Guidance for the FY2025 Community Project Funding and Request Process

PROJECT TRANSPARENCY

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**OUR FY25 APPROPRIATIONS FORMS ARE NOW CLOSED. PLEASE CHECK BACK NEXT YEAR FOR FY26 REQUESTS.**

To submit a request for Community Project Funding, please complete the Fiscal Year 2025 Community Project Funding Request form.

What is Community Project Funding (CPF)?

Community Project Funding is generally defined as spending provisions in federal legislation that are requested on behalf of constituents or constituent organizations by a Member of Congress or Senator. It provides, authorizes, or recommends a specific amount of federal discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or specific funding amount to a specific entity for a specific purpose; and the purpose of the project must meet the objective of a federal program under existing law.

What are the requirements for requesting CPF?

Community Support – community support is crucial in determining which projects are worthy of Federal funding. Only projects with evidenced community support will be considered.
Financial Disclosure Statement – Members and their immediate family are prohibited from having a financial interest in the proposed project, and thereby, must submit a letter to certify this.
Federal Nexus - In order to ensure a federal nexus exists for each funded project, the Committee will only fund projects that are tied to a federal authorization law. Subcommittee guidance will include example language Members can use to make the required statement.
All CPF requests will be posted publicly on the Members of Congress’s online website.
Maximum of 15 requests - Members of Congress may request no more than 15 CPF requests across all eligible accounts, though only a handful may actually be funded.
Matching requirements – several federal programs require a State or local match for projects by either statute or longstanding policy. These will not be waived. Local officials must have a plan to meet such requirements in order for a project to be viable.

Who is eligible for CPF?

State or local governmental entities
Certain Eligible Non-profits – must provide evidence of their non-profit organization status, e.g. 501(c)3, 501(c)6, etc.
*All for-profit recipients are banned.

What constitutes demonstrated community support?

Community support may include letters of support from elected community leaders; press articles; newspaper editorial boards; projects listed on State’s or city’s intended use plans, community development plans, or other publicly available planning documents; city council or local board resolutions; and others.

Is there a deadline for submitting a request?

Yes. Each Congressional office must make their request for community project funding by a date set by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Each office, however, sets their own internal deadline for receiving requests for consideration for submission. Please check with your Congressional office for more information regarding deadlines.

What if I miss the deadlines established by the Congressional offices?

Congressional offices must review numerous requests in a limited amount of time. As a result, deadlines are strictly enforced. Once a Congressional office has submitted their requests to the Appropriations Committee, no changes or additional requests can be made by that Member of Congress. Again, please check with your Congressional office if you have questions or concerns regarding submission deadlines.

Are exceptions made if the bill hasn’t yet been passed/signed into law?

No.

Are Community Project Funding requests publicly disclosed?

Yes, for transparency in the process, Members are required to post their Community Project Funding requests online concurrently with their submission of the requests to the Appropriations Committee. This includes the proposed recipient’s name and address, the amount and purpose of the request, and the justification for the use of taxpayer dollars for that specific request. Members are also required to certify that neither they nor their immediate family have a financial interest in the organizations or projects for the requests that they make. Each funded community project will be publicly listed on the relevant Appropriations public documentation (bill and report).

How much should I request?

It depends on the amount from which you are requesting funds. Please work with your Congressional office for further guidance.

I submitted a request. Will it be approved? When will I know?

The CPF process is extremely targeted and very competitive. The process can be long and arduous, so patience is required. The process follows the timeline for Appropriations bills to be crafted and considered by the respective House and Senate Appropriations Committees (late spring through summer), and the House and Senate must still convene a “conference committee” to work out the differences of each of those bills. The bills must then be signed into law by the president.

How long do funds last?

Each project request must demonstrate that the funding secured will be used in federal fiscal year 2025 (October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025). Multi-year funding requests are not allowed.

Is there a vetting process?

Yes. You can expect rigorous vetting. As the Members’ requests will be made public (e.g.: Members’ website), requests will likely face public scrutiny. There will also be a possible audit, as the Appropriations Committee will require the Government Accountability Office to audit a sample of approved CPFs and report its findings to Congress.

What are the eligible federal funding accounts?

Please consult with your Congressional office on further account details, as well as what specific types, requirements, and limitations may exist for each account.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

Department of Agriculture–Farm Production and Conservation Programs
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (Conservation Operations)
Department of Agriculture–Research, Education, and Economics
- Agricultural Research Service (Buildings and Facilities)
Department of Agriculture–Rural Development
- Rural Housing Service (Community Facilities)
- Rural Utilities Service (ReConnect Program)
- Rural Utilities Service (Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants)
- NEW!Rural Utilities Service (Rural Water and Waste Disposal Grants)

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Department of Commerce
- NIST—Scientific and Technical Research
- NEW!NOAA—Coastal Zone Management
Department of Justice
- COPS Technology and Equipment
- Byrne Justice
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Safety, Security, and Mission Services

Energy and Water Development

Army Corps of Engineers (Civil Works)
- Investigations
- Construction
- Mississippi River and Tributaries
- Operation and Maintenance
Department of the Interior/Bureau of Reclamation
- Water and Related Resources

Homeland Security - Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Assistance—Emergency Ops. Centers
Federal Assistance—Pre-Disaster Mitigation

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies - Environmental Protection Agency

STAG—Clean Water State Revolving Fund
STAG—Drinking Water State Revolving Fund

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy & Marine Corps, Navy Reserve, Air Force and Space Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, DoD, Defense-Wide

Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Department of Housing and Urban Development
- CDBG – Economic Development Initiatives

NEW LIMITATIONS- No programmatic or operational expenses are eligible. This year the projects are narrowed to 42 U.S.C.5305(a)(1), 5305(a)(2), 5305(a)(4), 5305(a)(5), which includes land or site acquisition; demolition or rehabilitation; blight removal; and construction and capital improvements of public facilities, except for “buildings used for the general conduct of government.

**NOTE:As illustrated in the EDI guidance above, the following entities are banned:

Museums, commemoratives, memorials;
Swimming pools, water parks, golf courses;
Healthcare facilities;
Venues strictly for entertainment purposes – e.g., theaters and performing arts venues.

Department of Transportation

Similar to Fiscal Year 2024, we expect that accounts for the Small Business Administration, Department of Education, Department of Labor and Department of Health will be eliminated for the fiscal year 2025 cycle. If you are interested in applying for these accounts, please contact your U.S. Senator (likely Senator Gillibrand or Senator Schumer).