Getting Ready for Capital Projects Fund

The Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (Capital Projects Fund) will address many challenges laid bare by the pandemic, especially in rural America, Tribal communities, and low- and moderate-income communities, helping to ensure that all communities have access to the high-quality modern infrastructure, including broadband, needed to access critical services.

The American Rescue Plan provides $10 billion for payments to eligible governments to carry out critical capital projects that directly enable work, education, and health monitoring, including remote options, in response to the public health emergency.

The state plans approved in this group of awards will support broadband infrastructure designed, upon project completion, to deliver reliable internet service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), speeds that are needed for a household with multiple users to simultaneously access the internet to telework and access education and health monitoring.

In accordance with Treasury’s guidance, each states plan requires all service providers to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare, and more by providing a discount of up to $30 per month. The FCC estimates that about 48 million families are eligible for the program — nearly 40% of US households.

FUNDING OBJECTIVES

The COVID-19 public health emergency revealed and continues to reinforce our understanding that communities without access to high-quality modern infrastructure, including broadband, face impediments to fully participating in aspects of daily life, such as remote work, telehealth, and distance learning.  Treasury is launching the Capital Projects Fund to allow recipients to invest in capital assets that meet communities’ critical needs in the short- and long-term, with a key emphasis on making funding available for broadband infrastructure.  The Capital Projects Fund aims to:

• Directly support recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency by strengthening and improving the infrastructure necessary for participation in work, education, and health monitoring that will last beyond the pandemic.
• Enable investments in capital assets designed to address inequities in access to critical services.
• Contribute to the Administration’s goal of providing every American with the modern infrastructure necessary to access critical services, including a high-quality and affordable broadband internet connection.

A key priority of this program is to make funding available for reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure and other digital connectivity technology projects.  Recipients may also use funds for certain other capital projects, such as multi-purpose community facilities, that enable work, education, and healthcare monitoring, including remote options.  The program encourages recipients to focus on economically distressed areas, support community empowerment, and adopt strong labor practices.

Capital Projects Fund applicants should review the detailed information provided in Section I of the Capital Projects Fund Guidance:

• Capital Projects Fund Guidance for States, Territories, and Freely Associated States
• Capital Projects Fund Guidance for Tribal Governments

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS

For a capital project to be an eligible use of Capital Projects Fund grant funds, it must meet all of the following criteria:

1. The capital project invests in capital assets designed to directly enable work, education, and health monitoring.
2. The capital project is designed to address a critical need that resulted from or was made apparent or exacerbated by the COVID-19 public health emergency.
3. The capital project is designed to address a critical need of the community to be served by it.

The following capital projects are identified in the Capital Projects Fund Guidance as being eligible uses of Capital Projects Fund grant funding:

• Broadband Infrastructure Projects: the construction and deployment of broadband infrastructure designed to deliver service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical speeds of 100Mbps so that communities have future-proof infrastructure to serve their long-term needs.
• Digital Connectivity Technology Projects: the purchase or installation of devices and equipment, such as laptops, tablets, desktop personal computers, and public Wi-Fi equipment, to facilitate broadband internet access for communities where affordability is a barrier to broadband adoption and use.
• Multi-Purpose Community Facility Projects: the construction or improvement of buildings designed to jointly and directly enable work, education, and health monitoring located in communities with critical need for the project.

Case-by-Case Review: In addition to the eligible Capital Projects identified above, recipients may propose a different use of funds.  Such uses must meet the statutory criteria, and recipients will be required to demonstrate that any such projects satisfy the eligibility criteria identified in the Capital Projects Fund Guidance.

Capital Projects Fund grant funding can also be used for the ancillary costs related to eligible capital projects that are necessary to put the asset to full use.  For example, if an applicant plans for Digital Connectivity Technology Projects, Capital Projects Fund awards can be used to provide digital literacy training to community members so that they gain the knowledge and skills necessary to make full use of the devices in order to conduct activities related to education, work, and health monitoring.