[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6172-6178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2755]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Discretionary Bus and Bus Facilities Program and National
Research Program Funds.
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) of FTA Section 5309 Bus
and Bus Facilities Program and Section 5312 National Research Program
Funds: Solicitation of Project Proposals for Veterans Transportation
and Community Living Initiative II Grants.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the
availability of discretionary funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012
Section 5309(b)(3) Bus and Bus Facilities Program and the FY 2011
Section 5312 National Research Program for continuing support of the
Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility's
(Coordinating Council or CCAM) Veterans Transportation and Community
Living Initiative (VTCLI).
The Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011
(Temporary Authorization, 2012) continues the authorization of the
Federal transit programs of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
through March 31, 2012, and provides contract authority for these
programs equal to approximately one half of the amounts available in FY
2011. Under this funding opportunity, subject to funding availability
by Congress, FTA will provide approximately $25 million in unallocated
discretionary FY 2012 Bus and Bus Facilities Program funds,
supplemented by approximately $5 million in unallocated FY 2011
National Research Program funds.
This grant opportunity, referred to as ``VTCLI II'' in this notice,
makes funds available to state and local governmental agencies for the
capital costs of creating, expanding, or increasing access to local
One-Call/One-Click Transportation Resource Centers (One-Call/One-Click
Centers), as well as some research costs to demonstrate successful
implementation of these capital projects. The One-Call/One-Click
Centers simplify access to transportation for the public by providing
one place to connect veterans, service members, military families,
persons with disabilities and other transportation-disadvantaged
populations, such as older adults, low-income families or disadvantaged
youth, to rides and transportation options provided in their locality
by a variety of transportation providers and programs.
This notice describes the transportation service coordination and
simplified customer access priorities established by the Coordinating
Council's partnership, the criteria the interagency review panel will
use to identify meritorious projects for funding, and how to apply.
This announcement is available on the FTA's Web site, on the Veterans
Transportation and Community Living Initiative Web page at: http://www.fta.dot.gov/veterans. FTA will announce final selections on the FTA
Web site and may announce selections in the Federal Register. A
synopsis of this announcement will be posted in the FIND module of the
government-wide electronic grants Web site at http://www.grants.gov.
DATES: Complete proposals for VTCLI II grants must be submitted by
11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 2012. Applicants who have not already begun
registering on the GRANTS.GOV site should do so immediately to ensure
completion of registration before the submission deadline.
ADDRESSES: Proposals must be submitted electronically at http://www.grants.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general program information, as
well as proposal-specific questions, please send an email to
VeteransTransportation@dot.gov or contact Erik Weber, (202) 366-0705. A
TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 (TDD/FIRS).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Funding Opportunity Description
II. FTA and Other Partnership Award Information
III. Eligibility Information
IV. Proposal Submission Information
V. Proposal Review and Selection
VI. Award Administration
VII. Agency Contacts
I. Funding Opportunity Description
A. Authority
The capital funding for VTCLI II is authorized under 49 U.S.C.
Section 5309(b), as amended by Section 3011 of SAFETEA-LU:
The Secretary may make grants under this section to assist State
and local governmental authorities in financing * * * capital
projects to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related
equipment and to construct bus-related facilities, including
programs of bus and bus-related projects for assistance to
subrecipients that are public agencies, private companies engaged in
public
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transportation, or private non-profit organizations * * *
Eligible capital projects, as defined in 49 U.S.C. Section
5302(a)(1) include projects for:
``* * * acquiring, constructing, supervising, or inspecting
equipment or a facility for use in public transportation * * *.
(including designing, engineering * * *), * * * transit-related
intelligent transportation systems,''
and,
``the introduction of new technology, through innovative and
improved products, into public transportation * * *.''
Funding to demonstrate implementation of VTCLI II projects is
authorized under 49 U.S.C. 5312(a) as amended by Section 3014(a) of
SAFETEA-LU:
``* * * The Secretary may make grants * * * for research,
development, demonstration, and deployment projects * * * that the
Secretary determines will improve public transportation service * *
*.''
B. Background
President Obama has made the care and support of military families
a top policy priority. In a January 2011 report, ``Strengthening Our
Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment,'' the White House
noted the importance of ``harnessing resources and expertise across the
Federal Government [to improve] the quality of military family life
[and to help] communities more effectively support military families.''
Reliable mobility has direct and substantial impacts on many of the
priorities presented in the report--such as promoting housing security
among veterans, developing career and educational opportunities, and
reducing barriers to employment. To fulfill the President's objectives
on behalf of veterans, active duty service members and their families,
representatives of the Coordinating Council came together with Veteran
and Military Service Organizations (VSO/MSO) around the country to
discuss transportation challenges. They agreed that:
1. When it comes to transportation, more effective and consistent
coordination is needed among Federal, state, and community-based
programs that already deliver or sponsor services to veterans, military
families and persons with disabilities where they live; and,
2. Enhancing veterans' and military families' awareness of, and
access to, transportation choices in their communities is integral to
successfully reintegrating these men and women and their families.
In order to achieve these outcomes, several CCAM members--the
Departments of Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Health and
Human Services--joined with the Department of Defense to launch the
Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative. FTA awarded
$34.6 million of VTCLI discretionary capital grants in the fall of
2011. Due to the demand for these funds, FTA is making another $25
million of FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities funds, as well
as approximately $5 million of FY 2011 Section 5312 Research Program
funds available under this notice, subject to funding availability.
These efforts build upon FTA National Research Program efforts to
demonstrate and implement one-call/one-click centers through the
Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA) Program, jointly funded with
the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) ITS Joint
Program Office.
With these funds, FTA will continue to help communities address
transportation needs of veterans, military families, persons with
disabilities and other transportation-disadvantaged populations and
enable the communities to acquire technologies to implement One-Call/
One-Click Centers.
C. Program Purpose
Building on the success of the MSAA and United We Ride (UWR) ``One-
Call Center'' model, the VTCLI II will help communities build or expand
local One-Call/One-Click Centers to bring together transportation
services available to the general public with those available to
customers of human services programs, and especially services for
veterans and military families. Coordinating transportation services
promotes improved access to community services and employment, and will
advance the integration of those with disabilities into their
communities.
Based on its mission to care for America's veterans, the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides transportation only to and from VA
medical facilities. In the coming years, the country's aging veterans
will require increasing levels of medical care. Meanwhile service
members are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and many wounded
warriors will be transitioning into the VA system. They need reliable
transportation options and services beyond those the VA is able to
directly provide in order to maintain or regain an active community
life.
In many communities, transportation resources already exist for
those who are not able to drive themselves. Yet all too often, members
of the veterans and military communities aren't aware of the existing
transportation resources, don't know how to access them, or aren't
involved in the transportation planning and resource allocation
processes. Improving transportation options for America's veterans,
service members and their families will help to integrate these valued
members of our society.
The VTCLI goal is to increase the availability of community
transportation resources, and awareness of them among the military
community by:
Establishing or expanding One-call/One-Click
Transportation Resource Centers, to include resources for veterans,
service members and military families, and promoting use of the One-
Call/One-Click Centers within the military community;
Creating partnerships between transportation providers and
veterans and military communities; and
Increasing involvement of veterans and military
communities in local Coordinated Human Services Transportation Planning
process.
Importantly, the One-Call/One-Click infrastructure funded by VTCLI
II will be available to all members of the community. Better
integration of transportation information and services benefit not only
veterans, service members and their families, but all transportation-
disadvantaged populations. One-Call/One-Click Centers will enhance
communities' ability to integrate individuals with disabilities and
prevent institutionalization, in accordance with the President's
commitment to the principles of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision
(Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999)), which addresses the rights of
individuals with disabilities to live independently.
As an initiative of the Coordinating Council, VTCLI II grants
should not create narrowly-focused programs or services. Proposals are
expected to enhance and/or increase transportation or mobility benefits
to other community members, particularly, transportation-disadvantaged
populations.
The VTCLI II awards will go to communities whose proposals:
1. Identify transportation and mobility needs of their veterans and
military community;
2. Propose to create or increase access to a community One-Call/
One-Click Center or expand an existing community One-Call/One-Click
Center to include transportation resources and address identified needs
of veterans and military families;
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3. Demonstrate a community coalition of transportation, military
family and veteran service providers which has participated in the
proposal writing and will guide the project implementation;
4. Commit to increase involvement of veterans and the military
community in locally coordinated transportation planning, including
revising the community Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan,
to address the needs of these target groups; and,
5. Lay out a framework for measuring the performance of the project
in meeting the goals of the VTCLI.
II. FTA and Other Partnership Award Information
A. FTA Award Information
VTCLI II projects may consist of awards from two discretionary
funding sources: FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Program
and FY 2011 Section 5312 Research Program.
FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Program funds.
FTA will award a maximum of $2 million of FY 2012 Section 5309 funds
for any single project. FTA will fund up to 80% of the project cost,
requiring a minimum 20% local match for capital costs.
FY 2011 Section 5312 Research Program funds. FTA will
award a maximum of $50,000 or 50% of the Section 5309 request,
whichever is less, in FY 2011 Section 5312 funds for research and
demonstration costs directly related to the implementation of the
capital project. FTA will fund 100% of the research costs.
FTA funds are available to State or local governmental authorities
as recipients and other public, private and non-profit organizations as
subrecipients. FTA may partially fund applications based on the number
and size of funding requests.
The evaluation process will consider geographical distribution,
distribution amongst large urban, small urban and rural areas, as well
as distribution of other discretionary program funding in making
funding decisions. The FTA Administrator will determine the final
selection and amount of funding for each project. FTA will announce
selected projects in the summer of 2012.
B. Other Partnership Information
The partnership is supporting the goals of the VTCLI with
additional programs and technical assistance. These include:
1. The Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment
Policy, along with FTA, will provide online, collaborative workspaces
for communities to use in planning and implementing One-Call/One-Click
Centers and further transportation coordination efforts.
2. FTA's Office of United We Ride, through its transportation
technical assistance centers, will provide technical assistance to
awardees to assist in One-Call/One-Click Center implementation to
address customer transportation connections and issues as well as plans
to address unmet transportation needs of veterans, service members and
their families.
3. The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to support VA
medical facilities with its Veterans Transportation Service (VTS).
VTCLI II applicants are highly encouraged to partner with existing VTS
sites, if nearby, on their applications, or work with their nearby VA
facility on a VTS application if it is not already a part of the VTS
program. More information on VTS can be found at www.va.gov/veteranstransportationservice.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants and eventual grant recipients for VTCLI II
awards must be Direct Recipients under FTA's Section 5307 Urbanized
Area Formula program, local governments, States, or Indian Tribes.
States may submit consolidated proposals for multiple projects.
Proposals may contain projects to be implemented by the recipient
or its subrecipients. Eligible subrecipients of FTA funding include:
public agencies, private non-profit organizations, including Veterans
Service Organizations and Military Family Service Organizations, and
private providers engaged in public transportation.
B. Eligible Expenses
Projects eligible for funding under VTCLI II must focus on the
implementation of One-Call/One-Click Centers and related transportation
coordination. Eligible expenses under the Section 5309(b)(3) portion of
VTCLI II are capital expenses related to the establishment of a One-
Call/One-Click Center and technologies to ensure transportation service
connectivity.
These costs include, but are not limited to: hardware purchases
(computers, servers); in-vehicle technology (automatic vehicle location
systems, communication devices, mobile data terminals); software
(scheduling & dispatching, communications, billing, consumer mobile
applications); facility-related capital (purchase, lease, alteration);
design and engineering, including consultant costs; and project
administration (up to 10% of total capital project costs). Capital
items not listed may be eligible if clearly associated with the
implementation of a One-Call/One-Click Center. Applicants should check
the eligibility of such items by contacting FTA through one of the
methods listed in this notice.
FTA will not fund vehicle acquisition, operating assistance or
preventive maintenance costs under this grant opportunity. Operation
costs of the One-Call/One-Click Center also are not eligible.
Eligible expenses for the Section 5312 portion of VTCLI II include,
but are not limited to, coordinated planning, marketing, and public
engagement efforts not eligible as capital but directly related to
demonstrating the implementation of the proposed VTCLII capital
project. FTA is interested in demonstrating how these types of
additional efforts can improve the success of the One-Call/One-Click
Centers. Under VTCLI II, FTA will not award research funds independent
of a related request for Section 5309 capital award in either this
competition or a project selected in the previous round of the VTCLI.
C. Cost Sharing
FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities funds received under a
VTCLI II grant will be shared at the following ratio: 80% FTA/20% local
contribution. FY 2011 Section 5312 Research funds will not require a
local match. FTA will not approve deferred local match under this
program. The local match can be provided from cash or in-kind
resources.
III. Proposal Submission Information
A. Proposal Process
Complete proposals for VTCLI II must be submitted electronically
through the GRANTS.GOV Web site no later than 11:59 pm EDT on April 19,
2012. Applicants are encouraged to begin the process of registration on
the GRANTS.GOV site well in advance of the submission deadline.
Registration is a multi-step process, which may take several weeks to
complete before a proposal can be submitted.
A complete proposal submission will consist of at least two files:
(1) The SF 424 Mandatory form (downloaded from GRANTS.GOV) and (2) the
Supplemental Form targeting the relevant FTA program found on the FTA
Web site. The supplemental form provides guidance and a consistent
format for proposers to respond to the criteria outlined in this NOFA.
Once
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completed, the supplemental form will be placed in the attachments
section of the SF 424 Mandatory form. Proposers must use the correct
Supplemental Form and attach it to their submission in GRANTS.GOV to
successfully complete the application process. A proposal submission
may contain additional supporting documentation as attachments.
Within 24-48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the
applicant should receive three email messages from GRANTS.GOV: (1)
Confirmation of successful transmission to GRANTS.GOV, (2) confirmation
of successful validation by GRANTS.GOV and (3) confirmation of
successful validation by FTA. If confirmations of successful validation
are not received and a notice of failed validation or incomplete
materials is received, the applicant must address the reason for the
failed validation, as described in the notice, and resubmit before the
submission deadline. If making a resubmission for any reason, include
all original attachments regardless of which attachments were updated.
Complete instructions on the application process can be found at
http://www.fta.dot.gov/veterans. Important: FTA urges applicants to
submit their proposal at least 72 hours prior to the due date to allow
time to receive the validation message and to correct any problems that
may have caused a rejection notification. Submissions received after
11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 2012, will not be accepted. GRANTS.GOV
scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the GRANTS.GOV
Web site http://www.GRANTS.GOV. Deadlines will not be extended due to
scheduled maintenance or outages.
B. Proposal Content
All pertinent application information and narrative should be
submitted electronically through Grants.gov directly in the SF424 and
the FTA-required Supplemental Form. Do not submit responses to the
evaluation criteria in a separate attachment. Only supporting exhibits
such as maps, diagrams, detailed budget documents, or letters of
support should be submitted as separate attachments to the SF424 in
Grants.gov.
1. Applicant Information
The SF424 and FTA Supplemental Form will ask for the following
basic sponsor identifying information:
a. Applicant's name and FTA recipient ID number.
b. Contact Information for notification of project selection
(including contact name, title, address, congressional district, email,
fax and phone number).
c. Eligibility information.
d. Description of services provided by the agency including areas
served.
2. Proposal Information
The FTA Supplemental Form instructs applicants to include the
following information (for each project if submitting a consolidated
proposal):
a. Subrecipient name and contact (if the project will be performed
by a subrecipient).
b. A project title.
c. A project executive summary, including the scope, purpose and
goals of the project, not to exceed 250 words.
d. Project type.
e. Requested information and narrative justifications for each of
the four evaluation criteria detailed in Section V of this Notice.
f. Basic line-item budgets for the capital and research funds, if
requested, describing the various key components of the project and
cost.
Note: Proposals may use estimated costs for implementation if
exact costs are unknown prior to development. Scalable guidelines
for cost estimation of one-call technology are available on the FTA
Web site.
g. Capital project scalability detailing minimum funds requires for
a smaller project to provide independent utility.
h. The total amount of Federal funds requested, and the amount of
matching funds, including source and documentation of the match.
i. An estimated project timeline and major milestones.
j. The congressional district(s) in which the project will be
implemented.
V. Proposal Review and Selection
A. Project Evaluation Criteria
Projects will be evaluated by an interagency review team based on
the proposals submitted according to: (1) Planning and partnership; (2)
Readiness; (3) Technical, legal and financial capacity; (4)
Demonstration of need; and (5) Project Development. The FTA
Supplemental Form prompts applicants to address these criteria which
are detailed below.
Each applicant is encouraged to demonstrate the responsiveness of a
project to all of the selection criteria with the most relevant
information that the applicant can provide, regardless of whether such
information has been specifically requested, or identified, in this
notice. The FTA Supplemental Form provides narrative justification
sections for each of the criteria. FTA will evaluate the extent to
which a project proposal addresses the following criteria:
1. Planning and Partnership
a. Indicate that the project is or can be included in the
financially-constrained Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)/
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). If selected, the
project must be in TIP or STIP before the grant can be awarded.
b. Describe applicant's experience with regional coordinated
transportation and human services planning, including indicating:
i. When was the most recent coordinated public transit-human
services transportation plan (``coordinated plan'') developed?
ii. Have the applicant and/or any proposed subrecipients previously
been involved in developing their community's coordinated plan?
c. Indicate prior work on veterans/military family mobility issues,
including addressing the following questions:
i. Has the community taken steps prior to the VTCLI to address the
mobility needs of local veterans and military families?
ii. Have veterans/military family needs previously been addressed
in the coordinated plan?
d. Demonstrate a substantive partnership with the following types
of organizations or service providers. In addition to letters of
support from partners, outstanding applications will describe how the
partners were involved in the proposal development and how they will
participate in its implementation. The review committee will look for
proof of strong, substantive partnerships. Proposals without proof of
partnerships with all four of the following organization categories or
adequate justification for a missing category will not be considered:
i. Transportation organizations, which include, but are not limited
to: transit agencies, brokers, taxis, volunteer driver services;
planning agencies, such as a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO),
and local coordinated plan's public transit/human services lead agency;
ii. Veteran/Military Governmental Service Providers, which include,
but are not limited to: VA medical center networks; Veterans
Transportation Service; Department of Defense recovery care programs;
Military bases, hospitals, and other medical providers; and/or State,
county or city veterans affairs offices;
iii. Veteran/Military Service Organizations which include, but are
not limited to: Iraq and Afghanistan
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Veterans of America, American Legion; and Military Family
Organizations, which include, but are not limited to: Wounded Warrior
Project, Blue Star Families, National Military Family Association; and,
iv. Existing One-Call/One-Click Service or Transportation Centers
in the community, such as 211s or transit customer service center, if
any. If the new One-Call/One-Click Center will stand as its own entity,
the proposer must indicate that there are either no existing One-Call/
One-Click Services or Centers in the community OR provide a strong
justification why a separate One-Call/One-Click Center will produce the
best outcomes for the community.
e. Applicants are encouraged to develop partnerships with
additional groups beyond those required above, including:
i. Employers, workforce development and training agencies, etc.
ii. Independent living/aging organizations (e.g., Centers for
Independent Living, Senior Centers, Aging and Disability Resource
Centers)
iii. Local political officials
f. Applicants may also provide documentation and/or descriptions of
any additional partners who participated in the planning and
development of their proposal, if applicable.
g. Project partners should be listed in the appropriate section on
the Supplemental From. Check the box next to each partner which has
submitted a letter of support.
2. Readiness
If the proposal was submitted for the first round of VTCLI funding,
and has not been substantially modified, check the box indicating this.
Indicate the time in which the grant can be obligated and the time in
which the project can be implemented.
While project funds may be expended over the course of design,
development, procurement and implementation stages of the One Call/One-
Click Center, applicants must indicate that the project can actively
initiate upon receiving a grant. The project should be completed in a
reasonable period as determined on a case-by-case basis, in order to
provide the new or enhanced coordinated services as soon as
practicable.
Address all of the following points in the Project Readiness
Justification:
a. Indicate the short-term, mid-range and long-term goals for the
project.
b. Indicate prior work on One-Call/One-Click Centers, addressing
the following questions:
i. Does the community have an existing human service/workforce or
transportation One-Call/One-Click Center?
ii. If not, has the community identified the need for a One-Call/
One-Click Center in its local coordinated plan?
iii. If so, has the existing One-Call/One-Click Center incorporated
any veterans or military transportation services? Can existing one
call/one click centers capacity be used in this project, including the
ability to use existing shared-space?
iv. Have you conducted any outreach or programs for staffing the
One-Call/One-Click Center? Will the center employ any veterans,
military family members or individuals with disabilities?
c. Indicate the project is a Categorical Exclusion (CE), or the
required environmental work has been initiated or completed for
construction projects requiring an Environmental Assessment (EA) or
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under, among others, the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.
d. For facility construction or modification project, indicate
project implementation plans are complete, including initial design of
facilities projects
e. For applicants who are not existing FTA direct recipients,
indicate willingness of an existing grantee to receive funds on behalf
of the applicant, or that the applying organization has the capacity to
meet all pre-requisites and requirements of becoming an FTA grantee in
a timely manner.
3. Technical, Legal & Financial Capacity
Address all of the following points in the justification:
a. Technical capacity: Only applicants who are willing to undertake
further coordination of transportation and veterans or military family
services and track the project performance under their VTCLI proposals
will be selected. Applicants must indicate their commitment to:
i. Update the appropriate state, regional and/or local coordinated
human services transportation plan to include a section on the mobility
needs of the veteran and military community. If the community has
already done this, this should be indicated in the narrative and the
plan should be attached to the application.
ii. Address the mobility and transportation challenges of veterans
and military families through additional coordinated transportation
strategies, such as mobility management, community transportation gap
assessment, etc.
iii. Identify local technical assistance needs in order to
effectively implement One-Call/One-Click Centers and further address
veterans and/or military families' mobility needs in the coordinated
plan.
iv. Develop a performance measurement plan to track success of the
project relative to desired VTCLI goals outlined in Section I. C. of
this notice. This commitment should be indicated by inclusion of
preliminary proposed performance measures for the project.
b. Legal capacity: Applicants must indicate that there are no legal
issues which would prevent acceptance of FTA funds, their eligibility
and authority to apply.
c. Financial capacity: Leveraging other funds -Proposals that
leverage additional FTA, other Federal, State, or local funds beyond
the required local match will be scored favorably. Local match details
will be entered in the appropriate section later on the Supplemental
Form. For Financial Capacity, indicate the following:
i. A funding plan for long-term sustainability, including the
operation of the One Call/One-Click Center;
ii. Additional FTA program funding identified--Mobility management,
vehicle purchases, and vehicle modifications will not be eligible
expenses under the VTCLI. Applicants are encouraged to update their
coordinated plan and identify funds from other FTA grant programs, such
as Sections 5310 (Elderly/Disabled), 5316 (Job Access/Reverse Commute)
or 5317 (New Freedom), to meet vehicle or mobility management needs;
iii. Additional Federal resources to be leveraged (e.g. Aging and
Disability Resource Center/Area Agencies on Aging [ADRC/AAA], One-Stop
employment, VA, DoD, HHS funds, Vocational Rehabilitation/RSA); and
iv. Other non-Federal funding above and beyond local match (State
funding, private donations, etc.).
4. Demonstration of Need
Projects will be selected in part based on demonstrated need of
veterans, military families and other transportation-disadvantaged
populations for services proposed.
State the size of the local veteran and military population and
identify transportation and mobility needs of these populations. When
available, provide quantitative support; otherwise, providing narrative
description of challenges and needs will suffice.
Each application should address the following questions:
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a. How large are the veterans/military communities in the project
area to be served by the project?
b. What portion of the veterans/military population in the projects
area are persons with disabilities?
c. Where are the nearest veterans and military support services
that support the project's area?
d. What are the specific transportation barriers and other
challenges facing veterans and military families in the project's area?
e. Identify the community's existing public, non-profit and private
transportation providers.
f. Demonstrate how the One-Call/One-Click Center will address the
mobility needs of the above identified populations.
g. Describe how veterans, especially disabled veterans, will be
engaged in the development and operation of the project.
5. Research
Applicants may request Research funds in addition to the Capital
project funds, up to $50,000 or 50% of the amount of Section 5309 funds
requested, whichever is smaller. In the Research justification, provide
a description of activities to be funded and a justification of the
relationship to the capital project.
The Research budget information should be entered separately on the
Supplemental Form following the Capital Project Budget.
B. Submission Dates and Time
All proposals must be submitted electronically via GRANTS.GOV no
later than 11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 2012.
C. Funding Restrictions
Proposals must be submitted by FTA recipients eligible to receive
FTA Section 5309 funds. Due to funding limitations, applicants that are
selected for funding may receive less than the amount originally
requested.
D. Proposal Selection Process
VTCLI II proposals will first be screened by FTA staff members.
Eligible proposals will be then rated by an interagency review panel
representing the members of the VTCLI. Members of the interagency
review panel and other involved FTA staff reserve the right to:
(1) If a large number of parties apply, FTA may screen and rank the
applications it receives, and limit its review to the most promising
proposals;
(2) Seek clarification from any applicant about any statement in
its application that FTA finds ambiguous. FTA will review applications
strictly in light of the common meanings of words used in the
proposals, as understood in the transit community.
(3) Conduct discussions with the applicants about their
applications; and
(4) Extend the time for applicants to submit or amend their
applications.
Final decisions and allocation of FTA funds will be made by the FTA
Administrator. Geographic distribution may be a factor in FTA's award
decisions. FTA will announce selected projects in the summer of 2012.
VI. Award Administration
A. Award Notices
FTA will announce final VTCLI II project selections on the FTA Web
site and may announce selections in the Federal Register. FTA will
contact successful applicants. After receipt of a complete application,
FTA will award grants for the selected projects to the proposer through
the FTA Transportation Electronic Award Management (TEAM) System. These
grants will be administered and managed by the FTA regional offices in
accordance with the Federal requirements of the Section 5309 Bus and
Bus Facilities Program and Section 5312 National Research Program.
There is no blanket pre-award authority for the selected projects. Once
selected for funding, applicants may request pre-award authority which
may be granted on a case-by-case basis.
B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
1. Grant Requirements. If selected, applicants will apply for a
grant through TEAM and adhere to the customary FTA grant requirements
of the Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities program, including those of
FTA C 9300.1A Circular and C 5010.1C and Section 5333(b) labor
protections. Awards greater than $500,000 will go through a
Congressional Notification and Release process. Technical assistance
regarding these requirements and processes is available from each FTA
regional office.
2. Additional requirements if receiving Section 5312 Research
funds. If an applicant has requested and been awarded Section 5312
funds, the applicant will need to apply separately in TEAM for these
funds. Research funds must adhere to the requirements of the Section
5312 National Research Program, including those of FTA C 6100.1D
Circular. Section 5312 funds require submission of a final report on
the results of the demonstration. FTA may waive this requirement by
completing an overall assessment collecting information from each
awarded project.
3. Planning. Applicants are encouraged to notify the appropriate
State Departments of Transportation and MPO in areas likely to be
served by the project funds made available under this program.
Incorporation of funded projects in the long range plans and
transportation improvement programs of States and metropolitan areas is
required of all funded projects.
4. Standard Assurances. The Applicant assures that it will comply
with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations, executive orders,
FTA circulars, and other Federal administrative requirements in
carrying out any project supported by the FTA grant. The Applicant
acknowledges that it is under a continuing obligation to comply with
the terms and conditions of the grant agreement issued for its project
with FTA. The Applicant understands that Federal laws, regulations,
policies, and administrative practices might be modified from time to
time and that modifications may affect the implementation of the
project. The Applicant agrees that the most recent Federal requirements
will apply to the project, unless FTA issues a written determination
otherwise. The Applicant must submit the Certifications and Assurances
before receiving a grant if it does not have current Certifications on
file.
C. Reporting
Post-award reporting requirements include submission of Financial
Status Reports and Milestone reports in TEAM on a quarterly basis for
all projects. Documentation of project progress is required for
payment. Additional reporting may be required specific to the VTCLI.
Recipients may also be expected to participate in events or peer
networks related to VTCLI. Grants which include research funds may be
required to develop a final report or provide data for a consolidated
report on the program.
VII. Agency Contacts
For general program information, as well as proposal-specific
questions, please send an email to VeteransTransportation@dot.gov or
contact Erik Weber at (202) 366-0705. A TDD is available at 1-800-877-
8339 (TDD/FIRS). Applicants may also visit www.fta.dot.gov/veterans for
frequently asked questions and answers.
[[Page 6178]]
Issued in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of February, 2012.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-2755 Filed 2-6-12; 8:45 am]
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