[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 23 (Friday, February 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5617-5627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2260]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands Program
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program Announcement of FY
2011 and Partial 2012 Project Selections.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects, funded with
Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and 2012 appropriations, and previously
unallocated prior year funds, for the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks
program, as authorized by Section 3021 of the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy for Users of
2005 (SAFETEA-LU) and its extensions, and codified in 49 U.S.C. 5320.
The Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program funds capital and
planning expenses for alternative transportation systems in parks and
public lands. Federal land management agencies and State, tribal and
local governments acting with the consent of a Federal land management
agency are eligible recipients.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project sponsors who are State, local,
or tribal entities may contact the appropriate FTA regional office at
http://www.fta.dot.gov/ for grant-specific issues. Project sponsors who
are a Federal land management agency or a specific unit of a Federal
land management agency should work with the contact listed below at
their headquarters office to coordinate the availability of funds to
that unit.
National Park Service: Mark H Hartsoe, Mark_H_Hartsoe@nps.gov; tel: (202) 513-7025, fax: (202) 371-6675, mail: 1849 C
Street NW., (MS2420); Washington, DC 20240-0001.
Fish and Wildlife Service: Nathan Caldwell, Nathan_Caldwell@fws.gov, tel: (703) 358-2205, fax: (703) 358-2517, mail: 4401
N. Fairfax Drive, Room 634; Arlington, VA 22203.
Forest Service: Rosana Barkawi, rosanabarkawi@fs.fed.us,
tel: (703) 605-4509, mail: 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
20250-1101.
Bureau of Land Management: Victor F. Montoya, Victor_Montoya@blm.gov, tel: (202) 912-7041, mail: 1620 L Street, WO-854,
Washington, DC 20036.
For general information about the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks
program, please contact Adam Schildge, Office of Program Management,
Federal Transit Administration, at adam.schildge@dot.gov, (202) 366-
0778.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA announces the selection of projects for
the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program for Fiscal Years 2011 and
2012. As proposed in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
published on March 10, 2011, FTA is including available FY 2012 funding
in this selection of projects. Once additional FY 2012 funding becomes
available, FTA may select additional projects from the FY 2011
applicants; publish an additional FY 2012 NOFA; incorporate such funds
into a future FY 2013 NOFA; or pursue a combination of the above.
A total of $26,844,035 was appropriated for FTA's Paul S. Sarbanes
Transit in Parks program in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. Of this amount,
$26,709,535 is available for project awards and $134,500 is reserved
for oversight activities. An additional $633,845 is available for
project awards in FY 2011 from funds appropriated in 2006, 2008 and
2010. This includes funds previously reserved for other authorized
program activities and funds returned from previously awarded projects.
The total amount available for FY 2011 is $27,343,380.
The Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011
provided $13,450,000 for the program for the period of October 1, 2011
through March 31, 2012, which is approximately half of the FY 2011
full-year amount. From this amount, a total of $67,530 is reserved for
oversight activities in FY 2012. With the addition of $55,965 in
previously unavailable FY 2011 contract authority and $26,985 in funds
returned from previously awarded projects, a total of $13,465,420 is
available for project awards. The combined total amount of funding for
project awards in FY 2011 and 2012 at the time of this announcement is
$40,808,800.
FY 2011 & FY 2012 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2011 FY 2012
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Appropriation....................... $26,844,035 $13,450,000
Oversight Deduction (0.5%).......... (134,500) (67,530)
FY 2011 Contract Authority.......... ................ 55,965
Prior Year Unobligated Funds........ 633,845 26,985
Available for Grants................ 27,343,380 13,465,420
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A total of 106 applicants requested $91.1 million, which is more
than three times the amount announced in FY 2011 and more than twice
the total amount currently available, indicating high competition for
funds. A joint review committee of the U.S. Department of Interior, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and DOT evaluated the
project proposals based on the criteria defined in 49 U.S.C.
5320(g)(2). Final selections were made through a collaborative process.
The goals of the program are to conserve natural, historical, and
cultural resources; reduce congestion and pollution; improve visitor
mobility and accessibility; enhance visitor experience; and ensure
access to all, including persons with disabilities, through alternative
transportation projects. The projects selected to use FY 2011 and 2012
funding represent a diverse set of capital and planning projects across
the country, ranging from bus purchases to installation of Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS), and are listed in Table 1.
Applying for Funds
Recipients who are State or local government entities will be
required to apply for Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program funds
electronically through FTA's electronic grant award and management
system, TEAM. These entities are assigned discretionary project IDs as
shown in Table I and Table II of this notice. The content of these
grant applications must reflect the approved proposal. (Note:
Applications for the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program do not
require Department of Labor Certification.) Upon grant award, payments
to grantees will be made by electronic transfer to the grantee's
financial institution through FTA's Electronic Clearing House Operation
(ECHO) system. Staff in FTA's Regional offices are available to assist
applicants.
Recipients who are Federal land management agencies will be
required to enter into an interagency agreement (IAA) with FTA. FTA
will administer one IAA with each Federal land management agency
receiving funding through the program for all of that agency's
projects. Consistent with section 9.5.2a of the ``Department of
Transportation Financial Management Policies Manual (October 24, 2006),
funds awarded to Federal land
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management agencies through interagency agreements remain available for
a period of five years from execution of the agreement. Individual
units of Federal land management agencies should work with the contact
at their headquarters office listed above to coordinate the
availability of funds to that unit.
Program Requirements
Section 5320 requires funding recipients to meet certain
requirements. Requirements that reflect existing statutory and
regulatory provisions can be found in the document ``Alternative
Transportation in Parks and Public Lands Program: Requirements for
Recipients'' available at www.fta.dot.gov/transitinparks. These
requirements are incorporated into the grant agreements and inter-
agency agreements used to fund the selected projects.
Pre-Award Authority
Pre-award authority allows an agency that will receive a grant or
interagency agreement to incur certain project costs prior to receipt
of the grant or interagency agreement and retain eligibility of the
costs for subsequent reimbursement after the grant or agreement is
approved. The recipient assumes all risk and is responsible for
ensuring that all conditions are met to retain eligibility, including
compliance with Federal requirements such as the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), SAFETEA-LU planning requirements, and provisions
established in the grant contract or Interagency Agreement. This
automatic pre-award spending authority, when triggered, permits a
grantee to incur costs on an eligible transit capital or planning
project without prejudice to possible future Federal participation in
the cost of the project or projects. Under the authority provided in 49
U.S.C. 5320(h), FTA is extending pre-award authority for FY 2011 and
2012 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks projects announced in this
notice effective January 17, 2012 when the projects were publicly
announced.
The conditions under which pre-award authority may be utilized are
specified below:
a. Pre-award authority is not a legal or implied commitment that
the project(s) will be approved for FTA assistance or that FTA will
obligate Federal funds for those projects. Furthermore, it is not a
legal or implied commitment that all items undertaken by the applicant
will be eligible for inclusion in the project(s).
b. All FTA statutory, procedural, and contractual requirements must
be met. This includes adherence to Federal planning requirements for
recipients of FTA grants, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
requirements, and Federal competitive procurement requirements.
c. No action will be taken by the grantee that prejudices the legal
and administrative findings that the Federal Transit Administration
must make in order to approve a project.
d. Local funds expended pursuant to this pre-award authority will
be eligible for reimbursement if FTA later makes a grant or interagency
agreement for the project(s). Local funds expended by the grantee prior
to the January 17, 2012 public announcement will not be eligible for
credit toward local match or reimbursement. Furthermore, the
expenditure of local funds on activities such as land acquisition,
demolition, or construction, prior to the completion of the NEPA
process, would compromise FTA's ability to comply with Federal
environmental laws and may render the project ineligible for FTA
funding.
e. When a grant for the project is subsequently awarded, the
Financial Status Report in TEAM-Web must indicate the use of pre-award
authority, and the pre-award item in the project information section of
TEAM should be marked ``yes.''
Reporting Requirements
All recipients must submit quarterly reports to FTA containing the
following information:
(1) Narrative description of project(s); and,
(2) discussion of all budget and schedule changes.
The headquarters office for each Federal land management agency should
collect a quarterly report for each of the projects delineated in the
interagency agreement and then send these reports by email to Adam
Schildge, FTA, mailto: adam.schildge@dot.gov. Examples can be found on
the program Web site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/transitinparks. State,
local and tribal governments will provide this information to FTA via
the TEAM-Web system for projects that are funded through FTA grants.
The quarterly reports are due to FTA on the dates noted below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quarter Covering Due date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Quarter Report............ October 1-December 31. January 30.
2nd Quarter Report............ January 1-March 31.... April 30.
3rd Quarter Report............ April 1-June 30....... July 30.
4th Quarter Report............ July 1-September 31... October 30.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to allow FTA to compute aggregate program performance
measures FTA requires that all recipients of funding for capital
projects under the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program submit the
following information as a part of their fourth quarter report:
[ssquf] Annual visitation to the relevant land unit;
[ssquf] Annual number of persons who use the alternative
transportation system (ridership/usage);
[ssquf] An estimate of the number of vehicle trips mitigated based
on alternative transportation system usage and the typical number of
passengers per vehicle;
[ssquf] Cost per passenger; and,
[ssquf] A note of any special services offered for those systems
with higher costs per passenger but more amenities.
Oversight
Recipients of FY 2011 and FY 2012 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks
program funds will be required to certify that they will comply with
all applicable Federal and FTA programmatic requirements. FTA direct
grantees will complete this certification as part of the annual
Certification and Assurances package, and Federal Land Management
Agency recipients will complete the certification by signing the
interagency agreement. This certification is the basis for oversight
reviews conducted by FTA.
The Secretary of Transportation and FTA have elected not to apply
the triennial review requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5307(h)(2) to Paul S.
Sarbanes Transit in Parks program recipients that are other Federal
agencies. Instead, working with the existing oversight systems at the
Federal Land Management Agencies, FTA will perform periodic reviews of
specific projects funded by the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks
program. These reviews
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will ensure that projects meet the basic statutory, administrative, and
regulatory requirements as stipulated by this notice and the
certification. To the extent possible, these reviews will be
coordinated with other reviews of the project. FTA direct grantees of
Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program funds (State, local and
tribal government entities) will be subject to all applicable
triennial, State management, civil rights, and other reviews.
Issued in Washington, DC, January 27, 2012.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
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[FR Doc. 2012-2260 Filed 2-2-12; 8:45 am]
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