Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices 78267 

and Specified Fares Tables (Memo 

0390). Intended effective date: 1 April 

2007. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26631. 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Parties: Members of the International 

Air Transport Association. 

Subject: TC31 North & Central, TC3- 

Central America, South America, 

Resolutions and Specified Fares Tables 

(Memo 0391). Intended effective date: 1 

April 2007. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26632. 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Parties: Members of the International 

Air Transport Association. 

Subject: TC123 Areawide, Resolution 

015v (Memo 0342). Intended effective 

date: 1 April 2007. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26633. 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Parties: Members of the International 

Air Transport Association. 

Subject: TC123 South Atlantic, 

Resolutions and Specified Fares Tables 

(Memo 0344), Technical Corrections: 

TC123 South Atlantic Resolutions, 

(Memo 0348). Intended effective date: 1 

April 2007. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26634. 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Parties: Members of the International 

Air Transport Association. 

Subject: TC123 Mid Atlantic, 

Resolutions and Specified Fares Tables 

(Memo 0345). Intended effective date: 1 

April 2007. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26635. 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Parties: Members of the International 

Air Transport Association. 

Subject: TC123 North Atlantic, 

(Except between USA and Korea (Rep. 

Of), Malaysia), Resolutions and 

Specified Fares Tables (Memo 0346). 

Intended effective date: 1 April 2007. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26636. 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Parties: Members of the International 

Air Transport Association. 

Subject: TC123 North Atlantic, 

(Between USA and Korea (Rep. Of), 

Malaysia), Resolutions and Specified 

Fares Tables (Memo 0347). Intended 

effective date: 1 April 2007. 

Renee V. Wright, 

Program Manager, Docket Operations, 

Federal Register Liaison. 

[FR Doc. E6–22274 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

Notice of Applications for Certificates 

of Public Convenience and Necessity 

and Foreign Air Carrier Permits Filed 

Under Subpart B (Dormerly Subpart Q) 

During the Week Ending December 15, 

2006 

The following Applications for 

Certificates of Public Convenience and 

Necessity and Foreign Air Carrier 

Permits were filed under Subpart B 

(formerly Subpart Q) of the Department 

of Transportation’s Procedural 

Regulations (See 14 CFR 301.201 et. 

seq.). The due date for Answers, 

Conforming Applications, or Motions to 

Modify Scope are set forth below for 

each application. Following the Answer 

period DOT may process the application 

by expedited procedures. Such 

procedures may consist of the adoption 

of a show-cause order, a tentative order, 

or in appropriate cases a final order 

without further proceedings. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26610. 

Date Filed: December 13, 2006. 

Due Date for Answers, Conforming 

Applications, or Motion to Modify 

Scope: January 3, 2007. 

Description: Application of Murray 

Air, Inc. requesting reissuance of its 

certificate of public convenience and 

necessity in the name of National Air 

Group, Inc. 

Docket Number: OST–2006–26649 . 

Date Filed: December 15, 2006. 

Due Date for Answers, Conforming 

Applications, or Motion to Modify 

Scope: January 5, 2007. 

Description: Application of All 

Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (ANA), 

requesting an amendment to its foreign 

air carrier permit authorizing ANA to 

engage in (a) scheduled all-cargo service 

between any point or points in Japan, on 

the one hand, and Chicago, Los Angeles 

San Francisco and New York (via a 

technical stop at Anchorage), on the 

other hand, and (b) charter all-cargo 

service between any point or points in 

Japan and any point or points in the 

United States, and other all-cargo 

charters. 

Renee V. Wright, 

Program Manager, Docket Operations, 

Federal Register Liaison. 

[FR Doc. E6–22275 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Debt Service Reserve Pilot Program 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice; Solicitation of Proposals 

to Participate in the Debt Service 

Reserve Pilot Program. 

SUMMARY: This solicitation is for 

proposals from pubic transportation 

agencies currently receiving grant funds 

under the Urbanized Area Formula 

Program at 49 U.S.C. 5307 to establish 

a debt service reserve fund in 

connection with bonds to be issued in 

support of a public transportation 

project. 

DATES: Complete proposals may be 

submitted to FTA at any time prior to 

June 1, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Proposals must be 

submitted electronically to 

Paul.Marx@dot.gov and 

Katherine.Mattice@dot.gov. The subject 

line of the e-mail should read: Proposal 

for Debt Service Reserve Pilot Program. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Contact Paul Marx, Office of Budget and 

Policy, (202) 366–1675, e-mail; 

Paul.Marx@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. General Program Information 

II. Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting 

Proposals 

III. Proposal Review, Selection, and 

Notification 

I. General Program Information 

A. Authority 

Section 3023(3) of the Safe, 

Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient 

Transportation Equity Act—A Legacy of 

Users (SAFETEA–LU) established the 

Debt Service Reserve Pilot Program 

under 49 U.S.C. 5323(d)(4). This section 

establishes a pilot program to reimburse 

not to exceed 10 eligible recipients for 

deposits of bond proceeds in a debt 

service reserve that the recipient 

establishes pursuant to section 

5302(a)(1)(K) from amounts made 

available to the recipient under section 

5307. 

B. Background 

Debt service reserves (generally one 

year’s debt service requirement) are 

usually required when a project sponsor 

issues debt bonds) in support of its 

project. The debt service reserve may 

represent as much as 10 percent of the 

face value of the bonds and must be 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
78268 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices 

held until the bonds mature or are 

substantially repaid. This represents an 

opportunity cost to the public 

transportation provider’s capital budget. 

By allowing this expense to be 

reimbursed with grant funds, the pilot 

program hopes to make the public 

transportation agencies’s capital 

programs more cost-effective, and 

possibly to reduce the agencies’ total 

cost of borrowing. 

C. Eligible Applicants 

Public transportation providers, who 

currently receive grants under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Grants 

Program (section 5307), and issue or 

intend to issue bonds for eligible transit 

capital projects, and who wish to have 

the related debt service reserve 

reimbursed with funds available to them 

under section 5307, must submit a 

proposal. For the purposes of this pilot 

program there is not difference between 

bonds secured with purely local funds 

(such as a sales tax revenue bonds) or 

bonds secured with anticipated receipts 

of future grants fund (grant anticipation 

bonds). This pilot program is not 

intended to apply to public 

transportation agencies that issue bonds 

for which no debt service reserve is 

needed (as when certain bond insurance 

is present). These agencies may seek 

reimbursement of the financing costs 

associated with such bonds under 

existing authority. The pilot program is 

also not intended to apply to borrowing 

from a State Infrastructure Bank (SIB), 

even if such a bank required a debt 

service reserve. FTA reads the 

combination of conditions for 

eligibility—i.e., ‘‘an eligible recipient of 

section 5307 funds’’ and ‘‘bond 

proceeds deposited in a debt service 

reserve’’—as being prescriptive of the 

applicability of this pilot program. 

D. Eligible Expenses 

For the purposes of this pilot 

program, the blood proceeds deposited 

into the debt service reserve constitute 

the eligible costs to be reimbursed with 

section 5307 grant funds. Subsequent 

debt service payments and project costs 

will remain eligible for reimbursement, 

as authorized under section 5307. Thus, 

the sole effect of this authority is to 

accelerate the reimbursement for the 

debt service reserve. 

E. Matching Requirements 

The Federal share for capital 

expenses, including payment of the debt 

service reserve, may not exceed 80 

percent. All local and state revenues 

generally are eligible for inclusion in the 

local match with the exception of 

farebox and farebox-related revenues. 

F. Proposal Evaluation Criteria 

Proposals from eligible Urbanized 

Area Formula grant recipients will be 

evaluated on the following basis. 

• The proposal involves a bond 

issuance to occur within one Calendar 

Year. 

• The proposal includes a clear 

financial goal to be achieved by the 

bond issuance. 

• The bond issuance is likely to be 

rated (prior to any bond insurance) at 

least ‘‘investment grade’’ (i.e., BBB+, 

Baa or higher). 

• Without limitation, the bond 

issuance may be for revenue bonds 

secured solely by farebox revenues, 

provided the sum of Federal project 

reimbursement does not exceed 80 

percent of eligible project costs 

including the debt service reserve. (See 

matching requirements above). 

• The proposal includes a description 

of the cash-flow or project acceleration 

benefit anticipated from use of the debt 

service reserve reimbursement. 

To the extent possible from the 

proposals received, FTA will seek to 

provide for geographic and size of 

public transportation authority diversity 

in the approval of pilot program 

participants. 

G. Program Requirements 

Grants made for projects that include 

Federal reimbursement for financing 

costs are subject to Federal requirements 

that apply to all grants made under 

section 5307. This includes the 

requirement at section 5307 (g)(3) that 

states, with regard to debt financing, the 

‘‘amount of interest allowed * * * may 

not be more than the most favorable 

financing terms reasonable for the 

project at the time of borrowing.’’

II. Guidelines for Preparing and 

Submitting Proposals 

FTA is conducting a national 

solicitation for proposals from public 

transportation agencies wishing to 

participate in the Debt Service Reserve 

Pilot Program. FTA will grant authority 

for not more than 10 agencies to use 

apportioned Urbanized Area Formula 

Grant funds to reimburse the cost of 

depositing bond proceeds into a debt 

service reserve. Public transportation 

agencies will be selected to participate 

on a competitive basis. To the extent 

possible, FTA seeks proposals for bond 

issuance to occur in calendar year 2007. 

However, if fewer than ten proposals are 

received FTA will process proposals for 

bond issuances after 2007 on a firstcome first-served basis. 

Proposals should be submitted 

electronically to: Paul.Marx@dot.gov. 

and Katherine.Mattice@dot.gov. 

Proposals must be received by FTA no 

later than June 1, 2009. The public 

transportation agency designated to 

receive apportionments under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Grants 

program (section 5307) will submit a 

proposal that includes: 

1. Applicant Information 

Basic identifying information, 

including: 

a. Agency; 

b. Contact information for notification 

of project selection: Contact name, 

address, fax and phone number. 

2. Project Information 

Every application must: 

a. Identify the project in support of 

which bonds will be issued, the amount 

of the bonds, the term(s) of the bonds, 

the source of security for the bonds (e.g., 

pledged asset or revenue) and the 

projected interest rate(s); 

b. Provide a sources and uses of funds 

statement/budget for the project, taking 

into account the bond issuance; 

c. Document sources of funds likely to 

be used to match FTA funds; 

d. Document the benefit to be derived 

from issuing the bonds, the benefit 

anticipated from reimbursement of the 

debt service reserve, and how the 

reimbursement, which constitutes 

program income, will be used. 

e. Include a narrative portion (not 

more than 8 pages, double-spaced) that 

addresses: the historic role of debt in the 

public transportation agency’s capital or 

operating plans, where the pilot 

program proposal fits within that 

context, and what proportion of the 

current capital plan the debt issuance 

and the debt service reserve represent. 

III. Proposal Review, Selection, and 

Notification 

FTA will evaluate proposals based on 

the degree to which a public 

transportation agency has planned and 

justified the issuance of bonds or other 

debt to advance a transit capital project 

funded with section 5307 funds. 

FTA expects to announce public 

transportation agencies selected to 

participate in the pilot program in a 

Federal Register Notice in early 2007. 

Issued on December 22, 2006. 

James S. Simpson, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 06–9912 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–M 


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