Sneak Preview: FHWA Issues Competitive Grant Terms, Conditions
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) In its recently released Competitive Grant Program General Terms and Conditions document, the Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) not only included requirements for its recipients that generally comply with the Office of Management and Budget’s uniform guidance, but also emphasized key funding prerequisites that are priorities under the Trump administration.
The document covers all FHWA competitive grant programs. Similar documents released by the agency in recent years were more focused (e.g., General Terms and Conditions to Multiyear Grant Programs, which pertained to the Bridge Investment Program for federal fiscal years (FY) 2022-2026; Grant Agreement Under the FY 2025-2026 Infrastructure for Rebuilding America Program; General Terms and Conditions under the FY 2022 Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program).
The document includes 24 “articles” and an index of definitions. In article 18 (Federal Assistance, Administrative and National Policy Requirements), the document notes that recipients shall comply with the obligations for nonfederal entities in the uniform guidance (2 C.F.R. Part 200) and DOT provisions at 2 C.F.R. Part 1201. However, it goes further when discussing federal law and public policy requirements to state that recipients “shall ensure that federal funding is expended in full accordance with the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and statutory and public policy requirements, including but not limited to, those protecting free speech, religious liberty, public welfare, the environment and prohibiting discrimination; and recipient(s) will cooperate with federal officials in the enforcement of federal law, including cooperating with and not impeding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal offices and components of the Department of Homeland Security in the enforcement of federal immigration law. The failure of this grant agreement to expressly identify federal law applicable to the recipient or activities under this grant agreement does not make that law inapplicable.”
The terms and conditions also allude to President Trump’s Executive Order 14173, Ending Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunity, by requiring recipients to: (1) agree that its compliance in all respects with all applicable federal antidiscrimination laws is material to the government’s payment decisions for purposes of section 3729(b)(4) of title 31, U.S. Code; and (2) certify that it does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that violate any applicable federal antidiscrimination laws.
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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