Page 55: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2023)

PORT FUNDING

Readiness, Eligibility, Merit

Infrastructure owners should begin with the key documents that establish readiness, such as a master plan or capi- tal improvement program. When evalu- ating upcoming grant opportunities, port of? cials can compare the requirements to the projects identi? ed in the plan and identify the best grants to pursue. A master plan also helps the owner take a programmatic approach — organizing projects by need and grouping similar projects to maximize available funding.

Long before the NOFO is released, an owner should begin the pre-positioning process — a deliberate approach to ready projects for grant application. This be- gins with evaluating projects identi? ed in the master plan to match them to avail- able grants, then prioritizing projects based on readiness, eligibility and merit.

Project steps that should be complete before the NOFO is released include en- gineering, cost estimation, environmental clearance, and other project development ©sheilaf2002/AdobeStock activities to advance project readiness; preparing an initial bene? t-cost analysis, a frequent requirement for many grant programs; lining up political support; and registering for grant information on the websites Grants.gov and Sam.gov.

This kind of pre-positioning work can increase grant award success, identify funding streams and allow for greater emphasis on performance measurement.

REM Tool: Selecting a Grant Program

For larger ports with several projects in the planning stages, HDR has created a Readiness, Eligibility and Merit tool to help owners/operators assess and pri- oritize projects for federal grant funding.

The REM tool evaluates a variety of in- puts to assess the competitiveness of indi- vidual projects in a capital program based on federal funding requirements. The re- sults help an owner prioritize which proj- ects to apply for grants now, and which to invest in additional project development activities to better prepare the project for consideration in a future year based on speci? c grant program requirements. www.marinelink.com 55

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