Summary

Reduces the local match required for certain Department of Transportation grants for counties designated as “High‑Density Public Land Counties” and for local and Tribal governments within those counties, cutting the matching share in half. It also requires the Secretary to offer extra technical assistance on request, allows flexibility to help applicants overcome scoring, partnership, financial, or application-complexity barriers, and sets application priorities and special considerations including a 10‑year support-history rule.

Key Points

• Local and Tribal governments in designated High‑Density Public Land Counties get their required local grant match cut in half for qualifying DOT grant programs.
• The Secretary must provide technical assistance to eligible applicants upon request.
• Applications from these counties and governments receive priority or special consideration, including consideration of up to 10 years of prior support or program history.
• The Secretary can use flexible approaches to address scoring, partnership, financial, or application-complexity barriers faced by eligible applicants.
• Definitions of eligibility rely on Census population counts and named federal statutes/program lists to identify qualifying counties and grant programs.
• The law changes grant terms and administrative duties but does not itself appropriate additional funding.
• Implementation details (application procedures, how assistance is delivered, and scoring adjustments) will be set by the Secretary through program guidance or rulemaking.

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