6726 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration 

FTA Fiscal Year 2004 Apportionments, 

Allocations and Program Information

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The ‘‘Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004’’, (Public Law 

108–199), which was signed into law by 

President Bush on January 23, 2004, 

includes appropriations for the 

Department of Transportation for the 

fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, 

and provides FY 2004 appropriations 

for the Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA) transit assistance programs. 

Pending further consideration of a 

multi-year authorization, Congress has 

passed a five-month extension of the 

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st 

Century (TEA–21), known as the 

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 

2003 (Public Law 108–88). This act, 

signed by President Bush on September 

30, 2003, provides additional funding 

authorizations for transit and highway 

programs for the period October 1, 2003, 

through February 29, 2004. The 

previous authorizations, under TEA–21, 

were effective through September 30, 

2003. 

This notice contains (1) a listing of the 

full amount of the FY 2004 

apportionments and allocations for the 

formula, capital, and transit planning 

and research programs, including both 

trust funds and general funds, based on 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 and Federal transit laws; and (2) a 

listing of apportionments and 

allocations based on the FY 2004 

available funding for formula, capital, 

and transit planning and research 

programs, in accordance with the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

and the Surface Transportation 

Extension Act of 2003. This includes the 

total of general funds made available in 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 and a portion of contract authority 

under the Surface Transportation 

Extension Act of 2003. As soon as 

authorizing legislation covering the 

remainder of the fiscal year, March 1, 

2004, through September 30, 2004, or a 

portion of it has been enacted the entire 

apportionment or the additional 

authority will be made available. If the 

authorization act affects the distribution 

of funds within the programs, FTA will 

republish the apportionments and 

allocations in their entirety, taking the 

provisions of both the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 and the 

authorization act into consideration. 

In addition, prior year unobligated 

allocations for the section 5309 New 

Starts, Bus and Bus-Related and Job 

Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) 

programs are listed. The FTA policy 

regarding pre-award authority to incur 

project costs, Letter of No Prejudice 

Policy, and other pertinent program 

information are provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

appropriate FTA Regional 

Administrator for grant-specific 

information and issues; Mary Martha 

Churchman, Director, Office of Resource 

Management and State Programs, (202) 

366–2053, for general information about 

the Urbanized Area Formula Program, 

the Nonurbanized Area Formula 

Program, the Rural Transit Assistance 

Program, the Elderly and Persons with 

Disabilities Program, the Clean Fuels 

Formula Program, the Over-the-Road 

Bus Accessibility Program, the Capital 

Investment Program, or the Job Access 

and Reverse Commute Program; Paul L. 

Verchinski, Chief, Planning Oversight 

Division, (202) 366–1626, for general 

information concerning the 

Metropolitan Planning Program and the 

Statewide Planning and Research 

Program; or Bruce Robinson, Office of 

Research, Demonstration and 

Innovation, (202) 366–4209, for general 

information about the National Planning 

and Research Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

II. Overview 

A. General 

B. Funds Available for Obligation 

C. Project Management Oversight 

III. Fiscal Year 2004 Focus Areas 

A. Transit Safety and Security 

B. Ridership 

C. Transportation Coordination 

D. Special Transit Provisions in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004

IV. Metropolitan Planning Program and 

Statewide Planning and Research 

Program 

A. Metropolitan Planning Program 

B. Statewide Planning and Research 

Program 

C. FHWA Metropolitan Planning Program 

and State Planning and Research 

Program 

D. Local Match Waiver for Specified 

Planning Activities 

E. Planning Emphasis Areas for Fiscal Year 

2004 

F. Consolidated Planning Grants 

V. Urbanized Area Formula Program 

A. Total Urbanized Area Formula 

Apportionments 

B. Data Used for Urbanized Area Formula 

Apportionments 

C. Urbanized Area Formula 

Apportionments to Governors 

D. Transit Enhancements 

E. Fiscal Year 2004 Operating Assistance 

F. Designated Transportation Management 

Areas 

G. Urbanized Area Formula Funds Used for 

Highway Purposes 

VI. Nonurbanized Area Formula Program and 

Rural Transit Assistance Program 

A. Nonurbanized Area Formula Program 

B. Rural Transit Assistance Program 

VII. Elderly And Persons With Disabilities 

Program 

VIII. FHWA Surface Transportation Program 

and Congestion Mitigation and Air 

Quality Funds Used for Transit Purposes 

A. Transfer Process 

B. Matching Share for FHWA Transfers 

IX. Capital Investment Program 

A. Fixed Guideway Modernization 

B. New Starts 

C. Bus and Bus-Related 

X. Job Access And Reverse Commute 

Program 

XI. Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program 

XII. Clean Fuels Formula Program 

XIII. National Planning and Research 

Program 

XIV. Unit Values of Data for Urbanized Area 

Formula Program, Nonurbanized Area 

Formula Program, and Fixed Guideway 

Modernization 

XV. Period of Availability of Funds 

XVI. Automatic Pre-Award Authority to 

Incur Project Costs 

A. Policy 

B. Conditions 

C. Environmental, Planning, and Other 

Federal Requirements 

D. Pre-award Authority for New Starts 

Projects 

XVII. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) Policy 

A. Policy 

B. Conditions and Federal Requirements 

C. Request for LONP 

XVIII. Program Guidance 

XIX. FTA Fiscal Year 2004 Annual List of 

Certifications and Assurances 

XX. Grant Application Procedures 

Tables 

1. FTA FY 2004 Appropriations, 

Apportionments, and Available Funding 

for Grant Programs 

2. FTA FY 2004 Metropolitan Planning 

Program and Statewide Planning And 

Research Program Apportionments 

3. FHWA FY 2004 Metropolitan Planning 

Program (PL) Available Apportionments 

4. FTA FY 2004 Urbanized Area Formula 

Apportionments 

5. FTA FY 2004 Nonurbanized Area 

Formula Apportionments, and Rural 

Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) 

Allocations 

6. FTA FY 2004 Elderly And Persons With 

Disabilities Apportionments 

7. FTA FY 2004 Fixed Guideway 

Modernization Apportionments 

8. FTA FY 2004 New Starts Allocations 

8A. FTA Prior Year Unobligated New 

Starts Allocations 

9. FTA FY 2004 Bus and Bus-Related 

Allocations 

9A. FTA Prior Year Unobligated Bus and 

Bus-Related Allocations 

10. FTA FY 2004 National Planning and 

Research Program Allocations 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 6727

11. FTA FY 2004 Job Access and Reverse 

Commute (JARC) Allocations 

11A. FTA Prior Year Unobligated JARC 

Allocations 

12. FTA FY 2004 Apportionment Formula 

for Urbanized Area Formula Program 

13. FTA FY 2004 Fixed Guideway 

Modernization Program Apportionment 

Formula 

14. FTA FY 2004 Formula Grant 

Apportionments Unit Values of Data 

15. 2000 Census Urbanized Areas with 

Populations 200,000 or Greater Eligible 

to Use FY 2004 Section 5307 Funds for 

Operating Assistance

I. Background

Metropolitan Planning funds are 

apportioned by statutory formula to the 

States for allocation to Metropolitan 

Planning Organizations (MPOs) in 

urbanized areas or portions thereof to 

provide funds for their Unified Planning 

Work Programs. Statewide Planning and 

Research funds are apportioned to 

States by statutory formula to provide 

funds for their Statewide Planning and 

Research Programs. Urbanized Area 

Formula Program funds are apportioned 

by statutory formula to urbanized areas 

and to Governors to provide capital, 

operating and planning assistance in 

urbanized areas. Nonurbanized Area 

Formula Program funds are apportioned 

by statutory formula to Governors for 

capital, operating and administrative 

assistance in nonurbanized areas. 

Elderly and Persons with Disabilities 

Program funds are apportioned by 

statutory formula to Governors to 

provide capital assistance to 

organizations providing transportation 

service for the elderly and persons with 

disabilities. Fixed Guideway 

Modernization funds are apportioned by 

statutory formula to specified urbanized 

areas for capital improvements in rail 

and other fixed guideways. New Starts 

identified in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 and Bus and 

Bus-Related Allocations identified in 

the Conference Report accompanying 

the Act are included in this notice. 

Congressional allocations of the Job 

Access and Reverse Commute Program 

(JARC) included in the Conference 

Report are also included, as provided 

for in the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2004. Over-the-Road Bus 

Accessibility Program funds are 

allocated on a competitive basis. 

FTA will honor those discretionary 

project designations included in 

Conference Report language for Bus and 

Bus-Related and JARC, to the extent that 

the projects meet the statutory intent of 

the specific program. Requests for 

reprogramming of funding for projects 

that are found not to be consistent with 

the statutory intent of the program or 

project activities outside the scope of 

the project designation included in 

report language should be directed to 

the House and Senate Committees on 

Appropriations for resolution. 

II. Overview 

A. General 

Table 1 displays the appropriations 

and obligation limitation for the FTA 

programs. Also listed is the amount of 

FY 2004 funds currently available for 

obligation for each program. The 

amounts have been adjusted from the 

FY 2004 enacted levels to reflect an 

across-the-board .59 percent rescission 

proportionately applied to the 

discretionary budget authority and 

obligation limitation, and to each 

program, project and activity, as 

directed by Section 168 of Division H of 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004. The following text provides a 

narrative explanation of the funding 

levels and other factors affecting the 

apportionments and allocations. 

B. Funds Available for Obligation 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides a combination of trust 

and general funds that total $7.309 

billion for FTA programs. After 

applying the across-the-board .59 

percent rescission, as directed by 

Section 168 of Division H of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004, 

new funding for FTA programs is $7.266 

billion. 

Because the Surface Transportation 

Extension Act of 2003 only provides 

contract authority through February 29, 

2004, FTA is publishing both (1) the 

apportionment and allocation tables that 

contain the full program levels in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004; 

and (2) the apportionments and 

allocations based on FY 2004 funds 

available for the FTA program. The 

column labeled ‘‘Apportionment’’ or 

‘‘Allocation’’ includes both trust funds 

(contract authority) and general funds, 

and reflects the total dollar amount of 

obligation limitation and appropriations 

in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004, once a full year contract authority 

is made available. This amount does not 

represent the amount that is actually 

available for obligation at this time. The 

amount shown in the column labeled 

‘‘Available Apportionment’’ or 

‘‘Available Allocation’’ is available for 

obligation. 

C. Project Management Oversight 

Section 5327 of title 49 U.S.C., 

permits the Secretary of Transportation 

to use up to one-half percent of the 

funds made available under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program and 

the Nonurbanized Area Formula 

Program, and three-quarters percent of 

funds made available under the Capital 

Investment Program to contract with 

any person to oversee the construction 

of any major project under these 

statutory programs; to conduct safety, 

procurement, management and financial 

reviews and audits; and to provide 

technical assistance to correct 

deficiencies identified in compliance 

reviews and audits. Section 319 of the 

FY 2002 DOT Appropriations Act 

increased the amount made available 

under the Capital Investment Program 

for oversight activities to one percent, 

for FY 2002 and thereafter. 

III. Fiscal Year 2004 Focus Areas 

FTA draws attention to the following 

areas of particular interest in FY 2004 

relative to the FTA programs. 

A. Transit Safety and Security 

The Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA) has undertaken a series of major 

steps to help prepare the transit 

industry to counter terrorist threats. Key 

to these efforts is emergency 

preparedness, employee training and 

public awareness, three of the most 

important transit security priorities for 

the future. Transit security must remain 

in the forefront as the immediacy of 

September 11, 2001, fades over time. To 

that end, FTA is continuing to provide 

security and emergency planning 

technical assistance to transit agencies, 

updating transit employee training 

courses as well as developing new 

curricula and will continue to hold 

‘‘Connecting Communities’’ security 

forums across the country. In addition, 

FTA has launched a nationwide safety 

and security public awareness program, 

‘‘TransitWatch’’, that encourages the 

active participation of transit passengers 

and employees in maintaining a safe 

transit environment. 

Although the transit industry has 

made great strides in strengthening 

security and emergency preparedness, 

there is much more to do. Detailed 

information about these three areas and 

other important actions can be found in 

FTA’s list of Top 20 Security Program 

Action Items for transit agencies. These 

20 action items are based on good 

security practices identified through 

FTA’s Security Assessments and the 

technical assistance program. The Top 

20 Security Program Action Items can 

be found on FTA’s Web site at http://

transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/security/

SecurityInitiatives/Top20/default.asp. 

FTA will work with transit agencies to 

assist them as they incorporate these 

practices into their programs.

6728 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

B. Ridership 

FTA’s strategic business plan 

establishes FTA’s core values and 

identifies a number of strategic goals for 

sustaining these values over the next 

three years. Specifically, FTA seeks to 

deliver products and services that are 

valued by its customers and to assist 

transit agencies in better meeting the 

needs of their customers. Increasing 

transit ridership is a key measure of 

success in achieving this objective. FTA 

has further identified a goal of achieving 

an average 2.0 percent increase in the 

number of transit passenger boardings 

per transit agency, controlling for 

changes in local economic conditions by 

adjusting ridership by employment 

levels. FTA is continuing work on a 

range of research, guidance, and other 

technical assistance to support State and 

local transit efforts to increase ridership. 

FTA encourages all transit agencies to 

focus attention on ways to increase 

transit ridership, and will be issuing 

further information about the FTA 

ridership initiative throughout FY 2004. 

C. Transportation Coordination 

Without adequate transportation 

services, many older Americans, 

persons with disabilities, and 

individuals with low-incomes are often 

unable to access work, medical services, 

educational resources or recreation 

opportunities. The social and economic 

consequences of inadequate 

transportation can be enormous. 

In June of 2003, the General 

Accounting Office issued a report on 

Transportation for Disadvantaged 

Populations. This report highlights the 

complex nature of coordinating multiple 

funding resources for a variety of client 

populations. Because of the complex 

issues related to coordinating resources 

to improve human service 

transportation, DOT has been actively 

working with other Federal agencies 

including the Departments of Health 

and Human Services, Labor, and 

Education. While the broad 

collaborative efforts focus on crosscutting issues, there are also 

subcommittees and distinct activities 

addressing the unique needs of older 

adults, people with disabilities, and 

low-income populations, and issues 

related to medical transportation 

services. FTA is encouraging 

transportation and human service 

leaders in every community to work 

together to assess existing transportation 

services, determine unmet needs and 

institute resource strategies that will 

help bridge the gaps. Using available 

Federal transportation funds in the most 

effective coordinated manner has 

become especially important as States 

and communities deal with budget 

shortfalls. 

To assist States and communities in 

moving forward, FTA and our federal 

partners have introduced a five point 

initiative, including, technical 

assistance, State recognition awards, 

and the issuance of a Framework for 

Action, a self-assessment tool for both 

States and communities. FTA 

encourages States and communities to 

use the Framework for Action (available 

on the FTA Web site at http://

www.fta.dot.gov/CCAM/

framework.html) as a planning tool to 

improve service coordination. 

D. Special Transit Provisions in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

Procurement Pilot Program—Section 

166 of the FTA general provisions in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

directs that a procurement pilot program 

be established to determine the benefits 

of encouraging cooperative procurement 

of major capital equipment under 

sections 5307, 5309, and 5311. The 

program will consist of three pilot 

projects, which may be carried out by 

grantees, consortiums of grantees, or 

members of the private sector acting as 

agents of grantees. The Federal share for 

a grant under this pilot program will be 

90 percent of net project cost. FTA is 

working to develop procedures and 

guidance to implement this program. 

Details will be forthcoming. 

Restriction on Advertisements for 

Controlled Substances—Section 177 of 

the FTA general provisions in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

provides that none of the funds made 

available in this Act shall be available 

to any Federal transit grantee after 

February 1, 2004, involved directly or 

indirectly, in any activity that promotes 

the legalization or medical use of any 

substance listed in schedule I of section 

202 of the Controlled Substance Act (21 

U.S.C. 812 et seq.). 

IV. Metropolitan Planning Program and 

State Planning and Research Program 

A. Metropolitan Planning Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $60,029,325 to the 

Metropolitan Planning Program (49 

U.S.C. 5303) after the across-the-board 

.59 percent rescission. The FY 2004 

Metropolitan Planning Program 

apportionment to States for MPOs’ use 

in urbanized areas totals $61,456,193. 

This amount includes $60,029,325 in 

FY 2004 funds, and $1,426,868 in prior 

year funds available for 

reapportionment under this program. A 

basic allocation of 80 percent of this 

amount ($49,164,954) is distributed to 

the States based on the State’s urbanized 

area population as defined by the U.S. 

Census Bureau for subsequent State 

distribution to each urbanized area, or 

parts thereof, within each State. A 

supplemental allocation of the 

remaining 20 percent ($12,291,238) is 

also provided to the States based on an 

FTA administrative formula to address 

planning needs in the larger, more 

complex urbanized areas. Table 2 

displays the State apportionments for 

the combined basic and supplemental 

allocations. Table 2 also shows the 

amount of a State’s apportionment that 

is currently available for obligation, in 

accordance with the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003.

All States have either reaffirmed or 

developed, in consultation with their 

MPOs, new allocation formulas as a 

result of the 2000 Census. These 

formulas may be changed annually, but 

require approval by the FTA regional 

office prior to grant approval. 

B. Statewide Planning and Research 

Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $12,539,975 to the 

Statewide Planning and Research 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5313(b)) after the 

across-the-board .59 percent rescission. 

The FY 2004 apportionment for the 

Statewide Planning and Research 

Program (SPRP) totals $13,259,049. This 

amount includes $12,539,975 in FY 

2004 funds, and $719,074 in prior year 

funds available for reapportionment 

under this program. Final State 

apportionments for this program are 

also contained in Table 2. Table 2 also 

shows the amount of a State’s 

apportionment that is currently 

available for obligation, in accordance 

with the Surface Transportation 

Extension Act of 2003. 

These funds may be used for a variety 

of purposes such as planning, technical 

studies and assistance, demonstrations, 

management training, and cooperative 

research. 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 urbanized areas, as the State deems 

appropriate. 

C. FHWA Metropolitan Planning 

Program and State Planning and 

Research Program 

For informational purposes, the FY 

2004 apportionments for the FHWA 

Metropolitan Planning Program (PL) 

that are available under the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003 

are contained in Table 3. 

Apportionments for the FY 2004 FHWA 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 6729

State Planning and Research Program 

(SPRP) and for the full 12 months of the 

PL were not available at the time of 

publication of this notice. When the 

information becomes available it will be 

posted on the FHWA Web site at http:/

/www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/

notices/n4510511.htm.

D. Local Match Waiver for Specified 

Planning Activities 

Job Access and Reverse Commute 

Planning. Federal, State and local 

welfare reform initiatives may require 

the development of new and innovative 

public and other transportation services 

to ensure that former welfare recipients 

have adequate mobility for reaching 

employment opportunities. In 

recognition of the key role that 

transportation plays in ensuring the 

success of welfare-to-work initiatives, 

FTA and FHWA permit the waiver of 

the local match requirement for Job 

Access and Reverse Commute planning 

activities undertaken with both FTA 

and FHWA Metropolitan Planning 

Program and State Planning and 

Research Program funds. FTA and 

FHWA will support requests for waivers 

when they are included in Metropolitan 

Unified Planning Work Programs and 

State Planning and Research Programs 

and meet all other requirements. 

E. Planning Emphasis Areas for Fiscal 

Year 2004 

The FTA and FHWA identify 

Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs) 

annually to promote priority themes for 

consideration, as appropriate, in 

metropolitan and statewide Unified 

Planning Work Programs proposed for 

FTA and FHWA funding in FY 2004. 

While we try to make the PEAs available 

at the beginning of the Federal fiscal 

year, we realize even the October 1 date 

may be too late for some planning 

organizations to address the PEAs in 

their upcoming work programs. In such 

a case, the FY 2004 PEAs can be 

considered in the development of 

UPWPs during FY 2004 even though the 

UPWP might not be approved until 

early in FY 2005. FTA and FHWA 

provide support for the PEAs through 

the Transportation Planning Capacity 

Building Program, which can be 

accessed at http://

www.planning.dot.gov/. Opportunities 

for exchanging ideas and experiences on 

innovative practices in these topical 

areas also will be provided throughout 

the year. For FY 2004, five key planning 

themes have been identified: (1) 

Consideration of safety and security in 

the transportation planning process; (2) 

integration of planning and 

environmental processes; (3) 

consideration of management and 

operations within planning processes; 

(4) State DOT consultation with nonmetropolitan local officials; and (5) 

enhancing the technical capacity of 

planning processes. 

1. Safety and Security in the 

Transportation Planning Process. TEA–

21 emphasizes the safety and security of 

transportation systems as a national 

priority and calls for transportation 

projects and strategies that ‘‘increase the 

safety and security of transportation 

systems.’’ This entails integration of 

safety and security into all stages of the 

transportation planning process. 

FTA and FHWA are working together 

to advance the state-of-practice in 

addressing safety and security in the 

metropolitan and statewide planning 

process through forums, training, 

research, workshops, and case studies. 

A report prepared by the Transportation 

Research Board (TRB), Transportation 

Research Circular E–C02, ‘‘SafetyConscious Planning,’’ January 2001, 

describes the issues and 

recommendations identified at a Safety 

in Planning workshop held earlier. The 

report is available on the TRB Web site 

at http://www.nas.edu/trb. Also, the 

Institute of Transportation Engineers 

(ITE) has prepared a discussion paper 

on the topic, entitled ‘‘The Development 

of the Safer Network Transportation 

Planning Process,’’ which is posted to 

their Web site at http://www.ite.org.

2. Integrated Planning and 

Environmental Processes. TEA–21 

mandated the elimination of the Major 

Investment Study as a stand-alone 

requirement, while integrating the 

concept within the planning and project 

development/environmental review 

processes. A training course entitled 

‘‘Linking Planning and NEPA’’ has been 

piloted and will be made available in 

FY 2004 at the National Transit Institute 

Web site, http://www.ntionline.com.

The course will also be posted on the 

National Highway Institute Web site 

http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/.

3. Consideration of Management and 

Operations within Planning Processes. 

TEA–21 challenges FHWA and FTA to 

move beyond traditional capital 

programs for improving the movement 

of people and goods—focusing on the 

need to improve the way transportation 

systems are managed and operated. FTA 

and FHWA have convened a working 

group and have commissioned 

discussion papers on the topic. This 

information is available at http://

plan2op.fhwa.dot.gov. 

4. State DOT Consultation With NonMetropolitan Local Officials. On January 

23, 2003, the FTA and FHWA issued a 

final Rule on consultation, followed by 

a technical correction on February 14, 

2003, which can be accessed at http://

www.fta.dot.gov/library/legal/

federalregister/2003/fr12303.html and 

http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/legal/

federalregister/2003/fr21403.html. This 

final rule amends the 1993 Joint FTA/

FHWA Planning regulation published in 

the Federal Register, Volume 58, No. 

207, on October 28, 1993. Consultation 

is a vital issue within the transportation 

planning process. Each State shall have 

a documented process(es) that 

implements consultation with nonmetropolitan local officials in the 

statewide planning process and 

development of the statewide 

transportation improvement program by 

February 24, 2004. The documented 

process(es) must be separate and 

discrete from the State’s public 

involvement process. The FTA and 

FHWA have worked with each State to 

help facilitate development of the 

documented process(es), but will not 

review or approve the documented 

process(es). However, the FTA and 

FHWA in the State Planning Finding 

will comment on progress toward 

accomplishing the documented 

process(es) and its implementation. 

Since consultation is a vital issue, each 

State shall review its documented 

process and solicit comments regarding 

the effectiveness of its consultation 

process within two years of adopting its 

documented process, and thereafter, at 

least once every five years. The National 

Association of Development 

Organizations at http://www.nado.org/

rtoc/best_practices/index.html has 

summaries of some State models for 

using regional planning and 

development organizations to help 

facilitate the input and involvement of 

rural local officials in the transportation 

planning and programming process. 

5. Enhancing the Technical Capacity 

of Planning Processes. Reliable 

information on current and projected 

usage and performance of transportation 

systems is critical to the ability of 

planning processes to supply credible 

information to decision-makers to 

support preparation of plans and 

programs that respond to their localities’

unique needs and policy issues. To 

ensure the reliability of usage and 

performance data, as well as the 

responsiveness of policy forecasting 

tools, an evaluation is needed of the 

quality of information provided by the 

technical tools, data sources, and 

forecasting models, as well as the 

expertise of staff to ensure its adequacy 

to support decision-making. If this 

expertise is found to be lacking, the 

responsible agencies within 

6730 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

metropolitan and statewide planning 

processes are encouraged to devote 

appropriate resources to enhance and 

maintain their technical capacity. 

For further information on these 

PEAs, contact Candace Noonan, FTA 

Office of Planning and Environment, 

(202) 366–1648, or John Humeston, 

FHWA Office of Planning, (404) 562–

3667. 

F. Consolidated Planning Grants 

Since FY 1997, FTA and FHWA have 

offered States the option of participating 

in a pilot Consolidated Planning Grant 

(CPG) program. Information concerning 

participation in the CPG program can be 

found on the FTA Web site at http://

www.fta.dot.gov/office/public/cpg.htm. 

For further information on participating 

in the CPG Pilot, contact Candace 

Noonan, Office of Planning and 

Environment, FTA, at (202) 366–1648 or 

Anthony Solury, Office of Planning, 

FHWA, at (202) 366–5003. 

V. Urbanized Area Formula Program 

A. Total Urbanized Area Formula 

Apportionments 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $3,425,608,562 to the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 

U.S.C. 5307) after the across-the-board 

.59 percent rescission. In addition, 

$3,039,008 in prior year funds became 

available for reapportionment under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program as 

provided by 49 U.S.C. 5336(i). 

After reserving $17,128,043 for 

oversight, the amount of FY 2004 funds 

available for apportionment is 

$3,408,480,519. The funds to be 

reapportioned, described in the 

previous paragraph, are then added and 

increase the total amount apportioned 

for this program to $3,411,519,527. 

Table 4 displays the amounts 

apportioned under the Urbanized Area 

Formula Program. Table 4 also shows, 

by urbanized area and State, the amount 

currently available for obligation in 

accordance with the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003. 

Table 12 contains the apportionment 

formula for the Urbanized Area Formula 

Program. 

Additional funds in the amount of 

$4,821,335 are appropriated for the 

Alaska Railroad for improvements to its 

passenger operations after the acrossthe-board .59 percent rescission. After 

reserving $24,107 for oversight, 

$4,797,228 remains to finance Alaska 

Railroad projects. Of this amount 

$2,567,792 is currently available for 

obligation, in accordance with the 

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 

2003. Funds appropriated for the Alaska 

Railroad are allocated in lieu of 

apportioning funds for the Anchorage, 

AK urbanized area under the fixed 

guideway tier of the section 5307 

formula using data attributable to the 

Alaska Railroad Corporation. 

B. Data Used for Urbanized Area 

Formula Apportionments 

Data from the 2002 National Transit 

Database (NTD) Report Year were used 

to calculate the FY 2004 Urbanized Area 

Formula apportionments for urbanized 

areas with populations of 200,000 or 

more. The 2000 Census population and 

population density data are also used in 

calculating apportionments under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program.

C. Urbanized Area Formula 

Apportionments to Governors 

The total Urbanized Area Formula 

apportionment to the Governor (and the 

amount currently available for 

obligation in accordance with the 

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 

2003) for use in areas under 200,000 in 

population for each State are shown in 

Table 4. This table also contains the 

apportionment amount attributable to 

each urbanized area within the State. 

The Governor may determine the 

allocation of funds among the urbanized 

areas under 200,000 in population with 

the following exception: as further 

discussed in Section F, below, funds 

attributed to an urbanized area under 

200,000 in population and located 

within the planning boundaries of a 

Transportation Management Area, must 

be obligated to that small urbanized 

area. 

D. Transit Enhancements 

One percent of the Urbanized Area 

Formula Program apportionment in 

each urbanized area with a population 

of 200,000 or more must be made 

available only for transit enhancements. 

Table 4 shows the amount set aside for 

enhancements in these areas. 

The term ‘‘transit enhancement’’

includes projects or project elements 

that are designed to enhance mass 

transportation service or use and are 

physically or functionally related to 

transit facilities. Eligible enhancements 

include the following: (1) Historic 

preservation, rehabilitation, and 

operation of historic mass transportation 

buildings, structures, and facilities 

(including historic bus and railroad 

facilities); (2) bus shelters; (3) 

landscaping and other scenic 

beautification, including tables, 

benches, trash receptacles, and street 

lights; (4) public art; (5) pedestrian 

access and walkways; (6) bicycle access, 

including bicycle storage facilities and 

installing equipment for transporting 

bicycles on mass transportation 

vehicles; (7) transit connections to parks 

within the recipient’s transit service 

area; (8) signage; and (9) enhanced 

access for persons with disabilities to 

mass transportation. 

It is the responsibility of the MPO to 

determine how the one percent will be 

allotted to transit projects. The one 

percent minimum requirement does not 

preclude more than one percent being 

expended in an urbanized area for 

transit enhancements. However, items 

that are only eligible as enhancements—

in particular, operating costs for historic 

facilities—may be assisted only within 

the one percent funding level. 

The recipient must submit a report to 

the appropriate FTA regional office 

listing the projects or elements of 

projects carried out with those funds 

during the previous fiscal year and the 

amount awarded. The report must be 

submitted with the Federal fiscal year’s 

final quarterly progress report in TEAMWeb. The report should include the 

following elements: (a) Grantee name, 

(b) urbanized area name and number, (c) 

FTA project number, (d) transit 

enhancement category, (e) brief 

description of enhancement and 

progress towards project 

implementation, (f) activity line item 

code from the approved budget, and (g) 

amount awarded by FTA for the 

enhancement. 

E. Fiscal Year 2004 Operating 

Assistance 

In general, FY 2004 funding for 

operating assistance is available only to 

urbanized areas with populations under 

200,000. For these areas, there is no 

limitation on the amount of the State 

apportionment that may be used for 

operating assistance, and the Federal/

local share ratio is 50/50. The 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

provides an exception to the restriction 

on operating assistance in areas over 

200,000 in population for transit 

providers that provide mass 

transportation service exclusively to 

elderly persons and persons with 

disabilities within the urbanized area. 

The language in Section 176 of the 

General Provisions-Federal Transit 

Administration in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 stipulates that 

the number of vehicles operated by the 

eligible transit providers must be 25 or 

fewer vehicles and that operating 

assistance to all entities shall not exceed 

$10,000,000. The areas eligible under 

the criteria included in TEA–21 prior to 

this amendment have already been 

identified and notified. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 6731

The Surface Transportation Extension 

Act of 2003 also continues the 

provisions of Pub. L. 107–232, which 

allow transit systems in urbanized areas 

that, for the first time, exceeded 200,000 

population according to the 2000 

Census to use section 5307 funds for 

operating assistance. A list of the 

eligible 2000 Census urbanized areas 

(with populations 200,000 or greater) 

that may use FY 2004 funds for 

operating assistance is provided in 

Table 15. The table also shows the 

maximum amount of the area’s FY 2004 

apportionment that may be used for 

operating assistance and the amount of 

an area’s apportionment currently 

available for obligation as operating 

assistance. The use of the urbanized 

area funds for operating assistance by 

these areas is restricted to projects 

carried out within the geographical or 

service area boundary of the affected 

1990 census small (less than 200,000 

population) urbanized area. 

In addition, the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003 

adds a provision that allows operating 

assistance, in an urbanized area at least 

200,000, for a 2000 Census urbanized 

area if a portion of the area was not 

designated as an urbanized area as 

determined under the 1990 Federal 

decennial census and received 

assistance under section 5311 in FY 

2002. The provision further stipulates 

that this portion of the urbanized area 

shall receive an amount of funds made 

available under section 5307 that is not 

less than the amount the portion of the 

area received under section 5311 in FY 

2002. Affected areas are not identified 

in Table 15. A grant applicant for an 

area eligible to receive operating 

assistance under this provision that 

wants to make use of this provision 

must so state in the grant application. 

The application must identify the 

previously nonurbanized portion of the 

urbanized area that qualifies (i.e., that 

portion of the area that was not 

designated as urbanized under the 1990 

census and received assistance under 

section 5311). Contact the appropriate 

FTA regional office for additional 

information or guidance if you intend to 

make use of this provision. 

F. Designated Transportation 

Management Areas 

All 2000 Census urbanized areas 

having a population of at least 200,000 

have been designated as Transportation 

Management Areas (TMAs), in 

accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5305. In 

addition, the Santa Barbara, CA 

urbanized area, which did not meet the 

population threshold requirement for 

TMA status with respect to 2000 

Census, retained its previously granted 

TMA status based on Gubernatorial 

request. These TMA designations were 

formally made in the FTA Notices at 67 

FR 45173 et seq. (July 8, 2002) and 67 

FR 62285 et seq. (October 4, 2002). 

Guidance for setting the boundaries of 

TMAs is contained in the joint 

transportation planning regulations 

codified at 23 CFR part 450 and 49 CFR 

part 613. In some cases, the TMA 

planning boundaries, which have been 

established by the MPO for the 

designated TMA, also include one or 

more urbanized areas less than 200,000 

in population. Where this situation 

exists, the discretion of the Governor to 

allocate Urbanized Area Formula 

program ‘‘Governor’s Apportionment’’

funds for urbanized areas with less than 

200,000 in population is restricted, i.e., 

the Governor only has discretion to 

allocate Governor’s Apportionment 

funds attributable to areas that are 

outside of designated TMA planning 

boundaries. 

If any additional small urbanized 

areas within the planning boundaries of 

a TMA are identified, notification 

should be made in writing to the 

Associate Administrator for Program 

Management, Federal Transit 

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20590, no later 

than July 1 of each year. FTA has 

updated and provided below the list of 

urbanized areas with population less 

than 200,000 included within the 

planning boundaries of designated 

TMAs.

Designated TMA Small urbanized area included in TMA boundary 

Albany, NY ........................................... Saratoga Springs, NY. 

Houston, TX ......................................... Galveston, TX; Lake Jackson-Angleton, TX; Texas City, TX; The Woodlands, TX. 

Jacksonville, FL .................................... St. Augustine, FL. 

Orlando, FL .......................................... Kissimmee, FL. 

Palm Bay-Melbourne, FL ..................... Titusville, FL. 

Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD ................ Pottstown, PA. 

Pittsburgh, PA ...................................... Monessen, PA; Weirton, WV—Steubenville, OH-PA (PA portion); Uniontown-Connellsville, PA. 

Seattle, WA .......................................... Bremerton, WA. 

Washington, DC-VA-MD ...................... Frederick, MD. 

G. Urbanized Area Formula Funds Used 

for Highway Purposes 

Urbanized Area Formula funds 

apportioned to a TMA can be 

transferred to FHWA and made 

available for highway projects if the 

following three conditions are met: (1) 

Such use must be approved by the MPO 

in writing after appropriate notice and 

opportunity for comment and appeal are 

provided to affected transit providers; 

(2) in the determination of the Secretary, 

such funds are not needed for 

investments required by the Americans 

with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); and 

(3) the MPO determines that local 

transit needs are being addressed. 

Urbanized Area Formula funds that 

are designated for highway projects will 

be transferred to and administered by 

FHWA. The MPO should notify FTA of 

its intent to use FTA funds for highway 

purposes, as prescribed in section 

VIII.A., below. 

VI. Nonurbanized Area Formula 

Program and Rural Transit Assistance 

Program 

A. Nonurbanized Area Formula 

Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $239,188,058 to the 

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program 

(49 U.S.C. 5311) after across-the-board 

.59 percent rescission. The FY 2004 

Nonurbanized Area Formula 

apportionments to the States total 

$238,501,062 and are displayed in Table 

5. Of the $239,188,058 appropriated, 

$1,195,940 was reserved for oversight. 

The funds apportioned include 

$508,944 in prior year funds available 

for reapportionment. Table 5 also shows 

the amount of a State’s apportionment 

that is currently available for obligation, 

in accordance with the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003. 

The Nonurbanized Area Formula 

Program provides capital, operating and 

administrative assistance for areas 

under 50,000 in population. Each State 

must spend no less than 15 percent of 

its FY 2004 Nonurbanized Area Formula 

6732 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

apportionment for the development and 

support of intercity bus transportation, 

unless the Governor certifies to the 

Secretary that the intercity bus service 

needs of the State are being adequately 

met. 

B. Rural Transit Assistance Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $5,219,025 to the Rural 

Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) (49 

U.S.C. 5311(b)(2)) after the across-theboard .59 percent rescission. The FY 

2004 RTAP allocations to the States 

total $5,219,104 and are displayed in 

Table 5. This amount includes $79 in 

prior year funds available for 

reapportionment. Table 5 also shows the 

amount of a State’s allocation that is 

currently available for obligation, in 

accordance with the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003. 

The funds are allocated to the States 

to undertake research, training, 

technical assistance, and other support 

services to meet the needs of transit 

operators in nonurbanized areas. These 

funds are to be used in conjunction with 

a State’s administration of the 

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program. 

FTA also supports RTAP activities at 

the national level within the National 

Planning and Research Program (NPRP). 

The National RTAP activities support 

the States in their provision of training 

and technical assistance. Congress did 

not designate any funds for the National 

RTAP among the NPRP allocations in 

the Conference Report accompanying 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004. FTA will, however, consider the 

National RTAP among projects to be 

funded from the limited available NPRP 

funds. 

VII. Elderly and Persons With 

Disabilities Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $90,117,950 to the 

Elderly and Persons with Disabilities 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5310) after the 

across-the-board .59 percent rescission. 

The FY 2004 Elderly and Persons with 

Disabilities Program apportionments to 

the States total $90,361,027 and are 

displayed in Table 6. The funds 

apportioned include $243,077 in prior 

year funds available for 

reapportionment. Also displayed in 

Table 6 is the amount of a State’s 

apportionment currently available for 

obligation, in accordance with the 

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 

2003. 

The formula for apportioning these 

funds uses 2000 Census population data 

for persons aged 65 and over and for 

persons with disabilities. The funds 

provide capital assistance for 

transportation for elderly persons and 

persons with disabilities. Eligible 

capital expenses may include, at the 

option of the recipient, the acquisition 

of transportation services by a contract, 

lease, or other arrangement. 

While the assistance is intended 

primarily for private non-profit 

organizations, public bodies that 

coordinate services for the elderly and 

persons with disabilities, or any public 

body that certifies to the State that there 

are no non-profit organizations in the 

area that are readily available to carry 

out the service, may receive these funds. 

These funds may be transferred by the 

Governor to supplement Urbanized Area 

Formula or Nonurbanized Area Formula 

capital funds during the last 90 days of 

the fiscal year. 

VIII. FHWA Surface Transportation 

Program and Congestion Mitigation and 

Air Quality Funds Used for Transit 

Purposes 

A. Transfer Process 

The process for transferring flexible 

formula funds between FTA and FHWA 

programs is described below. For 

information on the transfer of FHWA 

funds to FTA planning programs contact 

the FTA/FHWA staff identified in 

section IV.F, above.

Transfer from FHWA to FTA. FHWA 

funds designated for use in transit 

capital projects must be derived from 

the metropolitan and statewide 

planning and programming process, and 

must be included in an approved 

Statewide Transportation Improvement 

Program (STIP) before the funds can be 

transferred. By letter the State DOT 

requests the FHWA Division Office to 

transfer highway funds for a transit 

project. The letter should specify the 

project, amount to be transferred, 

apportionment year, State, Federal aid 

apportionment category (i.e., Surface 

Transportation Program (STP), 

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality 

(CMAQ), Interstate Substitute, or 

congressional earmark), and should 

include a description of the project as 

contained in the STIP. 

The FHWA Division Office confirms 

that the apportionment amount is 

available for transfer and concurs in the 

transfer by letter to the State DOT and 

FTA. The FHWA Office of Budget and 

Finance then transfers obligation 

authority and an equal amount of cash 

to FTA. All FHWA CMAQ, STP, and 

congressional earmarked funds for 

transit projects in the Appropriations 

Act or Conference Report will be 

transferred to one of the three FTA 

formula programs (i.e. Urbanized Area 

Formula (section 5307), Nonurbanized 

Area Formula (section 5311) or Elderly 

and Persons with Disabilities (section 

5310). 

The FTA grantee’s application for the 

project must specify which program the 

funds will be used for and the 

application should be prepared in 

accordance with the requirements and 

procedures governing that program. 

Upon review and approval of the 

grantee’s application, FTA obligates 

funds for the project. 

Transferred funds are treated as FTA 

formula funds, but are assigned a 

distinct identifying code for tracking 

purposes. The funds may be used for 

any capital purpose eligible under the 

FTA formula program to which they are 

transferred and, in the case of CMAQ, 

for certain operating costs. FTA and 

FHWA have issued guidance on project 

eligibility under the CMAQ program in 

a Notice at 65 FR 9040 et seq. (February 

23, 2000). In accordance with 23 U.S.C. 

104(k), all FTA requirements except 

local share are applicable to transferred 

funds; FHWA local share requirements 

apply to funds transferred from FHWA 

to FTA. Transferred funds should be 

combined with regular FTA funds in a 

single annual grant application. 

In the event that transferred funds are 

not obligated for the intended purpose 

within the period of availability of the 

program to which they were transferred, 

they become available to the Governor 

for any eligible transit project. 

Transfers from FTA to FHWA. The 

Metropolitan Planning Organization 

(MPO) submits a written request to the 

FTA Regional Office for a transfer of 

FTA section 5307 formula funds 

(apportioned to an urbanized area 

200,000 and over in population) to 

FHWA based on approved use of the 

funds for highway purposes, as 

contained in the Governor’s approved 

State Transportation Improvement 

Program. The MPO must certify that: (1) 

The funds are not needed for capital 

investments required by the Americans 

with Disabilities Act; (2) notice and 

opportunity for comment and appeal 

has been provided to affected transit 

providers; and (3) local funds used for 

non-Federal match are eligible to 

provide assistance for either highway or 

transit projects. The FTA Regional 

Administrator reviews and concurs in 

the request, then forwards the approval 

to FTA Headquarters, where a reduction 

equal to the dollar amount being 

transferred to FHWA is made to the 

grantee’s urbanized area formula 

apportionment. 

For information regarding these 

procedures, please contact Kristen D. 

Clarke, FTA Budget Office, at (202) 366–

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 6733

1686; or James V. Lunetta, FHWA 

Finance Division, at (202) 366–2845. 

B. Matching Share for FHWA Transfers 

The provisions of Title 23 U.S.C. 

regarding the non-Federal share apply to 

Title 23 funds used for transit projects. 

Thus, FHWA funds transferred to FTA 

retain the same matching share that the 

funds would have if used for highway 

purposes and administered by FHWA. 

There are three instances in which a 

Federal share higher than 80 percent 

would be permitted. First, in States with 

large areas of Indian and certain public 

domain lands and national forests, parks 

and monuments, the local share for 

highway projects is determined by a 

sliding scale rate, calculated based on 

the percentage of public lands within 

that State. This sliding scale, which 

permits a greater Federal share, but not 

to exceed 95 percent, is applicable to 

transfers used to fund transit projects in 

these public land States. FHWA 

develops the sliding scale matching 

ratios for the increased Federal share. 

Secondly, commuter carpooling and 

vanpooling projects and transit safety 

projects using FHWA transfers 

administered by FTA may retain the 

same 100 percent Federal share that 

would be allowed for ride-sharing or 

safety projects administered by the 

FHWA. 

The third instance includes the 100 

percent Federal safety projects; 

however, these are subject to a 

nationwide 10 percent program 

limitation. 

IX. Capital Investment Program (49 

U.S.C. 5309) 

A. Fixed Guideway Modernization 

The formula for allocating the Fixed 

Guideway Modernization funds 

contains seven tiers. The apportionment 

of funding under the first four tiers is 

based on data used to apportion the 

funding in FY 1997. Funding under the 

last three tiers is apportioned based on 

the latest available data on route miles 

and revenue vehicle miles on segments 

at least seven years old, as reported to 

the NTD. 

Table 7 displays the FY 2004 Fixed 

Guideway Modernization 

apportionments and the amount of an 

area’s apportionment that is currently 

available for obligation, in accordance 

with the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2004 and the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003. 

Fixed Guideway Modernization funds 

apportioned for this section must be 

used for capital projects to maintain, 

modernize, or improve fixed guideway 

systems. 

Eligible urbanized areas (those with a 

population of at least 200,000) with 

fixed guideway systems that are at least 

seven years old are entitled to receive 

Fixed Guideway Modernization funds. 

A request for the start-up service dates 

for fixed guideways has been 

incorporated into the NTD reporting 

system to ensure that all eligible fixed 

guideway data is included in the 

calculation of the apportionments. A 

threshold level of more than one mile of 

fixed guideway is required to receive 

Fixed Guideway Modernization funds. 

Therefore, urbanized areas reporting one 

mile or less of fixed guideway mileage 

under the NTD are not included.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $1,199,387,615 to the 

Fixed Guideway Modernization after the 

across-the-board .59 percent rescission. 

An amount of $11,993,876 is reserved 

for oversight, leaving $1,187,393,739 

available for apportionment to eligible 

urbanized areas. Of this amount, 

$642,390,071 is currently available for 

obligation, in accordance with the 

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 

2003. 

Table 13 contains information 

regarding the Fixed Guideway 

Modernization apportionment formula. 

B. New Starts 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $1,320,498,097 to New 

Starts after the across-the-board .59 

percent rescission. This amount 

includes transfers of $4,514,482 from 

unobligated FY 2000 and FY 2001 JARC 

funds, in accordance with language in 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 and accompanying Conference 

Report. Of the $1,320,498,097 available, 

$13,204,981 is reserved for oversight 

activities, leaving $1,307,293,116 for 

allocations to projects. In addition, 

Congress directed that funds be made 

available from projects in previous 

appropriations acts, which increases the 

total amount made available to 

$1,307,293,121. The reallocated funds 

are derived from unobligated balances 

for the following projects: Boston-South 

Boston Piers transitways project, $2; and 

Massachusetts North Shore corridor 

project, $3. The final allocation for each 

New Starts project is listed in Table 8. 

Also displayed in Table 8 is the amount 

of each New Starts project allocation 

that is currently available for obligation, 

in accordance with the Surface 

Transportation Extension Act of 2003. 

Prior year unobligated allocations for 

New Starts in the amount of 

$499,881,522 remain available for 

obligation in FY 2004. This amount 

includes $408,432,112 in fiscal years 

2002 and 2003 unobligated allocations, 

and $91,449,410 for fiscal years 2000 

and 2001 unobligated allocations that 

are extended in the FY 2004 Conference 

Report. These unobligated amounts are 

displayed in Table 8A. 

Capital Investment Program funds for 

New Starts projects identified as having 

been extended in the FY 2004 

Conference Report accompanying the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

will lapse on September 30, 2004. A list 

of these extended projects and the 

amounts that remained unobligated as 

of September 30, 2003, is appended to 

Table 8A for reference. 

C. Bus and Bus-Related 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $623,499,520 for the 

purchase of buses, bus-related 

equipment and paratransit vehicles, and 

for the construction of bus-related 

facilities, after the across-the-board .59 

percent rescission. This amount 

includes $20 million (adjusted for the 

.59 percent rescission) in FY 2004 funds 

transferred from the JARC program. 

TEA–21 authorized a $100 million 

Clean Fuels Formula Program under 49 

U.S.C. 5308 (described in section XII 

below). The program is authorized to be 

funded with $50 million from the Bus 

and Bus-Related category of the Capital 

Investment Program and $50 million 

from the Formula Program. However, 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 directs FTA to transfer the formula 

portion to, and merge it with, funding 

provided for the Bus and Bus-Related 

category of the Capital Investment 

Program. The .59 percent across-theboard rescission has been applied to the 

$50 million. Thus, $673,204,520 of 

funds appropriated in FY 2004 is 

available for funding the Bus and BusRelated category of the Capital 

Investment Program. In addition, 

Congress directed that funds made 

available for bus and bus facilities 

include $2,188,112 reallocated from 

projects in previous appropriations acts, 

which increases the total amount made 

available to $675,392,632. The 

reallocated funds are derived from FY 

2001 unobligated balances for the 

following projects: (MA) Woburn, buses 

and bus facilities, $247,579; (NJ) 

Elizabeth Ferry Project, $495,157; (NY) 

Greenport Sag Harbor, ferries and vans, 

$59,419; (NY) Westchester and Duchess 

counties, vans, $148,063; and (PA) 

Phoenixville, transit related 

improvements, $1,237,894. 

After reserving $6,732,045 for 

oversight, the amount available for 

allocation under the Bus and BusRelated category is $668,660,587. Table 

9 displays the allocation of the FY 2004 

Bus and Bus-Related funds by State and 

6734 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

project. Also displayed in Table 9 is the 

amount of each Bus and Bus-Related 

project allocation that is currently 

available for obligation, in accordance 

with the Surface Transportation 

Extension Act of 2003. The FY 2004 

Conference Report accompanying the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

allocated all of the FY 2004 Bus and 

Bus-Related funds to specified States or 

localities for bus and bus-related 

projects. FTA will fund all designations 

that comply with the statutory 

requirements for the program. 

Prior year unobligated balances for 

Bus and Bus-Related allocations in the 

amount of $645,560,480 remain 

available for obligation in FY 2004. This 

includes $624,654,956 in fiscal years 

2002 and 2003 unobligated allocations, 

and $20,905,524 for fiscal years 1998, 

1999, 2000, and 2001 unobligated 

allocations extended in the FY 2004 

Conference Report. These unobligated 

amounts are displayed in Table 9A. 

Capital Investment Program funds for 

Bus and Bus-Related projects identified 

as having been extended in the 

Conference Report accompanying the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 

will lapse on September 30, 2004. A list 

of the extended projects and the 

amounts that remains unobligated as of 

September 30, 2003, is appended to 

Table 9A for reference. 

In addition, the FY 2004 Conference 

Report provides clarifications for Bus 

and Bus-Related projects as follows 

(1) San Dieguito Transportation 

Cooperative, California—Amounts made 

available from fiscal year 2002 for the 

San Dieguito Transportation 

Cooperative, California, shall instead be 

distributed to the North County Transit 

District, California, for initial design and 

planning for a new intermodal center.

(2) Cambria County, Pennsylvania—

Amounts made available from fiscal 

year 2003 for the Cambria County 

operations and maintenance facility, 

Pennsylvania, shall be distributed to the 

Johnstown Inclined Plane visitor’s 

center, Pennsylvania. 

(3) Somerset County, Pennsylvania—

Amounts made available from fiscal 

year 2002 for the Somerset County 

Transportation System buses, 

Pennsylvania, shall be distributed to 

Somerset County Accessible Raised 

Roof Vans ($90,000) and to Somerset 

County bus and bus facilities 

($146,000), Pennsylvania. 

(4) Community Medical Centers, 

California—Amounts made available 

from fiscal year 2001 for the Community 

Medical Centers Intermodal Facility, 

Fresno, California, shall be available for 

the City of Fresno for the same project. 

The availability of funds is extended for 

one year. 

(5) Illinois statewide buses—The 

conference committee expects IDOT to 

provide at least half the FY 2004 funds 

made available for downtown Illinois 

replacement of buses in Bloomington, 

Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Madison 

County, Peoria, Quincy, RIDES, River 

Valley, Rockford, Rock Island, South 

Central Illinois MTD, and Springfield. 

Further the conferees expect IDOT to 

provide appropriate funds for bus 

facilities in Bloomington, Galesburg, 

Rock Island, and Metro Link’s bus 

maintenance facility in St. Clair County. 

(6) Civil Rights Trail Trolleys—

Amounts made available in fiscal year 

2001 for the Montgomery Civil Rights 

Trail Trolleys shall instead be 

distributed to the City of Montgomery’s 

Rosa Parks bus project. The availability 

of funds is extended for one year. 

(7) Vermont buses—Amounts made 

available in fiscal year 2001 for Central 

Vermont Transit Authority Wheels 

Transportation Services shall be 

distributed to the Vermont Agency of 

Transportation. The availability of funds 

is extended for one year. 

(8) Reno, Nevada, bus projects—

Amounts made available for Bus Rapid 

Transit, South Virginia Street, Reno 

($1,950,000) for fiscal year 2003 and 

Reno Suburban transit coaches 

($500,000 in fiscal year 2002) shall be 

made available for Reno/Sparks 

intermodal transportation terminals, as 

proposed by the Senate. 

(9) Falls Church Bus Rapid Transit 

terminus, Virginia—Funds made 

available for Falls Church Bus Rapid 

Transit terminus, Virginia, for fiscal 

year 2001 shall be made available to the 

City of Falls Church to purchase three 

30-foot buses to provide shuttle service 

from temporary parking lots during the 

construction of a parking garage at the 

West Falls Church Metrorail station. 

Once the garage is completed, the buses 

will be used to provide feeder service to 

the West Falls Church Metrorail station. 

The availability of funds is extended for 

one year. 

(10) Eastchester, Metro North 

Facilities, New York—Amounts made 

available in fiscal year 2001 for 

Eastchester, Metro North Facilities, New 

York shall instead be distributed to the 

Bronx Zoo Intermodal Transportation 

Facility, New York. The availability of 

funds is extended for one year. 

(11) Westbrook, Intermodal Facility, 

Maine—Amounts made available in 

fiscal year 2003 for Westbrook, 

Intermodal Facility, Maine shall instead 

be distributed to State of Maine, 

Statewide Buses. 

(12) Section 175 of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 allows the 

Memphis-Shelby International Airport 

intermodal facility to be eligible under 

‘‘Federal Transit Administration, bus 

and bus facilities.’’

X. Job Access and Reverse Commute 

Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $105 million for the Job 

Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) 

Program, reduced to $104,380,500 by 

the .59 percent rescission. JARC project 

allocations designated in the 

accompanying Conference Report are 

included in this notice as Table 11. The 

amounts designated in the report have 

been adjusted to reflect the rescission, 

and the $298,230 set aside for technical 

assistance and evaluation of the 

program. Because TEA–21 requires that 

JARC project selections be made 

through a national competition based on 

statutorily specified criteria, FTA 

cannot honor the designations in report 

language without further statutory 

direction, such as that provided in 

legislation enacted subsequent to the 

Appropriations Act in FY 2002 and FY 

2003. The Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2004 includes language at Section 

547, directing FTA to honor the JARC 

designations in the report. FTA will not 

conduct a solicitation for applications 

for projects to be competitively selected 

in FY 2004, as no additional funds are 

available. 

The JARC program, established under 

TEA–21, provides funding for the 

provision of transportation services 

designed to increase access to jobs and 

employment-related activities. Job 

Access projects are those that transport 

welfare recipients and low-income 

individuals, including economically 

disadvantaged persons with disabilities, 

in urban, suburban, or rural areas to and 

from jobs and activities related to their 

employment. Reverse Commute projects 

provide transportation services for the 

general public from urban, suburban, 

and rural areas to suburban employment 

opportunities. A total of up to 

$10,000,000 from the appropriation may 

be used for Reverse Commute Projects. 

Prior year unobligated balances for 

JARC allocations in the amount of 

$107,012,264 remain available for 

obligation in FY 2004. These balances 

include congressional allocations from 

fiscal years 2002 and 2003 totaling 

$103,012,302, along with FY 2002 

competitive allocations totaling 

$3,999,962, which are available through 

the end of FY 2004. These unobligated 

amounts are displayed in Table 11A. 

Congress transferred $4,514,482 from 

unobligated JARC projects 

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Congressionally designated in the 

conference reports accompanying the 

fiscal year 2000 and 2001 

Appropriations Acts to the New Starts 

program. Projects reallocated included 

all fiscal year 2000 and 2001 JARC 

Congressional allocations for which 

FTA had not received an application as 

of November 7, 2003. 

XI. Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility 

Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $6,908,995 for the Overthe-Road Bus Accessibility (OTRB) 

Program after the across-the-board .59 

percent rescission. Of this amount, 

$5,219,025 is allocable to providers of 

intercity fixed-route service, and 

$1,689,970 to other providers of overthe-road bus services, including local 

fixed-route service, commuter service, 

and charter and tour service. The total 

amount of $3,698,147 is currently 

available for obligation in accordance 

with the Surface Transportation 

Extension Act of 2003. This includes 

$2,792,101 for intercity fixed-route 

service and $906,046 for other over-theroad bus services.

The OTRB program authorizes FTA to 

make grants to operators of over-theroad buses to help finance the 

incremental capital and training costs of 

complying with the DOT over-the-road 

bus accessibility final rule, published on 

September 28, 1998 (63 FR 51670). 

Funds will be provided at 90 percent 

Federal share. FTA conducts a national 

solicitation of applications and grantees 

are selected on a competitive basis. 

A Federal Register Notice providing 

program guidance and application 

procedures for FY 2004 was published 

in the Federal Register November 24, 

2003. Applications were due February 

2, 2004. 

XII. Clean Fuels Formula Program 

TEA–21 established the Clean Fuels 

Formula Grant Program under section 

5308 of Title 49 U.S.C. to assist nonattainment and maintenance areas in 

achieving or maintaining attainment 

status and to support markets for 

emerging clean fuel technologies. No 

funds were provided for this program in 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004. For further information contact 

Nancy Grubb, FTA Office of Resource 

Management and State Programs, at 

(202) 366–2053. 

XIII. National Planning and Research 

Program 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2004 provides $35,290,550 for the 

National Planning and Research 

Program after the across-the-board .59 

percent rescission. Of this amount 

$25,685,159 is allocated for specific 

activities after applicable reductions for 

the Small Business Innovation Research 

program. The project allocations are 

listed in Table 10, along with the 

amount that is currently available for 

obligation, in accordance with the 

Surface Transportation Extension Act of 

2003. For additional information contact 

Bruce Robinson, Office of Research, 

Demonstration and Innovation, at (202) 

366–4209. 

XIV. Unit Values of Data for Urbanized 

Area Formula Program, Nonurbanized 

Area Formula Program, and Fixed 

Guideway Modernization 

The dollar unit values of data derived 

from the computations of the Urbanized 

Area Formula Program, the 

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program, 

and the Capital Investment Program—

Fixed Guideway Modernization 

apportionments are displayed in Table 

14 of this notice. To replicate an area’s 

apportionment, multiply its population, 

population density, and data from the 

NTD by the appropriate unit value. 

XV. Period of Availability of Funds 

The funds apportioned in this notice 

under the Metropolitan Planning 

Program and the Statewide Planning 

and Research Program, the Urbanized 

Area Formula Program, and Fixed 

Guideway Modernization Program will 

remain available to be obligated by FTA 

to recipients for three fiscal years 

following FY 2004. Any of these 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2007, will revert to FTA 

for reapportionment under the 

respective program. 

Funds apportioned to nonurbanized 

areas under the Nonurbanized Area 

Formula Program, including RTAP 

funds, will remain available for two 

fiscal years following FY 2004. Any 

such funds that remain unobligated at 

the close of business on September 30, 

2006, will revert to FTA for 

reapportionment among the States 

under the Nonurbanized Area Formula 

Program. Funds allocated to States 

under the Elderly and Persons with 

Disabilities Program in this notice must 

be obligated by September 30, 2004. 

Any such funds that remain unobligated 

as of that date will revert to FTA for 

reapportionment among the States 

under the Elderly and Persons with 

Disabilities Program. The Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 includes a 

provision requiring that FY 2004 New 

Starts and Bus and Bus-Related funds 

not obligated for their original purpose 

as of September 30, 2006, shall be made 

available for other projects under 49 

U.S.C. 5309. 

Funds for JARC projects competitively 

selected by FTA remain available for 

two fiscal years following the fiscal year 

of selection. Any such funds that remain 

unobligated after that time will revert to 

FTA for reallocation under the JARC 

program. There were no competitive 

JARC selections by FTA in FY 2003 and 

none are anticipated in FY 2004. JARC 

projects selected by FTA in FY 2002 

will revert to FTA for reallocation after 

September 30, 2004. Congressional 

allocations of JARC projects remain 

available to the designated entity unless 

reallocated by Congress. Congress 

reallocated unobligated Congressional 

allocations for JARC projects from fiscal 

years 2000 and 2001 in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004. 

Capital Investment Program funds for 

New Starts and Bus and Bus-Related 

projects identified as having been 

extended in the FY 2004 Conference 

Report accompanying the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2004 will lapse 

September 30, 2004. 

XVI. Automatic Pre-Award Authority 

To Incur Project Costs 

This information incorporates and 

elaborates on guidance previously 

provided in the FTA FY 2002 and FY 

2003 Apportionments and Allocations 

Notice found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/

library/legal/federalregister/2002/

fr1202a.pdf and http://www.fta.dot.gov/

library/legal/federalregister/2003/

fr31203.pdf. 

A. Policy 

FTA provides blanket or automatic 

pre-award authority to cover certain 

program areas described below. This 

pre-award authority allows grantees to 

incur project costs prior to grant 

approval and retain their eligibility for 

subsequent reimbursement after grant 

approval. The grantee assumes all risk 

and is responsible for ensuring that all 

conditions are met to retain eligibility. 

This automatic pre-award spending 

authority 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. Prior 

to exercising pre-award authority, 

grantees must comply with the 

conditions and Federal requirements 

outlined in paragraphs B and C 

immediately below. Failure to do so will 

render an otherwise eligible project 

ineligible for FTA financial assistance. 

In addition, grantees are strongly 

encouraged to consult with the 

appropriate FTA regional office if there 

is any question regarding the eligibility 

6736 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

of the project for future FTA funds or 

the applicability of the conditions and 

Federal requirements.

Pre-award authority was extended in 

the June 24, 1998 Federal Register

Notice on TEA–21 to all formula funds 

and flexible funds that will be 

apportioned during the authorization 

period of TEA–21, 1998–2003. In the 

March 12, 2003 Federal Register Notice 

of FY 2003 Apportionments and 

Allocations, FTA extended pre-award 

authority to grantees for project costs to 

be reimbursed by formula funds and 

flexible funds to be appropriated in FY 

2004. In this notice, FTA is extending 

this pre-award authority for formula 

funds and flexible funds that will be 

appropriated in FY 2005. Pre-award 

authority for operating and planning 

projects under the formula grant 

programs is not limited to the 

authorization period. Pre-award 

authority also applies to Capital 

Investment Bus and Bus-Related 

allocations identified in this notice. For 

such section 5309 Capital Investment 

Bus and Bus-Related projects, the date 

that costs may be incurred is the date 

that the appropriation bill in which they 

are contained is enacted. In this notice, 

FTA is also extending comparable preaward authority to those surface 

transportation projects commonly 

referred to as section 330 projects 

administered by FTA, for which 

amounts were provided in the 

Department of Transportation and 

Related Agencies Appropriations Acts 

(DOT Appropriations Act) in fiscal years 

2002 and 2003. 

Blanket pre-award authority does not 

apply to Capital New Starts funds, or to 

Capital Investment Bus and Bus-Related 

projects not specified in this or previous 

notices. Specific instances of pre-award 

authority for Capital New Starts projects 

are described in paragraph D below. 

Before an applicant may incur costs for 

Bus and Bus-Related Capital projects 

not listed in this notice or previous 

notices, it must first obtain a written 

Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) from 

FTA. To obtain an LONP, a grantee must 

submit a written request accompanied 

by adequate information and 

justification to the appropriate FTA 

regional office, as described in section 

XVII below. 

In using pre-award authority for FY 

2004 or FY 2005 formula funds, grantees 

are cautioned that reauthorization may 

result in changes in program structure, 

administrative requirements, or funding 

availability. As with all pre-award 

authority, activities must be conducted 

in compliance with Federal 

requirements in order to retain 

eligibility for future reimbursement. 

B. Conditions 

The conditions under which preaward authority may be utilized are 

specified below: 

(1) The 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. 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). 

(2) All FTA statutory, procedural, and 

contractual requirements must be met. 

(3) 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. 

(4) Local funds expended by the 

grantee pursuant to and after the date of 

the pre-award authority will be eligible 

for credit toward local match or 

reimbursement if FTA later makes a 

grant for the project(s) or project 

amendment(s). 

(5) The Federal amount of any future 

FTA assistance awarded to the grantee 

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. 

(6) For funds to which the pre-award 

authority applies, the authority expires 

with the lapsing of the fiscal year funds. 

(7) When a grant for the project is 

subsequently awarded, the Financial 

Status Report, in TEAM-Web, must 

indicate the use of pre-award authority. 

C. Environmental, Planning, and Other 

Federal Requirements 

FTA emphasizes that all of the 

Federal grant requirements must be met 

for the project to remain eligible for 

Federal funding. Compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) and other environmental laws 

or executive orders (e.g., protection of 

parklands, wetlands, and historic 

properties) must be completed before

State or local funds are spent on 

implementing activities such as final 

design, construction, and acquisition for 

a project that is expected to be 

subsequently funded with FTA funds. 

Depending on which class the project is 

included under in FTA environmental 

regulations, 23 CFR part 771, the grantee 

may not advance the project beyond 

planning and preliminary engineering 

before FTA has issued either a 

categorical exclusion, 23 CFR part 

771.117(d), a finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI), or an environmental 

record of decision (ROD). The 

conformity requirements of the Clean 

Air Act, 40 CFR part 93, also must be 

fully met before the project may be 

advanced into implementation under 

pre-award authority with non-Federal 

funds. 

Similarly, the requirement that a 

project be included in a locally adopted 

metropolitan transportation 

improvement program and federally 

approved statewide transportation 

improvement program must be followed 

before the project may be advanced with 

non-Federal funds under pre-award 

authority. For planning projects, the 

project must be included in a locally 

approved Planning Work Program that 

has been coordinated with the State. In 

addition, Federal procurement 

procedures, as well as the whole range 

of Federal requirements, 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, this increased 

administrative flexibility requires a 

grantee to make certain that no Federal 

requirements are circumvented through 

the use of pre-award authority. If a 

grantee has questions or concerns 

regarding the environmental 

requirements, or any other Federal 

requirements that must be met before 

incurring costs, it should contact the 

appropriate regional office. 

D. Pre-Award Authority for New Starts 

Projects 

The pre-award authorities related to 

New Starts projects that were provided 

in the FY 2003 Apportionments and 

Allocations Notice published in the 

Federal Register on March 12, 2003, (68 

FR 1106 et seq.) remain in effect. The 

FY 2003 Notice may be found on the 

FTA Web site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/

library/legal/federalregister/2003/

fr31203.pdf. The referenced FY 2003 

Notice includes a complete description 

of the conditions that apply to each of 

the pre-award authorities listed in the 

chart below:

Pre-award authority to incur cost for: Preaward authority is effective upon: 

NEPA Compliance ........................................................................................................................ Inclusion of Project in the STIP. 

Preliminary Engineerinig (PE) ....................................................................................................... FTA’s Approval of Entry into PE. 

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Pre-award authority to incur cost for: Preaward authority is effective upon: 

Acquisition of Real Prooperty ....................................................................................................... FTA’s Complection of the NEPA Process. 

Final Design .................................................................................................................................. FTA’s Approval of Entry into Final Design. 

Construction .................................................................................................................................. Full Funding Grant Agreement. 

XVII. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) 

Policy 

A. Policy 

LONP authority allows an applicant 

to incur costs on a project utilizing nonFederal 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 preaward authority. The majority of LONPs 

will be for Section 5309 New Starts 

funds not covered under a full funding 

grant agreement or for Section 5309 Bus 

and Bus-Related funds not yet 

appropriated by Congress. At the end of 

an authorization period, LONPs may be 

issued for formula funds beyond the life 

of the current authorization or FTA’s 

extension of automatic pre-award 

authority. 

B. Conditions and Federal Requirements 

The conditions for pre-award 

authority specified in Part XVI, B, above 

apply to all LONPs. The Environmental, 

Planning and Other Federal 

Requirements described in Part XVI, C, 

also apply to all LONPs. Because project 

implementation activities may not be 

initiated prior to NEPA completion, 

FTA will normally not issue an LONP 

for such activities until the NEPA 

process has been completed with a 

ROD, FONSI, or Categorical Exclusion 

determination.

C. Request for LONP 

Before an applicant may incur costs 

for a project not covered by automatic 

pre-award authority, it must first submit 

a written request for an LONP to the 

appropriate regional office and obtain 

written approval. 

XVIII. Program Guidance 

The FTA Web site at http://

www.fta.dot.gov is a source of program 

guidance and current information of 

interest to FTA grantees, including this 

apportionment notice. The Web site is 

currently being redesigned to provide a 

more customer-focused source of 

information. Grantees should check the 

FTA Web site frequently to keep up to 

date on new postings. 

The following FTA program Circulars 

are posted on the Web site: C9030.1C, 

Urbanized Area Formula Program: Grant 

Application Instructions, dated October 

1, 1998; C9040.1E, Nonurbanized Area 

Formula Program Guidance and Grant 

Application Instructions, dated October 

1, 1998; C9070.1E, The Elderly and 

Persons with Disabilities Program 

Guidance and Application Instructions, 

dated October 1, 1998; C9300.1A, 

Capital Program: Grant Application 

Instructions, dated October 1, 1998; 

4220.1E, Third Party Contracting 

Requirements, dated June 19, 2003; 

C5010.1C, Grant Management 

Guidelines, dated October 1, 1998; 

C8100.1B, Program Guidance and 

Application Instructions for 

Metropolitan Planning Program Grants, 

dated October 25, 1996; C8200.1, 

Program Guidance and Application 

Instructions for State Planning and 

Research Program Grants, dated 

December 27, 2001; and C5200.1A, Full 

Funding Grant Agreement Guidance, 

dated December 5, 2002. The FY 2004 

Annual List of Certifications and 

Assurances is also posted on the FTA 

Web site. Other documents on the FTA 

Web site of particular interest to public 

transit providers and users include the 

annual Statistical Summaries of FTA 

Grant Assistance Programs and the 

National Transit Database Profiles. The 

DOT final rule on ‘‘Participation by 

Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in 

Department of Transportation Financial 

Assistance Programs,’’ which was 

effective July 16, 2003, can be found on 

the Department’s Web site at http://

osdbuweb.dot.gov/business/dbe/Docs/

03–14989.pdf.

XIX. FTA Fiscal Year 2004 Annual List 

of Certifications and Assurances 

On January 15, 2004, FTA published 

in the Federal Register the list and 

accompanying text of all Certifications 

and Assurances required of recipients of 

FTA assistance in FY 2004. See, 69 FR 

2454 et seq. The full text of the FY 2004 

Certifications and Assurances is also 

accessible both on FTA’s Internet Web 

site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/

legal/federalregister/2004/

2004_CERTS.doc and on TEAM-Web. In 

compliance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(n), 

which requires a simultaneous 

publication of a list of the Certifications 

and Assurances and FTA’s annual 

notice of Apportionments, recipients are 

directed to the January 15, 2004, notice 

at 69 FR 2454 et seq. for the list and text 

of FTA’s Certifications and Assurances 

and to FTA’s Web sites displaying those 

Certifications and Assurances. Any 

questions regarding this document may 

be addressed to the appropriate FTA 

regional office. 

As in previous years, the grant 

applicant should certify electronically. 

Under certain circumstances the 

applicant may enter its Personal 

Identification Number (PIN) in lieu of 

an electronic signature provided by its 

attorney, provided the applicant has on 

file the current affirmation of its 

attorney in writing dated this Federal 

fiscal year. The applicant is advised to 

contact the appropriate FTA regional 

office for electronic procedure 

information. 

XX. Grant Application Procedures 

Grantees must provide a Dun and 

Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal 

Numbering System (DUNS) number for 

inclusion in all applications for a 

Federal grant or cooperative agreement 

submitted on or after October 1, 2003. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) published this requirement in 

the Federal Register on June 27, 2003 at 

68 FR 38402 et seq. On August 4, 2003, 

FTA issued a Dear Colleague letter 

including instructions on how to obtain 

a DUNS number, which can be accessed 

at http://www.fta.dot.gov/office/public/

2003/c0314.html. The DUNS number 

should be entered into the grantee 

profile in TEAM. Additional 

information about this and other Federal 

grant streamlining initiatives mandated 

by the Federal Financial Assistance 

Management Improvement Act of 1999 

(Pub. L. 106–107) can be accessed on 

OMB’s Web site at http://

www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/

reform.html.

All applications for FTA funds should 

be submitted to the appropriate FTA 

regional office. FTA utilizes TEAMWeb, an Internet accessible electronic 

grant application system, and all 

applications should be filed 

electronically. FTA has provided 

exceptions to the requirement for 

electronic filing of applications for 

certain new, non-traditional grantees in 

the Job Access and Reverse Commute 

and Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility 

programs, as well as to a few grantees 

6738 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 28 / Wednesday, February 11, 2004 / Notices 

that have not successfully connected to 

or accessed TEAM-Web. 

In FY 2004 FTA is committed to 

reducing the average days required to 

process a grant to 36, while continuing 

to process at least 80 percent of grants 

within 60 days of receipt of a completed 

application by the appropriate Regional 

Office. In FY 2003, FTA achieved this 

goal with 83 percent of grants obligated 

within 60 days of submission of a 

completed application and an average 

processing time of 39 days. In order for 

an application to be considered 

complete, it must meet the following 

requirements: all projects must be 

contained in an approved STIP (when 

required), all environmental findings 

must be made by FTA, an adequate 

project description must be included, 

the local share must be secured, any 

flexible funds included in the budget 

must be secured, all required civil rights 

submissions must be current, and 

certifications and assurances must be 

properly submitted. Once an application 

is complete, the FTA Regional Office 

will assign a project number and, when 

required, submit the application to the 

Department of Labor (DOL) for a 

certification under section 5333(b). 

During FY 2004, any grantees applying 

for funds available under an extension 

of TEA–21 before the full year’s 

apportionment becomes available, are 

encouraged to include contingency 

items for the remainder of the funds, so 

that the entire project can be certified by 

DOL at the time of the initial 

application. The FTA circulars contain 

more information regarding application 

contents. State applicants for section 

5311funds are reminded that they must 

certify to DOL that all subrecipients 

have agreed to the standard labor 

protection warranty for section 5311 

and provide DOL with specified related 

information for each grant. 

This notice and all program guidance 

circulars may be accessed via the FTA 

Web site. Copies of circulars are 

available from FTA regional offices, as 

well.

Issued on: February 4, 2004. 

Jennifer L. Dorn, 

Administrator.

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[FR Doc. 04–2741 Filed 2–10–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–C


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