[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71865-71871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29272]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Grant Program

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Announcement of Project Selections.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded 
under Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus 
(OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB 
Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of 
over-the-road buses to help finance the incremental capital and 
training costs of complying with DOT's over-the-road bus accessibility 
rule, published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1998. Under 
the rule, all new buses obtained by large fixed-route carriers after 
October 30, 2000, must be accessible with wheelchair lifts and tie 
downs that allow passengers to ride in their own wheelchairs. October 
29, 2012 was the deadline whereby the fixed-route bus fleets of large 
carriers must be 100 percent accessible.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Successful applicants should contact 
the appropriate FTA Regional Office for grant-specific issues; or 
[Eacute]lan Flippin, Office of Program Management, 202-366-3800, for 
general information about the OTRB Program. Contact information for FTA 
Regional Offices can be found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/. For 
information related to the OTRB accessibility rule, contact Peter 
Chandler, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 202-366-5763.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A total of $8.8 million was made available 
for the program in FY 2012: $6.6 million for intercity fixed-route 
providers and $2.2 million for all other providers, such as commuter, 
charter, and tour operators. A total of 114 applicants requested $34.5 
million: $23.2 million was requested by intercity-fixed route 
providers, and $11.3 million was requested by other providers. A total 
of 77 projects were selected for funding. Project selections were made 
on a discretionary basis, based on each applicant's responsiveness to 
statutory project selection criteria published in the April 30, 2012 
Notice of Funding Availability.
    Project Implementation: Due to the high demand for the funds 
available, most successful applicants received less funding than they 
requested. The selected projects will provide funding for the 
incremental cost of adding at least one new lift to vehicles, 
retrofitting vehicles, and providing training not to exceed $2,250. 
Training was only made available to providers of ``Other'' service and 
is listed in Table II where approved.
    Grantees selected for competitive discretionary funding should work 
with their FTA regional office to finalize the electronic grant 
application in FTA's Transportation Electronic Awards Management System 
(TEAM) for the projects identified in Tables I and II. A discretionary 
project identification number has been assigned to each project for 
tracking purposes and must be used in the TEAM application. Awardees 
who are new to FTA should contact their regional office immediately for 
guidance about becoming an FTA grantee. Regional office contact 
information can be found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/. The grant 
applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for 
certification under labor protection requirements pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 
5333(b). After referring applications to affected employees represented 
by a labor organization, DOL will issue a certification to FTA. Terms 
and conditions of the certification will be incorporated in the FTA 
grant agreement under the Special Warranty Provisions of the Department 
of Labor Guidelines ``Section 5333(b), Federal Transit Law'' at 29 CFR 
215.7. The grantee must comply with all applicable Federal statutes, 
regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other Federal 
requirements in carrying out the project supported by the FTA grant. 
This is the final year for discretionary awards under the Over-the-Road 
Bus program as the program was repealed under the Moving Ahead for 
Progress in the 21st Century Act, signed by President Obama on July 6, 
2012, and effective on October 1, 2012. Funds allocated in this 
announcement must be obligated in a grant by September 30, 2015.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 29th day of November, 2012.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
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[FR Doc. 2012-29272 Filed 12-3-12; 8:45 am]
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