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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Notices
ii. Small Projects A small project is an eligible project that does not meet the minimum project size described in Section C.3.c.i.
d. Large/Small Project Requirements For a large project to be selected, the Department must determine that the project meets seven requirements described in 23 U.S.C. 117g and below.
If your project consists of multiple components with independent utility, the Department must determine that each component meets each requirement, to select it for an award.
The requirements are listed below and further described in Section E.1.b.v and Section D.2.b.vii:
Large Project Requirement 1: The project will generate national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits.
Large Project Requirement 2: The project will be cost effective.
Large Project Requirement 3: The project will contribute to the accomplishment of one or more of the goals described in 23 U.S.C. 150.
Large Project Requirement 4: The project is based on the results of preliminary engineering.
Large Project Requirement 5: With respect to related non-Federal financial commitments, one or more stable and dependable funding or financing sources are available to construct, maintain, and operate the project, and contingency amounts are available to cover unanticipated cost increases.
Large Project Requirement 6: The project cannot be easily and efficiently completed without other Federal funding or financial assistance available to the project sponsor.
Large Project Requirement 7 The project is reasonably expected to begin construction no later than 18 months after the date of obligation of funds for the project.
For a small project to be selected, the Department must consider the costeffectiveness of the proposed project and the effect of the proposed project on mobility in the State and region in which the project is carried out.

The INFRA statute defines a rural area as an area outside an Urbanized Area 3
with a population of over 200,000. In this notice, urban area is defined as inside an Urbanized Area, as a designated by the U.S. Census Bureau, with a population of 200,000 or more.4
Rural and urban definitions differ in some other USDOT programs, including TIFIA. Cost share requirements and minimum grant awards are the same for projects located in rural and urban areas. The Department will consider a project to be in a rural area if the majority of the project determined by geographic locations where the majority of the money is to be spent is located in a rural area. However, if a project consists of multiple components, as described under section C.3.f or C.3.g., then for each separate component the Department will determine whether that component is rural or urban. In some circumstances, including networks of projects under section C.3.g that cover wide geographic regions, this component-by-component determination may result in INFRA
awards that include urban and rural funds.
f. Project Components An application may describe a project that contains more than one component.
The USDOT may award funds for a component, instead of the larger project, if that component 1 independently meets minimum award amounts described in Section B and all eligibility requirements described in Section C, including the requirements for large projects described in Sections C.3.d and D.2.b.vii; 2 independently aligns well with the selection criteria specified in Section E; and 3 meets National Environmental Policy Act NEPA
requirements with respect to independent utility. Independent utility means that the component will represent a transportation improvement that is usable and represents a reasonable expenditure of USDOT funds even if no other improvements are made in the area, and will be ready for intended use upon completion of that components construction. If an application describes multiple components, the application should
e. Rural/Urban Area This section describes the statutory definition of urban and rural areas and the minimum statutory requirements for projects that meet those definitions. For more information on how the Department consider projects in urban, rural, and low population areas as part of the selection process, see Section E.1.b.i.

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3 For Census 2010, the Census Bureau defined an Urbanized Area UA as an area that consists of densely settled territory that contains 50,000 or more people. Updated lists of UAs are available on the Census Bureau website at http
www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/UAUC_
RefMap/ua/. For the purposes of the INFRA
program, Urbanized Areas with populations fewer than 200,000 will be considered rural.
4 See www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/
InFRAgrants for a list of Urbanized Areas with a population of 200,000 or more.

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demonstrate how the components collectively advance the purposes of the INFRA program. An applicant should not add multiple components to a single application merely to aggregate costs or avoid submitting multiple applications.
Applicants should be aware that, depending upon applicable Federal law and the relationship among project components, an award funding only some project components may make other project components subject to Federal requirements as described in Section F.2.b. For example, under 40
CFR 1508.25, the NEPA review for the funded project component may need to include evaluation of all project components as connected, similar, or cumulative actions.
The Department strongly encourages applicants to identify in their applications the project components that meet independent utility standards and separately detail the costs and INFRA funding requested for each component. If the application identifies one or more independent project components, the application should clearly identify how each independent component addresses selection criteria and produces benefits on its own, in addition to describing how the full proposal of which the independent component is a part addresses selection criteria.
g. Network of Projects An application may describe and request funding for a network of projects. A network of projects is one INFRA award that consists of multiple projects addressing the same transportation problem. For example, if an applicant seeks to improve efficiency along a rail corridor, then their application might propose one award for four grade separation projects at four different railway-highway crossings.
Each of the four projects would independently reduce congestion but the overall benefits would be greater if the projects were completed together under a single award.
The USDOT will evaluate applications that describe networks of projects similar to how it evaluates projects with multiple components.
Because of their similarities, the guidance in Section C.3.f is applicable to networks of projects, and applicants should follow that guidance on how to present information in their application.
As with project components, depending upon applicable Federal law and the relationship among projects within a network of projects, an award that funds only some projects in a network may make other projects subject to Federal
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