[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21692-21697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07742]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Standards
Development for Bus Exportable Power Systems (BEPS)
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of funding opportunity.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the
opportunity to apply for a total of $1,000,000 of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021
Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program funds for
projects that develop interoperable standards for Bus Exportable Power
Systems (BEPS). BEPS enable public transportation agencies,
communities, and States to access resilient and flexible power options
through bus fleet vehicles during major power disruptions. Communities
and States often need options for generating power immediately after
natural disasters. BEPS technologies developed under previous FTA
research grants may have the ability to address this type of challenge
by transforming hybrid electric and fuel cell buses into mobile power
generators. The goal of this program is to develop national
interoperable BEPS standards--working with FTA, industry stakeholders
and technical partners--so that different manufacturers' systems can
use the same technology base and applications for BEPS solutions. One
or more projects will be competitively selected based on the criteria
outlined in this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
DATES: Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through the
GRANTS.GOV ``APPLY'' function by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 13,
2022.
Prospective applicants should initiate the process by registering
on the
[[Page 21693]]
GRANTS.GOV website promptly to ensure completion of the application
process before the submission deadline. Instructions for applying can
be found on FTA's website at http://www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply and
in the ``FIND'' module of GRANTS.GOV. The funding opportunity ID is
FTA-2022-005-TRI-SDBEPS. Mail and fax submissions will not be accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raj Wagley, FTA Office of Research,
Demonstration, and Innovation, 202-366-5386, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
A. Program Description
B. Federal Award Information
C. Eligibility Information
D. Application and Submission Information
E. Application Review Information
F. Federal Award Administration Information
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
H. Other Information
A. Program Description
Under FTA's Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program
(49 U.S.C. 5314), FTA may make grants, or enter into contracts or
cooperative agreements, for the development of voluntary and consensus-
based standards and best practices for the public transportation
industry. This NOFO (Federal Assistance Listing: 20.531) was developed
under this authority. As requested by the Report of the Appropriations
Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (H. Rpt. 116-452, Jul.
16, 2020) accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub.
L. 116-260), FTA will competitively fund a total of not less than
$1,000,000 in one or more cooperative agreements to develop
interoperable national standards for Bus Exportable Power Systems
(BEPS) by collaborating with industry stakeholders and technical
partners. These standards must facilitate public transportation
agencies, communities, and States' use of resilient and flexible power
options after natural disasters or any major power disruption.
Expected components of this BEPS interoperable standards
development project include, but are not limited to: Completion of an
industry literature review on BEPS assessing system parameters,
specifications, past results and recommendations; technology scans,
surveys or case studies with transit agencies with experience utilizing
BEPS; standards development; demonstration of a plug-and-play BEPS
system that includes minimum specifications and parameters for
interoperability; and a guide to implementing a BEPS system using these
standards. Applicants must describe how they will work with transit
industry stakeholders, industry working groups and transit standard
development organizations--including emergency management agencies--in
developing guidance and standards that promotes nationwide adoption of
BEPS.
This standards development program will build upon prior FTA
investment in projects such as FTA Report 0146--BEPS System Use
Strategy: Investigating the Use of Transit Buses as Emergency
Generators (https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/research-innovation/147716/bus-exportable-power-supply-system-use-strategy-investigating-use-transit-buses-emergency-generators.pdf).
FTA will competitively award one or more cooperative agreements to
selected eligible applicants to advance the development of BEPS
standards for hybrid electric and fuel cell transit buses, as described
in this notice.
B. Federal Award Information
This notice makes available not less than $1,000,000 for
cooperative agreements as authorized under FTA's Technical Assistance
and Workforce Development Program (49 U.S.C. 5314) to support the
development of voluntary and consensus-based standards and best
practices by the public transportation industry. The House
Appropriations Committee Report (H. Rpt. 116-452) accompanying the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260) requested FTA
to use $1,000,000 of available funds for competitive awards to develop
interoperable BEPS standards and provide guidance for hybrid, electric,
and fuel cell transit bus manufacturers and public transit agencies
that advances widespread design and use of BEPS systems in communities
and States during emergencies and natural disasters.
FTA may cap the amount a single recipient may receive as part of
the selection process. Due to funding limitations, applicants that are
selected for funding may receive less than the amount originally
requested. Only proposals from eligible recipients for eligible
activities will be considered for funding.
Pre-award authority is subject to FTA approval and is only
available for costs incurred after the announcement of project
selections on FTA's website.
Projects under this competition are for standards development
efforts and, as such, FTA Circular 6100.1E (available at https://www.fta.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/research-technical-assistance-and-training-program) guidance will apply in
administering the program.
An applicant whose proposal is selected for funding will receive a
cooperative agreement with FTA, to be administered according to
Circular 6100.1E, and as set forth in 31 U.S.C. 6305. FTA will have
substantial involvement in the administration of the cooperative
agreement. FTA's role will include the right to participate in
decisions to redirect and reprioritize project activities, goals, and
deliverables.
C. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants under this notice include the following:
Providers of public transportation, including public
transportation agencies, State or local government DOTs, and federally
recognized Indian tribes;
Private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, or
consultants;
State, city, or local government entities, including
multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and organizations such as
Metropolitan Planning Organizations;
Other organizations, including research consortia, not-
for-profit industry organizations, and institutions of higher
education, including large research universities, particularly those
with Minority Serving Institution status; or
Standard Development Organizations (SDOs).
On the application form, eligible applicants are encouraged to
identify one or more project partners with a substantial interest and
involvement in the project activities or objectives to participate in
the implementation of the project.
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 after the award will require FTA written approval
and must be consistent with the scope of the approved project. Post-
award changes usually will be subject to ordinary procurement
standards.
The applicant must be able to carry out the proposed agreement and
procurements, if needed, with project partners in compliance with all
applicable Federal, State, and local laws. To be considered eligible,
applicants must be able to demonstrate the requisite legal, financial,
and
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technical capabilities to receive and administer Federal funds under
this program.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
The eligible Federal share for this program is 100 percent. No non-
Federal cost sharing is required; however, proposers may offer a non-
Federal share of costs. For guidance related to cost sharing, please
see FTA Circular 6100.1E.
3. Eligible Projects
This notice solicits applications to develop interoperable national
standards for BEPS systems that allow transit agencies, communities and
States to use hybrid electric, or fuel cell transit buses as mobile
power generators to power facilities such as hospitals or other
facilities in emergency and disaster situations. A critical component
for these projects is collaboration across Federal, State, and local
governments, public utilities, and the private sector. Thus, FTA seeks
applications for projects that enhance the current state of bus
exportable power systems or build on existing successful projects and
partnership efforts on BEPS.
Eligible activities include all activities leading to development
of interoperable national BEPS standards and the development of a
guidebook to implement such standards, including, but not limited to,
system design and demonstration of portable units; industry survey and
data collection on existing BEPS systems; system specifications and
standards development; innovations for providing more effective and
efficient BEPS systems using public-private partnerships with non-
traditional transportation providers; stakeholder collaboration
convenings; literature reviews or case studies on BEPS systems; surveys
on BEPS systems in other industries that could be applicable to public
transit BEPS systems; data collection and analytics; establishing
various use cases for BEPS deployment needs; defining system
requirements; modeling and simulation; development, validation and
verification of the specification; and development of industry
guidelines and a guidebook for BEPS solutions that can be shared with
the transit industry, including hybrid, electric, and fuel cell transit
bus manufacturers.
Standards or guidelines developed will be disseminated to public
transit agencies and battery electric bus manufacturers for their use.
Standards or guidelines developed under this program must facilitate
interoperable, adaptable, secure, and seamlessly integrated BEPS
solutions for facilities, such as hospitals, emergency management
systems, etc. that need power in emergency and disaster situations.
Further, the project team should consider how the development effort
could support the development or use of additional standards,
specifications, or protocols related to successful deployment of BEPS
solutions as appropriate.
D. Application and Submission Information
1. Address To Request Application
Applications must be accessed and submitted electronically through
GRANTS.GOV. General information for submitting applications through
GRANTS.GOV can be found at www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply. A complete
proposal submission consists of two forms and their supporting
attachments. The Forms are (1) an SF-424 ``Application for Federal
Assistance'' and (2) the supplemental form for the FY 2021 Standards
Development--BEPS NOFO. Both forms are downloadable from GRANTS.GOV or
the FTA website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/BEPS.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
a. Proposal Submission
A complete proposal submission consists of the two forms and their
supporting documents. The attachments shall provide a detailed project
approach and proposed scope of work. A successful applicant must submit
a final full application into FTA's TrAMS system within 45 days of
award.
The supplemental form and supporting documents must be added to the
``Attachments'' section of the SF-424. The 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 Section E of this
notice.
FTA will accept only one supplemental form per SF-424 submission.
Applicants may attach additional supporting information to the SF-424
submission, including but not limited to a detailed project approach,
the project background, a proposed scope of work and major tasks, a
proposed timeline, proposed project budgets, technical information and
approach, visual aids, excerpts from relevant planning documents,
letters of support, or project narratives. Any 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, and
local match amount (if match is being proposed), may be requested on
both the SF-424 and supplemental
form. Applicants must fill in all fields unless stated otherwise on
the forms. 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.
b. Application Content
The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance and the supplemental
form will prompt applicants for the required information, including:
1. Applicant name.
2. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in SAM.gov. The Federal
government will stop using the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
number to identify entities starting April 4, 2022.
3. Key contact information (including name, address, email address,
and phone).
4. Congressional district(s) where project will take place.
5. Project information (including title, and an executive summary).
6. Project description (including attachments if necessary) and how
it will (a) collect and analyze industry data and specifications for
the development of interoperable BEPS standards; (b) demonstrate a plug
and play BEPS solution; (c) develop interoperable BEPS standards; (d)
collaborate with diverse stakeholders in the development of BEPS
standards; and (e) approach to developing a guidebook and
implementation guide to deploy BEPS solutions in communities during
emergencies and disasters situations.
7. Information on any project partners, their role, and anticipated
contributions.
8. A description of the technical, legal, and financial capacity of
the applicant, its key personnel, and any partners.
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9. A detailed project budget, specifying Federal and local share
when applicable.
10. A detailed project timeline.
Applicants may also attach additional supporting information and
other materials or information relevant to BEPS standards development
such as letters of support from key stakeholders.
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. FTA may not make an award until the applicant has
complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM
requirements. If an applicant has 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. These requirements do not apply if the applicant has an
exception approved by FTA or the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
under 2 CFR 25.110(c) or (d). 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 https://www.sam.gov.
4. Submission Dates and Times
Project proposals must be submitted electronically through
GRANTS.GOV by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 13, 2022. 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.
FTA urges applicants to submit applications at least 72 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. Deadlines will not be extended due to scheduled
website maintenance.
Within 48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the
applicant should receive an email message from GRANTS.GOV with
confirmation of successful transmission to GRANTS.GOV. If a notice of
failed validation or incomplete materials is received, 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.
Applicants are encouraged to begin the process of registration 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
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 submission.
5. Funding Restrictions
Funds available under this NOFO cannot be used to reimburse
applicants for otherwise eligible expenses incurred prior to FTA
issuing pre-award authority for selected projects.
Refer to Section C.3., Eligible Projects, for information on
activities that are allowable. Allowable direct and indirect expenses
must be consistent with the Governmentwide Uniform Administrative
Requirements and Cost Principles (2 CFR part 200) and FTA Circular
5010.1E.
6. Other Submission Requirements
Applicants are encouraged to identify scaled funding options in
case funding is not 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. FTA may award a lesser amount regardless of whether a
scalable option is provided.
All applications must be submitted via the GRANTS.GOV website. FTA
does not accept applications on paper, by fax machine, email, or other
means. For information on application submission requirements, please
see Section D.1., Address to Request Application.
E. Application Review Information
1. Criteria
Projects will be evaluated on the responses provided in the
supplemental form and the attached project summary. 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. FTA will evaluate proposals based on the
criteria described in this notice.
a. Key Personnel Experience and Organizational Capacity
Application should note the individuals who will be involved in the
project and how the applicant will ensure they will have enough time to
devote to the project. Additionally, applicant should discuss
successful completion of similar or relevant projects--case studies,
references, etc.
b. Proposer and Proposal Team Subject Matter Expertise
Application should clearly demonstrate applicant knowledge in
exportable power systems, battery electric public transit buses,
transit industry (including facilities and operations), standards
development, emergency management and electric system interoperability.
c. Knowledge of Standards, Standards Development
Application should provide evidence of applicant's experience
developing and disseminating industry standards, particularly for the
public transit industry. The proposal should detail the applicant's
knowledge of general transit industry standards, general experience and
knowledge of the transit standards development -including awareness of
potential barriers or challenges to standard application and technology
adoption.
d. Knowledge of Public Transit and Emergency Management Context and
Needs
Applicants should provide evidence of knowledge of the public
transit industry and the contexts, challenges, and resources of transit
providers across the country. Applicants should also clearly
demonstrate understanding of emergency management needs and critical
facilities with which BEPS must have interoperability.
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e. Project Approach
Projects will be evaluated on overall project approach including
proposed workplan tasks, schedule, and interim deliverables. In
assessing whether the proposed implementation plans are reasonable and
complete, FTA will review the proposed project work plan, including all
necessary project milestones and the overall project timeline. Funds
must be obligated in a cooperative agreement no later than September
30, 2022. Applicants must demonstrate their ability to enter into the
cooperative agreement by that date and begin project activities shortly
thereafter.
f. Technical, Legal, and Financial Capacity
The applicant must demonstrate the financial and organizational
capacity and managerial experience to successfully oversee and
implement this project. FTA may 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 will mitigate negative impacts on the proposed
project.
For applications that include named project partners, FTA will also
consider the technical, legal, and financial capacity of the proposed
partners.
2. Review and Selection Process
A technical evaluation committee will evaluate proposals based on
the published evaluation criteria. Members of the technical evaluation
committee may request additional information from applicants, if
necessary. Based on the review of the technical evaluation committee,
the FTA Administrator will determine the final selection of projects
for program funding. In making selections, FTA may consider geographic
diversity, and the applicant's receipt of other competitive awards. FTA
may also consider capping the amount a single applicant may receive.
3. Performance and Integrity
Prior to making an award, FTA is required to review and consider
any information about the applicant that is in the FAPIIS accessible
through SAM. An applicant may review and comment on any 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 the Office of Management
and Budget's Uniform Requirements for Federal Awards ( 2 CFR 200.205).
F. Federal Award Administration Information
1. Federal Award Notices
FTA will announce the final project selections on the FTA website.
Due to funding limitations of $1,000,000 in total, applicants 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 and can be completed with the
amount awarded.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
a. Pre-Award Authority
At the time the project selections are announced, FTA may extend
pre-award authority for the selected projects. There is no blanket pre-
award authority for these projects before announcement. FTA will issue
specific guidance to recipients regarding pre-award authority at the
time of selection. 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 most recent Apportionments, Allocations and Program Information
Notice at https://www.transit.dot.gov.
b. Cooperative Agreement Requirements
If selected, awardees will apply for a cooperative agreement
through FTA's Transit Award Management System (TrAMS). Successful
applicants must be prepared to submit a complete statement of work and
application in TrAMS within 45 days of notification of award in order
to obligate funds no later than September 30, 2022. All recipients must
follow the requirements of FTA Circular 6100.1E. Technical assistance
regarding these requirements is available from FTA.
c. Buy America
FTA requires that all capital procurements meet FTA's Buy America
requirements (49 U.S.C. 5323(j) and 49 CFR part 661), which require
that all iron, steel, and manufactured goods be produced in the United
States, and set minimum domestic content and final assembly
requirements for rolling stock.
d. Standard Assurances
If an applicant receives an award, the applicant must assure 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 award. The applicant acknowledges that it will be under a
continuing obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the
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 most recent Federal requirements will apply to the
project unless FTA issues a written determination otherwise. The
applicant must submit the most recent FTA Certifications and Assurances
before receiving an award if it does not have current certifications on
file.
e. Data Access and Data Sharing
Recipients, including a recipient that is an institution of higher
education, will be subject to the restriction on publishing subject
data contained in Section 18(b) of the latest version of FTA's master
agreement. The latest version of FTA's master agreement is version 29,
effective February 7, 2022, available at: https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2022-02/FTA-Master-Agreement-v29-2022-02-07.pdf. A recipient must receive written approval from FTA prior to
publishing or presenting subject data in any form. FTA must approve the
BEPS and any other standards or guidelines developed under this NOFO
before that information can be published. A recipient should consult
with its FTA Project Manager prior to accepting an award to discuss any
plan for external communications about the project.
FTA seeks to improve public transportation for America's
communities by sharing digital data or source code collected or
developed through its research with the public. This allows research
organizations, transit agencies, and other stakeholders to learn from
and expand upon the insights developed from FTA-funded research. Any
standards, guidance, tools, or software developed as a part of this
solicitation will be evaluated by FTA for the potential to be shared
for
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use by public transportation agencies and others.
3. Reporting
Post-award reporting requirements include the electronic submission
of Federal Financial Reports and Milestone Progress Reports in FTA's
electronic grants management system.
Applicants should include any goals, targets, and indicators
referenced in their application in the Executive Summary of the TrAMS
application.
As part of completing the annual certifications and assurances
required of FTA grant recipients, a successful applicant must report on
the suspension or debarment status of itself and its principals. If the
award recipient's active grants, cooperative agreements, and
procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceeds
$10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of
an award made pursuant to this Notice, the recipient must comply with
the Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters reporting requirements
described in Appendix XII to 2 CFR part 200.
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
For further information concerning this notice, please contact Raj
Wagley, in the FTA Office of Infrastructure, Safety and Asset
Innovation, by phone at 202-366-5386, or by email at
[email protected]. 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 https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/BEPS. To ensure applicants receive
accurate information about eligibility or the program, applicants are
encouraged to contact FTA directly, rather than through intermediaries
or third parties, with questions. FTA staff may also conduct briefings
on the competitive grants selection and award process upon request.
For issues with GRANTS.GOV, please contact GRANTS.GOV by phone at
1-800-518-4726 or by email at [email protected].
H. Other Information
This program is not subject to Executive Order 12372,
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-07742 Filed 4-11-22; 8:45 am]
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