Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program | 693JJ323NF00004

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JJ323NF00004

The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program is a competitive grant opportunity run by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). It was created under President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to speed up the buildout of publicly accessible charging and alternative fueling stations across the country. The core idea is to expand access to reliable, modern fueling options not only along major travel routes, but also in the everyday places people live, work, shop, and park, covering both urban and rural communities. In practice, the program is meant to reduce range anxiety, support broader adoption of cleaner vehicles, and ensure that communities that have historically been left out of infrastructure investment are not last in line for new charging and fueling options.

CFI supports publicly accessible infrastructure for electric vehicle charging as well as other alternative fuels, specifically including hydrogen, propane, and natural gas. The program is structured around two main grant categories. The first is the Community Charging and Fueling Grants (the Community Program), which focuses on stations located in public, community-oriented settings such as downtown districts, neighborhood corridors, and other local destinations. The second is the Alternative Fuel Corridor Grants (the Corridor Program), which targets infrastructure deployment along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs), helping drivers travel longer distances with consistent access to charging or fueling along key routes. Together, these two categories are designed to fill gaps: community-based charging for daily life and corridor-based charging for regional and interstate travel.

In terms of funding scale, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $2.5 billion for the CFI program over five years. The first funding round described in this notice made $700 million available using Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023 funds. A stated priority for that initial round was to place publicly accessible charging and fueling projects in both urban and rural areas, with particular attention to underserved and disadvantaged communities, and in locations that are convenient and visible to the public rather than limited-access or private sites.

Eligibility is broad but centered on public-sector and quasi-public transportation entities. Eligible applicants include states and political subdivisions, metropolitan planning organizations, units of local government, special purpose districts or public authorities with a transportation function (including port authorities), federally recognized Indian Tribes, U.S. territories, and agencies or instrumentalities of those entities (including entities owned by one or more eligible public bodies), as well as groups or partnerships made up of eligible entities. In addition, for Community Grants specifically, a state or local authority that owns publicly accessible transportation facilities is also eligible, reflecting the program's emphasis on installing chargers at publicly accessible transportation-related sites.

For the specific notice referenced (Funding Opportunity Number 693JJ323NF00004), USDOT signaled it expected to make multiple awards under the NOFO. The original application timeline was adjusted through NOFO Amendment 1, which extended the application submission deadline to June 13, 2023, while leaving the rest of the terms and conditions unchanged. To help applicants, USDOT hosted informational webinars on March 21 and March 22, 2023 (with duplicate content), and provided access to the slides and a recorded session, directing questions to CFIGrants@dot.gov.

On the awards side, USDOT announced on January 17, 2024 that it had selected 47 applications for grant awards under the CFI Discretionary Grant Program, and FHWA posted the list of selected projects on its CFI Grant Recipients webpage. USDOT also issued a press release tied to this rollout highlighting $623 million in grants to continue building out the national electric vehicle charging network, reinforcing that this program is a major federal vehicle for translating infrastructure-law funding into on-the-ground charging and fueling stations.

• The DOT Federal Highway Administration in the iij sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.205.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-13. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Others.

Apply for 693JJ323NF00004

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: