[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 106 (Friday, May 31, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47211-47234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11934]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


FTA Fiscal Year 2024 Apportionments, Allocations, and Program 
Information

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides program updates in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, 
announces the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, and full-year 
apportionments and allocations for grant programs, provides contract 
authority, and describes plans for several competitive programs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about this 
notice, contact John Bodnar, Director of Transit Programs, Office of 
Program Management, at (202) 366-2053. Please contact the appropriate 
FTA Regional Office for any specific requests for information or 
technical assistance. FTA Regional Office contact information is 
available on FTA's website: https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/regional-offices/regional-offices. An FTA headquarters contact for each major 
program area is included in the discussion of that program in the text 
of this notice. FTA recommends stakeholders subscribe via: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOTFTA/subscriber/new?category_id=USDOTFTA_C22, to receive email notifications when new 
information is available.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Overview
II. FY 2024 Funding for FTA Programs
    A. Funding Available Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2024
    B. Oversight Takedown
    C. FY 2024 Formula Apportionments Data and Methodology
III. FY 2024 Highlights and Updates
    A. Highlights
    1. Safety--PTASP and Safety Committees
    2. Census Urbanized Areas Designations
    3. Flexible Funding
    B. Updates
    1. Expanded Pre-Award Authority for Small Starts Projects
    2. FY 2024 Competitive Programs Updates
IV. Program Information
    A. Metropolitan and Statewide Transportation Planning Program 
(49 U.S.C. 5303 and 5305(d))
    B. State Planning and Research Program (49 U.S.C. 5304 and 
5305(e))
    C. Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 U.S.C. 5307)
    D. Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants Program (49 U.S.C. 
5309)
    E. Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals With 
Disabilities Program (49 U.S.C. 5310)
    F. Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program (49 U.S.C. 5311)
    G. Rural Transportation Assistance Program (49 U.S.C. 
5311(b)(3))
    H. Appalachian Development Public Transportation Assistance 
Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(c)(2))
    I. Formula Grants for Public Transportation on Indian 
Reservations Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(j))
    J. Public Transportation Innovation (49 U.S.C. 5312)
    K. Technical Assistance and Workforce Development (49 U.S.C. 
5314)
    L. Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program (49 U.S.C. 
5324)
    M. Public Transportation Safety Program (49 U.S.C. 5329)
    N. State of Good Repair Program (49 U.S.C. 5337)
    O. Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program (49 U.S.C. 5339)
    P. Growing States and High-Density States Formula Factors (49 
U.S.C. 5340)
    Q. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Grants
    R. Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending
V. FTA Policy and Procedures for FY 2024 Grants
    A. Automatic Pre-Award Authority To Incur Project Costs
    B. FY 2024 Annual List of Certifications and Assurances
    C. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) Policy
    D. Civil Rights Requirements
    E. Consolidated Planning Grants
    F. Grant Application Procedures
    G. Grant Management

I. Overview

    This notice provides updates for the Federal Transit 
Administration's (FTA) programs in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, announces the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, (Pub. L. 118-42) and full-year 
apportionments and allocations for grant programs, provides contract 
authority, and describes plans for several competitive programs.
    It also contains information on how FTA plans to administer its 
transit programs in FY 2024 and how funds appropriated and allocated 
prior to FY 2024 will be treated.
    This notice highlights FTA programs and provides specific 
information about FTA's statutory programs.
    For each FTA program appropriated funds in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024, FTA also provides information on the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58) 
authorized funding levels for FY 2024, the basis for apportionment or 
allocation of funds, requirements specific to the program, period of 
availability of funds, and other program information. A separate 
section provides information on pre-award authority and other 
requirements and guidance applicable to FTA programs and grant 
administration. Finally, the notice includes references to tables on 
FTA's website that show amounts apportioned under the FY 2024 
appropriations act and approximately $8.7 billion in unobligated or 
carryover funding available in FY 2024 under certain discretionary and 
Congressionally directed programs carried out in accordance with prior 
and current authorization and appropriations acts.
    Information in this document includes references to existing FTA 
program guidance and circulars. Some information in guidance and 
circulars may have been superseded by provisions in IIJA, but these 
guidance documents and circulars remain a resource for program 
management in most areas. FTA is revising guidance and circulars, as 
appropriate, with an opportunity for public comment when necessary. FTA 
intends to release final versions of updated circulars covering the 
Section 5307, 5310, 5311, 5337, and 5339 programs in the fourth quarter 
of FY 2024.

II. FY 2024 Funding for FTA Programs

A. Funding Available Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024

    A total of $20,855,886,844 was appropriated for FY 2024 including

[[Page 47212]]

funding from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, as amended by 
the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Pub. L. 118-47), and 
funding from advance appropriations.
    Division F, Title I of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, 
appropriated $16,604,886,844 for FY 2024, providing the authorized 
$13.99 billion from the Mass Transit Account; $252.39 million in 
Transit Infrastructure Grants, including $20 million for the Urbanized 
Area Passenger Ferry program with $5 million set aside for low or no 
emission ferries and related infrastructure, $1.5 million for the Bus 
Testing program, $3.6 million for several research programs, $0.5 
million to assist tribal governments under the National Rural 
Transportation Assistance Program, $20 million to the ferry service for 
rural communities program, and $206.8 million for Community Project/
Congressionally Directed funding. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2024, also appropriated an additional $7.5 million for technical 
assistance, workforce development and training funding, $150 million 
for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and $2.2 billion 
for the Capital Investment Grant Program. The Further Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024, amended the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2024, adding an additional $1 million for the Urbanized Area Passenger 
Ferry program.
    In addition, IIJA provided $4.25 billion in advance appropriations 
for FY 2024, including $1.6 billion for Capital Investment Grants; $950 
million for the State of Good Repair program, $1.05 billion for the Low 
or No Emission program, $50 million for the Enhanced Mobility of 
Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program, $350 million for the 
All Stations Accessibility Program; $50 million for the Electric or 
Low-Emitting Ferry Program; and $200 million for Ferry Service for 
Rural Communities.
    Current funding availability for each grant program is identified 
in Section IV of this notice and in Table 1 located on FTA's FY 2024 
Apportionment web page: https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/current-apportionments.

B. Oversight Takedown

    As authorized by 49 U.S.C. 5338(c), the following oversight 
takedowns of FTA programs will be applied: 0.5 percent of Metropolitan 
and Statewide Planning funds, 0.75 percent of Urbanized Area Formula 
funds, 1 percent of Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants funds, 0.5 
percent of Formula Grants for the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and 
Individuals with Disabilities, 0.5 percent of Formula Grants for Rural 
Areas, 1 percent of State of Good Repair Formula funds, 0.75 percent 
for Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities, and 1 percent of Capital and 
Preventive Maintenance Projects for Washington Metropolitan Area 
Transit Authority funds. The funds are used to provide necessary 
oversight activities, such as oversight of the construction of any 
major capital project receiving Federal transit assistance; to conduct 
State Safety Oversight, drug and alcohol, civil rights, procurement 
systems, management, planning certification, and financial reviews and 
audits, as well as evaluations and analyses of recipient-specific 
problems and issues; to generally provide technical assistance and 
correct deficiencies identified in compliance reviews and audits; and 
to support FTA's administrative expenses.
    Additionally, there remains a 2 percent administrative/oversight 
takedown from each of the advance appropriations provided under 
Division J, Title VIII of IIJA, except for the Capital Investment Grant 
takedown, which remains at 1 percent. One-half percent of the 2 percent 
is to be transferred to the U.S. DOT Office of the Inspector General 
(OIG).

C. Formula Apportionment Data and Methodology

1. Apportionment Tables
    FTA published apportionment tables on its website for each program 
that reflect the full-year appropriations less oversight takedowns, as 
applicable. Tables displaying the funds available to eligible states, 
tribes, and urbanized areas have been posted to https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/current-apportionments. This 
website contains a page listing the apportionment and allocation tables 
for FY 2024, as well as links to prior year formula apportionment 
notices and tables and the National Transit Database and Census data 
used to calculate the FY 2024 apportionments.
2. National Transit Database and Census Data Used in the FY 2024 
Apportionments
    The calculations for Sections 5307, 5311, including 5311(j) (Tribal 
Transit), 5329, 5337, and 5339 programs rely on the most-recent transit 
service data reported to the National Transit Database (NTD), which at 
the time of apportionment was the 2022 report year. For the FY 2024 
apportionments, FTA is reverting back to its prior pattern last used 
for the FY 2021 apportionments of utilizing the most recently validated 
transit service data available from the NTD, which in the case of FY 
2024 apportionments is 2022 NTD data. Due to the impacts of the COVID-
19 pandemic, for the FYs 2022 and 2023 apportionments, FTA allowed 
agencies to use either 2019 NTD data or 2020 NTD data (for the FY 2022 
apportionments) and 2019 NTD or 2021 NTD data (for the FY 2023 
apportionments), defaulting to the year with the higher vehicle revenue 
miles unless instructed otherwise by the reporting agency. In some 
cases where an apportionment is based on the age of the system, the age 
is calculated as of September 30, 2023, which was the last day before 
FY 2024 began. Any recipient or subrecipient of either Section 5307 or 
Section 5311 program funds is required to report to the NTD. All FTA 
grant recipients that own, operate, or manage transit capital assets 
must report their asset data to the NTD. Additionally, a number of 
transit operators report to the NTD on a voluntary basis. For the 2022 
report year, the NTD collected data from 3,018 reporters. This count is 
comprised of 972 urban reporters (947 of which operated transit service 
and 331 of which also provided both urban and rural service), 1,308 
rural transit providers, 138 Tribes (with 16 providing both rural and 
urban service), and 600 asset reporters. IIJA made a number of changes 
to NTD reporting requirements. FTA finalized the proposals in two 
Federal Register notices published on February 23, 2023 (88 FR 11506) 
and March 3, 2023 (88 FR 13497). Some of the changes took effect 
beginning in NTD Report Year (RY) 2023 or 2024, which corresponds to an 
agency's fiscal year, while others took effect in calendar year (CY) 
2023.
    The 2020 Census data was used to determine population and 
population density for Sections 5303, 5304, 5305, 5307 and 5339 as well 
as rural population and rural land area for Section 5311. The formulas 
for Sections 5307, 5311, and 5311(j) include tiers where funding is 
allocated on the basis of the number of persons living in poverty, and 
the Section 5310 formula program allocates funding on the basis of the 
population of older adults and people with disabilities. The Census 
Bureau no longer publishes decennial Census data on persons living in 
poverty and persons with disabilities. As a result, since FY 2013, FTA 
has been using the data for these populations available via the Census'

[[Page 47213]]

American Community Survey (ACS). The NTD and Census data that FTA used 
to calculate the apportionments associated with this notice can be 
found on FTA's web page: https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/formula-apportionments-data.
    The FY 2024 apportionments use data on low-income persons, persons 
with disabilities, and older adults from the most recent ACS data set, 
which was published in December 2023. As was the case in prior years, 
data on low-income persons comes from ACS Table B17024, ``Age by Ratio 
of Income to Poverty Level in the Last Twelve Months,'' and data on 
people with disabilities under 65 years old comes from ACS Table 
B18101, ``Sex by Age by Disability Status.''

III. FY 2024 Highlights and Updates

A. Highlights

1. Safety--PTASP and Safety Committees
    IIJA amended FTA's safety program at 49 U.S.C. 5329(d) by adding to 
the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASP) requirements. 
These changes apply to transit agencies that must have an Agency Safety 
Plan (ASP) under the PTASP regulation, 49 CFR part 673. The changes 
require a transit agency that receives Section 5307 funding and serves 
a large urbanized area (an urbanized area with a population of 200,000 
or more) to establish a Safety Committee consistent with 49 U.S.C. 
5329(d)(5). The transit agency must certify, through its Certifications 
and Assurances, that its Safety Committee approved the ASP or any 
updates to the ASP prior to approval by the Board of Directors or 
equivalent entity. FTA updated 49 CFR part 673 with new requirements 
that implement the statutory changes. The final rule was published on 
April 11, 2024 (88 FR 25694) and is effective May 13, 2024.
    The Safety Committee also is responsible for, at a minimum: (1) 
identifying and recommending risk-based mitigations or strategies 
necessary to reduce the likelihood and severity of consequences 
identified through the agency's safety risk assessment; (2) identifying 
mitigations or strategies that may be ineffective, inappropriate, or 
were not implemented as intended; and (3) identifying safety 
deficiencies for purposes of continuous improvement.
    IIJA also amended 49 U.S.C. 5329(d)(1)(B) to require a transit 
agency serving a small urbanized area (an urbanized area with a 
population of fewer than 200,000) to review and update its ASP in 
cooperation with frontline employee representatives. Transit agencies 
serving a small urbanized area are required to certify, through their 
Certifications and Assurances, that their ASP was developed or updated 
in cooperation with frontline worker representatives prior to approval 
by the Board of Directors or equivalent entity.
    FTA monitors these certifications in its Transit Award Management 
System (TrAMS). FTA integrated the IIJA changes to PTASP requirements 
into the Triennial and State Management Review processes in 2023. 
Failure to comply with a requirement of the regulation subjects a 
grantee to a range of FTA enforcement options depending upon the 
circumstances, including, but not limited to, actions authorized by the 
Public Transportation Safety Program (Section 5329) and the Uniform 
Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements 
for Federal Awards (2 CFR 200.339-200.340). Enforcement actions may 
include a recipient being ineligible to receive certain FTA grant funds 
until the recipient satisfies the requirements of the regulation, or 
FTA imposing more frequent reporting requirements until the recipient 
achieves compliance. FTA has additional resources and information 
available on its PTASP landing page: https://www.transit.dot.gov/PTASP.
    Some FTA grant programs, including FTA's Urbanized Area Formula 
Program, the Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program, State of Good 
Repair Program, and Bus and Bus Facilities Program, can support safety 
and security projects, including mitigations to address assaults on 
transit workers, and cybersecurity activities. Additional information 
is available on FTA's landing pages:
     Using SMS to Protect Transit Workers from Assaults https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-programs/safety/using-your-safety-management-system-sms-protect-transit-workers.
     Enhanced Transit Safety and Crime Prevention Initiative 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-programs/safety/enhanced-transit-safety-and-crime-prevention-initiative.
     Cybersecurity Resources for Transit Agencies https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-programs/safety/cybersecurity-resources-transit-agencies.
2. Census Urbanized Areas Designations
    On December 29, 2022, the Census Bureau announced final urban area 
designations based on the 2020 Census (87 FR 80114). FTA program 
eligibility and funding distribution is determined in part by service 
provision and demographics in both urbanized and non-urbanized areas. 
The 2020 Census delineations are now being used for FTA formula and 
discretionary apportionments beginning in FY 2024. FTA has additional 
resources and information available on its Census landing page, https://transit.dot.gov/census.
3. Flexible Funding
    The upcoming Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) August 
Redistribution is an opportunity for States to flex funds from FHWA to 
FTA to support transit projects. During the August Redistribution that 
starts in July 2024, FHWA provides States with the opportunity to fund 
additional projects, including flexible funding for transit projects. 
State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) and Metropolitan 
Planning Organizations should consider discussing current transit needs 
and flex funding opportunities to support transit capital activities.
    For examples of prior year uses of flex funding for transit 
projects, see Table 25 of the Statistical Summaries at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/fy-2021-statistical-summary. Other 
FTA flexible funding resources can be found at the following sites: 
https://www.planning.dot.gov/flex.aspx and https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/grant-programs/flexible-funding-transit-and-highway-improvements.

B. Updates

1. Expanded Pre-Award Authority for Small Starts Projects
    FTA is expanding automatic pre-award authority for Small Starts 
projects. Upon completion of the environmental review process and 
confirmation from FTA that the overall project rating is at least a 
Medium, in addition to pre-award authority for vehicle purchases, FTA 
now also will extend pre-award authority for any remaining engineering 
and design, demolition, and procurement of long lead items for which 
market conditions play a significant role in the acquisition price. The 
long lead items include, but are not limited to, procurement of rails, 
ties, and other specialized equipment, and commodities. See Section 
V.A.4 Pre-Award Authority for the Fixed Guideway Capital Investment 
Grants Program.

[[Page 47214]]

2. FY 2024 Competitive Program Updates
    FTA's competitive grant programs and the FY 2024 appropriated 
funding levels are identified in the chart below. FTA selects projects 
for funding after issuance of a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

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                                                        FY 2024 funding   Proposed or actual    Application due
 Program/competitive grant title   Statute 49 U.S.C.     appropriated      NOFO publication    date and comments
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Transit-Oriented Development      MAP-21 Section      $13,782,778.......  Summer 2024.......  TBA.
 Planning Pilot Program.           20005(b), IIJA
                                   Section 30009.
Buses & Bus Facilities            Section 5339(b)     $390,045,823 (Bus)  February 8, 2024..  April 25, 2024.
 Competitive Program and Low or    and (c).           $1,103,963,762
 No Emission Program.                                  (Low/No).
Tribal Transit Grants...........  Section             $9,169,076........  Summer 2024.......  TBA.
                                   5311(c)(2)(A).
Passenger Ferry Grants, Electric  Section 5307 and    $316,000,000......  April 17, 2024....  June 17, 2024.
 or Low-Emitting Ferry Program,    IIJA Sections
 Ferry Service for Rural           71102 and 71103.
 Communities.
Innovative Coordinated Access &   FAST Act Section    $9,525,190........  November 15, 2023.  February 13, 2024.
 Mobility.                         3006(b).
All Stations Accessibility        IIJA Division J...  $343,000,000......  November 30, 2023.  January 30, 2024.
 Program.
                                                                         ---------------------------------------
Competitive Grants for Rail       Section 5337......  $196,906,663        Project selections were announced for
 Vehicle Replacement.                                  (FY24).             remaining FY24 funding, all of FY25
                                                      $300,000,000         funding, and part of FY26 funding in
                                                       (FY25).             February 2024.
                                                      $133,949,678
                                                       (FY26).
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IV. Program Information

A. Metropolitan Planning Program (49 U.S.C. 5303 and 5305(d))

    Section 5305(d) makes available Federal funding to support a 
cooperative, continuous, and comprehensive planning program for 
transportation investment decision-making at the metropolitan area 
level. The specific requirements of metropolitan transportation 
planning are set forth in 49 U.S.C. 5303 and in 23 CFR part 450, as 
incorporated by reference in 49 CFR part 613, Metropolitan and 
Statewide and Nonmetropolitan Planning. State Departments of 
Transportation (DOTs) are direct recipients of planning funds allocated 
by FTA, and the funds are then sub-allocated to Metropolitan Planning 
Organizations (MPOs) for planning activities that enhance the 
integration and connectivity of the transportation system, across and 
between modes and support the economic vitality of the metropolitan 
area.
    The metropolitan transportation planning process must establish a 
performance-based approach in which the MPO will develop specific 
performance targets that address transportation system performance 
measures (issued by U.S. DOT), where applicable, to use in tracking 
progress towards attaining critical outcomes. These performance targets 
will be established by MPOs in coordination with States and transit 
providers. MPOs will provide a system performance report that evaluates 
the progress of the MPO in meeting the performance targets in 
comparison with the system performance identified in prior reports.
    This funding must support work elements and activities resulting in 
comprehensive intermodal transportation planning for the movement of 
people and goods in the metropolitan area. Comprehensive transportation 
planning is not limited to transit planning or surface transportation 
planning but also encompasses the relationships among land use and all 
transportation modes, without regard to the programmatic source of 
Federal assistance. A representative list of eligible work elements or 
activities is provided in FTA Circular 8100.1D, ``Program Guidance for 
Metropolitan Planning and State Planning and Research Program Grants,'' 
dated September 10, 2018.
    IIJA amended 49 U.S.C. 5305(f) to require a Federal share of not 
less than 90 percent for certain activities under the Metropolitan 
Planning Program (MPP) and the State Planning and Research Program 
(SPRP). Eligible recipients seeking an increased Federal share under 49 
U.S.C. 5305(f)(2) must demonstrate that planning activities support 
increased mobility through expanded access to public transportation in 
areas with a lower population density or a lower average income in 
relationship to surrounding areas. In addition, on March 13, 2023, 
pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5305(f)(1)(A), FTA approved a waiver of the non-
Federal match for the MPP and the SPRP funds for Complete Streets 
planning activities conducted by States and MPOs in their 
transportation planning processes. The non-Federal match waiver for MPP 
and SPRP funds is limited to Complete Streets planning activities as 
identified in IIJA, section 11206(c). The waiver of the non-Federal 
share for Complete Streets planning activities will end once a State or 
MPO receives approval from FHWA to opt out of meeting the requirements 
described in IIJA, section 11206(c). Once a State or MPO opts out, they 
must notify FTA.
    For more about the Metropolitan Planning Program, contact Ryan 
Long, Office of Planning and Environment at (202) 366-6466 or 
[email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $799 million over five years to provide financial 
assistance for metropolitan planning needs under Section 5303.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $160,002,736 is 
available to the Metropolitan Planning Program (Section 5305(d) and 
(f)) to support metropolitan transportation planning activities set 
forth in Section 5303. The total amount apportioned for the 
Metropolitan Planning Program to States for use by MPOs is $159,203,874 
as shown in the table below, after the deduction for oversight and the 
addition of reapportioned funds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Metropolitan Planning Program--FY2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Appropriation Available...................    $160,002,736
Oversight Deduction.....................................       (800,013)
Reapportioned Funds.....................................           1,151
                                                         ---------------
    Total Apportioned...................................     159,203,874
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment

[[Page 47215]]

    Of the amounts authorized in Section 5305, 82.72 percent is made 
available to the Metropolitan Planning Program. Eighty percent of those 
funds are apportioned on a statutory basis to the States based on the 
most recent decennial Census for each State's UZA population. The 
remaining 20 percent is provided to the States based on an FTA 
administrative formula to address planning needs in larger, more 
complex UZAs. The amount published for each State includes this 
supplemental allocation.
4. Requirements
    The State allocates Metropolitan Planning funds to MPOs in UZAs or 
portions thereof to provide funds for planning projects included in a 
one- or two-year program of planning work activities (the Unified 
Planning Work Program, or UPWP) that includes multimodal systems 
planning activities spanning both highway and transit planning topics. 
Each State has either reaffirmed or developed, in consultation with 
their MPOs, an allocation formula among MPOs within the State, based on 
the 2020 Census. The allocation formula among MPOs in each State may be 
changed annually, but any change requires approval by the FTA Regional 
Office before grant approval. Program guidance for the Metropolitan 
Planning Program is found in FTA Circular 8100.1D.
5. Period of Availability
    The Metropolitan Planning Program funds apportioned in this notice 
are available for obligation during FY 2024 plus three additional 
fiscal years. Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 2024 must be 
obligated in grants by September 30, 2027. Any FY 2024 apportioned 
funds that remain unobligated at the close of business on September 30, 
2027, will revert to FTA for reapportionment under the Metropolitan 
Planning Program.

B. State Planning and Research Program (49 U.S.C. 5304 and 5305(e))

    This program provides financial assistance to States for statewide 
transportation planning and other technical assistance activities, 
including supplementing the technical assistance program provided 
through the Metropolitan Planning Program. State Departments of 
Transportation (DOTs) are direct recipients of State Planning and 
Research Program (SPRP) funds allocated by FTA, for planning activities 
that enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation 
system, across and between modes throughout the State and support the 
economic vitality of the nonmetropolitan and metropolitan area. The 
specific requirements of Statewide transportation planning are set 
forth in 49 U.S.C. 5304 and in 23 CFR part 450, as incorporated by 
reference in 49 CFR part 613, Metropolitan and Statewide and 
Nonmetropolitan Planning. State DOTs are required to reference 
performance measures and performance targets within the Statewide 
Planning process. SPRP funding must support work elements and 
activities resulting in comprehensive intermodal transportation 
planning for the movement of people and goods and has the same 
eligibilities as metropolitan planning funds. Comprehensive 
transportation planning is not limited to transit planning or surface 
transportation planning but also encompasses the relationships among 
land use and all transportation modes, without regard to the 
programmatic source of Federal assistance.
    The IIJA amended 49 U.S.C. 5305(f) to require a Federal share of 
not less than 90 percent for certain activities under the Metropolitan 
Planning Program (MPP) and the SPRP. Eligible recipients seeking an 
increased Federal share under 49 U.S.C. 5305(f)(2) must demonstrate 
that planning activities support increased mobility through expanded 
access to public transportation in areas with a lower population 
density or a lower average income in relationship to surrounding areas. 
In addition, on March 13, 2023, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5305(f)(1)(A), 
FTA approved a waiver of the non-Federal match for the MPP and the SPRP 
funds for Complete Streets planning activities conducted by States and 
MPOs in their transportation planning processes. The non-Federal match 
waiver for MPP and SPRP funds is limited to Complete Streets planning 
activities as identified in IIJA, section 11206(c). The waiver of the 
non-Federal share for Complete Streets planning activities will end 
once a State or MPO receives approval from FHWA to opt out of meeting 
the requirements described in IIJA, section 11206(c). Once a State or 
MPO opts out, they must notify FTA.
    For more information, contact Ryan Long, Office of Planning and 
Environment at (202) 366-6466 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $167 million over five years to provide financial 
assistance for statewide planning and other technical assistance 
activities under Section 5304.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    In FY 2024, $33,424,169 is available to the SPRP (Section 5305(e) 
and (f)). The total amount apportioned for the SPRP is $33,257,048 as 
shown in the table below, after the deduction for oversight.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Statewide Planning Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................        $33,424,169
Oversight Deductions.................................          (167,121)
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................         33,257,048
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    States' apportionments for this program are displayed in Table 2 on 
the apportionments page on FTA's website: https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/current-apportionments.
3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    Of the amount authorized in Section 5305, 17.28 percent is 
allocated to the SPRP. FTA apportions these funds to States by a 
statutory formula that is based on the most recent decennial Census 
data available, and the State's UZA population as compared to the UZA 
population of all States.
4. Requirements
    Funds are provided to States for Statewide transportation planning 
programs. These funds may be used for a variety of statewide and 
nonmetropolitan transportation planning purposes such as developing 
transportation plans and programs, planning and evaluating public 
transportation projects, and conducting technical studies as documented 
in a statewide planning work program. In addition, a State may 
authorize a portion of these funds to be used to supplement 
Metropolitan Planning funds allocated by the State to its UZAs, as the 
State deems appropriate. Program guidance for the State Planning and 
Research program is found in FTA Circular 8100.1D.
5. Period of Availability
    The SPRP funds apportioned in this notice are available for 
obligation during FY 2024 plus three additional fiscal years. 
Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 2024 must be obligated in grants 
by September 30, 2027. Any FY 2024 apportioned funds that remain 
unobligated at the close of business on September 30, 2027, will revert 
to FTA for reapportionment under the SPRP.

C. Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 U.S.C. 5307)

    The Urbanized Area Formula Program provides Federal assistance for 
capital,

[[Page 47216]]

planning, job access and reverse commute projects, and, in some cases, 
operating assistance for public transportation in urbanized areas. In 
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5302, an urbanized area (UZA) is an Urban 
Area, as defined and designated as such by the U.S. Census Bureau, with 
a population of 50,000 or more. Program funds are apportioned to 
urbanized areas through a statutory formula. In addition, $30 million 
is authorized each year under this program to passenger ferry projects 
through a discretionary funding competition.
    For more information about the Urbanized Area Formula Program, 
contact Bret Martin with the Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 366-
0870 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $33.5 billion over five years to provide financial 
assistance for urbanized areas under Section 5307. Of the amounts 
authorized for Section 5307 in each year, $30 million is set aside for 
the competitive discretionary Passenger Ferry Grant Program, 0.75 
percent is apportioned to eligible States for State Safety Oversight 
(SSO), and 0.75 percent is set aside for oversight.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $6,712,987,840 is 
available for the Urbanized Area Formula program. The total amount 
apportioned is $7,245,004,560 after deductions for the State Safety 
Oversight Program, Passenger Ferry Program, and oversight and the 
addition of Section 5340 and reapportioned funds as shown in the table 
below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Urbanized Area Formula Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................     $6,712,987,840
Oversight Deductions.................................       (50,347,409)
State Safety Oversight Program.......................       (50,347,409)
Passenger Ferry Program..............................       (30,000,000)
Section 5340 High Density States.....................        364,850,518
Section 5340 Growing States..........................        293,849,520
Reapportioned Funds..................................          4,011,500
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................      7,245,004,560
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    FTA apportions Urbanized Area Formula Program funds based on 
statutory formulas. Congress established four separate formulas that 
are used to apportion the available funding: the Section 5307 Urbanized 
Area Formula Program formula, the Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) 
formula, the Growing States and High-Density States formulas (Section 
5340), and a formula based on low-income population.
a. Section 5307--Urbanized Area Formula
    For UZAs between 50,000 and 199,999 in population, the Section 5307 
formula is based on population and population density. For UZAs with 
populations of 200,000 and more, the formula is based on a combination 
of bus vehicle revenue miles, bus passenger miles, bus operating costs, 
fixed guideway vehicle revenue miles, fixed guideway directional route 
miles, and fixed guideway operating costs, as well as population and 
population density. The Urbanized Area Formula is defined in 49 U.S.C. 
5336.
    To calculate a UZA's FY 2024 apportionment, FTA used population and 
population density statistics from the 2020 Census and validated 
mileage and transit service data from transit providers' 2022 National 
Transit Database (NTD) Report Year. Consistent with Section 5336(b), 
FTA has included 27 percent of the fixed guideway directional route 
miles and vehicle revenue miles from eligible urbanized area transit 
systems, but which were attributable to rural areas outside of the 
urbanized areas from which the system receives funds. FTA has 
calculated dollar unit values for the formula factors used in the 
Urbanized Area Formula Program apportionment calculations. These values 
represent the amount of money each unit of a factor is worth in this 
year's apportionment. The unit values change each year based on all of 
the data used to calculate the apportionments, the amount appropriated 
by Congress for the apportionment, as well as the amount of prior-year 
funds to be reapportioned. The dollar unit values for FY 2024 are 
displayed in Table 5 of the apportionments page on FTA's website, 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/current-apportionments. To replicate the basic formula component of a UZA's 
apportionment, multiply the dollar unit value by the appropriate 
formula factor (i.e., the population, population x population density), 
and when applicable, data from the NTD (i.e., directional route miles, 
vehicle revenue miles, passenger miles, and operating cost).
b. Small Transit Intensive Cities Formula (STIC)
    Under the STIC formula, FTA apportions 3 percent of the funds made 
available for Section 5307 to UZAs that are under 200,000 in population 
and have public transportation service that operates at a level equal 
to or above the industry average for UZAs with a population of at least 
200,000, but not more than 999,999. STIC funds are apportioned on the 
basis of one or more of six performance categories: passenger miles 
traveled per vehicle revenue mile, passenger miles traveled per vehicle 
revenue hour, vehicle revenue miles per capita, vehicle revenue hours 
per capita, passenger miles traveled per capita, and passengers per 
capita.
    The data used to determine a UZA's eligibility under the STIC 
formula and to calculate the STIC apportionments was obtained from the 
NTD. Because performance data change with each year's NTD reports, the 
UZAs eligible for STIC funds and the amount each receives may vary each 
year. UZAs that received funding through the STIC formula for FY 2024 
are listed in Table 6 of the apportionments page on FTA's website, 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/current-apportionments.
c. Section 5340--Growing States and High-Density States Formula
    FTA also apportions funds to qualifying UZAs and States according 
to the Section 5340 Growing States and High-Density States formula, as 
shown in Table 3 of the apportionments page on FTA's website, https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/current-apportionments. More 
information on this program and its formula is found in Section IV.P. 
of this notice.
d. Low-Income Population
    Of the amount authorized and appropriated for the Urbanized Area 
Formula Program in each year, 3.07 percent is apportioned on the basis 
of low-income population.
    As specified in statute, FTA apportions 75 percent of the available 
funds to UZAs with a population of 200,000 or more. Funds are 
apportioned based on the ratio of the number of low-income individuals 
in each UZA to the total number of low-income individuals in all 
urbanized areas of that size. FTA apportions the remainder of the funds 
(25 percent) to UZAs with populations of less than 200,000, according 
to an equivalent formula. The low-income populations used for this 
calculation were based on the American Community Survey (ACS) data set 
for 2018-2022. This information is updated by the Census Bureau 
annually.

[[Page 47217]]

4. Eligible Expenses
    Eligible activities include planning, engineering, design and 
evaluation of transit projects and other technical transportation-
related studies; capital investments in bus and bus-related activities 
such as replacement, overhaul and rebuilding of buses; crime prevention 
and security equipment; construction of maintenance and passenger 
facilities; and capital investments in new and existing fixed guideway 
systems, including rolling stock, overhaul and rebuilding of vehicles, 
track, signals, communications, and computer hardware and software. All 
preventive maintenance and some Americans with Disabilities Act 
complementary paratransit service costs are considered capital costs. 
For urbanized areas with populations less than 200,000, operating 
assistance is an eligible expense. In areas with a population of 
200,000 or more, operating assistance is an eligible expense for an 
applicant that operates a maximum of 100 buses during peak service 
hours, per 49 U.S.C. 5307(a)(2) (the ``100-bus rule''). Job access and 
reverse commute activities remain eligible under the program.
    In addition, recipients may use up to one-half of one percent of 
their Section 5307 funds to support workforce development activities, 
including supportive services, at an 80 percent Federal share; the 
eligible workforce development activities are defined in Section 5314; 
see Section IV.K. of this notice for more information. This provision 
is in addition to the one-half of one percent that a recipient may use 
for training activities with the National Transit Institute.
5. Requirements
    Program guidance for the Urbanized Area Formula Program is found in 
FTA Circular 9030.1E, ``Urbanized Area Formula Program: Program 
Guidance and Application Instructions,'' dated January 16, 2014, and is 
supplemented by additional information and changes provided in this 
notice and that may be posted to the FTA's Section 5307 web page.
6. Period of Availability
    Funds made available under Section 5307 are available for 
obligation during the year of apportionment plus five additional years. 
Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 2024 must be obligated in grants 
by September 30, 2029. Any FY 2024 apportioned funds that remain 
unobligated at the close of business on September 30, 2029, will revert 
to FTA for reapportionment under the Urbanized Area Formula Program.

D. Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants Program (49 U.S.C. 5309)

    The Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program includes three types of 
eligible projects--New Starts projects, Small Starts projects, and Core 
Capacity Improvement projects. Funding is provided for construction of: 
(1) new fixed guideway systems or extensions to existing fixed guideway 
systems such as rapid rail (heavy rail), commuter rail, light rail, 
trolleybus (using overhead catenary), cable car, passenger ferries, and 
bus rapid transit operating on an exclusive transit lane for the 
majority of the corridor length that also includes features that 
emulate the services provided by rail fixed guideway including defined 
stations, traffic signal priority for public transit vehicles, and 
short headway bi-directional service for a substantial part of weekdays 
and weekends; (2) corridor-based bus rapid transit service that does 
not operate on an exclusive transit lane but includes features that 
emulate the services provided by rail fixed guideway including defined 
stations, traffic signal priority for public transit vehicles, and 
short headway bi-directional services for a substantial part of 
weekdays; and (3) projects that expand the capacity by at least 10 
percent of an existing fixed guideway corridor that is at capacity 
today or will be in 10 years.
    Projects become candidates for funding under the Capital Investment 
Grants program by successfully completing steps in the multi-year 
process defined in Section 5309 and obtaining a satisfactory rating 
under the statutorily defined criteria. For New Starts and Core 
Capacity Improvement projects, the steps in the process include project 
development, engineering, and construction. For Small Starts projects 
the steps in the process include project development and construction. 
New Starts and Core Capacity Improvement projects receive construction 
funds from the program through a full funding grant agreement (FFGA) 
that defines the scope of the project and specifies the total multi-
year Federal commitment to the project. Small Starts projects receive 
construction funds through a single year grant or an expedited grant 
agreement that defines the scope of the project and specifies the 
Federal commitment to the project.
    Bundles of CIG projects, comprised of multiple New Starts, Core 
Capacity, or Small Starts projects being pursued by the same project 
sponsor, are also allowed. Bundles must enhance or increase the 
capacity of the transportation system and streamline procurements or 
enable time or cost savings for the projects.
    For more information about the Capital Investment Grants program 
contact Susan Eddy, Office of Capital Project Development, at (202) 
366-5499 or [email protected]. For information about published 
allocations contact Elizabeth Day, Office of Planning and Environment, 
at (202) 366-5159 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $15 billion to be appropriated over five years for 
the CIG program and the Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program (EPD), 
with an additional $8 billion in advance appropriations.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    For FY 2024, $3,805,000,000 is available for the Capital Investment 
Grants (CIG) Program and the FAST Act Section 3005(b) Expedited Project 
Delivery Pilot Program under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 
and the IIJA advance appropriations. The total amount available for 
projects is $3,766,950,000 as shown in the table below, after the 
deduction for oversight.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Capital Investment Grant Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................     $3,805,000,000
Oversight Deduction..................................       (38,050,000)
Total Apportioned....................................      3,766,950,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Allocation
    CIG Funds are allocated on a discretionary basis and subject to 
program evaluation.
4. Eligible Expenses
    See beginning of Section D above.
5. Requirements
    Project sponsors should reference the FTA website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/capital-investments/final-capital-investment-grant-program-interim-policy for the most current 
Capital Investment Grants program policy guidance to learn what is 
required to enter and advance through the program. Grant-related 
guidance is found in FTA Circular 9300.1B, ``Capital Investment Grant 
Program Guidance and Application Instructions,'' dated November 1, 
2008; and C5200.1A, ``Full Funding Grant Agreement Guidance,'' dated 
December 5, 2002.
6. Period of Availability
    Funding is available for four years, which is the fiscal year in 
which the

[[Page 47218]]

amount is allocated to a project plus three additional years. 
Therefore, funds for a project allocated funding in FY 2024 must be 
obligated for the project by September 30, 2027. Section 5309 funds 
that remain unobligated after four fiscal years to the projects for 
which they were originally designated may be made available for other 
Section 5309 projects.

E. Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals With Disabilities 
Program (49 U.S.C. 5310)

    The Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities 
Program provides formula funding apportioned to direct recipients: 
States for rural (population under 50,000) and small urbanized areas 
(population from 50,000 to 199,999); and designated recipients chosen 
by the Governor of the State for large urbanized areas (populations of 
200,000 or more); or a State or local governmental entity that operates 
a public transportation service. The Section 5310 program provides 
capital and operating assistance to improve mobility for older adults 
and people with disabilities by removing barriers to transportation 
service and expanding transportation mobility options. This program 
supports transportation services planned, designed, and carried out to 
meet the transportation needs of older adults and people with 
disabilities.
    This program provides funds for capital and operating assistance 
for: (1) public transportation to meet the needs of older adults and 
people with disabilities when public transportation is insufficient, 
inappropriate, or unavailable; (2) public transportation projects that 
exceed the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); 
(3) public transportation projects that improve access to fixed-route 
service and decrease reliance on complementary paratransit; and (4) 
alternatives to public transportation that meet the transportation 
needs of older adults and people with disabilities.
    Section 5310 funds are available for capital and operating expenses 
to support the provision of transportation services to meet the 
specific needs of older adults and people with disabilities. Additional 
information on eligible expenses can be found in FTA Circular 9070.1G, 
``Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities 
Program Guidance and Application Instructions,'' dated July 7, 2014.
    For more information about the Section 5310 program, contact 
Destiny Buchanan, Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 493-8018 or 
[email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $1.9 billion over five years for the Enhanced 
Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities formula program, 
with an additional $250 million provided in advance appropriations.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    In FY 2024, $438,899,052 is appropriated for the program. A total 
of $438,190,064 is available for allocation after the oversight and 
administrative deduction, transfer to the U.S. DOT Office of Inspector 
General, and addition of reapportioned funds as shown in the table 
below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Section 5310 Formula Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................       $438,899,052
Oversight and Administrative.........................        (2,939,495)
Transfer to OIG......................................            (5,000)
Reapportioned to Large UZA...........................          1,881,680
Reapportioned to Small UZA...........................            287,337
Reapportioned to Rural Areas.........................             66,490
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................        438,190,064
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    Sixty percent of the funds are apportioned among designated 
recipients for urbanized areas with a population of 200,000 or more 
individuals. Twenty percent of the funds are apportioned among the 
States for their urbanized areas with a population of at least 50,000 
but less than 200,000. Twenty percent of the funds are apportioned 
among the States for rural areas with a population of less than 50,000. 
Census Data on Older Adults and People with Disabilities is used for 
the Section 5310 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with 
Disabilities Apportionments. Table 8, which displays the amounts 
apportioned under the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with 
Disabilities Program can be viewed at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments/table-8-fy-2024-section-5310-enhanced-mobility-seniors-and-individuals-0.
    Under the Section 5310 formula, funds are allocated using Census 
data on seniors (i.e., persons 65 and older) and people with 
disabilities. However, beginning in 2010, the Census Bureau stopped 
collecting this demographic information as part of its decennial 
census. Data on seniors and people with disabilities is now only 
available from the American Community Survey (ACS), which is conducted 
and published on a rolling basis. FTA's FY 2024 Section 5310 
apportionments incorporate ACS data published in December 2023, which 
is the most-recent data available. Data on seniors and persons with 
disabilities comes from the ACS 2018-2022 five-year data set, Table 
B18101, ``Sex by Age by Disability Status.''
4. Requirements
    Eligible direct recipients include States for rural and small 
urbanized areas and designated recipients chosen by the Governor of the 
State for large urbanized areas. Federally recognized Indian tribes and 
State or local governmental entities that operate a public 
transportation service are also eligible direct recipients.
    Eligible subrecipients include private nonprofit organizations, and 
State or local governmental authorities approved by a State to 
coordinate services for older adults and people with disabilities, or 
State or local governmental authorities which certify to the Governor 
that no nonprofit organizations or associations are readily available 
in an area to provide the service, or an operator of public 
transportation.
    Of the amounts apportioned to States and designated recipients, not 
less than 55 percent of funds must be used for ``traditional'' Section 
5310 projects--those public transportation capital projects planned, 
designed, and carried out to meet the specific needs of seniors and 
individuals with disabilities when public transportation is 
insufficient, unavailable, or inappropriate. Up to 45 percent of an 
area's apportionment may be used for additional public transportation 
projects that: are planned, designed, and carried out to meet the needs 
of seniors and individuals with disabilities when public transportation 
is insufficient, unavailable, or inappropriate; exceed the Americans 
with Disabilities Act minimum requirements; improve access to fixed-
route service and decrease reliance by individuals with disabilities on 
ADA complementary paratransit service; or provide alternatives to 
public transportation that assist seniors and individuals with 
disabilities with transportation.
    All projects funded under this program must be included in a 
locally developed, coordinated public transit-human service 
transportation plan.
5. Period of Availability
    For Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities 
Program

[[Page 47219]]

funds apportioned under this notice, the period of availability is the 
year of apportionment plus two additional years. Accordingly, funds 
apportioned in FY 2024 must be obligated in grants by September 30, 
2026. Any FY 2024 apportioned funds that remain unobligated at the 
close of business on September 30, 2026, will revert to FTA for 
reapportionment among the States and urbanized areas.
6. Other Program Highlights
    Recipients may use a competitive selection process to select 
projects, but it is not required. A State may transfer funds 
apportioned to small urbanized areas and rural areas to other parts of 
the State if it can certify that the needs are being met in the area to 
which the funds were originally apportioned. Funds may not be 
transferred out of a large urbanized area. Funds apportioned to large 
urbanized areas may not be used outside the urbanized area to which 
they were apportioned.
    Transit service providers receiving Section 5310 funds may 
coordinate and assist in providing meal delivery services on a regular 
basis as long as this does not conflict with the provision of transit 
services.
    Additional information about the requirements for the Section 5310 
program can be found in FTA Circular 9070.1G, ``Enhanced Mobility of 
Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program Guidance and 
Application Instructions,'' dated July 7, 2014.

F. Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program (49 U.S.C. 5311)

    The Rural Areas Program provides formula funding to States and 
federally recognized Indian tribes for the purpose of supporting public 
transportation in areas with a population of less than 50,000. Funding 
may be used for capital, operating, planning, job access and reverse 
commute projects, and State administration expenses. Eligible 
subrecipients include State and local governmental authorities, Indian 
Tribes, private non-profit organizations, and private operators of 
public transportation services, including intercity bus companies. 
Indian Tribes are eligible direct recipients under Section 5311, both 
for funds apportioned to the States and for projects apportioned or 
selected to be funded with funds set aside for a separate Tribal 
Transit Program.
    For more information about the Formula Grants for Rural Areas 
program, contact Matt Lange, Office of Transit Programs, at (312) 353-
4118 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $4.6 billion over five years to provide financial 
assistance by formula for rural areas under Section 5311 and three 
other programs: the Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP); the 
Appalachian Development Public Transportation Assistance Program; and 
the Tribal Transit Program. These separate programs are described in 
the Sections that follow.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $825,216,831 is 
available for formula grants within the Rural Area Formula Program. The 
total amount apportioned to the program is $938,673,323 as shown in the 
table below, after the addition of Section 5340 Growing States, 
reapportioned funds and the oversight deduction.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Grants for Rural Areas Formula Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Appropriation..........................       $825,216,831
Oversight Deduction..................................        (4,584,538)
Section 5340 Growing States..........................        117,577,660
Reapportioned Funds..................................            463,370
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................        938,673,323
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    FTA apportions Section 5311 funds to the States by a statutory 
formula. The majority of rural formula funds (83.15 percent) are 
apportioned based on land area and population factors. In this first 
tier, no state may receive more than 5 percent of the amount 
apportioned on the basis of land area. The remaining rural formula 
funds (16.85 percent) are apportioned based on land area, vehicle 
revenue miles, and low-income population factors. In this second tier, 
no State may receive more than 5 percent of the amount apportioned on 
the basis of land area, or more than 5 percent of the amounts 
apportioned for vehicle revenue miles. In addition to funds made 
available under Section 5311, FTA adds amounts apportioned based on 
rural population according to the Growing States formula factors of 49 
U.S.C. 5340 to the amounts apportioned to the States under the Section 
5311 formula. Before FTA apportions Section 5311 funds to the States, 
FTA subtracts funding from the total available amounts for the 
Appalachian Development Transportation Assistance Program, the Tribal 
Transit Program, the Rural Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP), 
and FTA oversight activities.
    Data from the Rural Module of the National Transit Database (NTD) 
was used for this apportionment, including data from directly reporting 
Indian tribes. Data from public transportation systems that reported to 
the Annual (Urbanized Area) Module, and not attributable to an 
urbanized area, was also included.
4. Requirements
    The Section 5311 program provides funding for capital, operating, 
planning, job access and reverse commute projects, and administration 
expenses for public transit service in rural areas under 50,000 in 
population. The planning activities undertaken with Section 5311 funds 
are in addition to those awarded to the State under Section 5305 and 
must be used specifically for rural areas' needs.
a. Intercity Bus Transportation
    Each State must spend no less than 15 percent of its annual Rural 
Areas Formula apportionment for the development and support of 
intercity bus transportation, unless it can certify, after consultation 
with affected intercity bus service providers, that the intercity bus 
service needs of the State are adequately being met.
b. State Administration
    States may elect to use up to 10 percent of their apportionment at 
100 percent Federal share to administer the Section 5311 program and 
provide technical assistance to subrecipients.
c. Eligibility for Safety Certification Training
    Recipients of Section 5311 funds are permitted to use not more than 
0.5 percent of their formula funds under the Rural Areas program to pay 
not more than 80 percent of the cost of participation for an employee 
who is directly responsible for safety oversight to participate in 
public transportation safety certification training. Safety 
certification training program requirements are established in 
accordance with Section 5329.
    The Federal share for capital assistance is 80 percent and for 
operating assistance is 50 percent, except that States eligible for the 
sliding scale match under FHWA programs may use that match ratio for 
Section 5311 capital projects and 62.5 percent of the sliding scale 
capital match ratio for operating projects.
    Each State prepares an annual program of projects, which must 
provide for fair and equitable distribution of funds within the States, 
including Indian reservations, and must

[[Page 47220]]

provide for maximum feasible coordination with transportation services 
assisted by other Federal sources.
    Additional program guidance for the Rural Areas Program is found in 
FTA Circular 9040.1G, ``Formula Grants for Rural Areas: Program 
Guidance and Application Instructions,'' dated October 24, 2014, and is 
supplemented by additional information and changes provided in this 
notice and that may be posted to FTA's Section 5311 web page (https://www.transit.dot.gov/rural-formula-grants-5311).
5. Period of Availability
    The Rural Areas program funds apportioned in this notice are 
available for obligation during FY 2024 plus two additional years. Any 
FY 2024 apportioned funds that remain unobligated at the close of 
business on September 30, 2026, will revert to FTA for reapportionment 
under the Rural Areas program.

G. Rural Transportation Assistance Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(b)(3))

    The Rural Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) provides funding 
to states to assist in the design and implementation of training and 
technical assistance projects, research, and other support services 
tailored to meet the needs of transit operators in rural areas.
    The National Rural Transit Assistance Program (NRTAP) is 
administered through a cooperative agreement and re-competed at five-
year intervals. In 2019, FTA awarded a cooperative agreement to 
Neponset Valley Transportation Management Association to administer 
NRTAP. NRTAP addresses the training and technical assistance needs of 
rural and tribal transit operators across the Nation and supports State 
RTAP programs. NRTAP's comprehensive set of free technical assistance 
programs and resources includes training materials, webinars, 
newsletters and technical briefs, peer resources, research, and 
innovative technology initiatives.
    For more information about the Rural Transportation Assistance 
Program (RTAP) contact Matt Lange, Office of Transit Programs, at (312) 
353-4118 or [email protected]. For more information about the 
National Rural Transit Assistance Program (NRTAP) contact Heather 
Edmonds, Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 366-3748 or 
[email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorizes $91.6 million over five years to carry out this 
program. Of this amount, 15 percent is reserved for the National RTAP 
program.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $18,338,152 is 
available for the RTAP. In FY 2024, besides the $2.75 million takedown 
for National RTAP, an additional $500,000 was appropriated for 
technical assistance to Tribes through National RTAP. The total amount 
apportioned for RTAP is $15,587,429 as shown in the table below, after 
the deduction for NRTAP.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Rural Transportation Assistance Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................        $18,338,152
National RTAP........................................        (2,750,723)
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................         15,587,429
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    State allocations are shown in Table 9 posted on FTA's website 
under the FY 2024 Apportionments page.
3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    FTA allocates funds to the States by an administrative formula. 
First, FTA allocates $65,000 to each State and Puerto Rico ($10,000 to 
territories), and then allocates the balance based on rural population.
4. Requirements
    Eligible expenses include the design and implementation of training 
and technical assistance projects, research, and other support services 
tailored to meet the needs of transit operators in rural areas.
    States may use the funds to undertake research, training, technical 
assistance, and other support services to meet the needs of transit 
operators in rural areas. These funds should be used in conjunction 
with a State's administration of the Rural Areas Formula Program and 
may also support the rural components of the Section 5310 program.
5. Period of Availability
    The Section 5311 RTAP funds apportioned in this notice are 
available for obligation in FY 2024 plus two additional years, 
consistent with the Section 5311 program. Any FY 2024 apportioned funds 
that remain unobligated at the close of business on September 30, 2026, 
will revert to FTA for reapportionment under the Rural Areas program.

H. Appalachian Development Public Transportation Assistance Program (49 
U.S.C. 5311(c)(3))

    This program provides additional funding to support public 
transportation in the Appalachian region. There are 13 eligible States 
that receive an allocation under this provision. The States and their 
allocation are shown in Table 9 posted on FTA's website under the FY 
2024 Apportionments page at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments.
    For more information about the Appalachian Development Public 
Transportation Assistance (ADTAP) Program, contact Matt Lange, Office 
of Transit Programs, at (312) 353-4118 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    A total of $137.4 million is authorized over five years by the IIJA 
to support public transportation in the Appalachian region.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $27,507,228 
million is available. The total amount apportioned to the program is 
$27,549,026 as shown in the table below, after the addition of 
reapportioned funds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Appalachian Development Public Transportation Assistance Program--FY
                                  2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Available..............................        $27,507,228
Reapportioned Funds..................................             41,798
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................         27,549,026
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    FTA apportions the funds using percentages established under 
section 9.5(b) of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Code 
(subtitle IV of title 40 U.S.C.). Allocations are based in general on 
each State's remaining estimated need to complete eligible Sections of 
the Appalachian Development Highway System as determined from the 
latest percentages of available cost estimates for completion of the 
System. Allocations contain upper and lower limits in amounts 
determined by the Commission and are made in accordance with 
legislative instructions. On October 3, 2023, section 9.5 (b) of the 
ARC Code was updated to reflect 2021 Cost-to-Complete Estimates. FTA's 
ADTAP allocations to States reflect the new basis of allocation and are 
reflected in the FY 2024 Apportionments.

[[Page 47221]]

4. Requirements
    Funds apportioned under this program can be used for purposes 
consistent with Section 5311 to support public transportation in the 
Appalachian region. Funds can be applied for in the State's annual 
Section 5311 grant. States that are eligible for the ADTAP may use 
amounts that cannot be used for operating expenses for a highway 
project if the governor approves the use in writing after appropriate 
notice and an opportunity for comment and appeal are provided to 
affected public transportation providers in the Appalachian region. In 
order for FTA to consider the transfer to FHWA, a State must provide 
documentation to the FTA regional office that includes a description of 
the consultation used and certification by the local providers that all 
local operating needs are met. Additional information about the 
requirements for this Section can be found in Chapter VII of FTA 
Circular 9040.1G, ``Formula Grants for Rural Areas: Program Guidance 
and Application Instructions,'' dated October 24, 2014.
5. Period of Availability
    Section 5311 Appalachian program funds are available the year of 
apportionment plus two additional years, consistent with the Section 
5311 program. Any FY 2024 apportioned funds that remain unobligated at 
the close of business on September 30, 2026, will revert to FTA for 
reapportionment under the Rural Areas program.

I. Formula Grants for Public Transportation on Indian Reservations 
Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(j))

    The Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program or Tribal 
Transit Program (TTP) is funded as a takedown from the Section 5311 
program. Eligible direct recipients are federally recognized American 
Indian Tribes and Alaskan Native Villages, groups and communities 
providing public transportation in rural areas. The TTP funds are 
allocated for grants to eligible recipients for any purpose eligible 
under Section 5311, which includes capital, operating, planning, and 
job access and reverse commute projects. No local match is required for 
TTP formula funds.
    For more information about the Tribal Transit Program contact Elan 
Flippin-Jones, Office of Transit Programs at (202) 366-3800 or 
[email protected].
1. Authorized Funding
    A total of $229 million is authorized over five years, of which 
$183.25 million is for a formula program and $45.8 million is for a 
competitive grant program.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $36,676,304 is 
available for the Tribal Transit formula program. The total apportioned 
for the formula program is $37,952,037 after the addition of 
reapportioned funds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program Formula Grants--FY
                                  2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Appropriation Available................        $36,676,304
Reapportioned Funds..................................          1,275,733
                                                      ------------------
Total Apportioned....................................         37,952,037
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    Funding is allocated by formula to eligible Indian tribes providing 
public transportation on tribal lands in rural areas. The formula 
apportionment shown in Table 10 is based on a statutory formula which 
includes three tiers. Tiers 1 and 2 are based on data reported to NTD 
by Indian tribes; Tier 3 is based on 2018-2022 American Community 
Survey data. The three tiers for the formula are: Tier 1--50 percent 
based on vehicle revenue miles reported to the NTD; Tier 2--25 percent 
provided in equal shares to Indian Tribes reporting at least 200,000 
vehicle revenue miles to the NTD; Tier 3--25 percent based on Indian 
tribes providing public transportation on tribal lands (American Indian 
Areas, Alaska Native Areas, and Hawaiian Home Lands) on which more than 
1,000 low income individuals reside. If more than one Tribe provides 
public transportation services on tribal lands in a single tribal 
statistical area, and the tribes cannot determine how to allocate Tier 
3 funds, FTA will allocate the funds based on the relative portion of 
transit service (as defined by unlinked passenger trips) operated by 
each tribe, as reported to the National Transit Database.
4. Requirements
    Formula funds apportioned under this program can be used for 
purposes consistent with Section 5311 to support public transportation 
on Indian reservations in rural areas.
    Section 5335 requires NTD reporting for all direct recipients and 
subrecipients of Section 5311 funds. This reporting requirement has and 
continues to apply to the Tribal Transit Program. Tribes that provide 
public transportation in rural areas are reminded to report annually so 
they are included in the TTP formula apportionments. Tribes needing 
assistance with reporting to the NTD should contact the NTD Helpdesk: 
[email protected] or the Appian NTD Reporting Application Support line: 
(877) 561-7466.
    Additional program guidance for the TTP is found in FTA Circular 
9040.1G, ``Formula Grants for Rural Areas: Program Guidance and 
Application Instructions,'' dated October 24, 2014, and is supplemented 
by additional information and changes provided in this notice and that 
may be posted to FTA's Tribal Transit web page.
5. Period of Availability
    Funding under the TTP is available for the year of apportionment or 
allocation plus two additional years, consistent with the Section 5311 
program. Any FY 2024 formula funds that remain unobligated at the close 
of business on September 30, 2026, will revert to FTA for 
reapportionment under the TTP.
6. Other Program Highlights
    The funds set aside for the TTP are not meant to replace or reduce 
funds that Indian tribes receive from States through the Section 5311 
program but are to be used to enhance public transportation on Indian 
reservations and transit serving Tribal communities. Funds allocated to 
Indian tribes by a State may be included in the State's Section 5311 
application or awarded by FTA in a grant directly to the Indian tribe. 
FTA encourages Indian tribes intending to apply to FTA as direct 
recipients to contact the appropriate FTA Regional Office at the 
earliest opportunity.
    TTP recipients must comply with all applicable Federal statutes, 
regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other Federal 
requirements in carrying out the project supported by the FTA grant. 
FTA assists tribes with understanding these requirements through Tribal 
Transit Technical Assistance Workshops, and the Tribal Transit 
Technical Assistance Assessments initiative. Through these assessments, 
FTA collaborates with Tribal Transit recipients to review processes and 
identify areas in need of improvement and then assist with solutions to 
address these needs--all in a supportive and mutually beneficial 
manner. Information about upcoming workshops and other technical 
assistance opportunities will be posted

[[Page 47222]]

on the FTA website. FTA's Regional Tribal Transit Liaisons are 
available to assist Tribes with applying for and managing FTA grants. A 
list of Regional Tribal Transit Liaisons can be found on FTA's website 
at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/federal-transit-administrations-regional-tribal-liaisons.
    The Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program (TTSGP) was 
authorized by the FAST Act and is codified at 23 U.S.C. 207. Grant 
funding made available through the FTA formula or competitive TTP may 
be included in a Tribal Transportation Self-Governance funding 
agreement if there is an existing Self-Governance compact in place 
between the tribe and the Department of Transportation. If funds are 
transferred to a Tribal Self-Governance funding agreement, the funds 
will be subject to the requirements and provisions of the Tribal 
Transportation Self-Governance Program regulation at 49 CFR part 29 and 
may be used only for the purpose for which they were awarded.
    For more information about the Tribal Transit Program, please 
contact Elan Flippin-Jones at [email protected] or (202) 366-3800.

J. Public Transportation Innovation (49 U.S.C. 5312)

    FTA's innovative research program includes three distinct programs: 
(a) a Research, Development, Demonstration, Deployment, and Evaluation 
program (49 U.S.C. 5312(b)-(e)); (b) a Low or No Emission Vehicle 
Component Assessment Program (LoNo CAP) (49 U.S.C. 5312(h)); and (c) a 
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) (49 U.S.C. 5312(i)).
    For more information about the Public Transportation Innovation 
program, contact Mary Leary, Office of Research, Demonstration and 
Innovation at (202) 366-4052 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Funding
    IIJA authorizes $192.8 million over five years.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $42,160,647 is 
available for the Public Transportation Innovation program. The total 
amounts apportioned to each subcomponent of the program is shown below 
in the table.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Public Transportation Innovation--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research, Development, Demonstration, Deployment, and        $30,031,519
 Evaluation..........................................
Low or No Emission Vehicle Component Testing.........         $5,237,739
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)..........         $6,891,389
Total Apportioned....................................        $42,160,647
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Allocation of Funds
    Section 5312 funds are allocated according to the authorized 
purposes and amounts described above, and then remaining amounts are 
subject to discretionary allocations where not specifically authorized. 
For FY 2024, FTA intends to fund projects and activities in support of 
the FTA FY 2024 action plan in five major areas: safety, climate and 
resiliency, equity, economic strength, and transformation. In addition 
to the amounts authorized for Section 5312 by IIJA, the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024, provided $3,568,868 to support technical 
assistance, research, demonstration, or deployment activities or 
projects to accelerate the adoption of zero emission buses in public 
transit, as authorized under Section 5312. Projects may be selected 
through competitive Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), 
noncompetitive awards, and partnerships with other Federal entities 
through interagency agreements. Potential recipients can register to 
receive information on NOFOs that are released under this program on 
GRANTS.GOV.
4. Eligible Expenses
    Eligible expenses include activities involving research; innovation 
and development; demonstration, deployment, and evaluation; accelerated 
implementation and deployment of advanced digital construction 
management systems; evaluation; low or no emission vehicle component 
testing and research; and the Transit Cooperative Research Program.
5. Requirements
    Generally, the Government share of the cost of a project carried 
out under Section 5312 shall not exceed 80 percent, except if there is 
substantial public interest or benefit, FTA may approve a greater 
Federal share. The non-Government share of the cost of a project 
carried out under Section 5312 may be derived from in-kind 
contributions. If FTA determines that there would be a clear and direct 
financial benefit to an entity under a grant, contract, cooperative 
agreement, or other agreement under Section 5312, FTA shall establish a 
Government share of the costs of the project to be carried out under 
the grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or other agreement that is 
consistent with the benefit. However, for the Lo-No Component Testing 
Program, the Government share is 50 percent; the remaining 50 percent 
of the costs will be paid by amounts recovered through the fees 
established by the testing facilities. There is no match requirement 
for the TCRP.
    Application instructions and program management guidelines are set 
forth in FTA Circular 6100.1E, ``Research, Technical Assistance and 
Training Program: Application Instructions and Program Management 
Guidelines'' dated April 10, 2015. All research recipients are required 
to work with FTA to develop approved Statements of Work.
    Pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Development Act, a 
portion of the Section 5312 funds must be set aside for the 
Department's Small Business Innovation Research program to address high 
priority research that will demonstrate innovative, economic, accurate, 
and durable technologies, devices, applications, or solutions to 
significantly improve current transit-related service including transit 
vehicle operation, safety, infrastructure and environmental 
sustainability, mobility, rider experience, or broadband communication.
6. Period of Availability
    FTA establishes the period in which the funds must be obligated to 
the project. If the funds are not obligated within that period of time, 
they revert to FTA for reallocation under the program.

K. Technical Assistance and Workforce Development (49 U.S.C. 5314)

    The Technical Assistance and Workforce Development program, 49 
U.S.C. 5314, provides assistance to: (1) carry out technical assistance 
activities that enable more effective and efficient delivery of 
transportation services, foster compliance with Federal laws, and 
improve public transportation service; (2) develop standards and best 
practices for the transit industry; and (3) address public 
transportation workforce needs through research, outreach, training and 
the implementation of a frontline workforce grant program, and conduct 
training and educational programs in support of the public 
transportation industry.

[[Page 47223]]

    For more information about the Technical Assistance and Workforce 
Development program, contact Mary Leary, Office of Research, 
Demonstration, and Innovation at 202-366-4052 or [email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorizes $61.98 million over five years for technical 
assistance. Of this amount, $34.4 million is authorized for the 
National Transit Institute under Section 5314(c).
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    The IIJA authorized $12,404,500 for FY 2024 for the Technical 
Assistance and Workforce Development program, as shown in the table 
below. The total apportioned for the program is $13,013,111 after the 
deduction of for National Transit Institute and the inclusion of 
$7,500,000 in additional appropriations under the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2024.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Technical Assistance and Workforce Development--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Technical Assistance, Standards Development & Human          $12,404,500
 Resource Training...................................
National Transit Institute...........................        (6,891,389)
Additional FY 2024 Appropriation.....................          7,500,000
                                                      ------------------
    Total Appropriated...............................         13,013,111
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Allocation of Funds
    Under the appropriated amounts for Section 5314, $6.89 million is 
available for the National Transit Institute (NTI) in FY 2024. The 
remaining $13 million of appropriated funds will be allocated in 
support of both FTA and USDOT strategic goals for technical assistance, 
standards development, and workforce development. Projects may be 
selected through Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) or sole source 
cooperative agreements. Potential recipients can register to receive 
notification of NOFOs under this program on GRANTS.GOV.
    Once selected, FTA enters into cooperative agreements, contracts, 
or other agreements to award funds and manage the projects carried out 
under Section 5314.
4. Eligible Expenses
    Eligible expenses include activities involving (a) technical 
assistance; (b) standards development; and (c) human resources and 
training, which includes workforce development programs and activities 
as well as supportive services. Supportive services are wraparound 
services that help individuals, and especially those from 
underrepresented and underserved groups, enroll in and successfully 
complete training. More information on supportive services can be found 
at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/federal-transit-administration-faqs-supportive-services.
    Eligible technical assistance activities may include activities to 
support: (a) compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); 
(b) compliance with coordinating planning and human services 
transportation; (c) meeting the transportation needs of elderly 
individuals; (d) increasing transit ridership in coordination with MPOs 
and other entities, particularly around transit-oriented development; 
(e) addressing transportation equity with regard to the effect that 
transportation planning, investment, and operations have for low-income 
and minority individuals; (f) facilitating best practices to promote 
bus driver safety; (g) compliance with Buy America and pre- and post-
award audits; (h) assisting with the development and deployment of low 
and no emission vehicles or components for vehicles; (i) and other 
technical assistance activities that are necessary to advance the 
interests of public transportation.
    Eligible standards activities include the development of voluntary 
and consensus-based standards and best practices by the industry to 
include those needed for safety, fare collection, intelligent 
transportation systems, accessibility, procurement, security, asset 
management, operations, maintenance, vehicle propulsion, 
communications, and vehicle electronics.
    Eligible human resources and training activities include (a) 
employment training programs; (b) outreach programs to increase 
employment for veterans, females, individuals with disabilities, and 
minorities in public transportation activities; (c) research on public 
transportation personnel and training needs; (d) training and 
assistance for veteran and minority business opportunities; and (e) 
consensus-based national training standards and certifications in 
partnership with industry stakeholders. FTA funding directly allocated 
for these eligible purposes must be done through a competitive 
frontline workforce development program as required in the 
authorization. Should FTA allocate funds for these purposes, it will 
advertise the available funding in a Notice of Funding Opportunity 
(NOFO) on GRANTS.GOV and on its website.
5. Requirements
    Generally, the Government's share of the cost of a project carried 
out using a grant under Section 5314 shall not exceed 80 percent. 
However, for the human resources and training, including the Innovative 
Public Transportation Frontline Workforce Development Program, the 
Government's share cannot exceed 50 percent. The Federal share for 
other types of awards will be stated in the agreement. In some cases, 
FTA may require a higher non-Federal share if FTA determines a 
recipient would obtain a clear and direct financial benefit from the 
project, or if the non-Federal share is an evaluation factor under a 
competitive selection process. There is no match requirement for the 
National Transit Institute.
    Application instructions and program management guidelines are set 
forth in FTA Circular 6100.1E, ``Research, Technical Assistance and 
Training Program: Application Instructions and Program Management 
Guidelines,'' dated April 10, 2015.
    Under 49 U.S.C. 5314(b)(4), recipients may use no more than 0.5 
percent of their Section 5307, 5337 and 5339 funds to support workforce 
development activities. In addition, 49 U.S.C. 5314(c)(4) allows 
recipients to use no more than 0.5 percent of their 5307, 5337, and 
5339 funds to attend NTI training. Both provisions allow recipients to 
use these funds to pay up to 80 percent of the cost of training.
6. Period of Availability
    FTA establishes the period in which the funds must be obligated to 
the project. If the funds are not obligated within that period of time, 
they revert to FTA for reallocation under the program.
7. Other Program Highlights
    For more information about the NTI, contact Lisa Colbert, at the 
FTA Office of Research, Demonstration, and Innovation (TRI): 
[email protected] or call 202-366-9261.

L. Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program (49 U.S.C. 5324)

    FTA's Emergency Relief (ER) Program is authorized to provide 
funding for public transportation expenses incurred as a result of an 
emergency or major disaster. Congress appropriates funding for the ER 
Program periodically as needed. In the event of a publicly declared 
emergency or disaster, eligible expenses will include emergency 
operating expenses, such as evacuations, rescue operations, and 
expenses incurred to protect assets in advance of a disaster, as well 
as capital projects to protect, repair, reconstruct, or replace 
equipment and facilities of a

[[Page 47224]]

public transportation system in the United States or on an Indian 
reservation that the Secretary determines is in danger of suffering 
serious damage or has suffered serious damage as a result of an 
emergency. Additional information on eligible expenses and the process 
for applying for ER Program funding can be found in FTA's ``Emergency 
Relief Manual: A Reference Manual for States & Transit Agencies on 
Response and Recovery from Declared Disasters and FTA's Emergency 
Relief Program (49 U.S.C. 5324),'' dated March 27, 2023.
    Recipients of FTA funding affected by a declared emergency or 
disaster are authorized to use funds apportioned under Sections 5307 
and 5311 for emergency purposes. Recipients are advised that formula 
funds used for emergency purposes will not be replaced or restored with 
funding available through FTA under the ER Program or by the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
    In the event of a disaster affecting a public transportation 
system, the affected recipient should contact its FTA Regional Office 
as soon as practicable to determine whether Emergency Relief funds are 
available, and to notify FTA that it plans to seek reimbursement for 
emergency operations or repairs that have already taken place or are in 
process. If Emergency Relief funds are unavailable the recipient may 
seek reimbursement from FEMA. Properly documented costs for which the 
recipient has not received reimbursement from FEMA may later be 
reimbursed by grants made either from Section 5324 funding (if 
appropriated) or Sections 5307 and 5311 program funding, once the 
eligible recipient formally applies to FTA for reimbursement and FTA 
determines that the expenses are eligible for emergency relief.
    In addition, before receiving a grant under this Section following 
an emergency, the recipient shall: (1) submit documentation 
demonstrating proof of insurance required under Federal law for all 
structures related to the grant application; and (2) certify that the 
recipient has insurance required under State law for all structures 
related to the grant application.
    Additional information about the Emergency Relief program is 
available on the FTA website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/emergency-relief-program.
    For more information, contact Tom Wilson, Office of Program 
Management, at 202-366-5279 or [email protected].

M. Public Transportation Safety Program (49 U.S.C. 5329)

    Section 5329(e)(6) provides funding to support States with rail 
fixed guideway public transportation systems (rail transit systems) to 
develop and carry out State Safety Oversight (SSO) programs consistent 
with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5329. For more information, contact 
Maria Wright, Office of Safety Review at (202) 366-5922 or 
[email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    A total of $251.6 million is authorized over five years for the 
State Safety Oversight Program.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $50,347,409 is 
available for the State Safety Oversight (SSO) formula program for FY 
2024, which is 0.75 percent of the amount made available for section 
5307 grants. The total apportioned for the formula program is 
$51,122,059 after the addition of reapportioned funds, as shown in the 
table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Public Transportation Safety Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................        $50,347,409
Reapportioned Funds..................................            774,650
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................         51,122,059
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    FTA will continue to allocate funds to the States by an 
administrative formula, which is detailed in the Federal Register 
notice which apportioned the initial SSO Formula Grant Program funds 
(79 FR 13380). Grant funds for the SSO program are apportioned to 
eligible States using a three-tier formula based on statutory 
requirements, which apportion 60 percent of available funds based on 
rail transit system vehicle passenger miles (PMT), vehicle revenue 
miles (VRM), and directional route miles (DRM), 20 percent of available 
funds equally to each eligible State, and 20 percent based on the 
number of rail transit systems in each eligible State.
4. Requirements
    FTA requires each applicant to demonstrate in its grant application 
that its proposed grant activities will develop, lead to, or carry out 
a State Safety Oversight program that meets the requirements under 49 
U.S.C. 5329(e). Grant funds may be used for program operational and 
administrative expenses, including employee training activities. Please 
see the Federal Register notice (79 FR 13380) for more information.
    IIJA enhanced State safety oversight programs by strengthening rail 
inspection practices by providing State safety oversight agencies 
authority to collect and analyze data and conduct risk-based 
inspections of rail fixed guideway transportation systems. Recipients 
may also use funds in support of the development and implementation of 
transmission-based train control systems that enforce train speed 
regulation and ensure train separation and collision avoidance. FTA 
continues to be authorized to take action to address unsafe conditions 
or practices which could include issuing restrictions and prohibitions 
or withholding funds for non-compliance with safety requirements.
5. Period of Availability
    SSO Formula Grant Program funds are available for the year of 
apportionment plus two additional years. Any FY 2024 funds that remain 
unobligated as of September 30, 2026, will revert to FTA for 
reapportionment under the SSO Formula Grant Program.

N. State of Good Repair Program (49 U.S.C. 5337)

    The State of Good Repair (SGR) Program provides capital assistance 
for maintenance, replacement, and rehabilitation projects of existing 
high intensity fixed guideway and high intensity motorbus systems to 
maintain a state of good repair. Additionally, SGR grants are eligible 
for developing and implementing Transit Asset Management plans. This 
program provides funding for the following fixed guideway transit 
modes: rapid rail (heavy rail), commuter rail, light rail, hybrid rail, 
monorail, automated guideway, trolleybus (using overhead catenary), 
aerial tramway, cable car, inclined plane (funicular), passenger ferry, 
and bus rapid transit. Fixed-route bus capital projects for services 
operating on high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) facilities are also funded 
through the High Intensity Motorbus tier of this program. Of the amount 
authorized for Section 5337 each year, $300 million is set aside for 
the competitive Rail Vehicle Replacement Program.
    FTA published the State of Good Repair Program guidance, FTA 
Circular 5300.1, ``State of Good Repair Grants Program: Guidance and 
Application Instructions,'' dated January 28, 2015.
    For more information about the SGR program, contact Bret Martin, 
Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 366-0870 or [email protected].

[[Page 47225]]

1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $18.39 billion over five years for the State of 
Good Repair Program, including $1.5 billion for the Rail Vehicle 
Replacement Program, and provided an additional $4.75 billion in 
advance appropriations.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    For FY 2024, $4,630,934,484 is available for the State of Good 
Repair Program under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, and the 
IIJA advance appropriations. The total amount apportioned is 
$4,275,256,577 after the deductions for oversight and transfers to OIG, 
the set-aside for the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program, and the 
addition of reapportioned funds as shown in the table below. Of the 
total amount apportioned, $4,153,415,511 is available for the High 
Intensity Fixed Guideway Formula and $121,841,066 for the High 
Intensity Motorbus Formula.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              State of Good Repair Formula Program--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................     $4,630,934,484
Oversight Deductions.................................       (55,714,345)
Transfer to OIG......................................           (95,000)
Reapportioned Funds..................................            131,438
FY 2024 Rail Replacement Competitive Grant...........      (300,000,000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Available to Apportion.....................      4,275,256,577
                                                      ------------------
Total Available to High Intensity Fixed Guideway           4,153,415,511
 Formula.............................................
Total Available to High Intensity Motorbus Formula...        121,841,066
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    FTA allocates State of Good Repair Program funds according to a 
statutory formula. Funds are apportioned to urbanized areas with high 
intensity fixed guideway and high intensity motorbus systems that have 
been in operation for at least seven Federal fiscal years. This means 
that only segments of high intensity fixed guideway and motorbus 
systems that entered into revenue service on or before September 30, 
2016, are included in the formula, as identified in the NTD.
    The law requires that 97.15 percent of the total amount authorized 
for the State of Good Repair Program be apportioned to urbanized areas 
with ``High Intensity Fixed Guideway'' systems. The apportionments to 
urbanized areas with ``High Intensity Fixed Guideway'' systems are 
determined by two equal elements: (1) the proportion of the amount an 
urbanized area would have received in FY 2011 to the total amount 
apportioned to all urbanized areas in FY 2011 using new fixed guideway 
definition; and (2) the proportion of vehicle revenue miles of an 
urbanized area to the total vehicle revenue miles of all urbanized 
areas and the proportion of directional route miles of an urbanized 
area to the total directional route miles of all urbanized areas. High 
Intensity Motorbus systems will receive the remaining 2.85 percent of 
the total amount authorized for the State of Good Repair Program, and 
the apportionments to urbanized areas are based on vehicle revenue 
miles and directional route miles.
    Vehicle revenue miles and directional route miles attributable to 
an urbanized area must be placed in revenue service at least seven 
years before the first day of the fiscal year. FTA will apportion funds 
to designated recipients in the UZAs (see Section IV.C. of this notice 
for more information about designated recipients) with high intensity 
fixed guideway and/or high intensity motorbus systems operating at 
least seven years. The designated recipients will then allocate funds 
as appropriate to recipients that are public entities in the urbanized 
areas and provide split letters to FTA. FTA can make grants to direct 
recipients after sub-allocation of funds.
4. Eligible Expenses
    Eligible activities include projects that maintain, rehabilitate, 
and replace transit assets, as well as projects that implement Transit 
Asset Management plans. Additionally, training and workforce 
activities, including supportive services, authorized under 49 U.S.C. 
5314(b) and (c) are eligible for the State of Good Repair Program 
funds; funds for such activities are limited to 1 percent of the total 
amount apportioned to the recipient (0.5 percent for each of the 
authorized activities). See Section IV.K. of this notice for more 
information on workforce development activities.
5. Requirements
    In addition to the program guidance found in the Circular, all 
recipients must certify that they will comply with the rule issued 
under Section 5326 for the Transit Asset Management plan, 49 CFR part 
625, and SGR projects must be included in recipients' Transit Asset 
Management plans.
6. Period of Availability
    The State of Good Repair Program funds apportioned in this notice 
are available for obligation during FY 2024 plus three additional 
years. Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 2024 must be obligated in 
grants by September 30, 2027. Any FY 2024 apportioned funds that remain 
unobligated at the close of business on September 30, 2027, will revert 
to FTA for reapportionment under the State of Good Repair Program.

O. Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program (49 U.S.C. 5339)

    The Section 5339 program provides funding to replace, rehabilitate, 
and purchase buses and related equipment as well as construct bus-
related facilities.
    Additional guidance on the Section 5339(a) Buses and Bus Facilities 
Formula Program can be found in FTA Circular 5100.1, ``Bus and Bus 
Facilities Program: Guidance and Application Instructions,'' published 
on May 18, 2015. Information on the Section 5339(b) Buses and Bus 
Facilities Competitive Program and the Section 5339(c) Low or No 
Emission Program can be found each year in the Notice of Funding 
Opportunity.
    For more information about the Buses and Bus Facilities Formula and 
Competitive Programs and the Low or No Emission Program, contact 
Kirsten Wiard-Bauer, Office of Transit Programs at (202) 366-7052 or 
[email protected].
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized a total of $5.5 billion over five years for the 
Section 5339 Program. IIJA provided an additional $5.25 billion over 
five years in advance appropriations for the Section 5339(c) Low or No 
Emission Program.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    For FY 2024, $2,151,234,651 is available for Grants for Buses and 
Bus Facilities under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, and the 
IIJA advance appropriations. Of this amount: $630,276,840 is available 
for the Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program after the deduction 
for oversight and the addition of reapportioned funds; $390,045,823 is 
available for the Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program after 
the takedowns for oversight and the Low or No Emission Program; and 
$1,103,963,762 (including advance appropriations) is available for the 
Low or No Emission Program after the takedowns for oversight and 
transfer to the OIG. These amounts are detailed in the table below.

[[Page 47226]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           5339(a) Formula Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Appropriation Available................       $632,711,140
Oversight Deduction..................................        (4,745,334)
Reapportioned Funds..................................          2,311,034
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................        630,276,840
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Section 5339(b) Competitive Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Appropriation Available................        468,523,511
Oversight Deduction..................................        (3,513,926)
Less Section 5339(c) Low or No Emission Grants              (74,963,762)
 (Competitive).......................................
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................        390,045,823
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Section 5339(c) Low or No Emission Grants (Competitive)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total FY 2024 Available..............................      1,124,963,762
Less FY 2024 Oversight and Admin.....................       (20,895,000)
Less FY 2024 Transfer to OIG.........................          (105,000)
                                                      ------------------
    Total Available for Allocation...................      1,103,963,762
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Allocation
    Section 5339(a) Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program funds are 
apportioned to States, territories, and designated recipients based on 
a statutory formula. Under the national distribution, each State is 
allocated $4 million, and each territory is allocated $1 million, for 
use anywhere in the State or territory. The remainder of the available 
funding is then apportioned for UZAs based on population, population 
density, vehicle revenue miles and passenger miles using the same 
apportionment formula and allocation process as Section 5307. Funds for 
UZAs under 200,000 in population are apportioned to the State through a 
Section 5339(a) Governor's apportionment for allocation to eligible 
recipients within such areas of the State at the Governor's discretion. 
Funds for UZAs with populations of 200,000 or more are apportioned 
directly to one or more designated recipients within each UZA for 
allocation to eligible projects and recipients within the UZA.
4. Eligible Expenses
    Eligible capital projects under the Buses and Bus Facilities 
Formula Program (Section 5339(a)) continue to include projects to 
replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment, and 
projects to construct bus-related facilities. Recipients may use up to 
one-half of one percent of their Section 5339 funds to support 
workforce development activities, including supportive services, at an 
80 percent Federal share. Eligible workforce development activities are 
defined in Section 5314; see Section IV.K. of this notice for more 
information. This provision is in addition to the one-half of one 
percent that recipients may use for training activities with the 
National Transit Institute.
5. Requirements
    Eligible recipients of the Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program 
(Section 5339(a)) include designated recipients that operate fixed 
route bus service or that allocate funding to fixed route bus 
operators; and State or local governmental entities that operate fixed 
route bus service that are eligible to receive direct grants under the 
Urbanized Area Formula (Section 5307) and Rural Formula (Section 5311) 
programs. Eligible subrecipients continue to include public agencies or 
private nonprofit organizations engaged in public transportation, 
including those providing services open to a segment of the general 
public, as defined by age, disability, or low income.
    The requirements of Section 5307 apply to recipients of Section 
5339 funds within urbanized areas. The requirements of Section 5311 
apply to recipients of Section 5339 funds within rural areas. For 
additional program requirements, refer to FTA Circular 5100.1, ``Bus 
and Bus Facilities Program: Guidance and Application Instructions.''
6. Period of Availability
    The Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program funds apportioned in 
this notice are available for obligation during FY 2024 plus three 
additional years. Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 2024 must be 
obligated in grants by September 30, 2027. Any FY 2024 apportioned 
funds that remain unobligated at the close of business on September 30, 
2027, will revert to FTA for reapportionment under the Buses and Bus 
Facilities Formula Program.
    Discretionary program funds authorized under Section 5339(b) and 
(c) (Bus Competitive and Low-No, respectively) follow the same period 
of availability: year of allocation to a project plus three additional 
years.

P. Growing States and High-Density States Formula Factors (49 U.S.C. 
5340)

    IIJA continues the use of formula factors to distribute additional 
funds to the Section 5307 and Section 5311 programs for Growing States 
and High-Density States. FTA will continue to publish single urbanized 
area and rural apportionments that show the total amount for Section 
5307 and 5311 programs that includes Section 5340 apportionments for 
these programs.
1. Authorized Amounts
    IIJA authorized $3.879 billion over five years for the Growing 
States and High-Density States Formula factors.
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    In FY 2024, $776,277,698 is authorized and appropriated for 
apportionment in accordance with the formula factors prescribed for 
Growing States and High-Density States set forth in Section 5340 for FY 
2024.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Growing States and High-Density States Formula Factors--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5340 High Density States.............................       $364,850,518
5340 Growing States..................................        411,427,180
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................        776,277,698
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment
    Under the Growing States portion of the Section 5340 formula, FTA 
projects each State's 2035 population by comparing each State's 
apportionment year population (as determined by the Census Bureau) to 
the State's 2020 Census population and extrapolating to 2035 based on 
each State's rate of population growth between 2020 and the 
apportionment year. Each State receives a share of Growing States funds 
on the basis of its projected 2035 population relative to the 
nationwide projected 2035 population.
    Once each State's share is calculated, funds attributable to that 
State are divided into an urbanized area allocation and a non-urbanized 
area allocation on the basis of the percentage of each State's 2020 
Census population that resides in urbanized and non-urbanized areas. 
Urbanized areas receive portions of their State's urbanized area 
allocation on the basis of the 2020 Census population in that urbanized 
area relative to the total 2020 Census population in all urbanized 
areas in the State. These amounts are added to the Urbanized Area's 
Section 5307 apportionment. The States' rural area allocation is added 
to the allocation that each State receives under the Section 5311 
Formula Grants for Rural Areas program.
    The High-Density States portion of the Section 5340 formula is 
allocated to urbanized areas in States with a population density 
greater than 370 persons per square mile. Based on this threshold and 
2020 Census data, the States that qualify in FY 2024 are

[[Page 47227]]

Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, 
New Jersey, and Florida. The amount of funds provided to each of these 
eight States is allocated based on a formula that subtracts an 
urbanized area land factor from the total population of each qualifying 
State. The urbanized area land factor is based on the total land area 
and urbanized area population as a proportion of total population of 
each individual qualifying State. Once funds are allocated to each 
State, funds are then allocated to urbanized areas within the States on 
the basis of an individual urbanized area's population relative to the 
population of all urbanized areas in that State.

Q. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Grants

1. Authorized Amounts
    Section 601(f) of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act 
of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-432, div. B), as amended by IIJA, authorized $150 
million per year for each of fiscal years of 2022 through 2030 for 
capital and preventive maintenance grants to the Washington 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
2. FY 2024 Funding Availability
    Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, $150,000,000 is 
available. The total amount available is $148,500,000 after the 
deduction for oversight as shown in the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Grants--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriation..................................       $150,000,000
Oversight Deduction..................................        (1,500,000)
                                                      ------------------
    Total Apportioned................................        148,500,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Period of Availability
    Funds appropriated for WMATA under the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2024, shall remain available until expended.
    For more information about WMATA grants, contact Bret Martin, 
Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 366-0870 or [email protected].

R. Transit Infrastructure Grants--Community Project Funding/
Congressionally Directed Spending

1. Appropriated Amounts
    The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, appropriated 
$206,817,976 for Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed 
Spending for 141 projects in 31 States, identified in the accompanying 
Joint Explanatory Statement. Table 20 identifies the recipient, 
project, amount, and a project ID that will be used to identify the 
project in TrAMS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending--FY 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Appropriated..................................       $206,817,976
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Period of Availability
    Funds remain available until expended. Recipients are, however, 
encouraged to apply for these funds by the end of FY 2027. First time 
grant recipients should contact the relevant Regional Office for 
assistance to initiate steps to become an FTA recipient.
3. Requirements
    As the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 specifies that funds 
are available for projects and activities eligible under Chapter 53, 
generally applicable Chapter 53 requirements apply to these funds, 
including the planning requirements of Sections 5303 and 5304; bus 
testing requirements of Section 5318; general provision requirements of 
Section 5323 (such as Buy America compliance); contract requirements of 
Section 5325; project management requirements of Section 5327; 
nondiscrimination requirements of Section 5332; disposition 
requirements of Section 5334; and applicability of FTA oversight of 
Section 5338, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
and related requirements.
    Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending 
projects funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 will 
receive a maximum Federal share of 80 percent of the net costs of the 
project. Non-federal match of 20 percent is required for these funds.
    Upon written request by the recipient named in Table 20 and a 
proposed pass-through recipient, FTA may approve another entity to act 
as the direct recipient of the funding and the named recipient may 
serve as a subrecipient. Pre-award authority is provided consistent 
with the requirements for FTA's formula funds as of the date all 
necessary requirements were met (see Section V, below.) However, before 
incurring costs, recipients are strongly encouraged to consult with the 
appropriate FTA Regional Office regarding the eligibility of the 
project for future FTA funds and for questions on environmental 
requirements, or any other Federal requirements that must be met before 
incurring pre-award costs.
    For more information about Community Project Funding grants, 
contact Bret Martin, Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 366-0870 or 
[email protected].

V. FTA Policy and Procedures for FY 2024 Grants

A. Automatic Pre-Award Authority To Incur Project Costs

1. Caution to New Recipients
    While FTA provides pre-award authority to incur expenses before 
grant award for formula programs, it recommends that first-time grant 
recipients not utilize this automatic pre-award authority without 
verifying with the appropriate FTA Regional Office that all pre-
requisite requirements have been met. Commonly, a new recipient may 
misunderstand pre-award authority conditions and be unaware of all the 
applicable FTA requirements that must be met in order to be reimbursed 
for project expenditures incurred in advance of grant award. FTA 
programs have specific statutory requirements that are often different 
from those for other Federal grant programs with which a new recipient 
may be familiar. If costs are incurred for an ineligible project or 
activity, or for an eligible activity but at an inappropriate time 
(e.g., prior to NEPA completion), FTA will be unable to reimburse the 
project sponsor, and, in certain cases, the entire project may be 
rendered ineligible for FTA assistance.
2. Policy
    FTA provides pre-award authority to incur expenses before grant 
award for certain program areas described below. This pre-award 
authority allows recipients to incur certain project costs before grant 
approval and retain the eligibility of those costs for subsequent 
reimbursement after grant approval. The recipient assumes all risk and 
is responsible for ensuring that all conditions are met to retain 
eligibility. This pre-award spending authority permits an eligible 
recipient to incur costs on an eligible transit capital, operating, 
planning, or administrative project without prejudice to possible 
future Federal participation in the cost of the project. In this 
notice, FTA continues to provide pre-award authority through the 
authorization period of IIJA (October 1, 2022, through September 30, 
2026) for capital assistance under all formula programs, so long as the 
conditions described below are met. Pre-award authority is indicated in 
the application. The actual items of cost associated with the use of 
pre-award authority are documented in the initial Federal Financial 
Report (FFR) that is required to be completed prior to the recipient 
executing the

[[Page 47228]]

award. FTA provides pre-award authority for planning and operating 
assistance under the formula programs without regard to the period of 
the authorization. For projects funded by competitive programs, pre-
award authority may be granted at the time of project selection unless 
otherwise noted. All pre-award authority is subject to conditions and 
triggers stated below:
a. Operating, Planning, or Administrative Assistance
    FTA does not impose additional conditions on pre-award authority 
for operating, planning, or administrative assistance under the formula 
grant programs. Recipients may be reimbursed for expenses incurred 
before grant award so long as funds have been expended in accordance 
with all Federal requirements, costs would have been allowable if 
incurred after the date of award, and the recipient is otherwise 
eligible to receive the funding. In addition to cross-cutting Federal 
grant requirements, program specific requirements must be met.
b. Transit Capital Projects
    For transit capital projects, the date that costs may be incurred 
varies depending on the type of activity and its potential to have a 
significant impact on the human and natural environment as described in 
Section 3., Conditions, below.
c. Public Transportation Innovation, Technical Assistance and Workforce 
Development
    Unless provided for in an announcement of project selections, pre-
award authority does not apply to Section 5312 Public Transportation 
Innovation projects or Section 5314 Technical Assistance and Workforce 
Development projects. Before an applicant may incur costs for 
activities under these programs, it must first obtain a written Letter 
of No Prejudice (LONP) from FTA.
    For more information, contact Lisa Colbert, at the FTA Office of 
Research, Demonstration, and Innovation (TRI): [email protected] or 
call 202-366-9261.
3. Conditions
    The conditions under which pre-award authority may be utilized are 
specified below:
    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 items undertaken by the applicant will be eligible 
for inclusion in the project.
    ii. All FTA statutory, procedural, and contractual requirements 
must be met.
    iii. No action will be taken by the recipient that prejudices the 
legal and administrative findings that FTA must make in order to 
approve a project.
    iv. Local funds expended by the recipient after the date of the 
pre-award authority will be eligible for credit toward local match or 
reimbursement if FTA later makes a grant or grant amendment for the 
project. Local funds expended by the recipient before the date of the 
pre-award authority will not be eligible for credit toward local match 
or reimbursement. Furthermore, the expenditure of local funds or the 
undertaking of certain activities that would compromise FTA's ability 
to comply with Federal environmental laws (e.g., project implementation 
activities such as land acquisition, demolition, or construction before 
the date of pre-award authority) may render the project ineligible for 
FTA funding.
    v. 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/local match ratio at the time the funds are 
obligated.
    vi. For funds to which the pre-award authority applies, the 
authority expires with the lapsing of the fiscal year funds.
    vii. When a grant for the project is subsequently awarded, the 
grant and the Federal Financial Report in TrAMS must indicate the use 
of pre-award authority and an initial Federal Financial Report must be 
submitted in TrAMS to associate those costs with the award.
    viii. Environmental Requirements--All Federal grant requirements 
must be met at the appropriate time for the project to remain eligible 
for Federal funding. Designated recipients may incur costs for design 
and environmental review activities for all formula funded projects 
from the date of the authorization of the formula funds or for 
discretionary funded projects other than those funded by the Capital 
Investment Grants (CIG) program from the date of the announcement of 
the competitive allocation of funds for the project.
    For projects that qualify for a categorical exclusion (CE) pursuant 
to 23 CFR 771.118(c), designated recipients may start activities and 
incur costs under pre-award authority for property acquisition, 
demolition, construction, and acquisition of vehicles, equipment, or 
construction materials from the date of the authorization of formula 
funds or the date of the announcement of competitive allocations for 
the project.
    FTA recommends that a grant applicant considering a CE pursuant to 
23 CFR 771.118(c) contact the appropriate FTA Regional Office for 
assistance in determining the proper environmental review process, 
including other applicable environmental laws, and level of 
documentation necessary before incurring the above-mentioned costs. 
This applies especially when the grant applicant believes a c-list CE 
with construction activities, such as 23 CFR 771.118(c)(8), (9), (10), 
(12), or (13), applies to its project or if a grant applicant intends 
to acquire property through the use of pre-award authority. If FTA 
subsequently finds that a project does not qualify for a CE under 23 
CFR 771.118(c) and the sponsor has already undertaken activities under 
pre-award authority that are only allowable for projects that qualify 
for a CE under 23 CFR 771.118(c), the project will be ineligible for 
FTA assistance.
    For all other non-CIG projects that do not qualify for a CE under 
23 CFR 771.118(c), grant applicants may take action and incur costs for 
property acquisition, demolition, construction, and acquisition of 
vehicles, equipment, or construction materials from the date that FTA 
completes the environmental review process required by NEPA and its 
implementing regulations, 23 U.S.C. 139, and other environmental laws, 
by its issuance of a 23 CFR 771.118(d) CE determination, a finding of 
no significant impact (FONSI), a combined final environmental impact 
statement (FEIS)/record of decision (ROD), or a ROD.
    ix. Planning and other requirements--Formula funds must be 
authorized, or appropriated, and competitive project allocations 
published or announced before pre-award authority can be considered.
    The requirements that a capital project be included in a locally 
adopted Metropolitan Transportation Plan, the Metropolitan 
Transportation Improvement Program, and the federally approved 
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (23 CFR part 450) must be 
satisfied before the recipient may advance the project beyond planning 
and preliminary design with non-federal funds under pre-award 
authority. If the project is located within an EPA-designated non-
attainment or maintenance area for air quality, the conformity 
requirements of the Clean Air Act, 40 CFR part 93, must also be met 
before the project may be advanced into implementation-related 
activities

[[Page 47229]]

under pre-award authority triggered by the completion of the NEPA 
process. For a planning project to have pre-award authority, the 
planning project must be included in an MPO-approved UPWP that has been 
coordinated with the State.
    x. Federal procurement procedures, as well as the whole range of 
applicable Federal requirements (e.g., Buy America and the Build 
America Buy America Act, Davis-Bacon Act, and Disadvantaged Business 
Enterprise), must be followed for projects in which Federal funding 
will be sought in the future. Failure to follow any such requirements 
could make the project ineligible for Federal funding. In short, the 
administrative flexibility requires a recipient to make certain that no 
Federal requirements are circumvented.
    xi. All program specific requirements must be met. For example, 
projects under Section 5310 must comply with specific program 
requirements, including coordinated planning.
    Before incurring costs, recipients are strongly encouraged to 
consult with the appropriate FTA Regional Office regarding the 
eligibility of the project for future FTA funds and for questions on 
environmental requirements, or any other Federal requirements that must 
be met.
4. Pre-Award Authority for the Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants 
Program
    Projects proposed for Section 5309 Capital Investment Grant (CIG) 
program funds are required to follow a multi-step, multi-year process 
defined in law. For New Starts and Core Capacity projects, this process 
includes three phases: project development (PD), engineering, and 
construction. For Small Starts projects, this process includes two 
phases: PD and construction. After receiving a letter from the project 
sponsor requesting entry into the PD phase, FTA must respond in writing 
within 45 days whether the information was sufficient for entry. If 
FTA's correspondence indicates the information was sufficient and the 
New Starts, Small Starts or Core Capacity project enters PD, FTA 
extends pre-award authority at that time to the project sponsor to 
incur costs for PD activities. PD activities include the work necessary 
to complete the environmental review process and as much engineering 
and design activities as the project sponsor believes are necessary to 
support the environmental review process. Upon completion of the 
environmental review process with a Record of Decision (ROD), Finding 
of No Significant Impact (FONSI), or Categorical Exclusion (CE) 
determination by FTA for a New Starts, Small Starts, or Core Capacity 
Improvement project, FTA extends pre-award authority to project 
sponsors to incur costs for as much engineering and design as needed to 
develop a reasonable cost estimate and financial plan for the project, 
utility relocation, and real property acquisition and associated 
relocations for any property acquisitions not already accomplished as a 
separate project for hardship or protective purposes or right-of-way 
under 49 U.S.C. 5323(q).
    For Small Starts projects, upon completion of the environmental 
review process and confirmation from FTA that the overall project 
rating is at least a Medium, FTA extends pre-award authority for 
vehicle purchases as well as any remaining engineering and design, 
demolition, and procurement of long lead items for which market 
conditions play a significant role in the acquisition price. The long 
lead items include, but are not limited to, procurement of rails, ties, 
and other specialized equipment, and commodities.
    Upon receipt of a letter notifying a New Starts or Core Capacity 
project sponsor of the project's approval into the engineering phase, 
FTA extends pre-award authority for vehicle purchases as well as any 
remaining engineering and design, demolition, and procurement of long 
lead items for which market conditions play a significant role in the 
acquisition price. The long lead items include, but are not limited to, 
procurement of rails, ties, and other specialized equipment, and 
commodities.
    Please contact the appropriate FTA Regional Office for a 
determination of activities not listed here, but which meet the intent 
described above. FTA provides this pre-award authority in recognition 
of the long-lead time and complexity involved with purchasing vehicles 
as well as their relationship to the ``critical path'' project 
schedule. FTA cautions recipients that do not currently operate the 
type of vehicle proposed in the project about exercising this pre-award 
authority. FTA encourages these sponsors to wait until later in the 
process when project plans are more fully developed. FTA reminds 
project sponsors that the procurement of vehicles must comply with all 
Federal requirements including, but not limited to, competitive 
procurement practices, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Buy 
America. FTA encourages project sponsors to discuss the procurement of 
vehicles with FTA in regard to Federal requirements before exercising 
pre-award authority.
a. Real Property Acquisition
    FTA extends pre-award authority for the acquisition of real 
property and real property rights for CIG projects (New or Small Starts 
or Core Capacity) upon completion of the environmental review process 
for that project. The environmental review process is completed when 
FTA signs a combined FEIS/ROD, ROD, FONSI or makes a CE determination. 
With the limitations and caveats described below, real estate 
acquisition may commence, at the project sponsor's risk. To maintain 
eligibility for a possible future FTA grant award, any acquisition of 
real property or real property rights must be conducted in accordance 
with the requirements of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real 
Property Acquisition Policies Act (URA) and its implementing 
regulations, 49 CFR part 24. This pre-award authority is strictly 
limited to costs incurred: (i) to acquire real property and real 
property rights in accordance with the URA regulation, and (ii) to 
provide relocation assistance in accordance with the URA regulation. 
This pre-award authority is limited to the acquisition of real property 
and real property rights that are explicitly documented in the draft 
environmental impact statement (DEIS), FEIS, environmental assessment 
(EA), or CE document, as needed for the selected alternative that is 
the subject of the FTA-signed ROD or FONSI, or CE determination. This 
pre-award authority regarding property acquisition that is granted at 
the completion of the environmental review process does not cover site 
preparation, demolition, or any other activity that is not strictly 
necessary to comply with the URA, with one exception--namely when a 
building that has been acquired, has been vacated and awaits demolition 
poses a potential fire safety hazard or other hazard to the community 
in which it is located or is susceptible to reoccupation by 
unauthorized occupants. Demolition of the building is also covered by 
this pre-award authority upon FTA's written agreement that the adverse 
condition exists. Pre-award authority for property acquisition is also 
provided when FTA makes a CE determination for a protective buy or 
hardship acquisition in accordance with 23 CFR 771.118(d)(3). Pre-award 
authority for property acquisition is also provided when FTA completes 
the environmental review process for the acquisition of right-of-way as 
a separate project in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(q). When a tiered 
environmental review in

[[Page 47230]]

accordance with 23 CFR 771.111(g) is used, pre-award authority is not 
provided upon completion of the first-tier environmental document 
except when the Tier-1 ROD or FONSI signed by FTA explicitly provides 
such pre-award authority for a particular identified acquisition. 
Project sponsors should use pre-award authority for real property 
acquisition relocation assistance with a clear understanding that it 
does not constitute a funding commitment by FTA. FTA provides pre-award 
authority upon completion of the environmental review process for real 
property acquisition and relocation assistance for displaced persons 
and businesses in accordance with the requirements of the URA.
b. Reimbursement of Costs Incurred Under Pre-Award Authority
    Although FTA provides pre-award authority for property acquisition, 
long lead items, and vehicle purchases upon completion of the 
environmental review process, FTA does not generally award Federal 
funding for these activities conducted under pre-award authority until 
the project receives a CIG program construction grant. This is to 
ensure that Federal funds are not risked on a project whose advancement 
into construction is not yet assured.
c. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Activities
    NEPA requires that major projects proposed for FTA funding 
assistance be subjected to a public and interagency review of the need 
for the project, its environmental and community impacts, and 
alternatives to avoid and reduce adverse impacts. Projects of more 
limited scope also need a level of environmental review, to determine 
whether there are significant environmental impacts or confirmation 
that a CE applies. FTA's regulation titled ``Environmental Impact and 
Related Procedures,'' at 23 CFR part 771 states that the costs incurred 
by a grant applicant for the preparation of environmental documents 
requested by FTA are eligible for FTA financial assistance (23 CFR 
771.105(f)). Accordingly, FTA extends pre-award authority for costs 
incurred to comply with NEPA regulations and to conduct NEPA-related 
activities, effective as of the earlier of the following two dates: (1) 
the date of the Federal approval of the relevant STIP or STIP amendment 
that includes the project or any phase of the project, or that includes 
a project grouping under 23 CFR 450.216(j) that includes the project; 
or (2) the date that FTA approves the project into the project 
development phase of the CIG program. The grant applicant must notify 
the appropriate FTA Regional Office upon initiation of the Federal 
environmental review process consistent with 23 CFR 771.111. NEPA-
related activities include, but are not limited to, public involvement 
activities, historic preservation reviews, Section 4(f) evaluations, 
wetlands evaluations, and endangered species consultations. This pre-
award authority is strictly limited to costs incurred to conduct the 
NEPA process and associated engineering, and to prepare environmental, 
historic preservation and related documents. When a New Starts, Small 
Starts, or Core Capacity project is granted pre-award authority for the 
environmental review process, the reimbursement for NEPA activities 
conducted under pre-award authority may be sought at any time through 
Section 5307 (Urbanized Area Formula Program) or the flexible highway 
programs (e.g., Surface Transportation Program or Congestion Mitigation 
and Air Quality Improvement Program). Reimbursement from the Section 
5309 CIG program for NEPA activities conducted under pre-award 
authority is provided only for expenses incurred after entry into the 
project development phase and only once a construction grant agreement 
is signed. FTA reimbursement for costs incurred is not guaranteed and 
recipients may not start activities and incur costs under pre-award 
authority for property acquisition, demolition, construction, and 
acquisition of vehicles, equipment, or construction materials until the 
environmental review process is complete.
    For more information about FTA's National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) activities, contact Megan Blum, Office of Environmental Policy 
and Programs, at (202) 366-0463 or [email protected].
d. Other CIG Project Activities Requiring Letter of No Prejudice (LONP)
    Except as discussed in paragraphs i through iii above, a CIG 
project sponsor must obtain a written LONP from FTA before incurring 
costs for any activity not covered by pre-award authority. To obtain an 
LONP, an applicant must submit a written request accompanied by 
adequate information and justification to the appropriate FTA Regional 
Office, as described in Section V.C.'s. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) 
Policy, below.
    For more information about the Fixed Guideway Capital Investment 
Grants program, including LONP policy, real property acquisition, and 
reimbursement of costs incurred under Pre-Award Authority, contact 
Susan Eddy, Office of Capital Project Development, at (202) 366-5499 or 
[email protected].
e. Pre-Award Authority for the Expedited Project Delivery (EPD) Pilot 
Program
    The EPD Pilot Program, as authorized by Section 3005(b) of the 
Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), is aimed at 
expediting delivery of new fixed guideway capital projects, small 
starts projects, or core capacity improvement projects. Section 3005(b) 
requires FTA to notify Congress and the applicant, in writing, within 
120 days after the receipt of a complete application, on the decision 
of project selection. FTA will extend pre-award authority for all 
eligible project costs at the time it is announced that a project has 
been selected. There is no pre-award authority provided until a project 
selection announcement is made, and costs incurred prior to project 
selection are not eligible. Letters of No Prejudice will not be 
provided for the EPD Pilot Program, as all eligible costs are covered 
by pre-award authority at the time of project selection.
    Although FTA provides pre-award authority for eligible project 
costs, FTA does not award Federal funding for activities conducted 
under pre-award authority until the project receives an EPD Pilot 
Program construction grant. This is to ensure that Federal funds are 
not risked on a project whose advancement into construction is not yet 
assured. To maintain eligibility for a possible future FTA grant award, 
any acquisition of real property or real property rights must be 
conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Relocation 
Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act (URA) and its 
implementing regulations, 49 CFR part 24.
    For more information about the Expedited Project Delivery Pilot 
Program, contact Susan Eddy, Office of Capital Project Development, at 
(202) 366-5499 or [email protected].

B. FY 2024 Annual List of Certifications and Assurances

    Section 5323(n) requires FTA to publish annually a list of all 
certifications required under Chapter 53 concurrently with the 
publication of this annual apportionment notice. The FY 2024 version of 
FTA's Certifications and Assurances is available on FTA's website at 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-03/FY24-certifications.pdf.
    FTA cannot make an award or an amendment to an award unless the

[[Page 47231]]

recipient has executed the latest version of FTA's Certifications and 
Assurances. FTA encourages recipients of formula funding to execute the 
FY 2024 Certifications and Assurances electronically in TrAMS within 90 
days of this notice, to prevent delays.

C. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) Policy

1. Policy
    LONP authority allows an applicant to incur costs on a project 
utilizing non-Federal resources, with the understanding that the costs 
incurred subsequent to the issuance of the LONP may be reimbursable as 
eligible expenses or eligible for credit toward the local match should 
FTA approve the project at a later date. LONPs are applicable to 
projects and project activities not covered by automatic pre-award 
authority. The majority of LONPs will be for Section 5309 CIG program 
projects undertaking activities not covered under automatic pre-award 
authority. LONPs may be issued for formula funds beyond the life of the 
current authorization or FTA's extension of automatic pre-award 
authority; however, the LONP is limited to a five-year period, unless 
otherwise authorized in the LONP, or otherwise extended. Receipt of 
Federal funding under any program is not implied or guaranteed by an 
LONP.
2. Conditions and Federal Requirements
    The conditions and requirements for pre-award authority specified 
in Section V.4.ii and V.4.iii above apply to all LONPs for the CIG 
program. Because project implementation activities may not be initiated 
before completion of the environmental review process, FTA will not 
issue an LONP for such activities until the environmental review 
process has been completed with a combined FEIS/ROD, ROD, FONSI, or CE 
determination.
3. Request for LONP
    Before incurring costs for project activities not covered by 
automatic pre-award authority, the project sponsor must first submit a 
written request for an LONP, accompanied by adequate information and 
justification, to the appropriate Regional Office and obtain written 
approval from FTA. FTA approval of an LONP is determined on a case-by-
case basis. Federal funding under the CIG program is not implied or 
guaranteed by an LONP. Specifically, when requesting an LONP, the 
applicant shall provide the following items:
    a. Description of the activities to be covered by the LONP.
    b. Justification for advancing the identified activities. The 
justification should include an accurate assessment of the consequences 
to the project scope, schedule, and budget should the LONP not be 
approved.
    c. Allocated level of risk and contingency for the activity 
requested.

D. Civil Rights Requirements

    Recipients must ensure their programs and services operate in a 
nondiscriminatory manner and fulfill reporting requirements to document 
their civil rights compliance as a condition to receiving Federal 
funds.
    Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990: Recipients must 
carry out provisions of the ADA, related provisions in Section 504 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Department of 
Transportation's implementing regulations at 49 CFR parts 27, 37, 38, 
and 39. FTA's ADA Circular 4710.1, ``Americans with Disabilities Act 
(ADA): Guidance,'' provides guidance for implementing the regulatory 
requirements of the ADA. As public entities, recipients may also be 
subject to Department of Justice regulations implementing Title II of 
the ADA (28 CFR part 35); in addition, as employers, recipients may be 
subject to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations 
implementing the employment titles of the ADA (29 CFR part 1630).
    In addition, recipients must regularly prepare and submit in TrAMS 
civil rights program plans and reports to establish and demonstrate 
compliance and document policies and practices in the following areas:
    Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Department of 
Transportation's Title VI implementing regulations are found in 49 CFR 
part 21. FTA's Title VI Circular 4702.1B, ``Title VI Requirements and 
Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients,'' provides 
guidance for carrying out the regulatory requirements and outlines the 
Title VI program requirements and timeline for submitting updates.
    Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program: The Department of 
Transportation's DBE implementing regulations are found in 49 CFR part 
26 and set forth requirements for implementing the DBE program in good 
faith and developing and reporting on the triennial DBE goal.
    Recipients should be aware that the DBE program regulations were 
recently revised, and a Final Rule was published in the Federal 
Register on April 9, 2024 (89 FR 24898). More information is available 
at https://www.transportation.gov/DBEFinalRule. Some changes took 
effect on May 9, 2024, and recipients should read the Federal Register 
notice in detail. Beginning in FY 2025, FTA will move to a tiered 
system, and essentially all FTA recipients of planning, capital, or 
operating assistance that procure goods or services with FTA funds will 
be subject to some DBE program requirements.
    Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Employment 
Opportunity (EEO): The Department of Transportation's EEO implementing 
regulations are found in 49 CFR part 21. FTA's EEO Circular 4704.1A, 
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Requirements and Guidelines, 
provides guidance for carrying out the regulatory requirements and 
outlines the EEO program submission process.
    Recipients are expected to maintain current civil rights program 
plans and submit required reports in TrAMS. Recipients with past due or 
expired programs are ineligible for new funding awards and may be 
subject to other remedies or sanctions at FTA's discretion.
    While not new requirements, recipients are specifically reminded of 
the following:
     Recipients in urbanized areas of 200,000 or more in 
population and with 50 or more fixed-route vehicles in peak service 
must conduct a service equity analysis for all service changes that 
meet the recipient's definition of ``major service change'' prior to 
implementing the service change. Those recipients also must conduct a 
fare equity analysis for all fare increases or decreases prior to 
implementing a fare change. Furthermore, an environmental justice 
analysis is not a substitute for a Title VI service equity analysis 
triggered by a major service change or fare change. When a full equity 
analysis is not required due to the size of the recipient or duration 
of a change, FTA expects agencies to take steps to ensure changes are 
equitable and nondiscriminatory.
     Recipients are encouraged to reach out to FTA's Office of 
Civil Rights when contemplating new projects, new services, or new 
service models for technical assistance and guidance, to support 
recipients in achieving their equity and accessibility goals and 
complying with Federal civil rights requirements.
    For more information about civil rights requirements, contact 
Nicole Payne, Office of Civil Rights, at (202) 366-6293 or 
[email protected].

E. Consolidated Planning Grants

    The Consolidated Planning Grants (CPG) Program allows States and 
Metropolitan Planning Organizations

[[Page 47232]]

(MPOs) to merge funds from the FTA Metropolitan Planning Program (MPP) 
and State Planning and Research Program (SPRP) with FHWA Metropolitan 
Planning (PL) and State Planning and Research (SPR) funds into a single 
consolidated planning grant. Transferred planning funds can be awarded 
and administered by either FTA or FHWA. The CPG eliminates the 
duplication of two separate grants funding the same planning activity, 
by streamlining monitoring and ensuring that the oldest funds will 
always be used first.
    Under the CPG, States can report MPP expenditures to comply with 
the Uniform Administrative Requirements, 2 CFR part 200, subpart E, for 
both FTA and FHWA under the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 
number for FTA's Metropolitan Planning Program (20.505). Additionally, 
for States with an FHWA Metropolitan Planning fund-matching ratio 
greater than 80 percent, the State can waive the 20 percent local share 
requirement, with FTA's concurrence, to allow FTA funds used for 
metropolitan planning in a CPG to be granted at the higher FHWA sliding 
scale rate. For some States, this Federal match rate can exceed 90 
percent.
    States interested in transferring planning funds between FTA and 
FHWA should contact the FTA Regional Office or FHWA Division Office for 
more detailed procedures. FHWA Order 4551.1 dated August 12, 2013, 
titled ``Fund Transfers to Other Agencies and Among Title 23 
Programs,'' provides guidance and more detailed information. (See: 
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/orders/45511.cfm.)
    For further information on CPGs, contact Ann Souvandara, Office of 
Budget and Policy, FTA, at (202) 366-0649 or [email protected], or 
Ryan Long, Office of Planning and Environment at (202) 366-6466 or 
[email protected].

F. Grant Application Procedures

    All applications are filed electronically. FTA continues to award 
and manage grants and cooperative agreements using the Transit Award 
Management System (TrAMS). To access TrAMS, contact your FTA Regional 
Office. Resources on using TrAMS can be found on FTA's website at 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/TrAMS.
    FTA regional staff are responsible for working with potential 
recipients to review and process grant applications. Recipients are 
strongly encouraged to submit draft applications that must be obligated 
before the end of the Federal Fiscal Year and require Department of 
Labor certification to Regional Offices no later than the end of June 
in order to ensure obligation prior to September 30.
    In order for an application to be considered complete and for FTA 
to assign a Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN), enabling 
submission in TrAMS, and submission to the Department of Labor (when 
applicable), the following requirements must be met:
    i. Applicants must be registered and have an ``active status'' in 
the System for Award Management (SAM) and its registration is current. 
To register an entity or check the status and renew registration, visit 
the SAM.GOV website at https://www.sam.gov/SAM.
    ii. Applicant's contact information is correct and up to date.
    iii. Applicant has properly submitted its annual certifications and 
assurances.
    iv. Applicant's Civil Rights submissions are current and approved.
    v. Recipient has a Transit Asset Management plan in place that 
meets the requirements of 49 CFR part 625 or is covered by a compliant 
Group Plan.
    vi. Documentation is on file to support status as either a 
designated recipient (for the program and area) or a direct recipient.
    vii. Funding is available, including any flexible funds included in 
the budget, and split letters or suballocation letters on file, where 
applicable, to support amount being applied for in grant application.
    viii. The activity is listed in a currently approved Transportation 
Improvement Program (TIP); Statewide Transportation Improvement Program 
(STIP), or Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) unless such 
requirements have been waived for the specific funding and activity 
type to facilitate response and recovery from the COVID-19 public 
health emergency.
    ix. All eligibility issues are resolved.
    x. Required environmental findings are made.
    xi. The application contains a well-defined scope of work including 
at least one project with accompanying project narratives, budget that 
includes scope codes and activity line-item information, Federal and 
non-Federal funding amounts, and milestones.
    xii. Major Capital Projects as defined by 49 CFR part 633 Project 
Management Oversight must document that FTA has reviewed the project 
management plan and provided approval.
    xiii. Milestone information is complete. FTA will also review 
status of other open grant reports to confirm financial and milestone 
information is current on other open awards.
    xiv. Applicant has ensured that it has registered to report to the 
National Transit Database, and that any subrecipients that provide 
public transportation service have also registered to report to the 
National Transit Database.
    Other important issues that impact FTA grant processing activities 
are discussed below.
A. Award Budgets--Scope Codes and Activity Line Items (ALI) Codes; 
Financial Purpose Codes
    FTA uses the Scope and Activity Line Item (ALI) Codes in the award 
budgets to track program trends, to report to Congress, and to respond 
to requests from the Inspector General and the Government 
Accountability Office (GAO), as well as to manage grants. The accuracy 
of the data is dependent on the careful and correct use of codes. ALI 
codes should contain information on quantities (e.g., the number of 
vehicles) related only to the funding identified for that ALI code.
B. Designated and Direct Recipients Documentation
    For its formula programs, FTA primarily apportions funds to the 
Designated Recipient in the large UZAs (areas over 200,000), or for 
areas under 200,000 (small UZAs and rural areas), it apportions the 
funds to the Governor, or the Governor's designee (e.g., State DOT). 
The 2020 Census urban area delineations may have impacts to FTA 
designated and direct recipients. The effects of the new Census 
boundaries are reflected in FTA's FY 2024 apportionments. FTA has 
additional resources and information available on its Census web page 
at https://www.transit.dot.gov/census. Depending on the program and as 
described in the individual program Sections found in Section IV of 
this notice, further suballocation of funds may be permitted to 
eligible recipients who may then apply directly to FTA for the funding 
as direct recipients.
    For the programs in which FTA can make grants to eligible direct 
recipients, other than the designated recipients, recipients are 
reminded that documentation must be on file to support the (1) status 
of the recipient either as a designated recipient or direct recipient; 
and (2) the allocation of funds to the direct recipient.
    Documentation to support existing designated recipients for the UZA 
must also be on file at the time of the first application in FY 2024. 
Suballocation letters (also called split letters or governor's 
apportionment letters) must also be on file to support grant

[[Page 47233]]

applications from direct recipients. Once suballocation letters for FY 
2024 funding are finalized they should also be uploaded as part of the 
application into TrAMS.
    The Direct Recipient is required to upload to TrAMS a copy of the 
suballocation letter indicating the allocation of funding for the 
appropriate fund program when the applicant transmits its application 
for initial review. The suballocation letter must be signed by the 
Designated Recipient, or as applicable in accordance with local 
planning requirements. If there are two Designated Recipients, both 
entities must sign the suballocation letter. The suballocation letter 
must: (1) specify the allocations to the respective Direct Recipients 
listed in the letter; (2) incorporate language above the signatories to 
reflect this agreement; and (3) make clear that the Direct Recipient 
will assume all responsibility associated with the award for the funds. 
When drafting the suballocation letter, Designated Recipients may use 
the template language below:

    As identified in this Letter, the Designated Recipient(s) 
authorize(s) the reassignment/reallocation of [enter fund source, 
e.g., Section 5307 funds] to the Direct Recipient(s) named herein. 
The undersigned agree to the amounts allocated/reassigned to each 
Direct Recipient. Each Direct Recipient is responsible for its 
application to the Federal Transit Administration to receive such 
funds and assumes the responsibilities associated with any award for 
these funds.
C. Changes to Suballocations
    Should the Governor (or Governor's designee) or designated 
recipient desire to change any amount of apportioned funds that was 
previously suballocated and documented in a suballocation letter, such 
changes must be incorporated into an updated suballocation letter. 
These changes may also require modifications to any applicable programs 
of projects and metropolitan and/or statewide planning documents (e.g., 
TIP/STIP).
1. Payments
    Once a grant has been awarded and executed, requests for payment 
can be processed. To process payments FTA uses ECHO-Web, an internet 
accessible system that provides recipients the capability to submit 
payment requests on-line, as well as receive user-IDs and passwords via 
email. New applicants should contact the appropriate FTA Regional 
Office to obtain and submit the registration package necessary for set-
up under ECHO-Web.
2. Oversight
    FTA is responsible for conducting oversight activities to help 
ensure that grant recipients use FTA Federal financial assistance in a 
manner consistent with their intended purpose and in compliance with 
regulatory and statutory requirements. Each Urbanized Area Formula 
Program recipient is reviewed every three years, (FTA's Triennial 
Review); and States and statewide public transportation agencies are 
reviewed periodically to assess the management practices and program 
implementation of FTA state-wide programs (e.g., Planning, Rural Areas, 
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities 
Programs). Other more detailed reviews are scheduled based on an annual 
recipient oversight assessment. Important objectives of FTA's oversight 
program include but are not limited to: determining recipient 
compliance with Federal requirements; identifying technical assistance 
needs and delivering technical assistance to meet those needs; spotting 
emerging issues with recipients in a forward-looking fashion; 
recognizing when there is a need for more in-depth reviews in the areas 
of procurement, financial management, and civil rights; and identifying 
recipients with recurring or systemic issues.
3. Technical Assistance
    As noted throughout the notice, FTA continues to rely on several of 
the existing program circulars for general program guidance. FTA is 
continuing to update the program circulars, with an opportunity for 
notice and comment where warranted, to reflect amendments to chapter 53 
of title 49, U.S.C. made by IIJA and other Federal laws. In the 
meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact 
FTA. FTA headquarters and regional staff will be pleased to answer your 
questions and provide any technical assistance you may need to apply 
for FTA program funds and manage the grants you receive. At its 
discretion, FTA may also use program oversight consultants to provide 
technical assistance to recipients on a case-by-case basis. This notice 
and the program guidance circulars previously identified in this 
document may be accessed via the FTA website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/.

G. Grant Management

1. Grant Reporting
    Recipients of FTA funds are reminded that all FTA recipients are 
required to report on their grants and that it is critical to ensure 
reports demonstrate that reasonable progress is being made on the 
project. At a minimum, all awards require a Federal Financial Report 
(FFR) and a Milestone Progress Report (MPR) on an annual basis, with 
some reports required quarterly depending on the recipient and the type 
of projects funded under the grant. The requirements for these reports 
and other reporting requirements can be found in FTA Circular 5010.1E, 
``Grant Management Requirements,'' dated July 16, 2018. FTA staff, 
auditors, and contractors rely on the information provided in the FFR 
and MPR to review and report on the status of both financial and 
project-level activities contained in the grant. It is critical that 
recipients provide accurate and complete information in these reports 
and submit them by the required due date. Failure to report or 
demonstrate reasonable progress on projects can result in suspension or 
premature close-out of a grant.
2. Inactive Grants and Grant Closeout
    In FY 2024, FTA will continue to focus on inactive grants and 
grants that do not comply with reporting requirements. If appropriate, 
FTA will take action to close out and deobligate funds from these 
grants if reasonable progress is not being made. The efficient use of 
funds will further FTA's fulfillment of its mission to provide 
efficient and effective public transportation systems for the nation.
    At the end of Federal Fiscal Year 2024, FTA will identify the list 
of grants that were awarded on or prior to September 30, 2021, have had 
no funds disbursed or have not had a disbursement since September 30, 
2023. FTA Regional Offices will contact grant recipients with grants 
that meet these criteria to notify them that FTA intends to close the 
grant and deobligate any remaining funds unless the recipient can 
provide information that demonstrates that the projects funded by the 
grant remain active and the recipient has a realistic schedule to 
expedite completion of the projects funded in the grant.
3. Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), 
Better Utilizing Investments To Leverage Development (BUILD) and 
Rebuilding American Infrastructure With Sustainability and Equity 
(RAISE) Discretionary Grants
    Recipients of open TIGER, BUILD and RAISE grants should be aware 
that, as a matter of law, all remaining TIGER funds must be disbursed 
from grants by the end of the fifth fiscal year after the Expiration of 
Obligation Authority. (See,

[[Page 47234]]

31 U.S.C. 1552.) For FTA TIGER VIII projects, that deadline is the end 
of FY 2024. Accordingly, once ECHO closes for disbursements in late 
September 2024, all undisbursed funds within FTA TIGER VIII-funded 
grants will no longer be available to the recipient. These undisbursed 
funds will be deobligated from the grant. Even if a recipient has 
incurred costs or disbursed funds prior to the close of ECHO, and the 
recipient has not drawn down the funds by the time ECHO closes, FTA 
will be unable to reimburse the recipient. Therefore, recipients with 
open TIGER VIII grants must ensure project activities are completed and 
all funds are drawn down before ECHO closes by late September 2024.
    Section 109D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 includes 
an administrative provision for the RAISE program. This provision 
extends the obligation deadline from September 20, 2024, to September 
30, 2027, for FY 2021 RAISE funds that are unobligated on September 30, 
2024.
    For more information about the Transportation Investments 
Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), Better Utilizing Investments to 
Leverage Development (BUILD) and Rebuilding American Infrastructure 
with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Discretionary Grants program, 
contact Victor Waldron, Office of Transit Programs at (202) 366-5183 or 
[email protected].
    The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of 
law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is 
intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing 
requirements under the law or agency policies. Recipients should refer 
to applicable regulations and statutes referenced in this document.

Veronica Vanterpool,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-11934 Filed 5-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P