[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12648-12653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04250]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Fiscal Year 2020 Competitive Funding Opportunity; Helping Obtain
Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE)
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the
opportunity to apply for approximately $8.5 million in fiscal year (FY)
2020 funds under the Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE)
Program (CFDA#20.505). Funds will be awarded competitively for
planning, engineering, or development of technical or financing plans
for projects eligible that assist areas of persistent poverty. FTA may
award additional funds if they are made available to the program prior
to the announcement of project selections.
DATES: Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through the
GRANTS.GOV ``APPLY'' function by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 4,
2020. Prospective applicants should initiate the process by promptly
registering on the GRANTS.GOV website to ensure completion of the
application process before the submission deadline. Instructions for
applying can be found on FTA's website at http://transit.dot.gov/howtoapply and in the ``FIND'' module of GRANTS.GOV.
The GRANTS.GOV funding opportunity ID is FTA-2020-011-TPE-HOPE.
Mail and fax submissions will not be accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Goodman, FTA Office of
Planning and Environment, 202-366-1944, or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
A. Program Description
B. Federal Award Information
C. Eligibility Information
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D. Application and Submission Information
E. Application Review Information
F. Review and Selection Process Information
G. Federal Award Administration Information
H. Technical Assistance and Other Program Information
I. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
A. Program Description
The HOPE Program provides funds to eligible entities defined as
eligible recipients or subrecipients under 49 U.S.C. 5307, 49 U.S.C.
5310 or 49 U.S.C. 5311 and are in areas of persistent poverty. Funds
were appropriated pursuant to Division H of the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2020 (Pub. L. 116-94) and will be awarded through a
competitive process, as described in this notice. FTA will award grants
to eligible applicants for planning, engineering, or development of
technical, or financing plans for projects eligible under Chapter 53 of
Title 49 U.S.C. Applicants are encouraged to work with non-profits or
other entities of their choosing to develop an eligible project. An
eligible project for this Notice of Funding Opportunity is defined as
either a planning study, including a planning and environmental
linkages study that advances the environmental analysis and review
process as part of the metropolitan planning process, engineering
study, technical study, or financial plan.
FTA encourages applicants to propose projects that may introduce
innovative technologies or practices in support of FTA's Accelerating
Innovative Mobility (AIM) initiative. FTA is focused on the
introduction of new technology not commonly found within U.S. transit
systems such as integrated fare payment systems that permit complete
trips or advancements to propulsion systems. Resulting innovation
activities may also include practices such as new public transportation
operational models, financial or procurement arrangements, or value
capture.
Rural transportation networks play a vital role in supporting our
national economic vitality. Addressing the deteriorating conditions and
disproportionately high fatality rates on our rural transportation
infrastructure is of critical interest to the Department, as rural
transportation networks face unique challenges in safety,
infrastructure condition, and passenger and freight usage. Consistent
with the R.O.U.T.E.S. Initiative (https://www.transportation.gov/rural), FTA encourages applicants to consider how the project will
address the challenges faced by rural areas of persistent poverty.
B. Federal Award Information
The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 appropriated $8.5
million for the HOPE Program. The FTA is announcing the availability of
these funds through this notice.
The FTA will grant pre-award authority to incur costs for selected
projects beginning on the date that project selections are announced.
Funds are only available for projects that have not incurred costs
prior to the selection of projects. Funds will remain available for
obligation for three Federal fiscal years, not including the year in
which the funds are allocated to projects. FTA anticipates the maximum
grant awards will not exceed $850,000.
C. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants for awards are States, tribes, and designated
or direct recipients under 49 U.S.C. 5307, 49 U.S.C. 5310 or 49 U.S.C.
5311. Eligible sub-recipients include all otherwise eligible
applicants.
State departments of transportation may apply on behalf of eligible
applicants within their States. Applicants are encouraged to work with
nonprofit organizations engaged in public transportation in areas of
persistent poverty.
To be considered eligible, proposed projects must be in a county
with 20 percent or more of the population living in poverty over the 30
years preceding the date of enactment of the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2020 (December 20, 2019), as measured by the 1990
and 2000 decennial census and the most recent Small Area Income and
Poverty Estimates, or from any census tract with a poverty rate of at
least 20 percent as measured by the 2013-2017, 5-year data series
available from the American Community Survey of the Census Bureau. The
FTA has posted a table and maps of the Areas of Persistent Poverty that
meet these criteria at www.transit.dot.gov. Eligible applicants must be
able to demonstrate the requisite legal, financial, and technical
capabilities to receive and administer Federal funds under this
program.
As permitted by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020,
applicants to the HOPE Program may submit applications that include
partnerships with non-profits that can assist with making projects low
or no emissions. If an application that involves such a partnership is
selected for funding, the competitive selection process will be deemed
to satisfy the requirement for a competitive procurement under 49
U.S.C. 5325(a) for the named entities. Applicants are advised that any
changes to the proposed partnership will require written FTA approval,
must be consistent with the scope of the approved project, and may
necessitate a competitive procurement.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
The minimum federal share for projects selected under the HOPE
Program is not less than 90 percent of the total project cost (i.e.,
the local share will be no more than 10 percent of the total project
cost, not 10 percent of the requested grant amount).
Eligible sources of local match include the following: Cash from
non-Government sources other than revenues from providing public
transportation services; revenues derived from the sale of advertising
and concessions; amounts received under a service agreement with a
State or local social service agency or private social service
organization; revenues generated from value capture financing
mechanisms; or funds from an undistributed cash surplus; replacement or
depreciation cash fund or reserve; or new capital. In addition,
transportation development credits or documentation of in-kind match
may substitute for local match if identified in the application.
3. Eligible Projects
Under the HOPE Program, eligible projects are planning,
engineering, or development of technical, or financing plans for
projects eligible under Chapter 53 of title 49 U.S.C. For example,
these activities may include planning, engineering, or development of
technical, or financing plans for improved transit services, new
transit routes, engineering for transit facilities and improvements to
existing facilities, innovative technologies, low or no emission buses,
or a new bus facility or intermodal center that supports transit
services, integrated fare collections systems, or coordinated public
transit human service transportation plans to improve transit service
in an area of persistent poverty or to provide new service such as
transportation for services to address the opioid epidemic. An eligible
project also may be a planning and environmental linkages study that
advances the environmental analysis and review process as part of the
metropolitan planning process.
[[Page 12650]]
D. Application and Submission Information
1. Address
Applications must be submitted electronically through GRANTS.GOV.
General information for submitting applications through GRANTS.GOV can
be found at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/applying/applying-fta-funding along with specific instructions for the forms and
attachments required for submission. Mail and fax submissions will not
be accepted. A complete proposal submission consists of two forms: The
SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance (downloaded from GRANTS.GOV)
and the supplemental form for the FY 2020 HOPE Program (downloaded from
GRANTS.GOV or the FTA website at www.transit.dot.gov). Applicants also
may attach additional supporting information. Failure to submit the
information as required can delay or prevent review of the application.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
A strong transportation network is critical to the functioning and
growth of the American economy. The nation's industry depends on the
transportation network to move the goods that it produces, and
facilitate the movements of the workers who are responsible for that
production. When the nation's transit systems, highways, railways, and
ports function well, that infrastructure connects people to jobs,
increases the efficiency of delivering goods and thereby cuts the costs
of doing business, reduces the burden of commuting, and improves
overall well-being.
A complete proposal submission consists of two forms: The SF-424
Application for Federal Assistance and the FY 2020 HOPE Program
supplemental form. The supplemental form and any supporting documents
must be attached to the ``Attachments'' section of the SF-424. A
complete application must include responses to all sections of the SF-
424 Application for Federal Assistance and the supplemental form,
unless indicated as optional. The information on the supplemental form
will be used to determine applicant and project eligibility for the
program, and to evaluate the proposal against the selection criteria
described in part E of this notice.
The FTA will accept only one supplemental form per SF-424
submission. FTA encourages States and other applicants to consider
submitting a single supplemental form that includes multiple activities
to be evaluated as a consolidated proposal. If a State or other
applicant chooses to submit separate proposals for individual
consideration by FTA, each proposal must be submitted using a separate
SF-424 and supplemental form.
Applicants may attach additional supporting information to the SF-
424 submission, including but not limited to letters of support,
project budgets, fleet status reports or excerpts from relevant
planning documents. Supporting documentation must be described and
referenced by file name in the appropriate response section of the
supplemental form, or it may not be reviewed.
Information such as applicant name, Federal amount requested, local
match amount, description of areas served, etc. may be requested in
varying degrees of detail on both the SF-424 and Supplemental Form.
Applicants must fill in all fields unless stated otherwise on the
forms. Applicants should not place N/A or ``refer to attachment'' in
lieu of typing in responses in the field sections. If information is
copied into the supplemental form from another source, applicants
should verify that pasted text is fully captured on the supplemental
form and has not been truncated by the character limits built into the
form. Applicants should use both the ``Check Package for Errors'' and
the ``Validate Form'' validation buttons on both forms to check all
required fields on the forms, and ensure that the federal and local
amounts specified are consistent.
The SF-424 Mandatory Form and the Supplemental Form will prompt
applicants for the required information, including:
a. Applicant name.
b. Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
number.
c. Key contact information (including contact name, address, email
address, and phone).
d. Congressional district(s) where project will take place.
e. Project information (including title, an executive summary, and
type).
f. A detailed description of the need for the planning,
engineering, or development of technical, or financial planning
activities.
g. A detailed description of how the project will support the HOPE
Program objectives.
h. Provide a line-item budget for the project, with enough detail
to indicate the various key components of the comprehensive planning
project.
i. Identify the Federal amount requested.
j. Document the matching funds, including amount and source of the
match (may include local or private sector financial participation in
the project). Describe whether the matching funds are committed or
planned, and include documentation of the commitments.
k. A description of the technical, legal and financial capacity of
the applicant.
l. An explanation of the scalability of the project.
m. Identify whether the project would be in a qualified opportunity
zone designated pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 1400Z-1.
n. Provide a schedule and process for the project that includes
anticipated dates for incorporating the project into the region's
unified planning work program, completing major tasks and substantial
deliverables, and completing the project.
o. Describe how the proposed project advances the metropolitan
transportation plan of the metropolitan planning organization or the
statewide long range plan by the State department of transportation.
p. Propose performance criteria for the development and
implementation of the HOPE planning activities.
q. Identify potential State, local or other impediments to the
products of the HOPE work and its implementation, and how the work will
address them.
r. Identify proposed actions that reduce regulatory barriers that
unnecessarily raise the costs of housing development or impede the
development of affordable housing.
The FTA will not consider any additional materials submitted by
applicants in its evaluation of proposals. The total length of the
completed supplemental form and documentation of partnerships and
funding commitments should be no more than 15 pages.
3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)
Each applicant is required to: (1) Be registered in SAM before
submitting an application; (2) provide a valid unique entity identifier
in its application; and (3) continue to maintain an active SAM
registration with current information at all times during which the
applicant has an active Federal award or an application or plan under
consideration by FTA. These requirements do not apply if the applicant
has an exemption approved by FTA under Federal grants and agreements
law (2 CFR 25.110(d)). The FTA may not make an award until the
applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and
SAM requirements. If an applicant has
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not fully complied with the requirements by the time FTA is ready to
make an award, FTA may determine that the applicant is not qualified to
receive an award and use that determination as a basis for making a
Federal award to another applicant. All applicants must provide a
unique entity identifier provided by SAM. SAM registration takes
approximately 3-5 business days, but FTA recommends allowing ample
time, up to several weeks, for completion of all steps. For additional
information on obtaining a unique entity identifier, please visit
www.sam.gov.
4. Submission Dates and Times
Project proposals must be submitted electronically through http://www.GRANTS.GOV by 11:59 p.m. May 4, 2020. GRANTS.GOV attaches a time
stamp to each application at the time of submission. Proposals
submitted after the deadline will only be considered under
extraordinary circumstances not under the applicant's control. Mail and
fax submissions will not be accepted.
Within 48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the
applicant should receive two email messages from GRANTS.GOV: (1)
Confirmation of successful transmission to GRANTS.GOV; and (2)
confirmation of successful validation by GRANTS.GOV. FTA will then
validate the application and will attempt to notify any applicants
whose applications could not be validated. If the applicant does not
receive confirmation of successful validation or a notice of failed
validation or incomplete materials, the applicant must address the
reason for the failed validation, as described in the email notice, and
resubmit before the submission deadline. If making a resubmission for
any reason, include all original attachments regardless of which
attachments were updated and check the box on the supplemental form
indicating this is a resubmission. An application that is submitted at
the deadline and cannot be validated will be marked as incomplete, and
such applicants will not receive additional time to re-submit.
Any addenda that FTA releases on the application process will be
posted at https://www.transit.dot.gov. Important: FTA urges applicants
to submit their applications at least 96 hours prior to the due date to
allow time to receive the validation messages and to correct any
problems that may have caused a rejection notification. GRANTS.GOV
scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the GRANTS.GOV
website at http://www.GRANTS.GOV. Deadlines will not be extended due to
scheduled maintenance or outages.
Applicants are encouraged to begin the registration process on the
GRANTS.GOV site well in advance of the submission deadline.
Registration is a multi-step process, which may take several weeks to
complete before an application can be submitted. Registered applicants
may still be required to take steps to keep their registration up to
date before submissions can be made successfully: (1) Registration in
the System for Award Management (SAM) is renewed annually and (2)
persons making submissions on behalf of the Authorized Organization
Representative (AOR) must be authorized in GRANTS.GOV by the AOR to
make submissions. Instructions on the GRANTS.GOV registration process
are listed in Appendix A.
5. Funding Restrictions
Funds under this NOFO cannot be used to reimburse applicants for
otherwise eligible expenses incurred prior to FTA award of a grant
agreement until FTA has issued pre-award authority for selected
projects.
6. Other Submission Requirements
Applicants are encouraged to identify scaled funding options in
case insufficient funding is available to fund a project at the full
requested amount. If an applicant indicates that a project is scalable,
the applicant must provide an appropriate minimum funding amount that
will fund an eligible project that achieves the objectives of the
program and meets all relevant program requirements. The applicant must
provide a clear explanation of how the project budget would be affected
by a reduced award. The FTA may award a lesser amount whether a
scalable option is provided.
E. Application Review Information
1. Criteria
The FTA will evaluate project proposals for the HOPE Program based
on the criteria described in this notice. Projects will be evaluated
primarily on the responses provided in the supplemental form.
Additional information may be provided to support the responses;
however, any additional documentation must be directly referenced on
the supplemental form, including the file name where the additional
information can be found.
Consistent with the Department's R.O.U.T.E.S. Initiative (https://www.transportation.gov/rural), the Department recognizes that rural
transportation networks face unique challenges. To the extent that
those challenges are reflected in the merit criteria listed in this
section, FTA will consider how the activities proposed in the
application will address those challenges, regardless of the geographic
location of those activities.
a. Demonstration of Need
Applications will be evaluated based on the quality and extent to
which they demonstrate how the proposed activities will support
planning, engineering, or development of technical, or financing plans
that would result in a project eligible for funding under Chapter 53 of
Title 49 U.S.C.
b. Demonstration of Benefits
Applications will be evaluated based on how well they describe how
the proposed planning, engineering, or development of technical, or
financing plans that address the existing condition of the transit
system, improve the reliability of transit service for its riders,
enhance access and mobility within the service area, or accelerate
innovation in areas of persistent poverty.
System Condition: The FTA will evaluate the potential for the
planning, engineering, or development of technical, or financing plans
to lead to an improvement in the condition of the transit system in
areas of persistent poverty.
Service Reliability: The FTA will evaluate the potential for the
planning, engineering, or development of technical, or financing plans
to lead to a reduction in the frequency of breakdowns or other service
interruptions caused by the age and condition of the agency's bus
fleet, and improve system reliability.
Enhanced Access and Mobility: The FTA will evaluate the potential
for the planning, engineering, or development of technical, or
financing plans to lead to improved access and mobility for the transit
riding public, such as through increased reliability, improved
headways, creation of new transportation choices or eliminating gaps in
the current route network.
Accelerating Innovation: The FTA will evaluate the potential for
the planning, engineering, or development of technical, or financing
plans to accelerate the introduction of innovative technologies or
practices such as integrated fare payment systems permitting complete
trips or advancements to propulsion systems. Innovation can also
include practices such as new public transportation operational models,
financial or procurement arrangements, or value capture strategies.
[[Page 12652]]
Emissions Reductions: The FTA will evaluate the potential for the
planning study, engineering study, or development of technical, or
financing plans with a project partner to lead to reduced vehicle
emissions as a potential outcome.
Barriers to Low Income Housing: FTA will evaluate the degree to
which the planning study, engineering study, or technical or financial
plans identify proposed actions that reduce regulatory barriers that
unnecessarily raise the costs of housing development or impede the
development of affordable housing.
Regional Support: Applicants should provide evidence of regional or
local support for the proposed project. Documentation may include
support letters from local and regional planning organizations, local
governmental officials, public agencies and/or non-profit or private
sector partners attesting to the need for the project.
Improving Rural Transportation: Consistent with the Department's
R.O.U.T.E.S. Initiative (https://www.transportation.gov/rural), the
Department recognizes that rural transportation networks face unique
challenges. To the extent that those challenges are reflected in the
merit criteria listed in this section, FTA will consider how the
activities proposed in the application will address those challenges,
regardless of the geographic location of those activities.
c. Local Financial Commitment
Applicants must identify the source of the local cost share and
describe whether such funds are currently available for the project or
will need to be secured if the project is selected for funding. The FTA
will consider the availability of the local cost share as evidence of
local financial commitment to the project. Additional consideration
will be given to those projects for which local funds have already been
made available or reserved. Applicants should submit evidence of the
availability of funds for the project, for example by including a board
resolution, letter of support from the State or other documentation of
the source of local funds such as a budget document highlighting the
line item or section committing funds to the proposed project.
d. Project Implementation Strategy
The FTA will evaluate the strength of the work plan, schedule and
process included in an application based on the following factors:
a. Extent to which the schedule contains sufficient detail,
identifies all steps needed to implement the work proposed, and is
achievable;
b. Extent of partnerships, including with non-public sector
entities; and
c. The partnerships' technical capability to develop, adopt and
implement the plans, based on FTA's assessment of the applicant's
description of the policy formation, implementation, and financial
roles of the partners, and the roles and responsibilities of proposed
staff.
e. Technical, Legal and Financial Capacity
Applicants must demonstrate that they have the technical, legal and
financial capacity to undertake the project. FTA will review relevant
oversight assessments and records to determine whether there are any
outstanding legal, technical or financial issues with the applicant
that would affect the outcome of the proposed project. Applicants with
outstanding legal, technical or financial compliance issues from an FTA
compliance review or Federal Transit grant-related Single Audit finding
must explain how corrective actions taken will mitigate negative
impacts on the proposed project.
2. Review and Selection Process
In addition to other FTA staff that may review the proposals, a
technical evaluation committee will evaluate proposals based on the
published evaluation criteria. After applying the above criteria, the
FTA Administrator will consider the following key Departmental
objectives:
(A) Supporting economic vitality at the national and regional
level;
(B) Utilizing alternative funding sources and innovative financing
models to attract non-Federal sources of infrastructure investment;
(C) Identifying proposed actions that reduce regulatory barriers
that unnecessarily raise the costs of housing development or impede the
development of affordable housing;
(D) Undertake planning, engineering, technical studies, or
financing plans for transit facilities or services in a qualified
opportunity zone designated pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 1400Z-1
(E) Using innovative approaches to improve safety and expedite
project delivery; and
(F) Holding grant recipients accountable for their performance and
achieving specific, measurable outcomes identified by grant applicants.
Prior to making an award, FTA is required to review and consider
any information about the applicant that is in the Federal Awardee
Performance and Integrity Information Systems (FAPIIS) accessible
through SAM. An applicant may review and comment on information about
itself that a Federal awarding agency previously entered. FTA will
consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to the other
information in the designated integrity and performance system, in
making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and
record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review
of risk posed by applicants as described in Sec. 200.205 Federal
awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants.
The FTA Administrator will determine the final selection of
projects for program funding. In determining the allocation of program
funds, FTA may consider geographic diversity, diversity in the size of
the transit systems receiving funding, the applicant's receipt of other
competitive awards, projects located in or that support public
transportation service in a qualified opportunity zone designated
pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 1400Z-1, the percentage of local share provided,
and whether the project includes an innovative technology or practice.
F. Federal Award Administration Information
1. Federal Award Notice
Final project selections will be posted on the FTA website.
Selected recipients should contact their FTA regional offices for
additional information regarding allocations for projects under the
HOPE Program.
At the time the project selections are announced, FTA will extend
pre-award authority for the selected projects. There is no blanket pre-
award authority for these projects before announcement.
2. Award Administration
The FTA anticipates that the maximum grant award will not exceed
$850,000 which will enable FTA to fund as many meritorious projects as
possible. Only proposals from eligible recipients for eligible
activities will be considered for funding. Due to funding limitations,
proposals that are selected for funding may receive less than the
amount originally requested. In those cases, applicants must be able to
demonstrate that the proposed projects are still viable stand-alone
projects that can be completed with the amount awarded.
3. Administrative Requirements
a. Pre-Award Authority
The FTA will issue specific guidance to recipients regarding pre-
award
[[Page 12653]]
authority at the time of selection. The FTA does not provide pre-award
authority for competitive funds until projects are selected and even
then, there are Federal requirements that must be met before costs are
incurred. For more information about FTA's policy on pre-award
authority, please see the FY 2019 Apportionment Notice published on
July 3, 2019 which can be accessed at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-07-03/pdf/2019-14248.pdf.
b. Grant Requirements
If selected, awardees will apply for a grant through FTA's Transit
Award Management System (TrAMS). Recipients of HOPE Program funding in
urban areas are subject to the grant requirements of the Urbanized Area
Formula Grant program (49 U.S.C. 5307), including those described in
FTA Circular ``Urbanized Area Formula Program: Program Guidance and
Application Instructions'' (FTA.C.9030.1E). Recipients of funding in
rural areas are subject to the grant requirements described in the
Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program (49 U.S.C. 5311), including
those described in FTA Circular ``Formula Grants for Rural Areas:
Program Guidance and Application Instructions'' (FTA.C.9040.1G). All
recipients (urban and rural) must follow the Award Management
Requirements as described in (FTA.C.5010.1E). Technical assistance
regarding these requirements is available from each FTA regional
office.
c. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
The FTA requires that its recipients receiving planning, capital
and/or operating assistance that will award prime contracts exceeding
$250,000 in FTA funds comply with the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
(DBE) program regulations (49 CFR part 26).
For more information on DBE requirements, please contact Scheryl
Portee, the Office of the Chief Counsel, at 202-366-0840, email:
[email protected].
d. Standard Assurances
By submitting a grant application, the applicant assures that it
will comply with all applicable federal statutes, regulations,
executive orders, directives, FTA circulars and other federal
administrative requirements in carrying out any project supported by
the FTA grant. Further, the applicant acknowledges that it is under a
continuing obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the
grant agreement issued for its project with FTA. The applicant
understands that Federal laws, regulations, policies and administrative
practices might be modified from time to time and may affect the
implementation of the project. The applicant agrees that the most
recent Federal requirements will apply to the project, unless FTA
issues a written determination otherwise. The applicant must submit the
Certifications and Assurances before receiving a grant, if it does not
have current certifications on file.
4. Reporting
Post-award reporting requirements include the electronic submission
of Federal Financial Reports and Milestone Progress Reports in FTA's
electronic grants management system. Recipients of funds made available
through this NOFO are also required to regularly submit data to the
National Transit Database.
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
For further information concerning this notice, please contact Mr.
Charles Goodman via email at [email protected]; or by phone at
202-366-1944. A TDD is available for individuals who are deaf or hard
of hearing at 800-877-8339. In addition, FTA will post answers to
questions and requests for clarifications on FTA's website at http://transit.dot.gov. The FTA staff will also conduct a webinar for
potential applicants to learn more about the program and submittal
process
To ensure the receipt of accurate information about eligibility or
the program, applicants with questions are encouraged to contact FTA
directly, rather than through intermediaries or third parties.
H. Technical Assistance and Other Program Information
This program is not subject to Executive Order 12372,
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.'' The FTA will consider
applications for funding only from eligible recipients for eligible
projects listed in Section C. Complete applications must be submitted
through GRANTS.GOV by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 4, 2020. For
assistance with GRANTS.GOV please contact GRANTS.GOV by phone at 1-800-
518-4726 or by email at [email protected]. Contact information for
FTA's regional offices can be found on FTA's website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/regional-offices/regional-offices.
K. Jane Williams,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-04250 Filed 3-2-20; 8:45 am]
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