[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 233 (Monday, December 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87653-87654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29020]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Fiscal Year 2016 Public Transportation on Indian Reservations 
Program Project Selections

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), (DOT).

ACTION: Tribal Transit Program Announcement of Project Selections.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the 
selection of 35 projects for funding with Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 
appropriations for the Public Transportation on Indian Reservations 
Program Tribal Transit Program (TTP), as authorized by (49 U.S.C. 
5311(c)(1)(a)(j)), as amended by the Fixing America's Surface 
Transportation (FAST) Act, Public Law 114-94 (December 4, 2015). A 
total of $5 million is available under this program.

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, along with a list of tribal liaisons can be found at 
www.transit.dot.gov. Unsuccessful applicants may contact [Eacute]lan 
Flippin, Office of Program Management at (202) 366-3800, email: 
[email protected], to arrange a proposal debriefing within 30 days 
of this announcement. In the event the contact information provided by 
your tribe in the application has changed, please contact your regional 
tribal liaison with the current information in order to expedite the 
grant award process. A TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 (TDD/FIRS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 14, 2016, FTA published a Notice of 
Funding Opportunity (NOFO) through a Federal Register Notice (81 FR 
13444) announcing the availability of Federal funding for the TTP 
program. The FAST Act authorizes $5 million annually for federally 
recognized Indian Tribes or Alaska Native villages, groups, or 
communities as identified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in the 
U.S. Department of the Interior for public transportation. The TTP 
supports many types of projects including: Operating costs to enable 
tribes to start or continue transit services; capital to enable tribal 
investment in new or replacement equipment; and funding for tribal 
transit planning activities for public transportation services in 
Indian Country. TTP services link tribal citizens to employment, food, 
healthcare, school, social services, recreation/leisure, and other key 
community connections. FTA funds may only be used for eligible purposes 
defined under 49 U.S.C. 5311 and described in the FTA Circular 9040.1G, 
and consistent with the specific eligibility and priorities established 
in the March 2016 NOFO.
    A total of 44 applications were received from 39 tribes in 13 
states requesting $8.3 million, indicated that there is significant 
demand for funds for public transportation projects. Project proposals 
were evaluated based on each applicant's responsiveness to the program 
evaluation criteria outlined in FTA's March 2016 NOFO. The FTA also 
took into consideration the current status of previously funded 
applicants. This included examining available prior year competitive 
and formula balances; and geographic balance and diversity, including 
regional balance based on tribal population. As a result, FTA is 
funding a total of 35 projects for 34 tribes in 12 states. The projects 
selected in Table 1 provide funding for transit planning studies, 
capital and operating requests for existing, start-up, expansion and 
replacement projects. Funds must be used only for the specific purposes 
identified in Table 1. Allocations may be less than what the applicant 
requested and were capped at $329,843 to provide funding to all highly 
recommended, recommended, and planning proposals that received a 
``pass'' rating; planning projects were capped at $25,000. Tribes 
selected for competitive 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, so that funds are expeditiously obligated. In cases where the 
allocation amount is less than the proposer's requested amount, tribes 
should work with the regional office to ensure the funds are obligated 
for eligible aspects of the projects, and for specific purpose intended 
as reflected in Table 1. A competitive project identification number 
has been assigned to each project for tracking purposes, and must be 
used in the TrAMs application. For more information about TrAMs, please 
visit: http://www.transit.dot.gov/16260_15769.html. The post award 
reporting requirements include submission of the Federal Financial 
Report (FFR), Milestone Report in TrAMs, and National Transit Database 
(NTD) reporting, as appropriate (see FTA Circular 9040.1G).
    Tribes must continue to report to the NTD to be eligible for 
formula apportionment funds. To be considered in the FY 2017 formula 
apportionments, tribes should have submitted their reports to the NTD 
no later than June 30, 2016; voluntary reporting to the NTD is also 
encouraged. For tribes who have not reported before, please contact the 
NTD Operations Center in advance to get a reporting account for the NTD 
on-line data collection system. The Operation Center can be reached 
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (ET), by email [email protected] or by 
phone 1-888-252-0936.
    TTP 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. To 
assist tribes with understanding these requirements, FTA has conducted 
Tribal Transit Technical Assistance Workshops, and expects to offer 
additional workshops in FY2017. FTA has also expanded its technical 
assistance to tribes receiving funds under this program, with the 
Tribal Transit Technical Assistance Assessments initiative. Through 
these assessments, FTA collaborates with tribal transit leaders to 
review processes and identify areas in need of improvement and then 
assist with solutions to address these needs. These assessments include 
discussions of compliance areas pursuant to the Master Agreement, a 
site visit, promising practices reviews, and technical assistance from 
FTA and its contractors. These workshops and assessments have received 
exemplary feedback from Tribal Transit Leaders, and provide FTA with 
invaluable opportunities to learn more about tribal transit leaders' 
perspectives, and honor the sovereignty of tribal nations. FTA will 
post information about upcoming workshops to its Web site and 
disseminate information about the reviews through its Regional offices. 
A list of Tribal

[[Page 87654]]

Liaisons can be found on FTA's Web site at http://www.transit.dot.gov/13094_15845.html.
    Funds allocated in this announcement must be obligated in a grant 
by September 30, 2018. Tribes selected for competitive funding should 
work with their FTA regional tribal liaison to finalize the grant 
application in TrAMs.

Carolyn Flowers,
Acting Administrator.

                                 Table I--FY 2016 Tribal Transit Program Awards
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                                                                                       Project
              State                     Recipient              Project ID            description      Allocation
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AK...............................  McGrath Native      D2016-TRTR-001...........  Start-up/Capital.      $63,000
                                    Village.
AK...............................  Native Village of   D2016-TRTR-002...........  Replacement/           131,655
                                    Fort Yukon.                                    Capital.
AK...............................  Native Village of   D2016-TRTR-003...........  Replacement/            28,340
                                    Unalakleet.                                    Capital.
AK...............................  Nome Eskimo         D2016-TRTR-004...........  Existing/              179,621
                                    Community.                                     Operating.
AK...............................  Nulato Village....  D2016-TRTR-005...........  Start-up/Planning       25,000
AK...............................  Rampart Village...  D2016-TRTR-006...........  Start-up/Planning       25,000
AZ...............................  Hualapai Indian     D2016-TRTR-007...........  Start-up/Capital.      140,962
                                    Tribe.
CA...............................  Blue Lake           D2016-TRTR-008...........  Replacement/           120,000
                                    Rancheria,                                     Capital.
                                    California.
CA...............................  North Fork          D2016-TRTR-009...........  Expansion,              66,994
                                    Rancheria of Mono                              Replacement/
                                    Indians of                                     Capital.
                                    California.
CA...............................  Susanville Indian   D2016-TRTR-010...........  Replacement/            45,000
                                    Rancheria.                                     Capital.
CA...............................  Susanville Indian   D2016-TRTR-011...........  Existing/Capital.        1,980
                                    Rancheria.
CA...............................  Yurok Tribe.......  D2016-TRTR-012...........  Expansion,             234,000
                                                                                   Replacement/
                                                                                   Capital.
CT...............................  Mashantucket        D2016-TRTR-013...........  Start-up/              133,705
                                    Pequot Tribal                                  Operating.
                                    Nation.
ID...............................  Shoshone-Bannock    D2016-TRTR-014...........  Expansion/Capital       85,400
                                    Tribes.
KS...............................  Prairie Band        D2016-TRTR-015...........  Expansion,             287,500
                                    Potawatomi Nation.                             Replacement/
                                                                                   Capital.
MN...............................  Bois Forte Band of  D2016-TRTR-016...........  Expansion/Capital      329,843
                                    Chippewa.
MN...............................  Fond du Lac Band    D2016-TRTR-017...........  Existing/Capital.      127,987
                                    of Lake Superior
                                    Chippewa.
MN...............................  White Earth Band    D2016-TRTR-018...........  Replacement/           116,352
                                    of Chippewa                                    Capital.
                                    Indians.
MT...............................  Chippewa Cree       D2016-TRTR-019...........  Replacement/            77,875
                                    Tribe.                                         Capital.
MT...............................  Confederated        D2016-TRTR-020...........  Expansion/Capital      329,843
                                    Salish and
                                    Kootenai Tribes.
MT...............................  Northern Cheyenne   D2016-TRTR-021...........  Replacement/           119,340
                                    Tribe of the                                   Capital.
                                    Northern Cheyenne
                                    Indian Res.
NM...............................  Jicarilla Apache    D2016-TRTR-022...........  Start-up/Capital.      211,197
                                    Nation.
OK...............................  Cherokee Nation...  D2016-TRTR-023...........  Replacement/           321,561
                                                                                   Capital.
OK...............................  Choctaw Nation of   D2016-TRTR-024...........  Expansion,             329,843
                                    Oklahoma.                                      Replacement/
                                                                                   Capital.
OK...............................  Miami Tribe of      D2016-TRTR-025...........  Expansion,             179,100
                                    Oklahoma.                                      Replacement/
                                                                                   Capital.
OK...............................  Muscogee (Creek)    D2016-TRTR-026...........  Existing/Capital.      108,000
                                    Nation.
OK...............................  Seminole Nation of  D2016-TRTR-027...........  Replacement/           135,000
                                    Oklahoma.                                      Capital.
OK...............................  Wichita and         D2016-TRTR-028...........  Start-up/Planning       24,998
                                    Affiliated Tribes.
WA...............................  Confederated        D2016-TRTR-029...........  Expansion/Capital      255,344
                                    Tribes and Bands
                                    of the Yakama
                                    Nation.
WA...............................  Cowlitz Indian      D2016-TRTR-030...........  Existing,               58,056
                                    Tribe.                                         Replacement/
                                                                                   Capital.
WA...............................  Kalispel Indian     D2016-TRTR-031...........  Replacement/            51,021
                                    Community of the                               Capital.
                                    Kalispel
                                    Reservation.
WA...............................  Muckleshoot Indian  D2016-TRTR-032...........  Existing/              329,843
                                    Tribe.                                         Operating.
WA...............................  Nooksack Indian     D2016-TRTR-033...........  Existing/              188,000
                                    Tribe.                                         Operating.
WA...............................  Snoqualmie Indian   D2016-TRTR-034...........  Existing/              113,640
                                    Tribe.                                         Operating.
WI...............................  Red Cliff Band of   D2016-TRTR-035...........  Existing/Planning       25,000
                                    Lake Superior
                                    Chippewa Indians.
                                                                                                    ------------
    Total Allocation.............  ..................  .........................  .................    5,000,000
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[FR Doc. 2016-29020 Filed 12-2-16; 8:45 am]
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