[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44051-44053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18266]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA-2010-005-N-5]
Resolicitation of Applications for the Railroad Safety Technology
Program Grant Program (RS-TEC-10-001)
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability, Resolicitation of Applications
(RS-TEC-10-001).
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SUMMARY: Due to a significant number of technical errors in applicant
grant proposal submissions for the Railroad Safety Technology Grant
Program
[[Page 44052]]
(Funding Opportunity RS-TEC-10-001), the Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) has elected to reopen the application period.
Applicants who previously submitted a proposal for funding under
this program and those who do not want to make changes to their
submission do not need to do anything. Their original application will
be reviewed as is.
Applicants wanting to make any changes to their application must
reapply and submit a new, complete application package with all
required documentation. The new application package will be reviewed
and the previous application from the July 1, 2010, deadline will be
ignored. It is therefore essential that applicants submit all required
documentation as if they were a new applicant. Those seeking to modify
their application must resubmit their proposals through Grants.gov
(http://www.grants.gov/) before 23:59 (11:59 p.m.) Eastern Daylight
Time September 3, 2010. Applications after this date and time will not
be considered. Applications submitted directly to GrantSolutions or via
e-mail, fax, or any other method other than Grants.gov, will not be
considered.
The Railroad Safety Technology Program (RSTP) is a newly authorized
program under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) (Pub. L.
110-432; October 16, 2008). The program authorizes DOT to provide
grants to passenger and freight rail carriers, railroad suppliers, and
State and local governments for projects that have a public benefit of
improved railroad safety and efficiency. The program makes available
$50 million in Federal funds. This grant program has a mandatory
maximum 80 percent Federal, and minimum 20 percent grantee, cost share
(cash or in-kind) requirement. Applications that do not clearly
indicate at least a 20 percent non-Federal cost share, and do not
adequately identify how the non-Federal cost share will be provided,
will be rejected as nonresponsive.
DATES: FRA will begin accepting grant applications 10 days after
publication of this Notice of Funding Availability in the Federal
Register. Applications may be submitted until September 3, 2010.
Reviews will be conducted immediately following the solicitation close
date. Selection announcements will be made approximately 60 days after
the closing date for applications.
ADDRESSES: All grant applications must be submitted through Grants.gov
(http://www.grants.gov). The Grants.gov Web site allows organizations
to find and electronically apply for competitive grant opportunities
from all Federal grant-making agencies. Any entity wishing to submit an
application pursuant to this notice should immediately initiate the
process of registering with Grants.gov. FRA strongly recommends that
applicants complete and submit their applications with sufficient lead
time to account for any difficulties they may have in the use of
Grants.gov. FRA does not recommend waiting until the closing date to
submit applications. Instructions for the use of Grants.gov by
applicants can be found on the Grants.gov Web site (http://www.grants.gov/). The help center for the use of Grants.gov can be
reached at (800) 518-4726. The help center is closed on Federal
holidays. Callers to the help center should have the Funding
Opportunity Number (RS-TEC-10-001), the name of the agency you are
applying to (Federal Railroad Administration), and the specific area of
concern. No applications will be accepted after the closing date and
time.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Those interested in responding to this
solicitation are strongly encouraged to first call Dr. Mark Hartong,
FRA, Senior Electronics Engineer (phone: (202) 493-1332; e-mail:
[email protected]); or Mr. David Blackmore, FRA, Program Manager,
Advanced Technologies (phone: (312) 835-3903, e-mail:
[email protected]) to discuss the prospective idea, its potential
responsiveness to the solicitation, and potential for FRA interest.
Taking this action could forestall costly efforts by interested parties
whose proposed work may not be of interest to FRA under this grant.
Nontechnical inquiries should be directed to the Grants Officer, Ms.
Jennifer Capps (phone: (202) 493-0112, e-mail: [email protected]).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority and Funding: RSTP, authorized under Section 105 of RSIA
(Division A, Pub. L. 110-432) (49 U.S.C. 20158), authorizes the
appropriation of $50 million annually for fiscal years (FY) 2009
through 2013. The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 provided $50 million for
this purpose.
Eligible Organizations: Title 49 U.S.C. 20158 provides that
``Grants shall be made under this section to eligible passenger and
freight railroad carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local
governments for projects * * * that have a public benefit of improved
safety and network efficiency.''
To be eligible for assistance, entities must have either received
approval of the Technology Implementation Plans (TIP) and Positive
Train Control Implementation Plans (PTCIP) required by 49 U.S.C.
20156(e)(2) and 20157, or demonstrate, to the satisfaction of FRA, that
they are currently developing the required plans. Preference will be
given in the following order:
1. Entities that have completed and received FRA approval of both
their TIP and PTCIP.
2. Entities that have completed and received FRA approval of their
PTCIP.
3. Entities that have submitted their PTCIP to FRA for approval.
4. Entities that have certified to FRA progress towards completion
of their PTCIP and TIP.
5. All other entities.
Collaborative project submissions by freight and passenger
carriers, suppliers, and State and local governments on eligible
projects will be evaluated more favorably.
Eligible Projects: Grant awards will focus on using technologies or
methods that are ready for deployment, or of sufficient technical
maturity that they can be made ready for deployment within the 24
months after the grant award. FRA will give preference to collaborative
projects by multiple railroads that have active railroad carrier and
sponsoring public authority participation in the following order:
Priority 1: Projects that:
(a) Support the resolution of Northeast Corridor Positive Train
Control (PTC) interoperability issues,
(b) Support the resolution of mixed freight and passenger PTC
interoperability issues in the Los Angeles basin, or
(c) Facilitate sharing of PTC communications infrastructure and
spectrum.
Priority 2: Projects that:
(a) Support high-speed passenger operations using general freight
PTC technologies, or
(b) Optimize PTC deployment on the core 2015 PTC territory, or
(c) Support PTC deployment on non-2015 core PTC territory.
Priority 3: All other projects.
Selection Criteria: Applications will be evaluated and ranked based
on both technical and cost/price factors.
Technical Factors (75% overall weighting):
1. Responsiveness to Solicitation Intent and Requirements (20%):
Degree to which the proposal meets the conceptual intent and submission
requirements of the solicitation.
2. Significance for Implementing Interoperable PTC Deployment and
Fit with FRA Mission (30%): Degree to which successful implementation
of the
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proposed idea would make interoperable PTC deployment more technically
or economically practical (includes contribution to cost-effectiveness,
reliability, safety, availability, or maintainability), and fit within
FRA's primary mission of ensuring the safety of the Nation's
approximately 700 railroads.
3. Technical Merit (20%): Degree to which proposed ideas exhibit a
sound scientific and engineering basis; how well the proposed ideas
could be practically applied in and would be compatible with the
railroad environment; and perceived likelihood of technical and
practical success.
4. Key Personnel and Supporting Organization (15%): Technical
qualifications and demonstrated experience of key personnel proposed to
lead and perform the technical efforts; qualifications of primary and
supporting organizations to fully and successfully execute proposal
plan within the proposed timeframe and budget.
5. Collaborative Efforts (15%): Degree to which the proposed effort
is supported by multiple entities and the applicability and
availability of results to the larger railroad industry.
Cost/Price Factor (25% overall weighting):
1. Affordability and degree to which proposed effort appears to be
a good value for the amount of funding requested. This includes the
reasonableness and realism of the proposed costs (60%).
2. The extent of proposed cost-sharing or cost-participation under
the proposed effort (exclusive of the applicant's prior investment)
(40%).
An offer must be found acceptable under all applicable evaluation
factors to be considered eligible for award. Awards will be made to
responsible applicants whose offers provide the best value to the
Government in terms of technical excellence, cost or price, and
performance risk, to include consistency and accord with the objectives
of the solicitation and FRA's expressed areas of interest.
Requirements and Conditions for Grant Applications: Detailed
application requirements and conditions may be found in the grant
application guidance for this solicitation on Grants.gov. Before
submitting their proposals, applicants must carefully read the grant
guidance associated with this funding opportunity, ensure that their
applications are submitted on or before the closing date provided
herein, and ensure that they have complied with all of the requirements
of the grant application guidance, including providing applicable
certifications.
Information Collection: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
under emergency clearance procedures, has approved the information
collection associated with the PTC grant program for 6 months. The
approval number for this collection of information is OMB No. 2130-
0587, and the expiration date is September 30, 2010. FRA will be
publishing a Notice in the Federal Register shortly in which the agency
will be seeking regular OMB clearance for this collection of
information. Such approvals are normally good for 3 years. FRA will
publish a Notice for this second OMB approval once it is obtained.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 20, 2010.
Robert C. Lauby,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulatory and Legislative
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-18266 Filed 7-26-10; 8:45 am]
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