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Carbon Reduction Program

Overview

The Carbon Reduction Program is a new federal program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will provide Oregon $82 million over five years to fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

The Carbon Reduction Program requires ODOT to develop a Carbon Reduction Strategy. The strategy identifies Oregon’s strategies and priorities for reducing emissions from the transportation sector. The Carbon Reduction Strategy will be based on the Statewide Transportation Strategy : A 2050 Vision for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction. ODOT will submit the Carbon reduction Strategy to FHWA for approval by November 15, 2023. 

From June to August 2022, the Climate Office developed strategies and priorities to guide the program, and project selection criteria with the Carbon Reduction Program Consultation Group. The Consultation Group consists of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Transportation Management Areas, and partners. The strategies and priorities and the project selection criteria will be used to select projects from the Small Urban and Rural call for projects and statewide portion of funding. 

  • Transportation management areas are the urbanized areas of Portland, Eugene and Salem. The regional agencies for these areas will decide which projects get funded in their jurisdictions. 
  • ODOT statewide projects are projects overseen by ODOT. The agency will decide which projects to fund using federal and state criteria. 
  • Small urban and rural areas include counties, cities, rural areas, and tribal governments with populations less than 200,000. ODOT will coordinate a grant program to distribute the federal funding for eligible projects in these areas. 

2023 Call for projects: Small Urban and Rural Areas

The 2023 call for the projects for Small Urban and Rural Areas ran Feb. 28 - May 31, 2023. In September 2023, ODOT announced that about $12.5 million was awarded to 15 projects in 11 counties and two Tribes

The ODOT Climate Office will open another call for projects in 2024 for the remaining $11.6 million in Small Urban and Rural Area funding. We'll update this webpage in winter 2023-2024 with a call for projects and related application dates when we have more information.

Who is Eligible

Eligible entities for the Small Urban and Rural call for projects are counties, cities, tribal governments, and local and state transportation agencies representing urbanized and rural areas with less than 200,000 population. 

What projects are eligible 

Eligible projects must reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and meet federal eligibility requirements. Applicants should review the Small Urban and Rural guidance document for program priorities. 

FHWA has released a new rule for electric vehicle charging infrastructure that applies to all federal-aid funded projects including the Carbon Reduction Program. Projects considering installing electric vehicle charging stations should become familiar with these requirements.

Some examples of eligible projects:

  • Traffic monitoring, management, and control facilities.
  • Public transit projects.
  • Bike, pedestrian, and non-motorized facilities and micromobility projects.
  • Advanced transportation and congestion management technologies.
  • Infrastructure-based intelligent transportation systems.
  • Energy efficient street lighting and traffic control devices.
  • Managing or shifting demand, including congestion pricing, tolling and transportation demand management strategies.
  • Alternative fuel projects, including public EV charging, hydrogen, natural gas and propane fueling and zero-emission equipment and vehicle purchases.
  • Projects to improve traffic flow that are eligible under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program,  and that do not involve construction of new capacity.
  • Projects that reduce transportation emissions at port facilities, including EV infrastructure.  
  • Diesel engine retrofits.
Learn more 

The ODOT Climate Office held a webinar for prospective Small Urban and Rural applicants in spring 2023. Watch a recording of the webinar and download the presentation slides.

ODOT staff are available to answer questions and assist with applications; please contact Rye Baerg, Climate Program Coordinator.