Local agency federal obligation authority

Distribution of the local federal transportation funds

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO’s) and County Lead Agencies are also responsible to ensure delivery of the local portion of the federal transportation funds they program in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). WSDOT sets delivery targets for each MPO and county lead agency, based upon their annual appropriated Surface Transportation Block Grant (STPBG), Transportation Alternatives (TA), Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) funds. In addition, WSDOT monitors the bridge, safety, NHS Asset, PROTECT, NHFP, and safe routes to school projects, based upon the local agency schedule identified at time of award. These decisions are reviewed monthly and MPOs and counties coordinate to cooperatively deliver the local federal program.

• 2024 Statewide Local OA Target Delivery (PDF 225KB) – MPO and county monthly delivery target updates
• Local Agency Federal Obligation Authority (OA) (PDF 354KB) – policy for the MPO/RTPO/county lead agencies to deliver their annual targets
• IIJA Work Group 2022 final memo (PDF 325KB) – Joint Transportation Committee memo
• 2020 Census (PDF 285KB) – Washington State Population Census
• WSDOT Policy for Use of Toll Credits (PDF 190KB) – Policy for Allocation and Use of Toll Credits (Updated) December 30, 2021

Federal Transportation Acts

Background

In November 2021, Congress and the President enacted the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), a five-year authorization of federal highway funding. Washington is unique in its approach to splitting federal funds between state and local government. There is a requirement to sub-allocate a portion of the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STPBG) funding to Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) based on population and to distribute Metropolitan Planning funds to MPOs. Beyond that, there is no requirement in U.S. Code or the Act for the state to sub-allocate the remaining portion of the Federal Highway Administration formula funds it receives each year. Washington has a history dating back to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of collaboration between legislators, local government entities and various users of the transportation system to determine distributions of federal highway formula funds. The current distribution to the state and local governments was determined in 2022 by the IIJA Work Group (see link above for details).