[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43646-43656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18073]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION


Federal Transit Administration

FY 2012 Discretionary Funding Opportunity; Section 5309 Bus and Bus 
Facilities and Section 5312 National Research Program Veterans 
Transportation and Community Living Initiative

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: FTA Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative II 
Grants: Announcement of Project Selections.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects funded under 
the Fiscal Year 2012 Veterans Transportation and Community Living 
Initiative (VTCLI) discretionary grant opportunity, which was announced 
in the Notice of Funding Availability on February 7, 2012. The 2012 
grant program, referred to as ``VTCLI II'' in this notice, makes funds 
available to local, state and tribal agencies to create or expand One-
Call/One-Click Transportation Resource Centers in their communities. 
These centers will increase the availability of community 
transportation resources to veterans, service members and military 
families and improve the accessibility of existing mobility resources 
and other transportation information to the whole community. 
Additionally, they will enable closer coordination of existing 
transportation services to improve customer experiences and overall 
efficiency. The VTCLI supports the Obama Administration's priority of 
supporting America's veterans and military families, as well as the 
objectives of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access 
and Mobility. The initiative is a joint effort of the U.S. Departments 
of Defense, Health and Human Service, Labor, Transportation and 
Veterans Affairs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Successful applicants should contact 
the appropriate FTA Regional Office (Appendix) for specific information 
regarding applying for the funds. Unsuccessful applicants may contact

[[Page 43647]]

Erik Weber, Office of Program Management at (202) 366-0705, email: 
[email protected], to arrange a proposal debriefing within 30 days of 
this announcement. For general program information on the Veterans 
Transportation and Community Living Initiative, contact Erik Weber of 
the Office of Program Management. A TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 
(TDD/FIRS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Veterans Transportation and Community Living 
Initiative Grant Program: Approximately $30 million was made available 
by FTA for the VTCLI II grant opportunity, with $26.6 million in 
Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities funds and $2.9 million in Section 
5312 National Research funds allocated to selected projects. In total, 
80 eligible applications requested $40 million. Project proposals were 
evaluated based on the criteria detailed in the February 7, 2012 Notice 
of Funding Availability. The projects selected and shown in Table 1 
will provide mobility choices to veterans, military families and other 
community members, increasing their awareness of and access to existing 
community transportation options and enabling them remain active in 
their communities. Funds must be used for eligible purposes defined 
under 49 U.S.C. 5309(b)(3), 5302(a)(1), and 5312(a), and be consistent 
with the competitive announcement of availability of funds as well as 
the applicant's proposal. In selecting projects for this program, FTA 
ensured that an equitable share of the available funds is allocated to 
projects that are not in urbanized areas.
    Project Implementation: So that funds can be obligated 
expeditiously, grantees selected for competitive discretionary funding 
should work with their FTA Regional Office to finalize the grant 
application in FTA's Transportation Electronic Award Management system 
(TEAM) for the projects identified in the attached table. In cases 
where the allocation amount is less than the proposer's requested 
amount, grantees should work with the Regional Office to appropriately 
reduce the scope in the event specific activities were excluded upon 
funding selection, or scale the project such that a complete phase or 
project is accomplished. A discretionary project identification number 
has been assigned to each project for tracking purposes and must be 
used in the TEAM application. Section 5309 and Section 5312 funds must 
be obligated in separate grants and thus have been assigned discrete 
discretionary project identification numbers for organizations 
receiving both types of funds. Section 5309-funded awards are 
identified by a ``D2012-BUSP'' project identification number, while 
Section 5312-funded awards have been assigned ``D2011-NATR'' numbers. 
Selected projects have not been extended blanket pre-award authority, 
however, grantees may request pre-award authority and, on a case-by-
case basis, FTA Regional Offices may grant it through a Letter of No 
Prejudice.
    FTA Section 5309 funds may only be used for eligible purposes 
defined under 49 U.S.C. 5309(b)(3) and 5302(a)(1), as described in FTA 
Circular 9030.1C, and further limited by the February 7, 2012 Federal 
Register Notice of Funding Availability. Announcement of selection in 
this notice does not guarantee award of funds to the selected 
organization until all applicable grant requirements, including 
presence of eligible local match, are met. Sources of any in-kind match 
proposed should be discussed with the FTA Regional Office to ensure 
eligibility. For any VTCLI II projects that include lease of space, 
please refer to FTA's guidance on Capital Leases found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/12865.html and in Chapter IV, subparagraph 
3.j(2) of FTA Circular 5010.1D. For any projects which proposed to use 
applicant labor to accomplish capital design and engineering tasks, 
please refer to FTA's guidance on Force Account labor found in Chapter 
IV, paragraph 4.d of FTA Circular 5010.1D. All capital procurements 
undertaken with VTCLI II funds must comply with FTA's Third Party 
Procurement Guidelines found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/legislation_law/12349_8641.html. Any further questions on procurement guidelines 
should be discussed with the FTA Regional Office. Section 5312 Research 
funds must adhere to the requirements of the Section 5312 National 
Research Program, and may be used only for eligible purposes defined 
under 49 U.S.C. 5312(a) and FTA Circular 6100.1D and further limited by 
the February 7, 2012 Notice of Funding Availability. Post-award 
reporting requirements include submission of the Financial Federal 
Report and Milestone reports in TEAM as appropriate (see FTA Circular 
5010.1D) and may include additional reporting specific to the VTCLI II. 
Recipients also may be expected to participate in events or peer 
networks related to VTCLI II. Grants which include Section 5312 
Research funds may be required to develop a final report or provide 
data for a consolidated report on the program.
    Under the Section 5312 funds available, FTA also is awarding a 
$500,000 cooperative agreement to the VTCLI Technical Assistance 
Consortium to carry out general and targeted technical assistance to 
VTCLI grantees, in order to ensure successful, coordinated outcomes. 
Each awardee will be assigned a technical assistance facilitator who 
will help identify areas of need for the project and help carry out the 
coordinated planning, needs assessment and performance measurement 
requirements set out in the February 7, 2012 Notice of Funding 
Availability. Several states and regions have received multiple VTCLI 
awards. As stated in the Notice, VTCLI II applicants were required to 
commit to update the appropriate state, regional and/or local 
coordinated human service transportation plan to address mobility needs 
of the veteran and military communities. As appropriate, this update 
should consider opportunities to coordinate between any VTCLI grants 
(both FY 2011 and FY 2012) within a region or state. The Technical 
Assistance Consortium will provide assistance in these efforts.
    FTA will hold an informational webinar for grantees on Thursday, 
July 26 2012, to discuss the goals and expectations of the VTCLI and 
address technical aspects of applying for funds. Further details about 
the webinar will be posted at http://www.fta.dot.gov/veterans.
    The grantee must comply with all applicable Federal statutes, 
regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other Federal 
administrative requirements in carrying out the project supported by 
the FTA grant. By statute, the Section 5309 funds allocated in this 
announcement must be obligated in a grant by September 30, 2014, but 
since project readiness was a factor in selection, applicants are 
expected to apply promptly in order to begin implementing the project 
within twelve months.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 18th day of July 2012.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.

[[Page 43648]]

Appendix

                  FTA Regional and Metropolitan Offices
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mary E. Mello, Deputy 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marilyn G. Shazor, 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.
New York Metropolitan Office,
 Region 2-New York, One Bowling
 Green, Room 428, New York, NY
 10004-1415, Tel. 212-668-2202.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brigid Hynes-Cherin, Regional        Linda Gehrke, 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.
Washington DC Metropolitan Office,
 1990 K St. NW., Suite 510,
 Washington, DC 20006, Tel: (202)
 219-3562.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yvette Taylor, Regional              Leslie T. Rogers, Regional
 Administrator, Region 4--Atlanta,    Administrator, Region 9--San
 230 Peachtree 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

BILLING CODE P

[[Page 43649]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.001


[[Page 43650]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.002


[[Page 43651]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.003


[[Page 43652]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.004


[[Page 43653]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.005


[[Page 43654]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.006


[[Page 43655]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.007


[[Page 43656]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25JY12.008

[FR Doc. 2012-18073 Filed 7-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE C