TIGER II grants announced

A second round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants is now available for highways, bridges, public Transportation, passenger and freight, or port infrastructure investment projects.  The U.S. Department of Transportation will award $600 million in TIGER II discretionary grants to be awarded on a competitive basis for national, metropolitan area, or regional projects.  The first round of TIGER grants were funded with the stimulus, and though this round of funding is not, priority will be given to projects “that are expected to quickly create and preserve jobs and stimulus rapid increases in economic activity, particularly jobs and activity that benefit economically distressed areas.”  Eligible applicants include state and local governments, and multi-State or multi-jurisdictional groups applying through a single proposal.  Pre-applications must be submitted by July 16, 2010, and full applications will be accepted starting July 30.  For more information, see the Interim Notice of Funding Availability.