for additional match specifications.

Application Schedule

Applications are expected to open in April and close in mid-August each year. The program page will post the specific dates for each application cycle. US DOT will likely offer instructional webinars in May.

Application Process

Submit your application on Grants.gov. You must complete the Grants.gov registration process
before submitting the final application. Please note that the registration process can take two to four weeks.

Application Assistance

Refer to webinars and other resources for completing the application process. Your local FHWA office can support you with technical assistance for planning, design, construction, preserving and improving public roads and in the stewardship of federal funds. For assistance, visit the program's Technical Assistance and Local Support page.

Funding Source

US DOT will fund this program through 2026 with appropriations from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. FHWA oversees this funding.