[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 99 (Monday, May 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32383-32384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12143]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Fiscal Year 2015 and 2016 Passenger Ferry Grant Program Project 
Selections

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Passenger Ferry Grant Program announcement of project 
selections.

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

SUMMARY: The US. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects with Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2015 and FY 2016 appropriations for the Passenger Ferry Grant 
Program (Ferry Program), 49 U.S.C. 5307(h), as authorized by the Moving 
Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Fixing 
America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST) Act. MAP-21 authorized $30 
million for discretionary allocations in FY 2015 and the FAST Act 
authorized $30 million for discretionary allocations in FY 2016. Both 
amounts combined provide a total of $60 million for this program. On 
August 3, 2015, FTA published a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) 
(80 FR 46093) announcing the availability of Federal funding for the 
Ferry Program. These program funds will provide financial assistance to 
support existing ferry service, establish new ferry service, and repair 
and modernize ferry boats, terminals, and related facilities and 
equipment. Funds may not be used for operating expenses, planning, or 
preventive maintenance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Successful applicants should contact 
the appropriate FTA Regional Office for information regarding applying 
for the funds or program-specific information. A list of Regional 
Offices can be found at www.fta.dot.gov. Unsuccessful applicants may 
contact Vanessa Williams, Office of Program Management at (202) 366-
4818, email: [email protected], to arrange a proposal debriefing 
within 30 days of this announcement. A TDD is available at 1-800-877-
8339 (TDD/FIRS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to the NOFA, FTA received 21 
proposals from 10 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands requesting $98.1 
million in Federal funds, indicating significant demand to fund ferry 
capital projects. Project proposals were evaluated based on each 
applicant's responsiveness to the program evaluation criteria outlined 
in the NOFA. FTA is funding 18 projects as shown in Table 1 for a total 
of $58,974,323 million. Grantees selected for competitive discretionary 
funding should work with their FTA Regional Office to finalize the 
grant application in FTA's Transit Award Management System (TrAMs) for 
the projects identified in the attached table to quickly obligate 
funds. Grant applications must only include eligible activities applied 
for in the original project application. Funds must be used consistent 
with the competitive proposal and for the eligible capital purposes 
established in the NOFA and described in the FTA's Urbanized Area 
Formula Program Circular 9030.1E. In

[[Page 32384]]

cases where the allocation amount is less than the proposer's requested 
amount, grantees should work with the Regional Office to reduce scope 
or scale the project such that a complete phase or project is 
accomplished. Grantees are reminded that program requirements such as 
cost sharing or local match can be found in the NOFA. A discretionary 
project identification number has been assigned to each project for 
tracking purposes and must be used in the TrAMs application. Selected 
projects are eligible for pre-award authority no earlier than April 14, 
2016. Pre-award authority is also contingent upon other requirements, 
such as planning and environmental requirements, having been met. For 
more about FTA's policy on pre-award authority, please see the FTA 
Fiscal Year 2016 Apportionments, Allocations, and Program Information 
and Interim Guidance found in 81 FR 7893 (February 16, 2016). Post-
award reporting requirements include submission of the Federal 
Financial Report and Milestone progress reports in TrAMs. The grantees 
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. FTA emphasizes 
that grantees must follow all third-party procurement guidance, as 
described in FTA.C.4220.1F Third Party Contracting Guidance. Funds 
allocated in this announcement must be obligated in a grant by 
September 30, 2021.

Carolyn Flowers,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-12143 Filed 5-20-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE P