ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2022 BYWAY FUNDING

LAKES TO LOCKS PASSAGE ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2022 BYWAY FUNDING
The Federal Highway Administration has announced an appropriation of $22M for Discretionary funding
through a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the National Scenic Byway Program (NSBP). Eligible
applicants for NSBP discretionary grants are State DOTs and Indian Tribes. Other entities may partner
with a State DOT or Tribal government to submit an application.
Scenic byway organizations, municipalities, county governments, and other state agencies — CANNOT
apply for funding directly to FHWA, therefore proposed projects must be submitted directly to NYSDOT
or Tribal government. NYSDOT is requesting all Byway Organizations to apply for funding with a
municipal (county, city, town, village or hamlet) sponsor. The first step is for the municipal sponsor to
prepare and submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to NYSDOT no later than COB (6:00 PM) on Wednesday,
March 30, 2022.
These grants are 80 percent federal funds /20 percent matching funds, Byway Organizations and their
municipal sponsors are responsible for paying the 20% matching funds through a State-Local Agreement
to be executed between NYSDOT and your municipal Sponsor. Awards provided with $16M FY 2021
appropriated funding must be obligated by September 30, 2024 and expended by September 30, 2029.
The additional $6 million appropriated for FY 2022 in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, must
be obligated by September 30, 2025, and expended by September 30, 2030.
FHWA will be conducting a webinar for State Scenic Byway Coordinators and Byway Organizations on
Thursday March 31st from 2:30PM to 4:00PM. Questions can be asked during that call, however, all 50
states and their byways will be on the call. It will be challenging for Byway organizations to get a
question in to the FHWA coordinators, so NYSDOT is willing to collect questions from the Byways and
submit them to FHWA in advance of the webinar. Please submit your questions before noon on March
31st to [email protected] or [email protected].
Registration link: https://usdot.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_D6bEx7oRRpuCfifP_fTR-w

PROJECT SUBMISSION PROCESS AND ATTACHMENTS:
• FHWA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity for the 2022 National Scenic Byway Program’s Grants and
Technical Assistance (NSBP_NOFO). This is the guidance to State DOTs and Indian Tribes for the
applications. NOTE: All information and deadlines listed in this document are for the State DOT
application process, therefore NYSDOT must receive and review ALL documents BEFORE their
submission deadline.
• The Letter of Intent form (FHWA NSBF Letter of Intent Form-Fillable PDF v2) is what municipal
sponsors and other state agencies must submit to NYSDOT by COB (6:00PM) on Wednesday,
March 30, 2022. NYSDOT will submit to FHWA all Letters of Intent received from the municipal
sponsors and state agencies after a review for clarity, content and completeness.
• The municipal sponsor and state agency Final Application is due to NYSDOT May 2, 2022. NYSDOT
will then evaluate all final applications, using the criteria outlined in the NSBP_NOFO, before
submission to FHWA. Applications that are determined to be Not Eligible will be returned to the
byway organization. Submitting your application to NYSDOT well in advance of the FHWA
deadline is strongly recommended to ensure eligibility.

Any Lakes to Locks Passage partner organization or municipality is encouraged to consider applying for
FHWA funding for an eligible project that implements our Corridor Management Plan. Eligible projects
include access to recreation, byway facilities, construction, corridor management plans, highway
improvements, interpretive information, marketing programs, resource protection, safety
improvements, State and Indian Tribe scenic byway programs, and tourist information (see page 9 of
NSBP_NOFO). In addition, the project needs to advance one or more of the NSBP goals of Safety; Equity
and Accessibility; Economic Strength; and Climate and Sustainability (see page 16 of NSBP_NOFO).
There is no minimum or maximum award size; however, applicants are encouraged to submit
comprehensive applications for large-scale projects of $500,000 or greater. FHWA anticipates high
demand for this limited amount of funding so applicants should clearly demonstrate the independent
components of each project so scaled funding options are identified in case insufficient funding is
available to fund a project at the full requested amount. The FHWA anticipates awarding between 40-50
grants. If additional funding is made available, additional awards may be made.
To discuss your project and implementation of the Lakes to Locks Passage Corridor Management Plan
please contact Janet Kennedy at 518-637-4687 or by email [email protected].