The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)

BIL is shorthand for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. BIL also has another name—the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).

IIJA was the original package presented to Congress. When it passed out of Congress and went to the President's desk for signature in November 2021 it became BIL. You’ll see BIL and IIJA used interchangeably—they mean the same thing.

Discretionary Grant Funds are competitive grant funds that an eligible entity can apply to receive.

Each BIL grant program (both new and existing) has specific guidelines that outline who is eligible, project types, spending expectations and other key aspects of the program. Guidelines associated with a grant are determined by the federal agency responsible for distributing those dollars.

Discretionary grant funds are merit based—meaning each grant application is scored based on the criteria provided and awards are made based on those scores. Not every grant application submitted will be awarded money. For many programs the applicant must provide matching funds.

Formula (or Directed) Funds are essentially guaranteed dollars. These funds are distributed from federal agencies to corresponding state agencies through existing and new programs. Though BIL, many existing programs are receiving more funding than they have previously.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to how formula funds can be used—it depends on the rules for each program.

A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is a formal announcement from a federal agency about available funding. The announcement will invite applications and provide information such as eligibility requirements, evaluation criteria, funding preferences/priorities, application directions and the submission deadline.

“Eligible Entity” is a term used to identify who can receive funding.

Eligible entities vary across BIL programs; however, this information can be found for a specific grant in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for each grant program.