Fiscal Year 2026 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Low or No Emission Program

The Fiscal Year Competitive Funding Opportunity: Low or No Emission Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Federal Transit Administration. The opportunity is a federal discretionary grant program under Assistance Listing 20.526, Buses and Bus Facilities Formula, Competitive, and Low or No Emissions Programs. The Federal Transit Administration announced approximately $589 million in competitive grant funding through this opportunity. Grants.gov identifies the opportunity under funding opportunity number FTA-2026-011-TPM-LWNO and categorizes the funding activity as Transportation. The Low or No Emission Grant Program supports the purchase or lease of low-emission and zero-emission transit buses. Funding may also support the acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities associated with those buses. The source identifies the funding instrument as a grant and estimates that 50 awards will be made. Estimated total program funding is $588,971,305. Although Grants.gov displays an award ceiling and award floor of $0, those values do not provide usable minimum or maximum award amounts and therefore should not be treated as actual award limits. The source does not provide a valid nonzero award floor or award ceiling. Eligible applicants include designated recipients, States, including territories and Washington D.C., local governmental authorities, and Indian Tribes. Grants.gov specifically identifies federally recognized Native American tribal governments, city or township governments, State governments, county governments, and other applicants as clarified by the additional eligibility text. A special submission restriction applies to rural, non-urbanized projects: except for projects proposed by Indian Tribes, all proposals for projects in rural areas must be submitted by a State, either individually or as part of a statewide application. Cost sharing or matching is required for this opportunity. The Grants.gov synopsis explicitly marks the cost sharing or matching requirement as Yes, but the supplied source does not state the required percentage, ratio, dollar amount, or other match formula. Accordingly, applicants should consult the full funding announcement for the applicable cost-sharing requirements rather than infer a match amount from the synopsis. No other spending restrictions, indirect cost limits, subaward limitations, or period-of-performance terms are provided in the supplied source. The opportunity was posted on July 27, 2026, and the Grants.gov page provides an electronic Apply function. Proposals must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. The current and original application closing date is September 21, 2026, and proposals must be submitted by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on that date. The archive date is October 21, 2026. The supplied source does not identify a required letter of intent, concept paper, pre-proposal, notice of intent, or other pre-application gating requirement. It also does not provide detailed application questions, required uploads, evaluation criteria, award notification timing, or a performance period. The grantor contact identified in the source is Kirsten Wiard-Bauer of the Federal Transit Administration Office of Program Management. The program contact email is FTALowNoBusNOFO@dot.gov. No telephone number is supplied. The source states that the synopsis and full announcement will be posted on Grants.gov under opportunity FTA-2026-011-TPM-LWNO and provides an FTA NOFO website for additional information, but the supplied material does not contain an explicit direct PDF URL. No recurrence language such as annual, biennial, or recurring application cycles is provided, so this opportunity is treated as a single identified application cycle rather than a confirmed recurring program solicitation.

Align the proposed project with the purchase or lease of low-emission or zero-emission transit buses and eligible required supporting facilities. For rural non-urbanized projects not proposed by an Indian Tribe, ensure the proposal is submitted by a State individually or as part of a statewide application.