Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2006 / Notices 5705 

1See 49 U.S.C. 41743. A copy of the statute is 

provided in Appendix A. 

2The statute specifies a consortium of 

communities should be considered as a single 

entity; therefore, throughout this order we use 

‘‘community’’ to include consortia. 

3A small hub is defined as an airport that has at 

least 0.05%, but less than 0.25%, of the annual 

passenger boardings in the United States. 

operations between the United Kingdom 

and the United States as early as May 1, 

2006, providing scheduled combination 

service between Glasgow, Scotland and 

Orlando (Sanford), FL. 

Renee V. Wright, 

Program Manager, Docket Operations, 

Federal Register Liaison. 

[FR Doc. E6–1411 Filed 2–1–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–62–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

Notice of Order Soliciting Community 

Proposals 

AGENCY: Department of Transportation 

ACTION: Notice of Order Soliciting 

Community Proposals (Order 2006–1–

13) Docket OST–2006–23671. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Transportation is soliciting proposals 

from communities or consortia of 

communities interested in receiving a 

grant under the Small Community Air 

Service Development Program. The full 

text of the Department’s order is 

attached to this document. This year, 

there are two mandatory requirements 

for filing of applications, both of which 

must be completed for a community’s 

application to be deemed timely and 

considered by the Department. The first 

requirement is the submission of the 

community’s proposal to Dockets, as 

described below, the second 

requirement is the filing of SF424 

through http://www.grants.gov. 

DATES: Grant Proposals as well as the 

SF424 should be submitted no later than 

April 7, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should 

submit an original and two copies of 

their proposals bearing the title 

‘‘Proposal under the Small Community 

Air Service Development Program, 

Docket OST–2006–23671, as well as the 

name of the applicant community or 

consortium of communities, the legal 

sponsor, and the applicant’s DUNS 

number to Dockets Operations and 

Media Management, M–30, Room PL–

401, Department of Transportation, 400 

7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. 

The SF424 is submitted electronically 

through http://www.grants.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Aloha Ley, Office of Aviation Analysis, 

400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20590, (202) 366–2347. 

Dated: January 20, 2005. 

Michael W. Reynolds, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

International Affairs. 

Issued by the Department of Transportation 

on the 20th day of January, 2006. 

In the Matter of Grant Applications: Small 

Community Air Service Development 

Program; Under 49 U.S.C. 41743 et seq. 

Order Soliciting Community Grant 

Proposals 

Overview 

By this order, the Department invites 

proposals from communities and/or 

consortia of communities interested in 

obtaining a federal grant under the 

Small Community Air Service 

Development Program (Small 

Community Program) to address air 

service and airfare problems in their 

communities. Proposals should be 

submitted in the above-referenced 

docket no later than April 7, 2006. 

Communities should be aware of a new 

application procedure which requires 

that applicants also submit form SF424, 

a standard federal government 

application form, in Grants.gov. An 

application will not be deemed 

complete until and unless all required 

documents are filed. (See Appendix C 

for additional information on filing form 

SF424.) 

Funding Opportunity 

The Small Community Program was 

established under the Wendell H. Ford 

Aviation Investment and Reform Act for 

the 21st Century (AIR–21), Public Law 

106–181, as a three-year ‘‘pilot’’

program and was designed to provide 

financial assistance to small 

communities to help them enhance their 

air service. The Department provides 

this assistance in the form of financial 

grants. The program was not funded in 

its first year, fiscal year 2001, but was 

funded and implemented in each of 

fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The Vision 

100-Century of Aviation 

Reauthorization Act, Public Law 108–

176 (Vision 100), reauthorized the 

program for an additional five years, 

through fiscal year 2008, and eliminated 

the ‘‘pilot’’ status of the program. The 

program has been funded for FY 2004, 

FY 2005 and FY 2006. 

Under the statute, the Secretary may 

award a maximum of 40 grants each 

year that the program is funded, 

although no more than four grants each 

year may be to communities in the same 

state.1 The grants may be made to single 

communities or to consortia of 

communities.2

Communities that are eligible to 

participate in the grant program are 

those communities that are served by an 

airport that was not larger than a small 

hub airport for calendar year 1997 and 

had insufficient air service or 

unreasonably high airfares.3

Communities that do not currently have 

commercial air service are also eligible, 

but where they seek grant funds to 

secure air service under the grant 

program they must have met or be able 

to meet in a reasonable period all 

necessary requirements of the Federal 

Aviation Administration for the type of 

service involved in their grant 

proposals. 

In selecting communities to 

participate in the program, the statute 

directs the Secretary to give priority to 

those communities where: (a) Average 

air fares are higher than the air fares for 

all communities; (b) a portion of the cost 

of the activity proposed by the 

community is provided from local, nonairport-revenue resources; (c) a publicprivate partnership has been or will be 

established to facilitate air carrier 

service to the public; (d) improved 

service will bring the material benefits 

of scheduled air transportation to a 

broad section of the traveling public, 

including businesses, educational 

institutions, and other enterprises 

whose access to the National air 

transportation system is limited; and (e) 

the assistance will be used in a timely 

fashion. 

The Small Community Program 

provides considerable flexibility in how 

funds can be used to implement a 

community’s grant proposal. (See 49 

U.S.C. 41743(d).) For example, grant 

funds can be used to cover the expenses 

of any new advertising or promotional 

activities related to improving the air 

service to the community. Funds may 

also be used for new studies designed to 

measure air service deficiencies, or to 

measure traffic loss or diversion to other 

communities. Another example would 

be using the funds for the employment 

or use of new, dedicated air service 

development staff on a long-term basis, 

advertising or public relations agencies, 

universities, and consulting firms. In 

addition, grant funds may also be used 

for financial incentives, including 

subsidy or revenue guarantees, to air 

carriers in conjunction with their 


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5706 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2006 / Notices 

4Qualified expenses are set forth in the 

Department’s regulations, 14 CFR 18.22 and Office 

of Management and Budget Circular A–87. See 

www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a0087/ 

a0087.html. 

5Each applicant is responsible for assuring that 

no part of its proposal would, if accepted, violate 

any of the assurances associated with other federal 

grants, including, but not limited to, all Airport 

Improvement Program assurances regarding use of 

airport revenues. 

6See Orders 2002–6–14 (June 26, 2002), 2002–

12–16 (December 20, 2002) (both in Docket OST–

2002–11590); Orders 2003–9–14 (September 17, 

2003), 2003–9–25 (September 30, 2003) (both in 

Docket OST–2003–15065); Order 2004–8–30 

(August 30, 2004) in Docket OST–2004–17343; and 

Order 2005–8–19 (August 25, 2005) in Docket OST–

2005–20127 for a complete description of the 

Department’s grant awards over the past four years. 

7This funding is subject to a 1% across-the-board 

rescission. Furthermore, the program’s funding for 

this year may be affected by a provision in Public 

Law 109–115 that provides the Secretary with 

authority to transfer funds from any program within 

or administered by the Office of the Secretary to the 

Essential Air Service (EAS) program if the EAS 

program does not have sufficient funds to meet its 

statutory obligations. In all previous years, the 

program has been funded at a level of $20 million 

per year. In some cases, that funding was also 

subject to a slight across-the-board rescission. 

8The hub classifications are based on the Federal 

Aviation Administration’s CY 1997 enplanement 

data. 

provision of air service or the fare levels 

charged, or to ground service providers 

in providing access to air transportation 

services.4 The use of grant funds for air 

carrier subsidy is limited to a maximum 

period of three years. 

While the statute does not preclude 

communities from including capital 

expenditures, such as terminal/runway 

improvements or airport equipment in 

their grant requests, communities are 

encouraged not to do so. Because the 

Department generally receives many 

more applications than it can 

accommodate under the limitations of 

the statute and there are other 

government programs more suited and 

specifically designed for capital 

expenditures, the Department will treat 

such requests with lower priority. 

Applicants may pursue capital 

improvement projects separately in 

conjunction with their grant proposals 

under the Small Community Program.5

The statute also provides that the 

Department will designate one of the 

grant recipients as an Air Service 

Development Zone. Communities 

seeking to attract business to the area 

surrounding the airport and/or to 

develop land use options for the area as 

set forth in the statute are invited to 

compete for the designation. The 

Department will assist the designated 

community in establishing contacts 

with and obtaining advice and 

assistance from appropriate government 

agencies, including the Department of 

Commerce as well as other offices 

within the Department of 

Transportation, and in identifying other 

pertinent resources which may aid the 

community in its efforts to attract 

businesses and to formulate land use 

options for the airport vicinity. 

However, upon receiving the 

designation, it will be the responsibility 

of the community to develop, 

implement and manage activities related 

to the air service development zone 

initiative. There are no additional funds 

associated with this designation. 

Furthermore, communities seeking this 

designation will receive no special 

benefit or preference in receiving a grant 

under the Small Community Program. 

Applicant communities interested in 

this designation should clearly indicate 

that interest in their applications and 

should provide detailed information in 

support of their selection for this 

designation in a separate section of their 

grant proposals. (See Application and 

Submission Section below, for more 

details on the application requirements 

for this designation.) Supporting 

information will include property and 

facilities available for the air service 

development zone, demographic 

information regarding the community 

and its environs, and the community’s 

goals and preliminary plans for its air 

service/economic development 

initiatives. 

In each of the years that the program 

has been funded, the Department 

received many more applications than 

could be accommodated under the 

limitations of the statute. In fiscal year 

2002, the Department received 180 

proposals and made 40 grant awards; in 

fiscal year 2003, the Department 

received 170 applications and made 36 

grant awards; in fiscal year 2004, the 

Department received 108 applications 

and made 40 grant awards; and in fiscal 

year 2005, the Department received 84 

applications and made 35 grant 

awards.6

Award Information 

The Department of Transportation’s 

budget appropriation for 2006 as set 

forth in the Transportation, Treasury, 

Housing and Urban Development, the 

Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and 

Independent Agencies Appropriations 

Act of 2006, Public Law 109–115, 

November 30, 2005, provides funding of 

up to $10 million for the program in 

fiscal year 2006.7

The financial assistance under this 

program is in the form of financial 

grants. As mentioned above, the statute 

limits the Department to a maximum of 

40 grant awards (with a maximum of 

four grants per state) in each year that 

the program is funded. It does not 

prescribe any limits on the amounts of 

individual awards. The grant amounts 

awarded will vary depending upon the 

features and merits of the proposals 

selected. Over the past four years, the 

Department’s individual grants have 

ranged from $20,000 to nearly $1.6 

million. 

The grant funds awarded do not need 

to be expended in the fiscal year that 

they are awarded. Nor do they need to 

be used within a one-year period. 

Authorized grant projects may include 

activities that extend over a multi-year 

period under a single grant award to the 

extent reasonable and practicable. 

Generally speaking, grant awards have 

not exceeded a three-to-four-year 

period. 

Grant funds to the selected 

communities are available on a 

reimbursable basis under which the 

community expends funds related to 

implementation of the approved grant 

project, and then seeks reimbursement 

from the Department at regular intervals 

(usually monthly) for project 

expenditures under the terms set forth 

in the Grant Agreement between the 

Department and the selected 

community. 

Eligibility Information 

Applicant Eligibility 

Communities that are eligible to 

participate in the grant program are 

those communities that are served by an 

airport that was not larger than a small 

hub airport for calendar year 1997 and 

had insufficient air service or 

unreasonably high airfares.8

Communities that do not currently have 

commercial air service are also eligible, 

but where they seek grant funds to 

secure air service under the grant 

program, they must have met or be able 

to meet in a reasonable period all 

necessary requirements of the Federal 

Aviation Administration for the type of 

service involved in their grant 

proposals. Communities served by 

medium and large hubs are not eligible 

to apply under this program. 

The law does not exclude small 

communities that currently receive 

subsidized air service under the 

Essential Air Service (EAS) program 

from seeking funds under the Small 

Community Program. A number of EASsubsidized communities applied in past 

years and the Department has made 

grant awards to some of those 

applicants. When analyzing grant 

proposals, the Department will consider 

the fact that subsidized EAS 

communities are already receiving 

federal funding to support their air 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
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9Public Law 108–176, Sec. 405 amending 49 

U.S.C. Section 41745. Pursuant to Vision 100, on 

July 27, 2004, the Department announced the 

‘‘Establishment of Alternate Essential Air Service 

Pilot Program’’ and provided procedures for 

communities interested in participating in this 

component of the EAS program. See order in Docket 

OST–2004–18715. 

services under the EAS program, and 

that Vision 100 made several 

substantive changes to the EAS 

program, including provision for an 

‘‘alternate’’ EAS program that provides 

EAS-subsidized communities many of 

the same options for addressing their air 

service issues as those generally 

available under this program.9

Furthermore, EAS-subsidized 

communities should be aware that we 

will not award grants to communities 

whose proposals are inconsistent with 

long-standing EAS policies, including 

proposals that contemplate air service to 

a second hub where such service is not 

now authorized under the community’s 

EAS determination. 

Communities that were awarded 

grants in previous years that want to 

apply for a grant this year should be 

aware that they are precluded from 

seeking funds for projects that have 

already received an award under the 

Small Community Program. However, 

previous grant recipients may submit 

grant proposals and seek funds for new 

projects in a different category. For 

example, if a community had received 

a grant for a market study, it could not 

apply for a new grant for another market 

study; however, the community could 

apply for funding for a revenue 

guarantee for new air service. That said, 

the funds for this program are very 

limited and the interest in the program 

has far exceeded both the funds 

available and the number of 

communities that can participate under 

the statute in any one year. The fact that 

a community has already received one 

or more grants will be a consideration 

when comparing its new proposal with 

those of other applicant communities. 

Communities that propose to use the 

grant funds to support service in a citypair market that is already served on a 

non-subsidized basis should be 

prepared to explain in detail why the 

existing service is insufficient or 

unsatisfactory, or provide other 

compelling information to support their 

proposal. This information is necessary 

for the Department to consider the 

competitive implications of subsidizing 

one carrier’s service over service that is 

not subsidized. The Department is 

concerned that, while bringing new 

competition may benefit the community 

in the short term, a market may prove 

insufficient to support two carriers and 

service may deteriorate to the point that 

the community’s service in the market 

is less beneficial than before. Thus, the 

Department may look skeptically at 

proposals that do not fully address these 

concerns. 

The statute permits individual 

communities and consortia of 

communities to apply for grant awards 

under this program. In some instances 

in the past, several communities in a 

state have filed a single application as 

a ‘‘consortium’’ while in effect the 

application is a collection of individual 

community requests that involve 

different projects. We do not view this 

as a consortium. Rather, an application 

representing a consortium would be one 

that facilitates efforts of communities 

working together toward a joint grant 

project. For example, several 

communities surrounding an airport 

may apply together to improve air 

services at that airport. 

The Department expects that 

communities will file only one 

application for a grant. In the past, some 

communities have filed both individual 

applications and requests as part of a 

consortium. In many cases these 

applications have involved the same 

project at the same or different funding 

levels. We will not consider the standalone application if a community is also 

submitting a largely identical request as 

part of a consortium. To the extent that 

a community files separately and as part 

of a consortium for complementary 

projects—for example, one request for 

funding a revenue guarantee and one for 

marketing—we will consider such 

proposals. Communities should be 

aware, however, that such multiple 

applications will not necessarily 

improve their chances for receiving a 

grant, and the Department cannot make 

multiple awards involving the same 

community in any one fiscal year. 

Cost Sharing/Local Contributions 

The statute does not require 

communities to contribute toward a 

grant project, although those that do 

contribute from local sources other than 

airport revenues are accorded priority 

consideration. One core objective of the 

Small Community Program is to 

promote community involvement in 

addressing air service/air fare issues 

through public/private partnerships. As 

a financial stakeholder in the process, 

the community gains greater control 

over the type, quality, and success of the 

air service initiatives that will best meet 

its needs, and demonstrates a greater 

commitment towards achieving the 

stated goals. The Department has 

historically received many more 

applications than can be accommodated 

and nearly all of those applications have 

proposed a community financial 

contribution to the project. Thus, 

proposals that do not propose a 

community financial contribution will 

be at a competitive disadvantage. 

For those communities that propose 

to contribute to the grant project, that 

contribution can be in the following 

forms: 

Cash from non-airport revenues: This 

cash contribution can include funds 

from the State, the County or the local 

government, and/or from local 

businesses, or other private 

organizations in the community. The 

‘‘value’’ of donated advertising will not 

be considered a ‘‘cash’’ contribution. 

Cash from airport revenues: This 

includes contributions from funds 

generated by airport operations. Such 

contributions do not accord priority 

consideration for selection and FAA 

policies preclude the use of airport 

revenues for revenue guarantees to 

airlines. 

In-Kind Contributions from the 

airport: This can include such items as 

waivers of landing fees, terminal rents, 

fuel fees, and/or parking fees. 

In-Kind Contributions from the 

community: This can include such 

items as donated advertising from media 

outlets, catering services for inaugural 

events, or in-kind trading, such as 

advertising in exchange for free air 

travel. Travel banks and travel 

commitments/pledges are regarded as 

an in-kind contribution. Similarly, 

reduced fares by airlines will be 

considered an in-kind contribution. 

Only cash contributions will be 

eligible for reimbursement. ‘‘In-kind’’

contributions involve services or 

benefits that do not include a cash 

transaction between the parties. Because 

grant funding under the Small 

Community Program is provided on a 

reimbursable basis, the Department 

cannot reimburse the grant sponsor for 

‘‘in-kind’’ or non-cash contributions. 

Therefore, in-kind contributions are not 

considered as part of the community’s 

cash financial contribution to the 

project. Of course, communities are free 

to include in-kind contributions in their 

proposals. In fact, communities are 

encouraged to offer in-kind 

inducements as an extra incentive to 

facilitate air service/fare improvements. 

While these contributions will not be 

considered as part of the community’s 

cash contribution toward the project on 

which reimbursements are made, they 

will be considered as illustrative of the 

community’s overall commitment to the 

proposed grant project. If there is any 

question about whether a proposed 

contribution would be considered as 


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5708 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2006 / Notices 

10The projected timetable will be an integral part 

of the grant agreements between the selected 

communities and the Department. Therefore, there 

is no advantage to a community in proposing an 

aggressive timetable that cannot be met, and there 

may be disadvantages if the community find that it 

cannot meet its timetable. Communities should 

carefully consider all factors affecting 

implementation of their projects and develop 

realistic timeframes for achieving those objectives, 

keeping in mind that authorized projects generally 

have not exceeded three to four years. 

‘‘in-kind’’ or cash, the applicant should 

contact the Department before 

submitting its proposal. 

Contributions should represent a new 

financial commitment or new financial 

resources devoted to attracting new or 

improved service, or addressing specific 

high-fare or other service issues, such as 

improving patronage of existing service 

at the airport. Contributions from 

already-existing programs or projects 

(e.g., designating a portion of an 

airport’s existing annual marketing 

budget to the project) are considered 

less favorably than contributions for 

new and innovative programs or 

projects. 

Applicant communities should also 

note that, as part of the grant agreement 

between the Department and the 

community, the community must fulfill 

its proposed financial contribution to 

the project. Community participation 

with respect to all aspects of the 

proposal, including the financial 

aspects, is critical to the success of the 

authorized project initiative. As with 

the grant awards in past years, receipt 

of the full federal contribution awarded 

will thus be linked to the community’s 

fulfillment of its financial contribution. 

Furthermore, communities cannot 

propose a certain level of cash 

contribution from non-airport sources, 

and subsequent to being awarded a 

grant, seek to substitute or replace that 

contribution with either ‘‘in-kind’’

contributions or contributions from 

airport revenues, or both. Given the 

statute’s priority for contributions from 

non-airport sources and the competitive 

nature of the selection process, a 

community’s grant award could be 

reduced or terminated altogether if it is 

unable to replace the committed funds 

from non-airport revenue sources. 

Application and Submission 

Information 

Types of Projects and Application 

Content 

The statute is very general about the 

types of projects that can be authorized 

in order to provide communities as 

much flexibility as possible to address 

air service and airfare issues. Moreover, 

as each community’s circumstances may 

be different, applicants will have some 

latitude in identifying their own 

objectives and developing strategies for 

accomplishing them. However, the 

purpose of this program is to provide 

additional financial support to improve 

air service at small communities. It is 

not intended to shift existing 

expenditures for this purpose from the 

local or state level to the federal level. 

A core objective of the Small 

Community Program is to help 

communities secure enhancements that 

will be responsive to their air 

transportation/air fare needs on a longterm basis after the financial support of 

the grant has discontinued. There are 

many ways that a community might 

enhance its current air service or attract 

new service, such as: by promoting 

awareness among residents of locally 

available service; by attracting a new 

carrier through revenue guarantees or 

operating cost offsets: by offering an 

incumbent carrier financial incentives 

to lower its fares, increase its 

frequencies, add new routes, or deploy 

more suitable aircraft, including 

upgrading its equipment from 

turboprops to regional jets; by 

combining traffic support from 

surrounding communities with 

regionalized service through one airport; 

or by providing local ground 

transportation service to improve access 

to air service to the community and the 

surrounding area. These serve merely as 

illustrative examples and are not meant 

to comprise a list of the types of projects 

that are considered most favorably. 

Consequently, communities are 

encouraged to be innovative and to 

consider a wide range of initiatives in 

developing their proposals. At the same 

time, general, vague, or unsupported 

proposals will be to be entertained. The 

more highly defined and focused the 

proposal, the more likely it will 

received favorable consideration, 

particularly given the statute’s focus on 

a timely used of the federal grant 

funding. (48 U.S.C. 41743(c)(5)(E)). 

At a minimum, proposals must 

provide the following information: 

• A description of the community’s 

existing air service, including the 

carrier(s) providing service, service 

frequency, direct and connection 

destination offered, available fares, and 

equipment types. 

• A synopsis of the community’s 

historical service, including destination, 

traffic levels, service providers, and any 

extenuating factors that might have 

affected traffic in the past or that can be 

expected to influence service needs in 

the near to intermediate terms. 

• A description of the community’s 

air service needs or deficiencies, 

including any major origin/destination 

markets not now served or not served 

adequately. In addition, communities 

are free to submit any information about 

their fare situation that they deem 

relevant to consideration of their grant 

request. 

• A strategic plan for meeting those 

needs under the Small Community 

Program, including the community’s 

specific project goal(s) and detailed plan 

for attaining the goal(s). Proposals 

should clearly identify the target 

audience of each component of the 

proposed transportation initiative, 

including all advertising and 

promotional efforts. Proposals should 

also provide a realistic timetable for 

implementation of the grant project. In 

this regard, the statute including timely 

use of the grant funds as a priority 

consideration. Consequently, 

communities must have a welldeveloped project plan and detailed 

timetable for implementing that plan. In 

establishing the timetable, however, 

communities should be realistic about 

their ability to meet their project 

deadlines.10 Furthermore, proposals 

involving new or improved service 

should include self-sufficiency of the 

service as an integral part of the 

community’s goal since, under the 

statute, they cannot seek grant funding 

in subsequent year in support of the 

same project. Therefore, it is important 

that communities seriously consider the 

scale of their proposed projects in 

developing their proposals and the 

timetable for achieving them. To the 

extent that a propoed project is 

dependent upon or relevant to 

completion of other federally funded 

capital improvement projects, the 

community should provide a 

description of, and the construction 

time-line for, those projects keeping in 

mind the new statutory requirement to 

use Small Community Program funding 

in a timely manner. 

Further, when drafting a proposal, 

applicants should fully and clearly 

outline the goals and objectives sought 

to be achieved, e.g., ‘‘to broaden the 

awareness by residents in the TriCounty area of the operations provided 

by passenger carriers at the Tri-County 

airport,’’ or ‘‘to obtain new and 

affordable service to a hub airport in a 

direct where there is no such service.’’

When an application is selected, these 

goals and objectives will be 

incorporated into the grant agreement 

and shape its basic scope. Once an 

agreement is signed, if circumstances 

change and an amendment is sought to 

allow for different activities or a 

different approach, the Department will 


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look to whether the change being sought 

is consistent with those fundamental 

project goals and objectives. Proposed 

changes that would alter those 

fundamental project goals and 

objectives cannot be authorized, because 

doing so would undermine the 

competitive nature of the selection 

process. 

• A description of any public-private 

partnership that will participate in the 

project. Full community involvement is 

a key aspect of the Small Community 

Program. The statute gives a priority to 

those communities that already have 

established, or will establish, a publicprivate partnership to facilitate air 

service to the public. The proposal 

should give a full description of the 

public-private partnership that will 

participate in the community’s proposal 

and how the partnership will actively 

participate in implementing the 

proposed project. In addition, 

applicants should identify each member 

of the partnership, the role that each 

will play, and its specific 

responsibilities in implementation of 

the project. If the application does not 

include specific information on the 

partnership participation in the project, 

the Department cannot evaluate how 

well a community has met this 

consideration, and the applicant will 

not be deemed as having met this 

priority consideration in the 

Department’s evaluation of the 

community’s proposal. 

• A detailed description of the 

funding necessary for implementation of 

the community’s project, including the 

federal and non-federal contributions. 

Proposal should clearly identify the 

level of federal funding sought. They 

should also clearly identify the other 

cash contributions toward the proposed 

project, ‘‘in-kind’’ contributions from 

the airport, and ‘‘in-kind’’ contributions 

from the community. Cash contributions 

from airport revenues should be 

identified separately from cash 

contributions from other community 

sources. Similarly, cash contributions 

from the state and/or local government 

should be separately identified and 

described. 

In this regard, instances have arisen in 

the past where communities have relied 

extensively on what they characterize as 

travel banks for a significant portion of 

their local contribution. A travel ‘‘bank’’

involves an actual deposit of funds from 

the participating entities into a bank for 

the purpose of purchasing committed 

air travel on the selected airline and 

defined procedures for use of those 

funds under an agreement with the 

airline. Most often, however, what 

communities refer to as a travel ‘‘bank’’

in reality involves travel ‘‘pledges’’ from 

businesses in the community without 

any collection of funds or formal 

procedures for use of the funds. Despite 

having awarded several proposals 

contemplating ‘‘travel banks,’’ there are 

a few that have been implemented. Two 

communities that have established true 

travel banks are Redmond, Oregon, and 

Dubuque, Iowa. In the majority of cases, 

however, community discussions with 

air carriers have revealed that many 

carriers are not interested in travel 

banks or travel pledges/commitments, 

preferring other forms of financial 

incentives for risk abatement in the 

initial stages of their airline service. 

Therefore, if communities include travel 

banks in their proposals, they must also 

provide written confirmation that the 

potential transportation provider(s) 

involved in the project is interested in 

such a financial incentive. If such 

confirmation cannot be secured, the 

community should provide alternative 

funding proposals to address the carrier/ 

financial incentive packages that may be 

needed. Further, if official travel banks 

are proposed, the Department will 

require documentation during the term 

of the grant that the travel banks are 

funded. 

Applicant communities should be 

aware that, if awarded a grant, the 

Department will not reimburse the 

community for pre-award expenses such 

as the cost of preparing the grant 

application or for any expenses incurred 

prior to the community executing a 

grant agreement with the Department for 

implementation of the grant. In 

addition, 10 percent of the grant funds 

will be withheld until the Department 

receives the final report of the grant 

project. See Award Administration 

Information, below. 

• An explanation of how the 

community will ensure that its own 

funding contribution is spent in the 

manner proposed. 

• Descriptions of how the community 

will monitor the progress of the grant 

project and identify critical milestones 

during the life of the grant, including 

the need to modify or discontinue 

funding if identified milestones cannot 

be met. This is an important component 

of the community’s proposal and serves 

to demonstrate the thoroughness of the 

community’s planning of the proposed 

grant project. Applicant communities 

are on notice that any modifications 

must first be approved by the 

Department. Moreover, modifications to 

the project will be considered only to 

the extent that the changes do not 

deviate from the original goal and scope 

of the authorized grant project. As noted 

above, the Department will not permit 

fundamental changes to a community’s 

proposal in order to preserve a grant 

award. 

• A description of how the 

community plans to continue with the 

project if it is not self-sustaining after 

the grant award expires. A particular 

goal of the Small Community Program is 

to provide long-term, self-sustaining 

improvements to air service at small 

communities. Under the Vision 100 

amendments to the statute, the 

community cannot seek further grant 

funding in support of the same project. 

It is possible that a new or improved 

service at a community will be well on 

its way to becoming self-sustaining, but 

will not have reached that goal when 

the grant has expired. Similarly, it is 

possible that extensive marketing and 

promotional efforts may be in process, 

but not completed, at the end of the 

grant period and will require continued 

support. Therefore, in developing its 

proposal, the community should 

carefully consider and describe its plans 

for continued financial support for the 

project after the grant funding is no 

longer available. This aspect of the 

application reflects on the community’s 

commitment to the grant project and is 

an important component to the 

Department’s consideration of the 

community’s proposal for selection for a 

grant award. 

• A description of the community’s 

air service development efforts over the 

past five years and the results of those 

efforts. Many communities have been 

active on an on-going basis for many 

years in air service development efforts, 

while others are just beginning. To the 

extent that a community has previously 

engaged in other air service initiatives, 

including through public/private 

partnerships, it should describe those 

efforts and their results in its grant 

proposal. This should include 

marketing and promotional efforts of 

airport services as well as efforts to 

recruit additional or improved air 

service and airfare initiatives. 

• Designation of a legal sponsor 

responsible for administering the 

program. The legal sponsor must be a 

government entity. If the applicant is a 

public-private partnership, a public 

government member of the organization 

must be identified as the community’s 

sponsor to accept program 

reimbursements. In this regard, 

communities can designate only a single 

government entity as the legal sponsor, 

even if a consortium, for example, 

consists of two or more local 

government entities. Private 

organizations cannot be designated as 


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11The community has the responsibility to 

ensure that the recipient of any funding has the 

legal authority under State and local laws to carry 

out all aspects of the grant. 

12The original application should be submitted 

on 8.5′′ x 11′′ paper, in dark ink (not green) and 

without tabs to facilitate inclusion in the 

Department’s docket management system. The 

remaining copies may be tabbed and include use of 

any color ink. 

13Communities may submit their proposals 

electronically by following the instructions at the 

following Web site http://dms.dot.gov. If they do so, 

however, they should not also submit a hard copy 

of the application to the Dockets Operations and 

Media Management Office. However, communities 

using this option are required to submit one hard 

copy of their application to the Department’s Office 

of Aviation Analysis, X–50, Room 6401, 400 7th 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Moreover, any 

additional materials such as DVDs and videos 

cannot be included in the docket management 

system. To the extent that communities want to 

include such information in their proposals, they 

should provide that information to the 

Department’s Office of Aviation Analysis, X–50, 

Room 6401. Questions about electronic filing 

procedures should be addressed to Renee Wright, 

Dockets Operations and Media Management, at 

(202) 366–9826. 

14To the extent that applicants are interested in 

reviewing proposals that were submitted in prior 

years, those applications are publicly available in 

Docket OST–2002–11590, Docket OST–2003–

15065, Docket OST–2004–17343, and Docket OST–

2005–20127 for FY 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 

grants, respectively, through the Department’s 

docket management system at the following Web 

address: http://dms.dot.gov/. 

the legal sponsor of a grant under the 

Small Community Program.11

• Air Service Development Zone 

Designation. As noted earlier, the 

Department will designate one of the 

selected grant recipients as an Air 

Service Development Zone. The 

purpose of the designation is to provide 

communities interested in attracting 

business to the area surrounding the 

airport and/or developing land use 

options for the area to work with the 

Department on means to achieve those 

goals. Only communities that are 

interested in these objectives and have 

a plan to accomplishing them should 

compete for the available designation. 

Applying for this designation will 

provide no special benefit or preference 

to a community in receiving a grant 

award. 

Against this background, grant 

applications interested in selection for 

the Air Service Development Zone 

designation, must include in their 

applications a separate section, titled, 

Support for Air Service Development 

Zone Designation. That section should 

include detailed information regarding 

the property and facilities available for 

development such as an existing airpark 

or land for such an airpark; the other 

modes of transportation that would be 

available to support additional 

economic development, such as rail, 

road, and/or water access; information 

concerning historic, existing, and any 

future business activity in the area that 

would support further development; 

demographic information concerning 

the community and its environs relevant 

to the developmental efforts, including 

population, employment, and per capita 

income data; and any other information 

that the community believes is relevant 

to its plans to enhance air service 

development. In this regard, the 

community should provide as detailed a 

plan as possible, including what goals it 

expects to achieve from the air service 

development zone designation and the 

types of activities on which it would 

like to work with the Department in 

achieving those goals. The community 

should also indicate whether further 

local government approvals are required 

in order to implement the proposed 

activities. 

The Department will work with the 

selected grant recipient by reviewing its 

proposed goals and plans and will meet 

with the community to help direct the 

community’s efforts to appropriate 

government agencies, including the 

Department of Commerce as well as 

other U.S. DOT offices that could 

provide further support and guidance 

for achieving the community’s goals. 

The community and its leaders are in 

the best position to determine what 

activities will benefit its goals for greater 

air service development. The 

Department will serve as a liaison in 

helping the selected community connect 

directly with others that have the 

expertise and ability, including funding 

where the community meets the 

necessary requirements, to support the 

community’s developmental activities. 

There is no set format that applicants 

should use in submitting their 

applications, other than the guidance 

above concerning issues that must be 

addressed in community applications. 

The law provides considerable latitude 

to communities in developing their 

proposals and a strict format could serve 

to stifle innovation. However, given the 

historical high volume of applications 

received, applicants are required to 

submit a Summary Information Sheet 

(attached as Appendix B to this order) 

at the beginning of their applications 

and to complete the SF424 standard 

federal grant applications form (see 

Appendix C to this order) to assist our 

review of each proposal. 

Filing Date/Confidential Material 

Proposals are due April 7, 2006.12

They may be submitted by hand, mail, 

or express delivery. Proposals 

postmarked after the due date will not 

be accepted. This year, there are two 

mandatory requirements for filing of 

applications, both of which must be 

completed for a community’s 

application to be deemed timely and 

considered by the Department. 

First, the applicant must submit a 

proposal that includes all of the 

information required by the Application 

and Submission section, above, 

including the Summary Sheet in 

Appendix B. The applications will be 

maintained in a public docket accessible 

by the general public and other 

applicants. Interested communities 

should submit an original and two 

copies of their proposals, including the 

Summary Information Sheet, if 

submitting their proposals by mail, 

hand, or express delivery.13

The cover page for all applications 

regardless of the method of submission 

should bear the title ‘‘Proposal Under 

the Small Community Air Service 

Development Program,’’ and should 

include the docket number as shown on 

the first page of this order, the name of 

the community or consortium of 

communities applying, the legal 

sponsor, and the community’s Dun and 

Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal 

Numbering System (DUNS) number. 

The application should be sent/ 

delivered to Dockets Operations and 

Media Management, M–30, Room PL–

401, Department of Transportation, 400 

7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. 

Questions regarding the program or the 

filing of proposals should be directed to 

the Office of Aviation Analysis, at (202) 

366–1053 or terri.bingham@dot.gov.14

Applicants will be able to provide 

certain information relevant to their 

proposals on a confidential basis. Under 

the Department’s regulations, such 

information is limited to commercial or 

financial information that, if disclosed, 

would either significantly harm the 

competitive position of a business or 

enterprise or make it more difficult for 

the Federal Government to obtain 

similar information in the future. 

Applicants seeking confidential 

treatment of a portion of their 

applications must segregate the 

confidential material in a sealed 

envelope marked ‘‘Confidential 

Submission of X (the applicant) in 

Docket OST–2006–23671’’ and include 

with that material a request in the form 

of a motion seeking confidential 

treatment of the material under 14 CFR 

302.12 (Rule 12) of the Department’s 

regulations. The applicant should 

submit an original and two copies of its 

motion and an original and two copies 

of the confidential material in the sealed 

envelope. The confidential material 


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15See 40 U.S.C. 41743(d)(1) which limits the use 

of grant funds to no longer than three years to 

support an air carrier’s operations, and section 

41743(c)(4) which precludes communities from 

seeking additional financial assistance for the same 

project. 

should not be included in the original 

or in any of the copies of the applicant’s 

proposal that are submitted to the 

Department. Those submissions, 

however, should indicate clearly where 

the confidential material would have 

been inserted. If applicants invoke Rule 

12, the confidential portion of the filing 

will be treated as confidential pending 

a final determination. All confidential 

material must also be received by April 

7, 2006. 

Second, in order to comply with this 

year’s Grants.gov initiative, a mandate 

of the President’s Management Agenda, 

all applicants must also submit form 

SF424, Application for Federal 

Domestic Assistance, found on http:// 

www.grants.gov. In this regard, 

applicants should be aware that they 

must complete a one-time registration 

process in order to submit the SF424 

application, and the registration process 

can take approximately three to five 

days to complete. 

Therefore, communities intending to 

file applications should complete the 

registration process sooner rather than 

later to ensure that they can meet the 

application deadline. Appendix C 

provides additional information with 

respect to the registering process in 

Grants.gov as well as instructions on 

submitting SF424 once the registration 

process has been completed. As noted 

above, an application will not be 

deemed complete unless the proposal 

has been submitted to the Department’s 

Docket Operations and Media 

Management office referencing the 

appropriate docket, an the SF424 

application has been submitted through 

Grants.gov by the April 7 deadline. 

Application Review Information 

The Department will carefully review 

each proposal and the staff may contact 

applicants if clarification is needed. 

Communities may amend their 

proposals at any time prior to the 

Department’s selection of grant 

recipients and those amendments will 

be considered to the extent the review 

process permits. The grant awards will 

be made as quickly as possible so that 

communities awarded grants can 

complete the grant agreement process 

and proceed to implement their plans. 

Pending unforeseen circumstances, this 

process should be completed before 

September 16, 2006. 

The Small Community Program 

provides a valuable opportunity for 

communities to gain assistance in 

securing long-term, self-sustaining 

improvements in their air service. It is 

not intended to address short-term 

anomalies affecting a community’s air 

service. Nor is it intended as a 

continuing financial support program 

for small community service.15 It does 

represent an important opportunity for 

the community as a whole to take a 

creative approach to addressing its 

service and fare issues and to partner 

with the federal government to make 

meaningful and lasting improvements in 

its air service. 

The statute directs the Department to 

give priority consideration to those 

communities or consortia where air 

fares are higher than the average air 

fares for all communities, the 

community or consortium will provide 

a portion of the cost of the activity from 

local sources other than airport 

revenues; the community or consortium 

has established or will establish a 

public-private partnership to facilitate 

air carrier service to the public; the 

assistance will provide material benefits 

to a broad segment of the traveling 

public whose access to the national air 

transportation system is limited; and the 

assistance will be used in a timely 

fashion. 

Applications will be evaluated against 

these priority considerations. Given 

previous experience, it is likely that 

more applications will be received than 

can be funded under the limitations of 

the Small Community Program. With 

this in mind, consistent with the criteria 

stated above, the selection process will 

take into consideration such factors as 

the relative size of each applicant 

community; the geographic location of 

each applicant, including the 

community’s proximity to larger centers 

of air service and low-fare service 

alternatives; the community’s existing 

level of air service and whether that 

service has been increasing or 

decreasing, the number of passengers 

expected to benefit from the proposed 

transportation initiative, taking into 

consideration the historic and current 

demographic indicators for the 

community, including population 

growth, business activity, and per capita 

income data; the community’s 

demonstrated commitment to and 

participation in the proposed grant 

project; the grant amount requested 

compared with total funds available for 

all communities; the proposed federal 

grant amount requested compared with 

the local share offered; whether the 

community has demonstrated a 

reasonable plan to use the funds in a 

timely manner; the uniqueness of 

applicants’ claimed program(s); the 

uniqueness of the applicant’s proposed 

solution(s) to solving the problem(s); 

whether the proposed project addresses 

the stated problem; and whether the 

community’s proximity to an existing 

grant recipient could impact its 

proposal. Finally, we will consider 

whether the applicant community has 

previous received a grant award under 

this program. 

Full community participation is a key 

goal of this program as demonstrated by 

the statute’s focus on local contributions 

and active participation in the project. 

Therefore, applications that demonstrate 

broad community support will be given 

additional favorable consideration. For 

example, communities providing higher 

levels of cash contributions from other 

than airport revenues will also be 

accorded additional favorable 

consideration. Communities that 

provide multiple levels of 

contributions—cash and in-kind 

contributions—can also receive 

additional consideration. Similarly, 

communities that demonstrate historic 

and/or active participation in the 

proposed air service project will be 

accorded additional consideration. 

Favorable consideration will also be 

given to those proposals that offer 

innovative solutions to the 

transportation issues facing the 

community. Small communities have 

faced many problems retaining and 

enhancing their air services and in 

dealing with their airfare issues. 

Therefore, proposals that offer new, 

creative approaches to addressing these 

problems, to the extent that they are 

reasonable, will be given additional 

favorable consideration. Proposals that 

provide a well-defined plan, a 

reasonable timetable for use of the grant 

funds, and a plan for continuation and/ 

or monitoring of the project after the 

grant expires will also receive greater 

consideration. 

Less favorable consideration will be 

accorded proposals that rely primarily 

on contributions from already-existing 

programs or projects (e.g., designating a 

portion of an airport’s existing annual 

marketing budget to the project), and 

proposals that would merely shift the 

costs of an ongoing or existing activity 

from the state or local level to the 

federal level. Contributions should 

represent a new financial commitment 

or new financial resources devoted to 

attracting new or improved service, or 

addressing specific high-fare or other 

service issues, such as improving 

patronage of existing services at the 

airport. 

As a general matter, given prior 

experience, proposals that include 

travel banks, particularly if they serve as 


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16 In this regard, we recognize that communities 

served by small hub airports generally have 

significant levels of service by a number of airlines, 

and thus, would not meet the ‘‘insufficient service’’

criteria of the statute. Therefore, absent evidence to 

the contrary, we would give more favorable 

consideration to proposals involving small hub 

airports where the community has demonstrated 

that its proposal meets the ‘‘higher than average 

airfares’’ requirement of the statute. 

17The applicable regulations include, among 

others: (1) 49 CFR Parts 21 and 27 and 14 CFR Parts 

271 and 382—Nondiscrimination in federallyassisted programs of the Department of 

Transportation—Effectuation of title VI of the Civil 

Rights Act of 1964; 49 CFR Part 27—

Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in 

programs and activities receiving or benefiting from 

Federal financial assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382—

Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in air 

travel; (2) 49 CFR Part 29—Government-wide 

debarment and suspension (non-procurement) and 

government-wide requirements for drug-free 

workplace (grants); and (3) 49 CFR Part 20—New 

restrictions on lobbying. The complete list of the 

applicable assurances is on the cited webpage. The 

assurances noted are for reference purposes only 

and should not be included in the community’s 

application. The assurances are part of the grant 

agreement that will be sent to each grant recipient 

and should be completed at that time. 

18Proposals must be postmarked no later than 

April 7, 2006. The original application should be 

submitted on 8.5′′ x 11′′ paper, in dark ink (not 

green) and without tabs to facilitate inclusion in the 

Department’s docket management system. The 

remaining copies may be tabbed and include use of 

any color ink. 

the community’s primary financial 

contribution to the project will be 

considered with greater scrutiny. As 

noted earlier, there is concern that such 

arrangements do not come to fruition 

and ultimately are not supported by the 

carriers. Often travel banks have 

involved ‘‘pledges’’ from the community 

to use the air service, rather than cash 

available for implementation of the 

project. Therefore, any proposals that 

include travel banks should also 

provide evidence of their acceptance by 

the selected or potential air or ground 

service providers. Moreover, the 

community should provide an 

alternative financial plan for the project 

in the event that the travel bank 

ultimately is not viable. 

An important objective of the Small 

Community Program is to formulate and 

implement solutions to transportation 

problems of small communities which 

could serve as models for other small 

communities to improve and retain their 

access to air service and to the nation’s 

air transportation system. We recognize 

that communities in different parts of 

the country do not necessarily face the 

same challenges with respect to their air 

services and airfares. Therefore, subject 

to the quality of the proposals submitted 

in meeting the evaluation criteria and 

the funding and overall community 

participation constraints of the program, 

to the extent possible, our goals will be 

to select proposals that will (a) benefit 

communities in all areas of the United 

States and its territories; (b) benefit 

small communities of all sizes, ranging 

from very small to those that qualify as 

small hubs and are eligible for 

participation in the program under the 

statute; 16 (c) promote regional solutions 

to air service issues, where appropriate; 

(d) include a variety of different types 

of projects; and (e) address different air 

service and/or airfare issues. 

Given the competitive nature of the 

grant process, the Department does not 

intend to meet with grant applicants 

with respect to their grant proposals. 

The Department’s selection of 

communities for grant awards will be 

based on the community’s written 

submissions to the Department. 

Award Administration Information 

The Department will announce its 

grant selections by Order, which will be 

served on each grant recipient, all other 

applicants, and all parties served with 

this order. It will also be published in 

the Federal Register and posted on the 

Department’s webpage. 

Communities awarded grants will be 

expected to execute a grant agreement 

with the Department before they begin 

to spend funds under the grant award. 

Grant funds will be provided on a 

reimbursable basis only and only for 

expenses incurred and billed during the 

period that the grant agreement is in 

effect. Applicants therefore should not 

assume they have received a grant, nor 

obligate or spend local funds prior to 

receiving and fully executing a grant 

agreement with the Department under 

this program. Expenditures made prior 

to the execution of a grant agreement, 

including costs associated with 

preparation of the grant applicant, will 

not be reimbursed. Moreover, there are 

numerous assurances that are required 

to be made and honored when federal 

funds are awarded. All communities 

receiving a grant under the Small 

Community Program will be required to 

accept the responsibilities of these 

assurances, and to execute the 

assurances when they execute their 

grant agreements. Copies of the 

applicable assurances are available for 

review on the Department’s webpage at 

http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/X50%20Role_files/ 

smallcommunity.htm.17

The grant agreements between the 

Department and selected communities 

will require quarterly reports on the 

progress of implementation of the grant 

project, as well as the submission on a 

quarterly or other time-specific basis of 

additional material relevant to the grant 

project, such as copies of advertising 

and promotional material, and copies of 

contracts with consultants and service 

providers. In addition, communities 

will be required to submit a final report 

to the Department with respect to their 

grant projects and 10 percent of the 

grant funds available will not be 

reimbursed to the community until the 

final report has been received. 

Communities will be permitted to seek 

reimbursement of project 

implementation costs on a regular basis. 

The frequency of such requests will be 

established in the grant agreement, 

which will be tailored to the specific 

features of the community’s grant 

project. In most cases, reimbursements 

will be made on a monthly basis. In this 

regard, the Department will provide the 

grant recipient communities with 

details and procedures for securing 

reimbursements electronically. 

This order is issued under authority 

delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f). 

Accordingly, 

1. Community proposals for funding 

under the Small Community Air Service 

Development Program should be 

submitted in Docket OST 2006–23671 

no later than April 7, 2006; 18 and 

2. This order will be published in the 

Federal Register and also will be served 

on the Conference of Mayors, the 

National League of Cities, the National 

Governors Association, the National 

Association of State Aviation Officials 

(NASAO), the Association of County 

Executives, the American Association of 

Airport Executives (AAAE), and the 

Airports Council International-North 

America (ACI), and posted on http:// 

www.grants.gov. 

By: 

Michael W. Reynolds, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

International Affairs. 

An electronic version of this 

document is available on the World 

Wide Web at http://www.dms.dot.gov. 

Appendix A 

Section 41743 Airports not Receiving 

Sufficient Service 

(a) Small community air service 

development program. The Secretary of 

Transportation shall establish a program that 

meets the requirements of this section for 

improving air carrier service to airports not 

receiving sufficient air carrier service. 

(b) Application required. In order to 

participate in the program established under 

subsection (a), a community or consortium of 

communities shall submit an application to 

the Secretary in such form, at such time, and 

containing such information as the Secretary 

may require, including—

(1) An assessment of the need of the 

community or consortium for access, or 


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improved access, to the national air 

transportation system; and 

(2) An analysis of the application of the 

criteria in subsection (c) to that community 

or consortium. 

(c) Criteria for participation. In selecting 

communities, or consortia of communities, 

for participation in the program established 

under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

apply the following criteria: 

(1) Size. For calendar year 1997, the airport 

serving the community or consortium was 

not larger than a small hub airport, and—

(A) Had insufficient air carrier service; or 

(B) Had unreasonably high air fares. 

(2) Characteristics. The airport presents 

characteristics, such as geographic diversity 

or unique circumstances, that will 

demonstrate the need for, and feasibility of, 

the program established under subsection (a). 

(3) State Limit. Not more than 4 

communities or consortia of communities, or 

a combination thereof, from the same State 

may be selected to participate in the program 

in any fiscal year. 

(4) Overall limit. No more than 40 

communities or consortia of communities, or 

a combination thereof, may be selected to 

participate in the program in each year for 

which funds are appropriated for the 

program. 

No community, consortia of communities, 

no combination thereof may participate in 

the program in support of the same project 

more than once, but any community, 

consortia of communities, or combination 

thereof may apply, subsequent to such 

participation, to participate in the program in 

support of a different project. 

(5) Priorities. The Secretary shall give 

priority to communities or consortia of 

communities where—

(A) Air fares are higher than the average air 

fares for all communities; 

(B) The community or consortium will 

provide a portion of the cost of the activity 

to be assisted under the program from local 

sources other than airport revenues; 

(C) The community or consortium has 

established, or will establish, a public-private 

partnership to facilitate air carrier service to 

the public; 

(D) The assistance will provide material 

benefits to a broad segment of the traveling 

public, including business, educational 

institutions, and other enterprises, whose 

access to the national air transportation 

system is limited; and 

(E) The assistance will be used in a timely 

fashion. 

(d) Types of assistance. The Secretary may 

use amounts made available under this 

section—

(1) To provide assistance to an air carrier 

to subsidize service to and from an 

underserved airport for a period not to 

exceed 3 years; 

(2) To provide assistance to an underserved 

airport to obtain service to and from the 

underserved airport; and 

(3) To provide assistance to an underserved 

airport to implement such other measures as 

the Secretary, in consultation with such 

airport, considers appropriate to improve air 

service both in terms of the cost of such 

service to consumers and the availability of 

such service, including improving air service 

through marketing and promotion of air 

service and enhanced utilization of airport 

facilities. 

(e) Authority to make agreements. (1) In 

general. The Secretary may make agreements 

to provide assistance under this seciton. 

(2) Authorization of appropriations. There 

is authorized to be appropriated to the 

Secretary $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, 

$27,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 and 

2003, and $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2004 through 2008 to carry out this section. 

Such sums shall remain available until 

expended. 

(f) Additional action. Under the program 

established under subsection (a), the 

Secretary shall work with air carriers 

providing service to participating 

communities and major air carriers (as 

defined in section 41716(a)(2)) serving large 

hub airports to facilitate joint-fare 

arrangements consistent with normal 

industry practice. 

(g) Designation of responsible official. The 

Secretary shall designate an employee of the 

Department of Transportation—

(1) To function as a facilitator between 

small communities and air carriers; 

(2) To carry out this section; 

(3) To ensure that the Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics collects data on 

passenger information to assess the service 

needs of small communities; 

(4) To work with the coordinate efforts 

with other Federal, State, and local agencies 

to increase the viability of service to small 

communities and the creation of aviation 

development zones; and 

(5) To provide policy recommendations to 

the Secretary and Congress that will ensure 

that small communities have access to 

quality, affordable air transportation services. 

(h) Air Service Development Zone. The 

Secretary shall designate an airport in the 

program as an Air Service Development Zone 

and work with the community or consortium 

on means to attract business to the area 

surrounding the airport, to develop land use 

options for the area, and provide data, 

working with the Department of Commerce 

and other agencies. 

BILLING CODE 4910–62–M 


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BILLING CODE 4910–62–C 

Appendix C—Filing Form SF424—

Application for Federal Domestic 

Assistance 

Grants.gov, originally called the E-Grants 

Initiative, a mandate of the President’s 

Management Agenda, states, 

Agencies will allow applicants for Federal 

Grants to apply for and ultimately manage 

grant funds online through a common web 

site, simplyfing grants management and 

eliminating redundancies. 

Public Law 106–107, the legislation that 

mandates streamlining and improved 

accountability for Federal grants, and related 

references in the President’s Management 

Agenda, requires that Federal grant 

management activities be standardized. As a 

result, the Office of Management and Budget 

recently issued a policy directive requiring 

that all Federal agencies post grant 

opportunities online as of November 7, 2006. 

Therefore, this year, to comply with the 

Grants.gov initiative, the Department will 

begin accepting grant applications via 

http://www.grants.gov. In order for an 

application to be considered in the Small 

Community Air Service Development 

Program, the community must submit its 

application of form SF424—Application for 

Federal Domestic Assistance—via http:// 

www.grants.gov. Below are instructions on: 

• How to FIND the SCASDP application 

online at http://www.grants.gov; 

• How to register to submit applications; 

and 

• How to APPLY or complete and submit 

the application form SF424. 

Finding the SCASDP Grant Opportunity on 

Grants.Gov 

Start your search for the Small Community 

Air Service Development Program grant 

opportunity by entering http:// 

www.grants.gov and clicking the Finding 

Grant Opportunities tab at the top of the 

page. In the search box titled ‘‘Search for 

Catalog for Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) number’’ enter 20.930. You will see 

a summary of the SCASDP requirements. 

Register To Submit Applications 

Prior to applying, you must register to 

create a Grants.gov account and receive 

approval from your organization to submit 

applications. Detailed instructions on how to 

complete the registration is available at 

http://www.grants.gov. 

1. Register your Organization 


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• Obtain a Data Universal Number System 

(DUNS) number 

• Register the organization with a Central 

Contractor Registry (CCR) 

2. Register yourself as an Authorized 

Organization Representative (AOR) 

• Obtain a username and password 

• Register with Grants.gov 

3. Get Authorized as an AOR by your 

Organization 

• Obtain E-Business Point of Contact 

authorization 

Applying for the Grant 

Once you have located the Small 

Community Air Service Development 

Program grant opportunity, you will need to 

enter the Funding Opportunity and/or the 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Application 

(CFDA) number 20.930 to access the 

application package and instructions online. 

However, you must complete the registration 

process before applying (see B above). In 

order to view the application package and 

instructions, you will also need to download 

and install the PureEdge Viewer. 

1. Download PureEdge Viewer [Required] 

2. Download an Application Package 

3. Complete an Application Package 

4. Submit an Application Package 

Enter the SCASDP CFDA number (20.930) 

to download the application form SF424 and 

begin the process to apply for the grant 

through http://www.grants.gov. It is a 4-step 

process: 

Apply Step 1: Download the Grant 

Application Form SF424 and Application 

Instructions 

You will need to enter the Funding 

Opportunity and/or CFDA number to access 

the application package and instructions. 

Download and install the PureEdge Viewer 

(available on http://www.grants.gov). This 

small, free program will allow you to access, 

complete, and submit applications 

electronically and securely. 

Apply Step 2: Complete the Selected Grant 

Application Package 

You can complete the application offline—

giving you the flexibility to complete grant 

applications when and where you want. It 

also enables you to easily route it through 

your organization for review, or completion 

of various components, just like any other 

email attachment. 

Apply Step 3: Submit a Completed Grant 

Application Package 

You will submit the application online. 

When you are ready to submit the completed 

application form SF424, you must have 

already completed the Get Started Steps. You 

will then need to log into http:// 

www.grants.gov using the username and 

password you entered when you registered 

with a Credential Provider to submit the 

application. 

Note: To submit electronic grant 

applications, you must be fully authorized by 

your organization, i.e., been given status as 

an Authorized Organization Representative 

(AOR). You can easily check your status by 

logging into http://www.grants.gov by 

accessing the Applicant link at the top of the 

screen. If you have registered your user name 

and password with Grants.gov, you will be 

able to log in. After logging in, access the 

‘Manage Profile’ link. Your status, located 

below your title, will state: ‘‘AOR—request 

sent’’ or ‘‘AOR—Approved’’. If your status is 

‘AOR—request sent’, you cannot yet submit 

grant applications. You may correct this by 

contacting your E-Business Point of Contact 

(POC). He or she will need to login by 

accessing the Ebiz link at the top of the 

screen. They will need your organization’s 

DUNs number and MPIN, to approve you as 

an AOR. 

Apply Step 4: Track the Status of a 

Completed Grant Application Package 

Once you have submitted an application, 

you can check the status of your application 

submission. You can identify your 

application by CFDA Number, Funding 

Opportunity Number, Competition ID, and/or 

Grants.gov Tracking Number. 

[FR Doc. 06–983 Filed 2–1–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–62–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions 

on Proposed Highway in Utah 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT; Army 

Corps of Engineers, DOD. 

ACTION: Notice of Limitation on Claims 

for Judicial Review of Actions by 

FHWA, United States Army Corps of 

Engineers (USACE), DOD, and Other 

Federal Agencies. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces actions 

taken by the FHWA, USACE, and other 

Federal agencies that are final within 

the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The 

actions relate to a proposed highway 

project, Legacy Parkway Project from 

Interstate 215 (I–215) in Salt Lake City 

north to U.S. Highway 89 (US–89) in 

Farmington, in the Counties of Salt Lake 

and Davis, State of Utah. Those actions 

grant licenses, permits, and approvals 

for this project. 

DATES: By this notice, the FHWA is 

advising the public of final agency 

actions subject to 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). A 

claim seeking judicial review of the 

Federal agency actions on the highway 

project will be barred unless the claim 

is filed on or before August 1, 2006. If 

the Federal law that authorizes judicial 

review of a claim provides a time period 

of less than 180 days for filing such 

claim, then that shorter period still 

applies. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory S. Punske, P.E., Environmental 

Program Manager, Federal Highway 

Administration, 2520 West 4700 South, 

Suite 9A, Salt Lake City, Utah 84118, 

Telephone: (801) 963–0182. The FHWA 

Utah Division Office’s normal business 

hours are 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (mountain 

time). You may also contact Mr. Shawn 

Zinszer, Chief Intermountain Regulatory 

Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

533 West 2600 South, Suite 150, 

Bountiful, Utah 84010 Telephone: (801) 

295–8380 or, Mr. John Thomas, 

Director, Legacy Parkway Project, Utah 

Department of Transportation, 4001 

South 700 East, Suite 450, Salt Lake 

City, UT 84107, Telephone, (801) 924–

2070. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given that the FHWA and other 

Federal agencies have taken final agency 

actions by issuing licenses, permits, and 

approvals for the following highway 

project in the State of Utah: The Legacy 

Parkway Project, a four-lane, limitedaccess, divided highway extending 14 

miles from Interstate 215 (I–215) in Salt 

Lake City north to I–15 and U.S. 

Highway 89 (US–89) in Farmington; 

FHWA Reference Number: SP–0067(1)0. 

The primary purpose of the Legacy 

Parkway project is to help meet existing 

and projected travel demand through 

2020 in the North Corridor by providing 

additional north-south transportation 

capacity. The North Corridor, located in 

Salt Lake and Davis Counties, Utah, is 

an area constrained by the Great Sale 

Lake to the west and the Wasatch 

Mountains to the east, and bounded by 

400 South in Salt Lake City to the south 

and 200 North in Kaysville to the north. 

The actions by the Federal agencies, and 

the laws under which such actions were 

taken, are described in the Final 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (FSEIS) for the project, 

approved on October 19, 2005, in the 

FWHA Record of Decision (ROD) issued 

on January 10, 2006, in the USACE of 

Engineers ROD issued on January 18, 

2006, and in the Department of Army 

Permit Number 2003350493 effective on 

January 20, 2006, and in other 

documents in the FHWA and USACE 

administrative record. The FSEIS, 

RODs, and other documents in the 

FHWA and USACE administrative 

record are available upon written 

request from the FHWA or the Utah 

Department of Transportation at the 

addresses provided above. The FSEIS, 

the FHWA ROD, the USACE ROD and 

the Department of the Army Permit can 

be viewed and downloaded from the 

Utah Department of Transportation 

project Web site at: http:// 

udot.utah.gov/index.php/m=c/tid=181]. 

The FSEIS can also be viewed at public 

libraries in the project area. Copies of 

the FHWA ROD and the USACE permit 

are available upon written request from 


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