U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx Announces $5.7 Million in TIGER Grants for Tribal Communities

Press Release

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced that the Department of Transportation will provide more than $5 million for projects on Native American lands through the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) 2014 program. These grants are part of a total of approximately $600 million in TIGER grants announced today for 72 transportation projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

"As uncertainty about the future of long-term federal funding continues, this round of TIGER will be a shot in the arm for these innovative, job-creating and quality of life-enhancing projects," said Secretary Foxx. "We're building bridges from Maine to Mississippi. We're creating ladders of opportunity for the middle-class and those seeking to enter the middle-class by investing in transit, road and rail projects from Los Angeles to Detroit to New York City, increasing access to jobs and quality of life. For every project we select, however, we must turn dozens more away -- projects that could be getting done if Congress passed the GROW AMERICA Act, which would double the funding available for TIGER and growing the number of projects we could support."

Four tribes in four states will share in more than $5 million in grant awards, complementing the efforts of President Obama's Council on Native American Affairs, established to help promote and sustain prosperous and resilient Native American tribal governments:

$1 million to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota for the Fort Berthold Comprehensive Regional Transportation Plan. These funds will be used to update the long-term transportation and safety plan for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and to make the necessary preparations for improvements to aviation, railroad and pipeline infrastructure on the Fort Berthold Reservation in response to dramatic increases in oil and gas exploration.

$2.8 Million to the Hopi Tribe in Arizona for the Tawa'ovi Community Streets and Infrastructure Project. These funds will be used to develop the primary and secondary roadways into the planned Tawa'ovi community. The Tawa'ovi community is one of six new communities envisioned by the Tribe's strategic plan that would provide housing, jobs and services to Hopi-Tewa people.

$692,829 to the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana for the Poplar Airport Redevelopment and Regional Access Project. These funds will be used to complete pre-construction activities for transportation improvements associated with two phases of planned commercial and residential redevelopment on the site of the former Poplar Airport on the Fort Peck Reservation.
$1.1 Million to the Makah Tribe in Washington for the Makah Tribe Oil Spill Response Access Dock Plan. These funds will be used to develop emergency response facilities that will be used for oil spill prevention, a safe harbor, and emergency response base of operations.

The tribal grants are part of $142.1 million for 17 rural transportation projects in 17 states funded by TIGER in this round.

The GROW AMERICA Act, the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal, would authorize $5 billion over four years for much-needed additional TIGER funding to help meet the overwhelming demand for significant infrastructure investments around the country and provide the certainty that states and local governments need to properly plan for investment. The $302 billion, four year transportation reauthorization proposal would provide increased and stable funding for the nation's highways, bridges, transit, and rail systems without contributing to the deficit. The GROW AMERICA Act also includes several critical program reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal highway, rail, and transit programs.

The Department received 797 eligible applications from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, an increase from the 585 applications received in 2013. Overall, applicants requested 15 times the $600 million available for the program, or $9.5 billion for needed transportation project.

Since 2009, the TIGER program has provided nearly $4.1 billion to 342 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Demand for the program has been overwhelming, and during the previous five rounds, the Department of Transportation received more than 6,000 applications requesting more than $124 billion for transportation projects across the country. Congress provided the most recent funding as part of the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, signed by President Obama on January 17, 2014.

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