[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5244-5248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1840]


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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 
2010 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) 2010 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 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 
Administrator (See the Appendix to this Notice) 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, [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: Ed James, [email protected], tel: 703-605-
4616, 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: A total of $26,844,035 was appropriated for 
FTA's Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program in Fiscal Year (FY) 
2010. Of this amount, $26,709,815 is available for project awards, 
$134,220 is reserved for oversight activities, and $46,591 will be 
added to available FY 2011 appropriations for the program. A total of 
$338,467 is available for project awards from funds appropriated in 
2007, 2008 and 2009. A total of 73 applicants requested $83.0 million, 
more than three times the amount available in FY 2010 for projects, 
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 2010 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 1 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. 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 http://www.fta.dot.gov/atppl. These 
requirements are incorporated into the grant agreements and inter-
agency

[[Page 5245]]

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 2010 Paul 
S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks projects effective December 22, 2010 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.
    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 April 5, 2010 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 (preferably by 
e-mail) to Adam Schildge, FTA, [email protected]; 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue; Washington, DC 20590. Examples can be found on the program Web 
site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/atppl. State and local governments will 
send this information to FTA for projects that are funded through 
grants to State and local governments rather than through the 
interagency agreement. The quarterly reports are due to FTA on the 
dates noted below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Quarter                   Covering            Due date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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    October 31.
                                   31.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In order to allow FTA to compute aggregate program performance 
measures FTA requests that all recipients of funding for capital 
projects under the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program submit the 
following information annually:
     Annual visitation to the land unit;
     Annual number of persons who use the alternative 
transportation system (ridership/usage);
     An estimate of the number of vehicle trips mitigated based 
on alternative transportation system usage and the typical number of 
passengers per vehicle;
     Cost per passenger; and,
     A note of any special services offered for those systems 
with higher costs per passenger but more amenities.
    State and local government entities should submit this information 
as part of their fourth quarter report through FTA's TEAM grants 
management system.
    Federal land management agencies should also send this information 
as part of their fourth quarter report (preferably by e-mail), to Adam 
Schildge, FTA, [email protected]; 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.; E46-
303; Washington, DC 20590. Examples can be found on the program Web 
site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/atppl.

Oversight

    Recipients of FY 2010 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 24th day of January, 2011.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.

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Appendix

                  FTA Regional and Metropolitan Offices
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Mary-Beth Mello, Regional            Robert C. Patrick, Regional
 Administrator, Region 1--Boston,     Administrator, Region 6--Ft.
 Kendall Square, 55 Broadway, Suite   Worth, 819 Taylor Street, Room
 920, Cambridge, MA 02142-1093,       8A36, Ft. Worth, TX 76102, Tel.
 Tel. 617-494-2055.                   817-978-0550.
States served: Connecticut, Maine,   States served: Arkansas, Louisiana,
 Massachusetts, New Hampshire,        Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
 Rhode Island, and Vermont.
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Brigid Hynes-Cherin, Regional        Mokhtee Ahmad, Regional
 Administrator, Region 2--New York,   Administrator, Region 7--Kansas
 One Bowling Green, Room 429, New     City, MO, 901 Locust Street, Room
 York, NY 10004-1415, Tel. 212-668-   404, Kansas City, MO 64106, Tel.
 2170.                                816-329-3920.
States served: New Jersey, New       States served: Iowa, Kansas,
 York.                                Missouri, and Nebraska.
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New York Metropolitan Office,
 Region 2--New York, One Bowling
 Green, Room 428, New York, NY
 10004-1415, Tel. 212-668-2202.
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Letitia Thompson, Regional           Terry Rosapep, Regional
 Administrator, Region 3--            Administrator, Region 8--Denver,
 Philadelphia, 1760 Market Street,    12300 West Dakota Ave., Suite 310,
 Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19103-   Lakewood, CO 80228-2583, Tel. 720-
 4124, Tel. 215-656-7100.             963-3300.
States served: Delaware, Maryland,   States served: Colorado, Montana,
 Pennsylvania, Virginia, West         North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah,
 Virginia, and District of            and Wyoming.
 Columbia.
Philadelphia Metropolitan Office,
 Region 3--Philadelphia, 1760
 Market Street, Suite 500,
 Philadelphia, PA 19103-4124, Tel.
 215-656-7070.
Washington, DC Metropolitan Office,
 1990 K Street, NW., Room 510,
 Washington, DC 20006, Tel. 202-219-
 3562.
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Yvette Taylor, Regional              Leslie T. Rogers, Regional
 Administrator, Region 4--Atlanta,    Administrator, Region 9--San
 230 Peachtreet Street, NW. Suite     Francisco, 201 Mission Street,
 800, Atlanta, GA 30303, Tel. 404-    Room 1650, San Francisco, CA 94105-
 865-5600.                            1926, Tel. 415-744-3133.
States served: Alabama, Florida,     States served: American Samoa,
 Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi,      Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii,
 North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South   Nevada, and the Northern Mariana
 Carolina, Tennessee, and Virgin      Islands.
 Islands.
                                     Los Angeles Metropolitan Office,
                                      Region 9--Los Angeles, 888 S.
                                      Figueroa Street, Suite 1850, Los
                                      Angeles, CA 90017-1850, Tel. 213-
                                      202-3952.
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Marisol Simon, Regional              Rick Krochalis, Regional
 Administrator, Region 5--Chicago,    Administrator, Region 10--Seattle,
 200 West Adams Street, Suite 320,    Jackson Federal Building, 915
 Chicago, IL 60606, Tel. 312-353-     Second Avenue, Suite 3142,
 2789.                                Seattle, WA 98174-1002, Tel. 206-
                                      220-7954.
States served: Illinois, Indiana,    States served: Alaska, Idaho,
 Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and       Oregon, and Washington.
 Wisconsin.
Chicago Metropolitan Office, Region
 5--Chicago, 200 West Adams Street,
 Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60606, Tel.
 312-353-2789.
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[FR Doc. 2011-1840 Filed 1-27-11; 8:45 am]
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