[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25104-25108]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11538]



[[Page 25104]]

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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Allocation of Public Transportation Emergency Relief Funds in 
Response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Allocation of Emergency Relief funds.

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

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the 
allocation of $277.5 million under the Public Transportation Emergency 
Relief Program (Emergency Relief Program) to States, Territories, and 
public transportation agencies affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and 
Maria. Within the $277.5 million announced in this notice, FTA is 
allocating $233.3 million for response, recovery, and rebuilding 
projects and $44.2 million for project elements or stand-alone projects 
that increase the resilience of the affected transit systems to future 
disasters. Such resilience investments shall be subject to specific 
conditions cited in this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact the appropriate FTA regional 
office found at http://www.transit.dot.gov for application-specific 
information and other assistance needed in preparing a Transit Award 
Management System (TrAMS) grant application. For program-specific 
questions, please contact John Bodnar, Office of Program Management, 
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590, phone: (202) 366-9091, 
or email, [email protected]. For legal questions, contact Bonnie 
Graves, Office of Chief Counsel, 90 Seventh St., Ste 15-300, San 
Francisco, CA 94103, phone: (202) 366-0944, or email, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Considerations for Recipients of Emergency Relief Funds
    A. Background and Allocation of Funds
    B. Allocation Methodology
    C. Matching Share
    D. Pre-award Authority
    E. Resilience Program of Projects
    F. Waiver of Remaining Useful Life Requirement
    G. Treatment of Insurance Proceeds
    H. Eligible Sources of Local Match
    I. Waiver Process
II. Award Administration
    A. Grant Application
    B. Payment
    C. Grant Requirements
    D. Reporting Requirements
    E. Oversight and Audits

I. Considerations for Recipients of Emergency Relief Funds

A. Background and Allocation of Funds

    Beginning in August 2017, President Trump issued major disaster 
declarations associated with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria for the 
following States and Territories: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Puerto 
Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and the United States Virgin Islands. 
Numerous counties and parishes in these States and Territories have 
been designated as eligible for assistance under the major disaster 
declarations.
    The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-123) appropriated 
$330 million for FTA's Emergency Relief Program (49 U.S.C. 5324, 
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance #20.527) for transit systems 
affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. FTA is allocating funds 
consistent with the requirements of the final rule for the Emergency 
Relief Program, 49 CFR part 602, published in the Federal Register on 
October 7, 2014. FTA's Emergency Relief Program provides FTA with 
primary responsibility for reimbursing emergency response and recovery 
costs after an emergency or major disaster that affects public 
transportation systems. As such, public transportation agencies, 
States, Territories, local governmental authorities, Indian tribes, and 
other FTA grant recipients that provide or fund public transportation 
service in the affected areas are eligible for Emergency Relief funding 
under the program. Of the $330 million appropriated, a total of 
$2,475,000 is set aside for administrative expenses and ongoing program 
management oversight activities as authorized under the Bipartisan 
Budget Act.
    From the remaining $327,525,000 currently available for allocation, 
FTA is allocating $277,525,000 as follows:
    1. $232,308,000 for response, recovery, and rebuilding for States, 
Territories, and FTA direct recipients with estimated FTA Emergency 
Relief costs, including costs of subrecipients, eligible for 
reimbursement of more than $25,000
    2. $44,217,000 for resilience projects in Florida, Puerto Rico, 
Texas, and the United States Virgin Islands
    3. $1 million for response, recovery, and rebuilding for States, 
FTA direct recipients, and their subrecipients without a direct 
allocation of funds
    FTA is reserving $50 million for latent damages, damages not 
assessed in smaller areas, cost increases, and additional Emergency 
Relief needs that exceed the amounts made available in this notice. FTA 
may update allocations without further notice based on revised 
validated damage assessments.
    Recipients are strongly encouraged to review FTA's Emergency Relief 
Manual, found at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/emergency-relief-program/emergency-relief-manual-reference-manual-states to assist in the identification of potentially eligible projects 
and emergency expenses.

                       Table A--Allocation Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct Allocations for Response, Recovery, and             $ 232,308,000
 Rebuilding.............................................
Allocation for States and Direct Recipients Without a          1,000,000
 Direct Allocation......................................
Resilience Allocations..................................      44,217,000
Unallocated [Reserved for Latent Damages, Damages Not         50,000,000
 Assessed in Smaller Areas, Cost Increases, and
 Additional Emergency Relief needs that Exceed the
 Amounts Made Available in this Notice].................
Reserved for Administrative Expenses and Program               2,475,000
 Management Oversight...................................
                                                         ---------------
    Total Appropriation.................................     330,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Allocation Methodology

1. Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding Allocation Methodology
    FTA is allocating funding in this notice for response, recovery, 
and rebuilding based on emergency operations costs and detailed damage 
assessments submitted by affected agencies and prepared in cooperation 
with FTA and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) 
staff. The total estimated cost for emergency transit operations and 
damage to transit agency assets from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria 
is $254.1 million. Emergency operations costs, including evacuations 
and other

[[Page 25105]]

extraordinary passenger services, total approximately $36.3 million for 
all the transit agencies affected by these three disasters. The damage 
assessments include an estimated overall capital cost of recovery and 
rebuilding for the affected agencies, excluding projects to improve the 
resilience of the affected systems to future disasters. FTA validated 
the methodologies affected agencies used to estimate the costs of the 
damage, which total approximately $217.8 million.
    Based on these estimates, FTA is allocating a total of $232.3 
million for the Federal share (discussed in more detail below) of 
response, recovery, and rebuilding for States, Territories and FTA 
direct recipients estimated to have Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria 
related costs (including costs of subrecipients) eligible for 
reimbursement by the FTA Emergency Relief Program in excess of $25,000.
    In the event an affected recipient believes there has been a change 
to their overall damage assessment, the recipient should notify the 
relevant FTA regional office and provide documentation supporting the 
change for FTA review and validation. If, upon review, FTA concurs in 
the change, FTA may allocate additional funds to that agency.

                       Table B--Direct Allocations for Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   State or territory                   Recipient                    Discretionary funding ID       Allocation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL......................  Brevard County.......................  D2018-EMER-001                         $153,000
FL......................  Broward County.......................  D2018-EMER-002                          857,000
FL......................  Charlotte County.....................  D2018-EMER-003                           57,000
FL......................  Collier County.......................  D2018-EMER-004                          226,000
FL......................  Hillsborough Area Regional Transit     D2018-EMER-005                          110,000
                           Authority.
FL......................  Jacksonville Transportation Authority  D2018-EMER-006                          734,000
FL......................  Key West, City of....................  D2018-EMER-007                          209,000
FL......................  Lee County...........................  D2018-EMER-008                          515,000
FL......................  Lynx/Central Florida Regional          D2018-EMER-009                          432,000
                           Transportation Authority.
FL......................  Manatee County Board of County         D2018-EMER-010                           70,000
                           Commissioners.
FL......................  Miami-Dade Department of               D2018-EMER-011                       11,432,000
                           Transportation and Public Works.
FL......................  Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority..  D2018-EMER-012                           80,000
FL......................  Sarasota County......................  D2018-EMER-013                          111,000
FL......................  South Florida Regional Transportation  D2018-EMER-014                        1,136,000
                           Authority.
FL......................  StarMetro (Tallahassee)..............  D2018-EMER-015                           41,000
GA......................  Chatham Area Transit (Savannah)......  D2018-EMER-016                          187,000
PR......................  Autoridad Metropolitana de Autobuses.  D2018-EMER-017                       13,599,000
PR......................  Barceloneta..........................  D2018-EMER-018                          901,000
PR......................  Bayam[oacute]n.......................  D2018-EMER-019                          164,000
PR......................  Caguas...............................  D2018-EMER-020                        1,116,000
PR......................  Camuy................................  D2018-EMER-021                          159,000
PR......................  Carolina.............................  D2018-EMER-022                          414,000
PR......................  Cata[ntilde]o........................  D2018-EMER-023                          928,000
PR......................  Cayey................................  D2018-EMER-024                        2,452,000
PR......................  Ciales...............................  D2018-EMER-025                          708,000
PR......................  Cidra................................  D2018-EMER-026                          193,000
PR......................  Dorado...............................  D2018-EMER-027                           49,000
PR......................  Fajardo..............................  D2018-EMER-028                           77,000
PR......................  Guaynabo.............................  D2018-EMER-029                          482,000
PR......................  Hatillo..............................  D2018-EMER-030                          306,000
PR......................  Hormigueros..........................  D2018-EMER-031                           29,000
PR......................  Humacao..............................  D2018-EMER-032                        1,823,000
PR......................  Juncos...............................  D2018-EMER-033                          311,000
PR......................  Manat[iacute]........................  D2018-EMER-034                          233,000
PR......................  Ponce................................  D2018-EMER-035                          906,000
PR......................  Puerto Rico Highways and               D2018-EMER-036                      169,412,000
                           Transportation Authority.
PR......................  San Juan.............................  D2018-EMER-037                        2,701,000
PR......................  San Lorenzo..........................  D2018-EMER-038                          258,000
PR......................  Toa Baja.............................  D2018-EMER-039                          131,000
PR......................  Vega Alta............................  D2018-EMER-040                          230,000
PR......................  Vega Baja............................  D2018-EMER-041                          148,000
PR......................  Yauco................................  D2018-EMER-042                           59,000
TX......................  Brazos Transit District..............  D2018-EMER-043                          188,000
TX......................  Capital Metropolitan Transportation    D2018-EMER-044                           64,000
                           Authority.
TX......................  Fort Bend County Public                D2018-EMER-045                           77,000
                           Transportation (Fort Bend Transit).
TX......................  Golden Crescent Regional Planning      D2018-EMER-046                           69,000
                           Commission (Victoria Transit).
TX......................  Harris County Community Services       D2018-EMER-047                          129,000
                           Department.
TX......................  Metropolitan Transit Authority of      D2018-EMER-048                       13,545,000
                           Harris County (Houston METRO).
TX......................  Port Arthur, City of.................  D2018-EMER-049                          180,000
TX......................  Texas Department of Transportation...  D2018-EMER-050                           96,000
TX......................  Woodlands Township, The..............  D2018-EMER-051                        2,267,000
VI......................  Virgin Islands Department of Public    D2018-EMER-052                        1,554,000
                           Works.
                                                                                                 ---------------
    Total...............  .....................................  ...............................     232,308,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 25106]]

    Eligible State, Territory and FTA direct recipients not listed in 
Table B may apply for funding through the appropriate FTA regional 
office by following the same process as those entities that have been 
allocated funds in this notice. See Table C: FTA Regional Office 
Contact Information.

            Table C--FTA Regional Office Contact Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           States served                     Contact information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico,       FTA Region 4 Office, 230 Peachtree
 South Carolina, United States        NW, Suite 1400, Atlanta, Georgia
 Virgin Islands.                      30303, Telephone: (404) 865-5600.
Louisiana, Texas...................  FTA Region 6 Office, Fritz Lantham
                                      Federal Building, 819 Taylor
                                      Street, Room 14A02, Fort Worth,
                                      Texas 76102, Telephone: (817) 978-
                                      0550.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FTA will host a webinar for FTA recipients interested in applying 
for FTA Emergency Relief funds on a date to be determined. The webinar 
will be announced on FTA's website and through an email announcement to 
those who have signed up at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOTFTA/subscriber/new to receive email updates from FTA regarding the 
Emergency Relief Program.
2. Resilience Allocation Methodology
    FTA is allocating an additional $44.2 million in Emergency Relief 
Program funding for projects intended to increase the resilience of 
public transportation systems (resilience projects) in the major 
disaster declaration areas of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria to 
States and Territories that sustained at least $1 million in transit 
asset damage across all reporting transit providers within the State or 
Territory based on the validated preliminary damage assessments. States 
and Territories that met the $1 million threshold are Florida, Puerto 
Rico, Texas, and the United States Virgin Islands.
    The amount of this allocation has been determined by first 
allocating $5 million in Emergency Relief funds for resilience projects 
to each of these States and Territories, plus an additional $24.2 
million allocated proportionally by ratio of total damage claimed in 
the validated preliminary damage assessments for each State or 
Territory to the total damage claimed in the validated preliminary 
damage assessments for all four States and Territories combined. States 
and Territories are responsible for allocating funds to eligible 
resilience projects within the disaster area.

                                       Table D--Allocations for Resilience
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  State or territory                   Recipient                    Discretionary funding ID        Allocation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL....................  Florida Department of Transportation..  D2018-EMER-053                       $ 6,619,000
PR....................  Puerto Rico Highways and                D2018-EMER-054                        25,721,000
                         Transportation Authority.
TX....................  Texas Department of Transportation....  D2018-EMER-055                         6,713,000
VI....................  Virgin Islands Department of Public     D2018-EMER-056                         5,164,000
                         Works.
                                                                                                 ---------------
    Total.............  ......................................  ................................      44,217,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Matching Share

    FTA Emergency Relief funds are eligible for Federal share as 
follows:
     100 percent Federal share for emergency operations, 
emergency protective measures, and emergency repair costs incurred for 
up to 270 days from the date of the major disaster declaration;
     90 percent Federal share for permanent repairs which 
include recovery and rebuilding as well as emergency operations, 
emergency protective measures, and emergency repair costs incurred 
after 270 days from the date of the declared disaster; and
     80 percent Federal share for resilience projects.

For recipients in locations for which major disaster declarations were 
issued for both Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the calculation for the day 
on which 100 percent Federal share expires will be made from the date 
of the major disaster declaration for which the eligible expense was 
incurred. Please see Table E below for calculations of 270 days from 
the date of major disaster declarations.

                 Table E--270 Days From Declaration Date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Date of major   270 days from
         State/territory (storm)             disaster       declaration
                                            declaration        date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas (Harvey)..........................       8/25/2017       5/22/2018
U.S. Virgin Islands (Irma)..............        9/7/2017        6/4/2018
Florida (Irma)..........................       9/10/2017        6/7/2018
Puerto Rico (Irma)......................       9/10/2017        6/7/2018
Georgia (Irma)..........................       9/15/2017       6/12/2018
U.S. Virgin Islands (Maria).............       9/20/2017       6/17/2018
Puerto Rico (Maria).....................       9/20/2017       6/17/2018
Louisiana (Harvey)......................      10/16/2017       7/13/2018

[[Page 25107]]

 
South Carolina (Irma)...................      10/16/2017       7/13/2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Pre-award Authority

    Pre-award authority is described in the Emergency Relief Program 
final rule at 49 CFR 602.11. In considering the use of pre-award 
authority, recipients should be aware of the following:
    (i) Pre-award authority is not a legal or implied commitment that 
the subject project will be approved for FTA assistance or that FTA 
will obligate Federal funds. Furthermore, it is not a legal or implied 
commitment that all activities undertaken by the applicant will be 
eligible for inclusion in the project.
    (ii) Except as waived pursuant to the waiver process described in 
Section I.I of this notice, all FTA statutory, procedural, and 
contractual requirements must be met.
    (iii) The recipient must take no action that prejudices the legal 
and administrative findings that FTA must make in order to approve a 
project.
    (iv) The Federal amount of any future FTA assistance awarded to the 
recipient for the project will be determined on the basis of the 
overall scope of activities and the prevailing statutory provisions 
with respect to the Federal/non-Federal match ratio at the time the 
funds are obligated.
    (v) When FTA subsequently awards a grant for the project, the 
Federal Financial Report in TrAMS indicates the use of pre-award 
authority.
1. Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding Pre-award Authority
    FTA grants pre-award authority to affected recipients for response, 
recovery, and rebuilding expenses incurred as a result of Hurricanes 
Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Pre-award authority applies to expenses 
incurred in preparation for the arrival of the storms in response to 
forecasts specific to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Pre-award 
authority allows affected recipients to incur certain project costs 
before grant approval and retain the eligibility of those costs for 
subsequent reimbursement after grant approval.
    If a recipient intends to use pre-award authority for recovery and 
rebuilding expenses, FTA recommends the recipient work with the 
appropriate FTA regional office (see Table C) to verify that all of the 
proposed costs are all eligible under the Emergency Relief Program, in 
advance of incurring any costs to the extent practicable.
2. Resilience Pre-award Authority
    Resilience projects may be granted pre-award authority after FTA 
reviews and approves a State or Territory's resilience projects, as 
discussed later in this notice.

E. Resilience Program of Projects

    Resilience projects funded through the FTA Emergency Relief Program 
resilience allocations to Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas, and United 
States Virgin Islands must be submitted to FTA for review and approval 
in either a program of projects (POP) or individually prior to grant 
award. For the purposes of this notice, a POP is a list of resilience 
projects proposed by the State or Territory to be funded from the 
resilience allocations in this notice. If more than one recipient will 
apply for grants for projects in the POP, each grant application must 
include the portion of the POP that identifies the projects to be 
funded in the grant. The POP must include a description of each project 
to be funded from the State or Territory's allocation, including any 
suballocation among public transportation providers, total project 
costs, local share, and Federal share for each project. Eligibility for 
resilience funding also requires the applicable Metropolitan Planning 
Organization(s) (MPO) to list projects in the approved Transportation 
Improvement Program (TIP) and Statewide Transportation Improvement 
Program (STIP) for metropolitan areas or the approved STIP for 
nonmetropolitan areas.

F. Waiver of Remaining Useful Life Requirement

    FTA is implementing a blanket waiver to relieve FTA recipients from 
its useful life requirement with respect to assets that were destroyed 
as a result of the storms and taken out of service before the end of 
their useful life. Such assets are presumed to have no remaining useful 
life. As a result of this waiver, recipients may apply for funds to 
replace assets at a 90% Federal share without regard to the Federal 
interest remaining in the destroyed asset.
    Although FTA has determined that Federally-funded assets destroyed 
by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria have no remaining useful life, 
recipients may have a financial obligation to FTA for assets that have 
a fair market value (FMV) in excess of $5,000 at the time of 
disposition. For disposition requirements, please see FTA Circular 
5010.1E, ``Award Management Requirements,'' Chapter IV, subsection 4.

G. Treatment of Insurance Proceeds

    As described in the Emergency Relief Program Manual, and consistent 
with the Emergency Relief Program final rule and FTA's Circular 
5010.1E: Award Management Requirements, if a recipient receives or 
allocates insurance proceeds to a cost for which FTA either allocated 
or awarded Emergency Relief Program funds, the recipient will be 
required to amend the grant to reflect a reduced Federal amount, and 
will be required to reimburse FTA for any FTA payments (drawdown of 
funds) in excess of the new Federal amount. FTA will deobligate any 
excess or unliquidated funds from the grant. FTA may subsequently 
reallocate these funds through the Emergency Relief Program for other 
eligible projects.
    In the event a recipient receives insurance proceeds for an asset 
and decides not to replace that asset, the waiver of useful life 
described in Section I.F does not apply, and the recipient must 
reimburse FTA the remaining Federal interest in that asset in 
accordance with FTA Circular 5010.1E.

H. Eligible Sources of Local Match

    The non-Federal share of Emergency Relief grants may be provided 
from an undistributed cash surplus, a replacement or depreciation cash 
fund or reserve, or new capital. In addition, recipients may utilize 
the following provisions for complying with the non-Federal share 
requirement.
    The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) statute at 42 U.S.C. 
5305(a)(9) provides that ``payment of the non-Federal share required in 
connection with a Federal grant-in-aid program undertaken as part of 
activities assisted under [chapter 53 of title 42]'' is an eligible 
activity. Since the CDBG statute specifically is available to fund the 
``non-Federal share'' of other Federal

[[Page 25108]]

grant programs, if the activity is eligible under the CDBG program, FTA 
will accept CDBG funds as local match.
    Recipients may also utilize Transportation Development Credits 
(TDCs), formerly known as Toll Revenue Credits, in place of the non-
Federal share. The use of TDCs must be approved by the State, which 
must send a letter to the FTA regional office certifying the 
availability of sufficient TDCs and approving their use prior to 
submitting a grant application. Recipients are advised that the use of 
TDCs means that no local funds will be required for projects in the 
grant, and that the funds allocated by FTA may not alone be sufficient 
to fund the entirety of the proposed Emergency Relief projects. FTA 
will not allocate additional Federal funds to recipients that use TDCs 
in place of the non-Federal share, so sufficient alternative funds may 
need to be located to fully finance projects utilizing TDCs. FTA will 
not approve a retroactive application of TDCs. Recipients are advised 
to contact the applicable FTA regional office regarding any questions 
about eligible sources of local matching funds.

I. Waiver Process

    Recipients may request waivers of FTA administrative requirements 
by submitting a request to www.regulations.gov, FTA docket number FTA-
2018-0001, as described in the Emergency Relief Program final rule at 
49 CFR 602.15, however, recipients should not proceed with a project 
with the expectation that waivers will be provided.

II. Award Administration

A. Grant Application

    Once FTA allocates Emergency Relief funds to a recipient, the 
recipient will be required to submit a grant application electronically 
via FTA's TrAMS system. Prior to submitting a grant application for 
response, recovery, or rebuilding projects, recipients are encouraged 
to submit a proposed list of projects and expenses to FTA's regional 
office for review. This review will ensure that all proposed projects 
and costs are eligible under the Emergency Relief Program.
    States and FTA direct recipients not reporting Hurricane Harvey, 
Irma, and Maria related expenses of $25,000 or more were not given a 
direct allocation of Emergency Relief funds in this notice. However, 
such entities may apply for Emergency Relief funds for response, 
recovery, and rebuilding by following the same process as those 
entities that have been allocated funds in this notice.
    Each State or Territory allocated resilience funds, in consultation 
with the public transportation providers in the Hurricane Harvey, Irma, 
or Maria major disaster declaration areas in their State or Territory, 
must submit proposed resilience projects either individually or as part 
of a program of projects to FTA for review and approval prior to 
submitting a grant application or modification in TrAMS. States and 
Territories allocated resilience funding may apply for funding on 
behalf of public transportation providers in Hurricane Harvey, Irma, 
and Maria major disaster declaration areas in their State or Territory. 
Direct recipients of FTA funding may also apply directly to FTA for 
funding for resilience projects previously identified by the State or 
Territory and approved by FTA.
    FTA has assigned distinct project identification numbers for 
recovery/rebuilding projects and for resilience projects. Recipients 
should work with the FTA regional offices to determine when, if 
appropriate, multiple grant applications may be required. While there 
is nothing that precludes the obligation of funding allocated for 
resilience projects in the same grant as recovery and rebuilding 
projects, recipients will be required to track these costs separately 
and to include a separate scope for costs associated with resilience 
projects. This will allow FTA to track the obligation of funds for 
resilience costs.
    Recipients are required to maintain records, including but not 
limited to all invoices, contracts, time sheets, and other evidence of 
expenses to assist FTA in validating the eligibility and completeness 
of a recipient's reimbursement requests under the Improper Payment 
Information Act.
    Upon application, the eligible recipient should provide the 
information outlined in 49 CFR 602.17. For grant applications for 
reimbursement for emergency operations costs, applicants should include 
summary information as described in 49 CFR 602.17(c) (dates, hours, 
number of vehicles, and total fare revenues, if any, received for the 
emergency service), as well as cost and a description of services in 
sufficient detail for FTA to identify the costs as reasonable and 
eligible under the Emergency Relief Program. Back-up or supporting 
documentation may be requested upon FTA's review of the application or 
at a later date. Any costs determined to be ineligible after 
disbursement of funds must be refunded to FTA.

B. Payment

    Upon award, payments to recipients will be made by electronic 
transfer to the recipient's financial institution through FTA's 
Electronic Clearing House Operation (ECHO) system.

C. Grant Requirements

    Emergency Relief funds may only be used for eligible purposes as 
defined under 49 U.S.C. 5324 and as described in the Emergency Relief 
Program final rule (49 CFR part 602) and this notice.
    Recipients of section 5324 funds must comply with all applicable 
Federal requirements, including FTA's Master Agreement. Each grant for 
section 5324 funds will include special grant conditions, including but 
not limited to, application of insurance proceeds, application of any 
FEMA funds received, and Federal share. These special conditions will 
be incorporated into the grant agreement for all Hurricane Harvey, 
Irma, and Maria Emergency Relief funds.

D. Reporting Requirements

    Post-award reporting requirements include submission of the Federal 
Financial Report and Milestone Progress Reports in TrAMS consistent 
with FTA's grants management Circular 5010.1E.

E. Oversight and Audits

    FTA will provide oversight of grants funded through the Emergency 
Relief Program using its standard oversight programs, including 
Triennial Reviews and State Management Reviews. FTA may assign program 
level reviews such as Procurement System Reviews or Financial 
Management Oversight reviews. FTA will monitor the use of insurance 
proceeds to ensure they meet program requirements. FTA may undertake 
other reviews of projects, such as Technical Capacity and Capability 
Assessments; Risk Assessments; Cost, Schedule, and Scope Reviews; and 
other reviews FTA determines are necessary.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2018.
K. Jane Williams,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2018-11538 Filed 5-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE P