FHWA announces low-carbon transportation materials program details
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the details of the Low-Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) Request for Applications (RFA).
The LCTM Program, established under Section 60506 of the Inflation Reduction Act, aims to increase the use of materials that have “substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions” as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency. FHWA will award up to $2 billion in LCTM Program funding. $1.2 billion is available to States through the RFA process. The remaining $800 million will be made available to eligible non-State DOTs in an upcoming NOFO.
The deadline for state DOTs to apply is June 10.
LCTM Overview
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) established the Low-Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) Grants program which provides funding for the use of construction materials that have substantially lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of the program is to reimburse or provide incentives to eligible recipients for the use, in projects, of construction materials and products that have substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions associated with all relevant stages of production, use, and disposal as compared to estimated industry averages of similar materials or products as determined by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The program also will help transportation agencies:
- Develop specifications for collecting documentation of a materials embodied greenhouse gas emissions;
- Develop or update technical specifications to allow for use of materials, products, and strategies that result in lower embodied carbon materials;
- Establish a process to identify, verify, and use materials with lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions;
FHWA intends to host informational webinars and release additional documents to support the program. Stakeholders are encouraged to sign-up for LCTM Program updates or email questions to the LCTM Program.