[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 216 (Thursday, November 7, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66987-66988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26652]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2010-005-N-5]


Railroad Safety Technology Program Grant Program

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of funds availability, solicitation of applications.

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SUMMARY: The Railroad Safety Technology Grant Program was first 
authorized under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA). The 
program authorizes DOT to provide grants to passenger and freight rail 
carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local governments for 
projects that have a public benefit of improved railroad safety and 
efficiency. The program originally made available $50 million in 
Federal funds. Due to the original grantees completing their grants, 
$550,000 became available from the original $50 million. This grant 
program has a maximum 80-percent Federal and minimum 20-percent grantee 
cost share (cash or in-kind) match requirement.

DATES: FRA will accept grant applications until February 5, 2014. 
Reviews will be conducted immediately following the solicitation close 
date. Selection announcements will be made 90 days after the 
solicitation closes.

ADDRESSES: Applications for grants under this program must be submitted 
electronically to Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) and must follow 
the detailed procedures in the grant application package online. The 
Grants.gov Web site allows organizations to find and electronically 
apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grantmaking 
agencies. Any entity wishing to submit an application pursuant to this 
notice should immediately initiate the process of registering with 
Grants.Gov. Only grants submitted electronically through Grants.gov 
will be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Mark Hartong, Scientific and 
Technical Advisor, FRA, at (202) 493-1332 or [email protected], or 
Mr. David Blackmore, Program Manager-Advanced Technologies, FRA, at 
(312) 835-3903 or [email protected], to discuss the prospective 
idea, its potential responsiveness to the solicitation, and potential 
for FRA interest. Taking this action could forestall costly efforts by 
interested parties whose proposed work may not be of interest to FRA 
under this grant. Nontechnical inquiries should be directed to Ms. 
Jennifer Capps, Grants Officer, at (202) 493-0112, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Authority and Funding: The Railroad Safety Technology Grant 
Program, authorized under Section 105 of the RSIA (Division A, Pub. L. 
110-432) (49 U.S.C. 20158), allows for the appropriation of $50 million 
annually for fiscal years 2009 through 2013. The Transportation, 
Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
of 2010 provided $50 million for this purpose. Due to the original 
grantees completing their grants, $550,000 became available from the 
original $50 million.
    Eligible Organizations: Title 49 U.S.C. 20158 provides that 
``Grants shall be made under this section to eligible passenger and 
freight railroad carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local 
governments for projects . . . that have a public benefit of improved 
safety and network efficiency.'' To be eligible for assistance, 
entities must have either received approval of the Technology 
Implementation Plans (TIP) and Positive Train Control (PTC) 
Implementation Plans (PTCIP) required by 49 U.S.C. 20156(e)(2) and 
20157, or demonstrate to the satisfaction of FRA that they are 
currently developing the required plans where applicable. Preference 
will be given in the following order:
    1. Entities that have completed and received FRA approval of both 
their TIP and PTCIP.
    2. Entities that have completed and received FRA approval of their 
PTCIP.
    3. Entities that have submitted their PTCIP to FRA for approval.
    4. Entities that have certified to FRA progress towards completion 
of their PTCIP and TIP.
    5. All other entities.
    Collaborative project submissions by freight and passenger 
carriers, suppliers, and State and local governments on eligible 
projects will be evaluated more favorably.
    Eligible Projects: Grant awards will focus on using technologies or 
methods that are ready for deployment or that are of sufficient 
technical maturity that they can be made ready for deployment within 24 
months of the award. FRA will give preference to collaborative projects 
by multiple railroads that have active railroad carrier and sponsoring 
public authority participation in the following order:
    Projects that:

[[Page 66988]]

    1. Facilitate sharing of PTC communications infrastructure and 
spectrum.
    2. Support the resolution of PTC system interoperability issues.
    3. Optimize PTC deployment on the core 2015 PTC territory.
    4. All other projects.
    Selection Criteria: Applications will be evaluated and ranked based 
on both technical and cost or price factors.
    A. Technical Factors (75% overall weighting):
    1. Responsiveness to Solicitation Intent and Requirements (20%): 
Degree to which proposal meets the conceptual intent and submission 
requirements of the solicitation.
    2. Significance for Implementing Interoperable PTC Deployment and 
Fit with FRA's Mission (30%): Degree to which successful implementation 
of proposed idea would make interoperable PTC deployment more 
technically or economically practical--includes contribution to cost 
effectiveness, reliability, safety, availability, or maintainability, 
and fit within FRA primary mission ensuring the safety of the Nation's 
approximately 700 railroads.
    3. Technical Merit (20%): Degree to which proposed ideas exhibit a 
sound scientific and engineering basis; how well the proposed ideas 
could be practically applied in, and would b]e compatible with, the 
railroad environment; and perceived likelihood of technical and 
practical success.
    4. Key Personnel and Supporting Organization (15%): The technical 
qualifications and demonstrated experience of key personnel proposed to 
lead and perform the technical efforts, and qualifications of primary 
and supporting organizations to fully and successfully execute proposal 
plan within proposed timeframe and budget.
    5. Collaborative Effort (15%): The degree to which proposed effort 
is supported by multiple entities and the applicability and 
availability of results to the larger railroad industry.
    B. Cost/Price Factor (25% overall weighting):
    1. Affordability and degree to which proposed effort appears to be 
a good value for the amount of funding requested. The reasonableness 
and realism of the proposed costs (60%).
    2. The extent of proposed cost sharing or cost participation under 
the proposed effort (exclusive of the applicant's prior investment) 
(40%).
    All evaluation factors, other than cost or price, when combined, 
are significantly more important than cost or price alone. Technical 
evaluation is appreciably more important than cost or price and, as 
such, greater consideration will be given to technical excellence 
rather than cost or price alone. An offer must be found acceptable 
under all applicable evaluation factors to be considered eligible for 
award. Awards will be made to responsible applicants whose offers 
provide the best value to the Government in terms of technical 
excellence, cost or price, and performance risk to include consistency 
and accord with the objectives of the solicitation and FRA's expressed 
areas of interest.
    Requirements and Conditions for Grant Applications: Detailed 
application requirements and conditions may be found in the grant 
application guidance, FR-RSTG-13-001, or this solicitation on 
Grants.gov. Applications that do not meet the page-count requirements 
specified in the grant application guidance will not be considered.
    Information Collection: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
has approved the information collection associated with the Railroad 
Safety Technology Grant Program. The approval number for this 
collection of information is OMB No. 2130-0587.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 4, 2013.
Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-26652 Filed 11-6-13; 8:45 am]
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