[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5244-5248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1840]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands Program
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.
ACTION: Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program Announcement of FY
2010 Project Selections.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects, funded with
Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 appropriations and previously unallocated prior
year funds, for the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program, as
authorized by Section 3021 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy for Users of 2005
(SAFETEA-LU) and codified in 49 U.S.C. 5320. The Paul S. Sarbanes
Transit in Parks program funds capital and planning expenses for
alternative transportation systems in parks and public lands. Federal
land management agencies and State, Tribal and local governments acting
with the consent of a Federal land management agency are eligible
recipients.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project sponsors who are State, local,
or Tribal entities may contact the appropriate FTA Regional
Administrator (See the Appendix to this Notice) for grant-specific
issues. Project sponsors who are a Federal land management agency or a
specific unit of a Federal land management agency should work with the
contact listed below at their headquarters office to coordinate the
availability of funds to that unit.
National Park Service: Mark H Hartsoe, [email protected]; tel: 202-513-7025, fax: 202-371-6675, mail: 1849 C
Street, NW. (MS2420); Washington, DC 20240-0001.
Fish and Wildlife Service: Nathan Caldwell, [email protected], tel: 703-358-2205, fax: 703-358-2517, mail: 4401 N.
Fairfax Drive, Room 634; Arlington, VA 22203.
Forest Service: Ed James, [email protected], tel: 703-605-
4616, mail: 1400 Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC 20250-1101.
Bureau of Land Management: Victor F. Montoya, [email protected], tel: 202-912-7041, mail: 1620 L Street, WO-854,
Washington, DC 20036
For general information about the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks
program, please contact Adam Schildge, Office of Program Management,
Federal Transit Administration, at [email protected], 202-366-0778.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A total of $26,844,035 was appropriated for
FTA's Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program in Fiscal Year (FY)
2010. Of this amount, $26,709,815 is available for project awards,
$134,220 is reserved for oversight activities, and $46,591 will be
added to available FY 2011 appropriations for the program. A total of
$338,467 is available for project awards from funds appropriated in
2007, 2008 and 2009. A total of 73 applicants requested $83.0 million,
more than three times the amount available in FY 2010 for projects,
indicating high competition for funds. A joint review committee of the
U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Forest Service and DOT evaluated the project proposals based on the
criteria defined in 49 U.S.C. 5320(g)(2). Final selections were made
through a collaborative process.
The goals of the program are to conserve natural, historical, and
cultural resources; reduce congestion and pollution; improve visitor
mobility and accessibility; enhance visitor experience; and ensure
access to all, including persons with disabilities, through alternative
transportation projects. The projects selected to use FY 2010 funding
represent a diverse set of capital and planning projects across the
country, ranging from bus purchases to installation of Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS) and are listed in Table 1.
Applying For Funds
Recipients who are State or local government entities will be
required to apply for Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program funds
electronically through FTA's electronic grant award and management
system, TEAM. These entities are assigned discretionary project IDs as
shown in Table 1 of this notice. The content of these grant
applications must reflect the approved proposal. (Note: Applications
for the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program do not require
Department of Labor Certification.) Upon grant award, payments to
grantees will be made by electronic transfer to the grantee's financial
institution through FTA's Electronic Clearing House Operation (ECHO)
system. Staff in FTA's Regional offices are available to assist
applicants.
Recipients who are Federal land management agencies will be
required to enter into an interagency agreement (IAA) with FTA. FTA
will administer one IAA with each Federal land management agency
receiving funding through the program for all of that agency's
projects. Individual units of Federal land management agencies should
work with the contact at their headquarters office listed above to
coordinate the availability of funds to that unit.
Program Requirements
Section 5320 requires funding recipients to meet certain
requirements. Requirements that reflect existing statutory and
regulatory provisions can be found in the document ``Alternative
Transportation in Parks and Public Lands Program: Requirements for
Recipients'' available at http://www.fta.dot.gov/atppl. These
requirements are incorporated into the grant agreements and inter-
agency
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agreements used to fund the selected projects.
Pre-Award Authority
Pre-award authority allows an agency that will receive a grant or
interagency agreement to incur certain project costs prior to receipt
of the grant or interagency agreement and retain eligibility of the
costs for subsequent reimbursement after the grant or agreement is
approved. The recipient assumes all risk and is responsible for
ensuring that all conditions are met to retain eligibility, including
compliance with Federal requirements such as the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), SAFETEA-LU planning requirements, and provisions
established in the grant contract or Interagency Agreement. This
automatic pre-award spending authority, when triggered, permits a
grantee to incur costs on an eligible transit capital or planning
project without prejudice to possible future Federal participation in
the cost of the project or projects. Under the authority provided in 49
U.S.C. 5320(h), FTA is extending pre-award authority for FY 2010 Paul
S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks projects effective December 22, 2010 when
the projects were publicly announced.
The conditions under which pre-award authority may be utilized are
specified below:
a. Pre-award authority is not a legal or implied commitment that
the project(s) will be approved for FTA assistance or that FTA will
obligate Federal funds for those projects. Furthermore, it is not a
legal or implied commitment that all items undertaken by the applicant
will be eligible for inclusion in the project(s).
b. All FTA statutory, procedural, and contractual requirements must
be met.
c. No action will be taken by the grantee that prejudices the legal
and administrative findings that the Federal Transit Administrator must
make in order to approve a project.
d. Local funds expended pursuant to this pre-award authority will
be eligible for reimbursement if FTA later makes a grant or interagency
agreement for the project(s). Local funds expended by the grantee prior
to the April 5, 2010 public announcement will not be eligible for
credit toward local match or reimbursement. Furthermore, the
expenditure of local funds on activities such as land acquisition,
demolition, or construction, prior to the completion of the NEPA
process, would compromise FTA's ability to comply with Federal
environmental laws and may render the project ineligible for FTA
funding.
e. When a grant for the project is subsequently awarded, the
Financial Status Report in TEAM-Web must indicate the use of pre-award
authority, and the pre-award item in the project information section of
TEAM should be marked ``yes.''
Reporting Requirements
All recipients must submit quarterly reports to FTA containing the
following information:
(1) Narrative description of project(s); and,
(2) Discussion of all budget and schedule changes.
The headquarters office for each Federal land management agency
should collect a quarterly report for each of the projects delineated
in the interagency agreement and then send these reports (preferably by
e-mail) to Adam Schildge, FTA, [email protected]; 1200 New Jersey
Avenue; Washington, DC 20590. Examples can be found on the program Web
site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/atppl. State and local governments will
send this information to FTA for projects that are funded through
grants to State and local governments rather than through the
interagency agreement. The quarterly reports are due to FTA on the
dates noted below:
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Quarter Covering Due date
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1st Quarter Report.............. October 1-December January 31.
31.
2nd Quarter Report.............. January 1-March 31 April 30.
3rd Quarter Report.............. April 1-June 30... July 31.
4th Quarter Report.............. July 1-September October 31.
31.
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In order to allow FTA to compute aggregate program performance
measures FTA requests that all recipients of funding for capital
projects under the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program submit the
following information annually:
Annual visitation to the land unit;
Annual number of persons who use the alternative
transportation system (ridership/usage);
An estimate of the number of vehicle trips mitigated based
on alternative transportation system usage and the typical number of
passengers per vehicle;
Cost per passenger; and,
A note of any special services offered for those systems
with higher costs per passenger but more amenities.
State and local government entities should submit this information
as part of their fourth quarter report through FTA's TEAM grants
management system.
Federal land management agencies should also send this information
as part of their fourth quarter report (preferably by e-mail), to Adam
Schildge, FTA, [email protected]; 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.; E46-
303; Washington, DC 20590. Examples can be found on the program Web
site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/atppl.
Oversight
Recipients of FY 2010 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program
funds will be required to certify that they will comply with all
applicable Federal and FTA programmatic requirements. FTA direct
grantees will complete this certification as part of the annual
Certification and Assurances package, and Federal Land Management
Agency recipients will complete the certification by signing the
interagency agreement. This certification is the basis for oversight
reviews conducted by FTA.
The Secretary of Transportation and FTA have elected not to apply
the triennial review requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5307(h)(2) to Paul S.
Sarbanes Transit in Parks program recipients that are other Federal
agencies. Instead, working with the existing oversight systems at the
Federal Land Management Agencies, FTA will perform periodic reviews of
specific projects funded by the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks
program. These reviews will ensure that projects meet the basic
statutory, administrative, and regulatory requirements as stipulated by
this notice and the certification. To the extent possible, these
reviews will be coordinated with other reviews of the project. FTA
direct grantees of Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks program funds
(State, local and Tribal government entities) will be subject to all
applicable triennial, State management, civil rights, and other
reviews.
Issued in Washington, DC this 24th day of January, 2011.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
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Appendix
FTA Regional and Metropolitan Offices
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Mary-Beth Mello, Regional Robert C. Patrick, Regional
Administrator, Region 1--Boston, Administrator, Region 6--Ft.
Kendall Square, 55 Broadway, Suite Worth, 819 Taylor Street, Room
920, Cambridge, MA 02142-1093, 8A36, Ft. Worth, TX 76102, Tel.
Tel. 617-494-2055. 817-978-0550.
States served: Connecticut, Maine, States served: Arkansas, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas.
Rhode Island, and Vermont.
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Brigid Hynes-Cherin, Regional Mokhtee Ahmad, Regional
Administrator, Region 2--New York, Administrator, Region 7--Kansas
One Bowling Green, Room 429, New City, MO, 901 Locust Street, Room
York, NY 10004-1415, Tel. 212-668- 404, Kansas City, MO 64106, Tel.
2170. 816-329-3920.
States served: New Jersey, New States served: Iowa, Kansas,
York. Missouri, and Nebraska.
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New York Metropolitan Office,
Region 2--New York, One Bowling
Green, Room 428, New York, NY
10004-1415, Tel. 212-668-2202.
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Letitia Thompson, Regional Terry Rosapep, Regional
Administrator, Region 3-- Administrator, Region 8--Denver,
Philadelphia, 1760 Market Street, 12300 West Dakota Ave., Suite 310,
Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19103- Lakewood, CO 80228-2583, Tel. 720-
4124, Tel. 215-656-7100. 963-3300.
States served: Delaware, Maryland, States served: Colorado, Montana,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah,
Virginia, and District of and Wyoming.
Columbia.
Philadelphia Metropolitan Office,
Region 3--Philadelphia, 1760
Market Street, Suite 500,
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4124, Tel.
215-656-7070.
Washington, DC Metropolitan Office,
1990 K Street, NW., Room 510,
Washington, DC 20006, Tel. 202-219-
3562.
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Yvette Taylor, Regional Leslie T. Rogers, Regional
Administrator, Region 4--Atlanta, Administrator, Region 9--San
230 Peachtreet Street, NW. Suite Francisco, 201 Mission Street,
800, Atlanta, GA 30303, Tel. 404- Room 1650, San Francisco, CA 94105-
865-5600. 1926, Tel. 415-744-3133.
States served: Alabama, Florida, States served: American Samoa,
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii,
North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Nevada, and the Northern Mariana
Carolina, Tennessee, and Virgin Islands.
Islands.
Los Angeles Metropolitan Office,
Region 9--Los Angeles, 888 S.
Figueroa Street, Suite 1850, Los
Angeles, CA 90017-1850, Tel. 213-
202-3952.
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Marisol Simon, Regional Rick Krochalis, Regional
Administrator, Region 5--Chicago, Administrator, Region 10--Seattle,
200 West Adams Street, Suite 320, Jackson Federal Building, 915
Chicago, IL 60606, Tel. 312-353- Second Avenue, Suite 3142,
2789. Seattle, WA 98174-1002, Tel. 206-
220-7954.
States served: Illinois, Indiana, States served: Alaska, Idaho,
Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Oregon, and Washington.
Wisconsin.
Chicago Metropolitan Office, Region
5--Chicago, 200 West Adams Street,
Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60606, Tel.
312-353-2789.
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[FR Doc. 2011-1840 Filed 1-27-11; 8:45 am]
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