In the Federal budget, an appropriation provided by the Congress one or more years in advance of the fiscal year in which the budget authority becomes available for obligation. Advance appropriations allow State and local governments, and others sufficient time to develop plans with assurance of future Federal funding: e.g., the 1976 appropriation for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority contained in the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for 1975. An advance appropriation is sometimes mistakenly referred to as forward funding, which involves an agency in obligating funds in the current year for outlay to programs that are to operate in subsequent fiscal years.