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VTrans says federal TA funds limited; municipalities face match requirement for salt‑shed grants
Summary
VTrans staff told the committee that Transportation Alternatives (TA) funding can be used for environmental mitigation projects including salt sheds, but awards are limited, require local match and municipalities must apply. Officials said demand has been modest and the program funds other stormwater priorities as well.
Joel Perrigo, municipal assistance program manager at the Agency of Transportation, told the committee that federal Transportation Alternatives funds can support municipal salt‑shed projects but funding is limited and competitive.
Perrigo said the TA program’s set‑aside was roughly $2.2 million before the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and has risen to about $4.3 million; half of that set‑aside is now required by statute to go to an environmental mitigation category, which creates competition for projects.
“The eligibility says environmental mitigation to address water pollution due to highway runoff,” Perrigo said, explaining the constraint. Under current practice VTrans will cap federal awards for salt‑shed projects at $500,000 and requires a 20% local match. Perrigo said municipalities or regional planning commissions are eligible applicants; private property owners are not.
“Municipalities must demonstrate water‑quality improvement,” he said, and VTrans typically funds one or two salt‑shed awards per year from five to six similar applications, depending on project readiness and scoring.
Perrigo estimated the typical new salt‑shed structure costs “in the neighborhood of $500,000 to $700,000,” and said some towns withdraw after awards because they cannot assemble additional local funding or the shed does not meet eligible stormwater treatment criteria.
Committee members asked whether VTrans has data on municipal needs; Perrigo said the agency reacts to applications and does not maintain a statewide inventory of unmet municipal salt‑shed requests. He advised the legislature that the TA funds compete with other stormwater and resiliency projects.
No formal action was taken during the hearing.
