November 2, 2021

RAIL

MOVING AMERICA FORWARD

Presented by: Michael Longley, Karla Maffett, Laura Shick, Lynn Everett, John Johnson, Matthew Lorah

From Selection to Award—The Post-Selection Process for FRA Grants
2

Items You See on Your Screen

Questions for Presenters

Type in your questions; they

will be answered during 

the Q&A portion of 

the webinar

Troubleshooting Tips Pod

Scroll through for audio, video, 

and network solutions

Web Links Pod

Hover over the link and click 

the title to open the link

Technical Support Pod

Reach out to today’s 

facilitators with any technical 

support that you need
3

Welcome:

Project Management and 

Oversight Division Chief

Michael Longley 
4

Today’s FRA Presenters 

Karla Maffett

Supervisory 

Transportation 

Analyst, Project 

Management and 

Oversight Division 

Laura Shick

Supervisory 

Environmental 

Protection Specialist

John Johnson

Senior Attorney-Advisor

Matthew Lorah

Supervisory Grants 

Management Specialist, 

Grants and Program 

Management Division

Lynn Everett 

Supervisory 

Transportation 

Analyst, Project 

Management and 

Oversight Division 
5

Office of Infrastructure Investment Overview

Grant Lifecycle and Approximate Time Frames

Pre-Obligation Activities and Prerequisites 

• Railroad Agreement

• NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)

• Creation of Grant Documents 

Post-Obligation Activities and FRA Oversight

• FRA Oversight & Monitoring

• Buy America Compliance 

• Deliverables and Reporting Requirements

• Invoicing

Q & A 

1

2

4

5

3

Agenda
6

Office of Infrastructure Investment
7

Infrastructure Investment

48

across

States

$1.04B

in total awards

DOT and FRA Discretionary Rail Selected Grants 2017-2020 

47

Freight

$286.2M

23 

Passenger

$467.4M

78

Mixed Use

$286.7M

118

Rural 

$829.6M

1,000+

GX-related 

projects

R R

348

projects

selected

forHighlights

$2.64B

in total awards

124

Freight

$914.9M

62 

Passenger

$1.16B

151

Mixed Use

$568.54M
8

Project Tracks and Agreement Types

Project Tracks

• Pre-NEPA/planning 

• Preliminary Engineering 

• Environmental Compliance (NEPA)

• Final Design Engineering 

• Construction 

• Safety

Agreement Types

• Grant Agreement

• Cooperative Agreement
9

FRA’s Project Oversight Team Organizational Structure

Integrated teams enable more effective customer service:

Teams that combine expertise and specialty can more effectively manage our grant 

program portfolios and establish enduring customer relationships.

Project 

Manager

Grant 

Manager

Legal 

Counsel

Transportation 

Planner

Safety 

Expert

Environmental Engineer

Specialist

Financial 

Analyst

Contractor 

Support

TEAM STRUCTURE REGIONS

Legend

Northwest 

North Central

Northeast

Mid-Atlantic

Southwest 

South Central

Southeast
10

Grant Lifecycle and 

Approximate Timeframes
11

Grant Lifecycle and Approximate Time Frames

Pre-Obligation Post-Obligation

Pre-Obligation Post Obligation Closeout

Project Selected 

for Award Obligated Period of Performance Ends Closed

Pre-Obligation Post-Obligation

Grant Agreement (NGA): 

• Scope, schedule, 

and budget

• Performance measures

Terms and Conditions

NEPA Requirements 

Grant Administration 

• Meetings with FRA

• Quarterly Progress and Financial Reports

• Invoicing schedule of eligible expenses per NGA

• Invoice and Deliverable Reviews 

Monitoring

• Routine monitoring

• Annual monitoring reviews/Site visits

Final Invoice 

• Financial 

reconciliation

Final Performance 

Report

• Documentation 

of results, 

outcomes, and 

public benefits

6 to 15 months 2 to 5 years 1 to 3 months
12

Pre-Obligation Activities 

and Prerequisites
13

Railroad Agreement 

As a condition of making a grant, 49 U.S.C. § 22905(c)(1) 

requires an agreement between grantees (who are not the 

right-of-way owner) and the right-of way owner. The 

Agreement must include:

• Compensation for such use;

• Assurances regarding the adequacy of infrastructure capacity 

to accommodate both existing and future freight and 

passenger operations;

• An assurance by the owner that collective bargaining 

agreements with railroad employees (including terms 

regulating the contracting of work) will remain in full force 

and effect according to their terms for work performed by 

such employees on the railroad transportation corridor; and 

• An assurance that an applicant complies with the liability 

requirements consistent with 49 U.S.C. § 28103.
14

Railroad Agreement (continued)

The requirements of 49 U.S.C. § 22905(c)(1) do not apply: 

• If your project does not use rights-of-way owned by a railroad (e.g., Project is for 

planning, preliminary engineering and/or NEPA only or the Project is for on-board PTC 

installation only);

• Commuter rail passenger transportation (as defined in 49 U.S.C. § 24102(3)) operations of 

a State or local government authority (as those terms are defined in 49 U.S.C. § 5302) or 

its contractor performing services in connection with commuter rail passenger 

operations;

• The Alaska Railroad or its contractors; or 

• Amtrak’s access rights to railroad right-of-way and facilities under current law.

FRA must provide acceptance of the Railroad Agreement prior to grant obligation.
15

• The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

is an “umbrella law” that brings together 

numerous laws, regulations, executive orders, 

and requirements regarding the quality of the 

human and natural environment (40 CFR 

1500-1508).

• Federal agencies, including FRA, use the NEPA review process to help identify and evaluate 

project alternatives and to help identify and 

address project impacts on environmental 

resources.

NEPA review must be conducted for all FRA 

grant-funded rail projects.

What is NEPA, and why is it required? 
16

A Class of Action indicates the anticipated 

level of environmental impacts and 

associated required documentation to 

comply with NEPA (23 CFR 771.115).

At FRA, there are 3 NEPA classes of actions: • Categorical Exclusion (CE). • Environmental Assessment & Finding of No Significant Impact (EA, FONSI). • Environmental Impact Statement & Record of Decision (EIS, ROD).

Project-specific “red flags” may influence 

FRA’s Class of Action determination. 

Class of Action
17

Class of Action

Categorical Exclusion (CE) Worksheets are the most commonly 

completed NEPA documents for FRA-funded rail projects:

Commonly used FRA CE categories (see all at 23 CFR 771.116):

• Planning and design activities.

• Positive Train Control, safety and security improvements.

• Track and track structure repair, maintenance, replacement.

• Minor rail line additions, new track within existing ROW.

• Property acquisition, including safety equipment and rolling stock.

• Bridge rehabilitation or replacement.

• Construction of small structures.

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements.

For a project to qualify as a CE, there must be minimal environmental 

issues and no extraordinary circumstances. 
18

Environmental Review

Environmental Review generally refers to a process of review, 

documentation, consultation, and public outreach. FRA and grantees 

both have critical roles to ensure successful project delivery.

• Environmental review/documentation is prepared during the Award Phase 

or earlier in a grant’s lifecycle. It must be approved before FRA can 

obligate a grant.

• Beginning the NEPA process early is critical, especially if there are 

statutory timeframes associated with your project or an applicable 

environmental review requirement (such as Section 106 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act [NHPA]), or substantive environmental impacts 

from your project that need to be mitigated.

The level of effort to document compliance with NEPA does not necessarily 

equate to the level of effort required to document compliance with the 

other laws under the NEPA umbrella.
19

Uses of Grant Funding

Depending on the program, grant funds may be used for: 

• Preliminary Engineering (PE)/NEPA: 

o FRA applies an administrative, minimally documented CE to obligate the grant. 

Grantee does not need to prepare anything for this step.

o Grantee uses grant funds to pay for preparation of NEPA document. 

• Final Design (FD)/Construction:

o Before FRA can obligate the grant, NEPA must be complete.

o Grantee is responsible for preparing NEPA document, with or without use of grant 

funds, depending on scope of grant application. Or FRA may rely on or supplement an 

existing NEPA decision document, if available.

If a single grant is funding both PE/NEPA and FD/Construction, FRA may obligate a 

portion of the grant so funds are available to Grantee to prepare NEPA document. 

Grantee cannot proceed with construction phase of project until NEPA is complete. 
20

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)

Section 106 protects historic properties and cultural resources:

• Historic properties can include railroad infrastructure (e.g., bridges, tunnels, passenger 

stations, interlocking towers, power plants, segments of railroad line). 

• Historic properties also include non-rail properties in the vicinity of railroad rights-of-way 

(ROW) or a proposed railroad alignment (e.g., commercial and residential districts, 

municipal buildings, archaeological sites).

• Potential historic properties within the vicinity of your project should be identified in 

your NEPA documentation (generally applies to properties 45 years old or older).

Even if your project qualifies for a CE under NEPA, it still may require extensive Section 

106 review/consultation with a State Historic Preservation Officer under NHPA.
21

Section 106 and use of the Program Comment for Rail ROW

Your entire project or elements of your project may be exempt from 

Section 106 review under the Program Comment for Rail ROW:

The Program Comment was issued by the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation in 2018 and is comprised of two parts: 

1) An activities-based approach, which is a comprehensive list of 

maintenance, repair, and upgrade activities that are likely to have 

effects to historic rail properties in existing ROW that are minimal or 

not adverse and are therefore exempt from Section 106 review 

(exempted activities list); and 

2) An optional Project Sponsor-led property-based approach that 

ultimately may further streamline the Section 106 review process for 

transportation-related projects in railroad and rail transit ROW. 
22

Many rail projects require permits, licenses, or approvals from other federal 

agencies. 

Examples: US Army Corps of Engineers, US Coast Guard, Federal Communications Commission.

Each Federal agency has its own environmental review and documentation requirements.

When more than one federal agency has an action related to a rail project that triggers NEPA: 

• Agencies may establish one lead or act as joint leads; or

• An agency may adopt another agency’s NEPA analysis and issue its own decision; 

An agency that does not have an action may participate in a lead agency’s NEPA process as 

Cooperating or Participating Agency to provide subject matter or jurisdictional expertise. 

Permitting
23

Things to think about

• Learn more about what is required for 

NEPA/Environmental Review in

FRA’s CE Companion Guide online.

• Expect to ask for help (e.g., private 

consultant, State DOT) for certain topics 

such as Section 106, Section 4(f), and 

Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance.

• For more information, contact 

FRAenvironment@dot.gov

.

Grantees are encouraged to: • Review FRA’s environmental webpages. • Participate in environmental-focused webinars. 
24

Trespassing-Related Capital Projects

Selected projects will require close coordination with the FRA 

Office of Railroad Safety Trespass Team in addition to FRA 

Office of Infrastructure Investment staff.

• For trespass related Final Design/Construction track Projects: 

the Trespassing needs assessment, preliminary engineering 

(PE), and environmental determination (NEPA) will be 

required prior to grant obligation. The needs assessment, 

PE, and NEPA will not be included in the scope of the grant.

• The FRA Office of Railroad Safety recommends trespass 

capital grants utilize the CARE Model: Community, Analysis, 

Response, and Evaluation.

• For more information, contact Michail.Grizkewitsch@dot.gov
25

Creation of Grant Agreement

Grant

Agreement

Statement 

of Work Budget

Schedule

Performance

Measures

Terms &

Conditions

* RR

Agreement

* NEPA

Prerequisites
26

Performance Measures

• In accordance with §200.301 and

Sec. 11301 of FAST Act, each applicant 

selected for funding must collect 

information and report on the Project’s 

performance using measures mutually 

agreed upon by FRA and the grantee to 

assess progress in achieving strategic 

goals and objectives.

• Performance Measures are typically 

captured pre-grant agreement execution 

(Baseline), at Project Completion, and 

may be captured for up to five years 

following Project Completion.

Track Weight

Capacity

Passenger

Counts

Rail Track Grade

Separation

Track Miles

Travel 

Time

Slow Order

Miles

Gross Ton

Rail

Performance

Measures

Economic Competitiveness State of Good Repair
27

Post-Obligation Activities

and FRA Oversight
28

Grantee Roles & Responsibilities

The Grantee who is the recipient of Federal 

Funds is responsible for: 

• Grant Terms & Conditions

o Contractor Flow Down Provisions

o Buy America Compliance

• Grant Oversight & Monitoring Compliance

• Certifying Reimbursement Requests

• Reporting Requirements
29

Policy: Federal financial assistance awards should maximize the use of goods, products, and 

materials produced in the U.S.

Requirement: Steel and Iron (e.g. rail and structural steel), and manufactured goods (e.g. 

rolling stock and fire alarm) “end products” and “components” must be manufactured in 

the U.S.; requirement applies to the whole “Project,” including any non-Federal portion(s).

Waivers:

• Non-Availability: product is not available from domestic source. 

• Project Specific: FRA has no standing waivers.

• Grantee must document effort to buy U.S.-made goods. Start addressing at design stage.

• Work with FRA Project Manager as soon as you are aware of non-availability (and before 

you sign contracts).

• Waiver process may take a long time and may not be successful, so be prepared. 

Resources: https://railroads.dot.gov/legislation-regulations/buy-america/buy-america

.

Buy America Compliance (49 U.S.C. 22905(a))
30

Compliance oversight/monitoring 

measures how well recipients are 

following grant requirements, including 

terms and conditions. 

Program oversight/monitoring assesses 

scope, timeframes, budget, and targeted 

technical matters, such as engineering, 

environmental, and financial analysis. 

Financial oversight/monitoring assesses 

issues related to expenditures and the 

financial management capabilities of 

the recipient.

FRA Oversight and Monitoring

Compliance

Financial Program
31

General Deliverables & Reporting Requirements

Deliverable: A document that is developed by the Grantee 

to carry out the purpose of the Project and serves as a key 

component of FRA’s monitoring and oversight program. 

• Deliverables provide FRA visibility on the Project 

progress and demonstrate a grantee’s ability to deliver a 

Project within scope, schedule, and budget.

Report: A standardized document, usually collected on a 

recurring basis, that is completed by the Grantee to provide 

the Federal awarding agency financial and performance 

information.

Deliverables and Reports are part of FRA’s Routine 

Oversight and Monitoring Activities.

$
32

Types of Deliverables & Reports

Example Reports

Quarterly Progress Report

Quarterly Federal Financial Report

Final Performance Report

Performance Measure Report

Example Deliverables

Project Management Plan (PMP)

Project Agreements

NEPA Documentation

Preliminary Engineering Plans

Final Design Plans 

Final Performance Report
33

Annual monitoring, a scheduled monitoring that 

requires an in-depth review, is more time and 

resource intensive and is based on risk. 

• Desk Review: A comprehensive, periodic review of all 

current progress and financial reporting information. 

These are typically performed annually and primarily 

evaluate compliance and programmatic review 

elements.

• Site Visit: An in-person visit to assess project progress 

and performance and provide targeted training and 

technical assistance. Site visits primarily include 

reviewing programmatic aspects of performance but 

also cover aspects of grantee compliance. 

Annual Monitoring
34

FRA Grant Oversight – Benefits of Annual Monitoring

Monitoring enables FRA to identify project problems and support needs during program execution:

Monitoring activities often 

uncover problem areas in the 

form of:

• Areas of Interest: issues that 

could lead to significant 

findings.

• Significant Finding: issues 

noted through monitoring 

that jeopardize project 

completion.

FRA provides follow-up support to the 

grantees to address the identified 

problems through:

• Corrective Action Plans: addresses one 

or more significant findings FRA has 

identified during the monitoring review 

and details the grantee’s plan for 

resolving the issues.

• Training: provide support and guidance 

on how to effectively and efficiently 

carry out their responsibilities.

As a result of the numerous monitoring efforts and follow-up activities, FRA has been able to 

increase compliance, apply course corrections to off-track projects, and maintain the 

financial integrity of grant funds.
35

FRA Grant Oversight – Benefits of Annual Monitoring

Benefits of Monitoring Activities

Collection of Lessons Learned

Opportunity to Share Best Practices

Development of Guidance & Training
36

Invoicing

Invoicing requests are submitted on a reimbursement 

basis and are only eligible for allowable costs.

• Project work completed prior to the grant 

agreement execution is not eligible for 

reimbursement, unless approved in writing by FRA.

• Delinquent or non-compliant deliverables and/or 

reports may delay or cause denial of FRA approval 

of reimbursement requests. 

• Ensure the Federal portion of the total project cost 

does not exceed the authorized amount. 

o Ensure any match requirements are met.

INVOICE

$

$

$

$
Contact Us

Federal Railroad Administration

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

Connect with us USDOTFRA

Points of Contact

FRA Project Management and Oversight: Michael Longley

Michael.Longley@dot.gov

Buy America: John Johnson, Lynn Everett

John.Johnson@dot.gov 

Lynn.Everett@dot.gov 

Environmental, NEPA: Laura Shick

Laura.Shick@dot.gov 

FRAenvironment@dot.gov 

FRA Oversight and Monitoring, Grant Documentation: Karla Maffett

Karla.Maffett@dot.gov 

Grant Administration, Grantee Roles and Responsibilities, Reporting & 

Invoicing: Matthew Lorah

Matthew.Lorah@dot.gov 

Trespassing Related Capital Projects: Michail Grizkewitsch

Michail.Grizkewitsch@dot.gov