Any organization, local government, or state agency may apply for grants (maximum $50,000) for landscape enhancement of the state right-of-way that involves the local community, displays the right-of-way in an attractive fashion and promotes pride in Georgia.  Grant recipients are not required to provide matching funds.

NOTE: Local governments who are not in compliance with Georgia’s Service Delivery Act are not able to receive grants from state agencies, and therefore are not eligible to apply for an REBC Grant. View List of Local Governments Not In Compliance. ​​

How Funds Can Be Used

• Landscape plant material
• Sod
• Topsoil
• Mulch
• Labor costs associated with above items

NOTE: If approved, irrigation is limited to 10 percent of the total grant request.

Applications That Cannot Be Considered

• Local governments who are not in compliance with Georgia’s Service Delivery Act are not able to receive grants from state agencies, and therefore are not eligible to apply for an REBC Grant. View List of Local Governments Not In Compliance.
• Applications with multiple site locations (locations on different routes and/or different mile posts). Please include only one site location per application.
• Previous grant recipients who have not obtained a Special Encroachment Permit for their previous Grant project and whose projects have not been installed.

How Funds Cannot Be Used

• Hardscape items such as paving, benches, fences, flagpoles, signage, lighting, and fountains.
• Maintenance, design, administration, highway construction, office furnishings and fixtures, entertainment, lobbying, equipment, or mitigation.
• Planting at private developments, business developments, or individual businesses, that solely benefits and brings attention only to those businesses or developments.
• Annual plant material (seasonal color).
• Median landscaping.
• Trees planted with 500 feet of legal outdoor advertising signs

The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) is calling for new applications for Phase 7 of the Roadside Enhancement and (Beautification Council (REBC) Grant program!

The deadline for application submissions is 5:00 PM on Friday, December 1, 2023. Please submit your application in the online system here: FY 2023 REBC Grant Application. If you meet any technical difficulties or questions about the online application process, please contact GDOT state Maintenance Office Landscape Architecture Unit at landscape@dot.ga.gov.

If you have questions about the REBC Grant program please contact landscape@dot.ga.gov or (404) 631-1400.

The Roadside Enhancement and Beautification Council reviews the REBC Grant applications and makes their award recommendations to the Georgia DOT Commissioner. The REBC is comprised of the following representatives appointed by the Governor:

• Garden Club of Georgia, Inc.
  
• Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia
• Sierra Club
• Georgia Wildlife Federation
• Georgia Conservancy
• UGA College of Environment and Design
• House and Senate Transportation Committee Chairpersons
• Georgia DOT Deputy Commissioner

Project Rating Criteria Sheets

Project Rating Criteria Sheets will be used by Georgia DOT and the Roadside Enhancement and Beautification Council to review and judge all REBC Grant applications. Use the Project Rating Criteria sheet as a guide when responding to the requirements of the grant application package.

The REBC reserves the right to make awards in amounts less than the amount requested on the applications. All applicants will receive results of the awards by mail in the Summer of 2024.

Memoranda of Agreement

• A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) will be sent to each Grantee.  This agreement must be signed and returned to GDOT for execution within forty-five (45) days of notice of award. 
• Grantees must obtain a Special Encroachment Permit (SEP) from their GDOT District Traffic Operations Office within one (1) year of the effective date of the above mentioned MoA.  The SEP will include a Mowing and Maintenance Agreement for the project area and all planting and other enhancement installed on the right-of-way. 
• Projects must be fully completed within thirty (30) months of the effective date of the MoA.
  
• Grantees must submit documents for reimbursal within ninety (90) days for project completion.  Project completion is defined as the release date of the Special Encroachment Permit.
  

Failure to meet these deadlines will subject these funds to reallocation.

Planting should be scheduled during the optimal time listed in 6755-9 Policy for Landscaping and Enhancements on GDOT Right-of-Way and GDOT Specification Section 702 | Special Provision.

Georgia Grown

The Roadside Enhancement and Beautification Council requires the use of Georgia Grown products for your projects.

Reimbursement

Once construction is complete, invoices should be submitted to the Landscape Architecture Section by the grant recipient. Only one reimbursement payment will be issued per grant.

Since 2008 Georgia DOT has awarded more than $5,000,000 for REBC Grants to governments and civic groups around the state. Funds from the grants are used for reimbursement of beautification projects on state routes.