[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 71 (Friday, April 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22026-22031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08653]
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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
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 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 codified in 49 U.S.C. 5320.
Projects were selected from proposals submitted in response to a Notice
of Funding Availability (NOFA) published in the Federal Register on
August 28, 2012. These projects are funded with Fiscal Year (FY) 2012
appropriations and previously unallocated prior year funds. The Paul S.
Sarbanes Transit in Parks program provides funds for capital and
planning expenses for alternative transportation systems in national
parks and other federal recreation lands. Federal land management
agencies and State, tribal and local governments acting with the
consent of a federal land management agency are eligible recipients.
This program was not re-authorized for FY 2013 under the Moving Ahead
for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), and FTA does not
anticipate publishing future NOFAs for this program. If additional
funds become available during FY 2013 from previous project awards, FTA
may allocate these funds to project proposals previously submitted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project sponsors who are State, local,
or tribal entities may contact the appropriate FTA Regional Office
(http://www.fta.dot.gov/offices) for grant-specific issues. Project
sponsors who are part 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, [email protected]; tel: 202-513-7025, fax: 202-371-6675, mail: 1849 C
Street NW., (MS2420); Washington, DC 20240-0001.
Fish and Wildlife Service: Nathan Caldwell, [email protected], tel: 703-358-2205, fax: 703-358-2517, mail: 4401 N.
Fairfax Drive, Room 634; Arlington, VA 22203.
Forest Service: Rosana Barkawi, [email protected],
tel: 703-605-4509, mail: 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
20250-1101.
Bureau of Land Management: Victor F. Montoya, [email protected], 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 [email protected], 202-366-0778.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA announces the selection of projects for
the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program for Fiscal Year (FY)
2012. Congress appropriated $26,900,000 for FTA's Paul S. Sarbanes
Transit in Parks program for FY 2012. Of this amount, $13,382,750 was
allocated to projects in January 2012 in response to a NOFA published
in the Federal Register on March 10, 2011. Of the remaining amount,
$1,750,000 has been allocated to continue the operation of the Transit
in Parks Technical Assistance Center for
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an additional year, $500,000 will be administered cooperatively with
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in order to support the
coordination of Federal land management agency transportation
investments with public transportation systems that operate in the
vicinity of Federal lands, and $134,500 is reserved for program
oversight activities. In addition to the remaining $11,132,750 from FY
2012, $1,365,171 is available for project awards from unallocated prior
year funds. As a result, the total amount available for project awards
in response to the August 28, 2012 NOFA is $12,497,921.
A total of 89 applicants submitted eligible proposals for a
combined total of $62.8 million. 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. A total of 29 projects located in 20 States
and affiliated with five Federal land management agencies were selected
to receive a combined total of $12,497,921. The projects selected to
use FY 2012 funding represent a diverse set of capital and planning
projects across the country, ranging from shuttle bus purchases to the
construction of ferry dock infrastructure, 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 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. 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.
Agencies may also flex funding for trail projects to the FHWA Federal
Lands Highway Program. Consistent with section 9.5.2(a) of the
``Department of Transportation Financial Management Policies Manual''
(October 24, 2006), funds awarded to Federal land 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), planning requirements, and provisions established in
the grant contract or Interagency Agreement. Under the authority
provided in 49 U.S.C. 5320(h), FTA is extends pre-award authority for
FY 2012 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks projects announced in this
notice effective February 18, 2013 when the projects were publicly
announced, and the basis the below conditions have been met.
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 the project. 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.
c. No action will be taken by the grantee that prejudices the legal
and administrative findings that the Federal Transit Administrator 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 February 18, 2013 public announcement will not be eligible for
credit toward local match or reimbursement. Furthermore, the
expenditure of local funds on activities such as, 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 (preferably by email)
to Adam Schildge, FTA, mailto: [email protected]; 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, Washington, DC 20590. 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:
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Quarter Covering Due date
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1st Quarter Report.......... October 1-December January 31.
31.
2nd Quarter Report.......... January 1-March 31.. April 30.
3rd Quarter Report.......... April 1-June 30..... July 31.
4th Quarter Report.......... July 1-September 31. October 31.
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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:
[dec222] Annual visitation to the relevant land unit;
[dec222] annual number of persons who use the alternative
transportation system (ridership/usage);
[dec222] an estimate of the number of vehicle trips mitigated based
on alternative transportation system usage and the typical number of
passengers per vehicle;
[dec222] cost per passenger; and,
[dec222] a note of any special services offered for those systems
with higher costs per passenger but more amenities.
Oversight
Recipients of 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 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, this 8th day of April 2013.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
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[FR Doc. 2013-08653 Filed 4-11-13; 8:45 am]
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