Caltrans is accepting applications for $40 million in transportation planning grants for fiscal year 2019-2020 to support local agencies’ efforts to plan more sustainable communities, reduce transportation-related greenhouse gases and adapt to the effects of climate change. A significant portion of these grant funds is available through Senate Bill 1 — the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

“These grants are important to communities in California as we address the effects of climate change and extreme weather,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman.

The available transportation planning grants include:

• $29.5 million in Sustainable Communities Grants: to encourage local and regional planning that furthers state goals and help achieve California’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.

• $4.5 million in Strategic Partnerships Grants: to identify and address statewide, interregional, or regional transportation deficiencies on the state highway system in partnership with Caltrans. The transit component will fund planning projects that address multimodal transportation deficiencies with a focus on transit.

• $6 million in Adaptation Planning Grants: to support planning actions at local and regional levels that advance efforts to ensure the transportation system is resilient in the face of climate change and extreme weather events.

The fiscal year 2019-2020 Grant Application Guides, application forms, and required templates are available at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tpp/grants.html. Grant announcements are anticipated in spring 2019. The website also contains a list of grant workshops in October 2018.

Applications are due by Friday, Nov. 30 at 5 p.m.

Grant applicants are encouraged to contact Caltrans district staff to ask questions and receive help developing applications.

Senate Bill 1 invests approximately $54 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways and bridges and puts more dollars toward transit and safety. For complete details on SB 1 visit http://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/.