24786 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 81 / Friday, April 26, 2013 / Notices 

18. Project Sponsor and Facility: 

Navitus, LLC (North Spring, Logan 

Branch Watershed), Spring Township, 

Centre County, Pa. Application for 

surface water withdrawal of up to 1.440 

mgd (peak day). 

19. Project Sponsor: New Morgan 

Landfill Company, Inc. Project Facility: 

Conestoga Landfill, New Morgan 

Borough, Berks County, Pa. Application 

for groundwater withdrawal of up to 

0.007 mgd (30-day average) from Well 

SW–4. 

20. Project Sponsor: New Oxford 

Municipal Authority. Project Facility: 

Oxen Country Meadows, Oxford 

Township, Adams County, Pa. 

Application for groundwater 

withdrawal of up to 0.144 mgd (30-day 

average) from Oxen Country Meadows 

(OCM) Well 1. 

21. Project Sponsor and Facility: 

Somerset Regional Water Resources, 

LLC (Salt Lick Creek), New Milford 

Township, Susquehanna County, Pa. 

Modification to project features of the 

surface water withdrawal approval 

(Docket No. 20100905). 

22. Project Sponsor and Facility: 

Southwestern Energy Production 

Company (Middle Lake), New Milford 

Township, Susquehanna County, Pa. 

Modification to low flow protection 

requirements of the surface water 

withdrawal approval (Docket No. 

20121223). 

23. Project Sponsor and Facility: State 

College Borough Water Authority, 

Ferguson Township, Centre County, Pa. 

Application for renewal of groundwater 

withdrawal of up to 0.432 mgd (30-day 

average) from Well 41 (Docket No. 

19820501). 

24. Project Sponsor and Facility: State 

College Borough Water Authority, 

Ferguson Township, Centre County, Pa. 

Application for renewal of groundwater 

withdrawal of up to 1.440 mgd (30-day 

average) from Well 43 (Docket No. 

19820501). 

25. Project Sponsor and Facility: State 

College Borough Water Authority, 

Ferguson Township, Centre County, Pa. 

Application for renewal of groundwater 

withdrawal of up to 1.720 mgd (30-day 

average) from Well 53 (Docket No. 

19820501). 

26. Project Sponsor: SWEPI LP (Tioga 

River), Richmond Township, Tioga 

County, Pa. Application for renewal of 

surface water withdrawal with 

modification to increase by an 

additional 0.843 mgd (peak day), for a 

total of 0.950 mgd (peak day) (Docket 

No. 20090612). 

27. Project Sponsor and Facility: WPX 

Energy Appalachia, LLC (Susquehanna 

River), Great Bend Township, 

Susquehanna County, Pa. Application 

for renewal of surface water withdrawal 

of up to 1.000 mgd (peak day) (Docket 

No. 20090303). 

28. Project Sponsor and Facility: York 

County Solid Waste and Refuse 

Authority, Hopewell Township, York 

County, Pa. Modification to metering 

requirements of the groundwater 

withdrawal approval (Docket No. 

20121226). 

Authority: Public Law 91–575, 84 Stat. 

1509 et seq., 18 CFR parts 806–808. 

Dated: April 19, 2013. 

Paul O. Swartz, 

Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 2013–09887 Filed 4–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7040–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary of 

Transportation 

[Docket No. DOT–OST–2013–XXXX] 

Notice of Funding Availability for the 

Department of Transportation’s 

National Infrastructure Investments 

Under the Consolidated and Further 

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary of 

Transportation, DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

availability of funding and requests 

proposals for the Department of 

Transportation’s National Infrastructure 

Investments. This notice is addressed to 

organizations that are interested in 

applying and provides guidance on 

selection criteria and application 

requirements for the National 

Infrastructure Investments. 

Title VIII of The Further Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2013 (Division F of 

the Consolidated and Further 

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, 

Public Law 113–6, March 26, 2013) 

(‘‘FY 2013 Appropriations Act’’) 

appropriated $473.847 million to be 

awarded by the Department of 

Transportation (‘‘DOT’’) for National 

Infrastructure Investments. DOT will 

continue to refer to the program as 

‘‘TIGER Discretionary Grants,’’ as this is 

the title with which most stakeholders 

are familiar. As with previous rounds of 

TIGER, funds for the FY 2013 TIGER 

program are to be awarded on a 

competitive basis for projects that will 

have a significant impact on the Nation, 

a metropolitan area or a region. 

Through this notice, DOT is soliciting 

applications for TIGER Discretionary 

Grants. In the event that this solicitation 

does not result in the award and 

obligation of all available funds, DOT 

may decide to publish an additional 

solicitation(s) or provide additional 

funds to selected projects. 

DATES: You must submit final 

applications through Grants.gov by June 

3, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. EDT (the 

‘‘Application Deadline’’). The 

Grants.gov ‘‘Apply’’ function will open 

on April 29, 2013, allowing applicants 

to submit final applications. You are 

strongly encouraged to submit 

applications in advance of the deadline. 

ADDRESSES: You must submit 

applications electronically through 

Grants.gov. Only applications received 

electronically through Grants.gov will 

be deemed properly filed. Instructions 

for submitting applications through 

Grants.gov can be found on the TIGER 

Web site (www.dot.gov/TIGER). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information concerning this 

notice please contact the TIGER 

Discretionary Grant program staff via 

email at TIGERGrants@dot.gov, or call 

Howard Hill at 202–366–0301. A TDD is 

available for individuals who are deaf or 

hard of hearing at 202–366–3993. In 

addition, DOT will regularly post 

answers to questions and requests for 

clarifications on DOT’s Web site at 

www.dot.gov/TIGER. Applicants are 

encouraged to contact DOT directly 

rather than rely on third parties to 

prepare application materials or 

otherwise receive information about 

TIGER Discretionary Grants. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is substantially similar to the 

final notice published for the FY 2012 

TIGER Discretionary Grant program in 

the Federal Register on January 31, 

2012. However, there are a few 

significant differences: 

1. Given the date of enactment of the 

final year-long FY 2013 Appropriations 

Act, the statutory timeframe for DOT to 

obligate funds under this round of 

TIGER Discretionary Grants is the 

shortest of all of the rounds to date. In 

order to meet this deadline, your 

application must demonstrate that that 

the project can meet all local, State, and 

federal requirements by June 30, 2014, 

in order for DOT to obligate funding in 

advance of September 30, 2014. Each 

application must include a detailed 

statement of work, detailed project 

schedule, and detailed project budget. 

Due to the short timeframe for 

obligation, project readiness and the risk 

of delays will be treated as primary 

selection criteria in DOT’s evaluation 

process. You must identify risks and 

mitigation strategies in your project 

narratives. If your application is 

submitted without a sufficiently 


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1Consistent with the FY 2013 Appropriations 

Act, DOT will apply the following principles in 

determining whether a project is eligible as a capital 

investment in surface transportation: (1) Surface 

transportation facilities generally include roads, 

highways and bridges, marine ports, freight and 

passenger railroads, transit systems, and projects 

that connect transportation facilities to other modes 

of transportation; and (2) surface transportation 

facilities also include any highway or bridge project 

eligible under title 23, U.S.C., or public 

transportation project eligible under chapter 53 of 

title 49, U.S.C. Please note that the Department may 

use a TIGER Discretionary Grant to pay for the 

surface transportation components of a broader 

project that has non-surface transportation 

components, and applicants are encouraged to 

apply for TIGER Discretionary Grants to pay for the 

surface transportation components of these projects. 

detailed statement of work, project 

schedule, and project budget it will not 

be selected for a TIGER award. 

2. Selection criteria have been 

modified to make applications easier to 

prepare and review. Among other 

things, short-term economic impacts of 

projects, including their impact on 

employment, are now included in the 

primary criterion of economic 

competitiveness. 

3. You do not need to submit a preapplication, as was required in recent 

rounds of TIGER. As this is the fifth 

round of TIGER and the basic structure 

has been consistent throughout the 

rounds, DOT has decided to eliminate 

the pre-application from the application 

process for this round of TIGER. 

Further, the short obligation deadline 

means that DOT needs to receive and 

evaluate applications and move TIGER 

funding quickly. Moving straight to the 

application will help accomplish this. 

4. The notice has been shortened in 

comparison to the notices for prior 

rounds of TIGER Discretionary Grants, 

and the Appendices that provide 

additional information on Benefit-Cost 

Analysis, Applying through Grants.gov, 

and Project Readiness are posted at 

www.dot.gov/TIGER, along with 

recordings of previous webinars DOT 

has hosted on the TIGER program and 

answers to frequently asked questions. 

You should visit www.dot.gov/TIGER 

for access to supplemental guidance and 

additional important information. 

5. Applications that identify project 

co-applicants or project partners in 

addition to a lead applicant must be 

signed by each co-applicant or partner 

organization or include letters of 

support. 

Other than the differences above, and 

minor edits for clarification and those 

made to conform the notice to the 

statutory circumstances of this round of 

TIGER Discretionary Grants funding, 

there have been no material changes 

made to the notice. Each section of this 

notice contains information and 

instructions relevant to the application 

process for these TIGER Discretionary 

Grants, and you should read this notice 

in its entirety so that you have the 

information you need to submit eligible 

and competitive applications. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

Tiger Discretionary Grants 

II. Selection Criteria and Guidance on 

Application of Selection Criteria 

III. Evaluation of Applications and Eligibility 

IV. Grant Administration 

V. Projects in Rural Areas 

Application Requirements 

VI. Applications 

VII. Performance Measurement 

VIII. Questions and Clarifications 

I. Background 

The Transportation Investment 

Generating Economic Recovery or 

‘‘TIGER Discretionary Grants’’ program 

was first created in the Recovery Act of 

2009. Through the Recovery Act and 

subsequent three appropriations acts, 

Congress provided DOT with funding 

for four rounds of competitive grants 

totaling just over $3 billion for capital 

investments in surface transportation 

infrastructure. See DOT’s Web site at 

www.dot.gov/TIGER for further 

background on the disbursement of past 

rounds of TIGER Discretionary Grants. 

FY 2013 TIGER Discretionary Grants 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

appropriated $473.847 million to be 

awarded by DOT for the TIGER 

Discretionary Grants program. Like 

previous rounds, the FY 2013 TIGER 

Discretionary Grants are for capital 

investments in surface transportation 

infrastructure and are to be awarded on 

a competitive basis for projects that will 

have a significant impact on the Nation, 

a metropolitan area, or a region. Larger 

projects of national or regional 

significance which DOT determines 

demonstrate achievement of several of 

the strategic goals, as well as the project 

readiness criterion, could be considered 

for grants larger than those typically 

awarded in recent rounds of TIGER. The 

FY 2013 Appropriations Act allows for 

a small portion of the $473.847 million 

to be used for oversight of grants. 

‘‘Eligible Applicants’’ for TIGER 

Discretionary Grants are State, local, 

and tribal governments, including U.S. 

territories, transit agencies, port 

authorities, metropolitan planning 

organizations (MPOs), other political 

subdivisions of State or local 

governments, and multi-State or multijurisdictional groups applying through a 

single lead applicant (for multijurisdictional groups, each member of 

the group, including the lead applicant, 

must be an otherwise Eligible Applicant 

as defined in this paragraph). 

To ensure applicants receive the most 

accurate information possible, you must 

contact DOT directly, rather than 

through intermediaries, to get answers 

to questions, set up briefings on the 

TIGER Discretionary Grants selection 

and award process, or receive other 

assistance. Assistance can be obtained 

by contacting the TIGER Discretionary 

Grant program staff via email at 

TIGERGrants@dot.gov, or by calling 

Howard Hill at 202–366–0301. 

Projects that are eligible for TIGER 

Discretionary Grants (‘‘Eligible 

Projects’’) include, but are not limited 

to: (1) Highway or bridge projects 

eligible under title 23, United States 

Code; (2) public transportation projects 

eligible under chapter 53 of title 49, 

United States Code; (3) passenger and 

freight rail transportation projects; and 

(4) marine port infrastructure 

investments. Federal wage rate 

requirements included in subchapter IV 

of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

Code, apply to all projects receiving 

funds, and apply to all parts of the 

project, whether funded with TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funds, other federal 

funds, or non-federal funds. This 

description of Eligible Projects is 

identical to the description of eligible 

projects under earlier rounds of the 

TIGER Discretionary Grant program.1

As was the case in earlier rounds of 

the TIGER Discretionary Grant program, 

Eligible Projects do not include 

research, demonstration, or pilot 

projects that do not result in publically 

accessible surface transportation 

infrastructure. To be funded, projects or 

elements of a project must have 

independent utility, which means that 

the project provides transportation 

benefits and is ready for its intended use 

upon completion of project 

construction. 

Each applicant may submit no more 

than three applications. You should 

focus on applications that are most 

likely to align well with DOT’s selection 

criteria. While applications may include 

requests to fund more than one project, 

you may not bundle together unrelated 

projects in the same application for 

purposes of avoiding the three 

application limit that applies to each 

applicant. Please note that the three 

application limit applies only to 

applications where the applicant is the 

lead applicant, and there is no limit on 

applications for which an applicant can 

be listed as a partnering agency. If you 

submit more than three applications as 

the lead applicant, only the first three 

received will be considered. 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

specifies that TIGER Discretionary 


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Grants may be not less than $10 million 

(except in rural areas) and not greater 

than $200 million. For projects located 

in rural areas (as defined in Section V 

(Projects in Rural Areas)), the minimum 

TIGER Discretionary Grant size is $1 

million. 

DOT reserves the right to award funds 

for a part of the project included in an 

application, if a part of the project has 

independent utility and aligns well with 

the selection criteria specified in this 

notice. You are encouraged to provide 

information in your application as to 

how or whether your project can be 

segmented (e.g., by providing details on 

project phases) to assist DOT in its 

selections. 

Pursuant to the FY 2013 

Appropriations Act, no more than 25 

percent of the funds made available for 

TIGER Discretionary Grants (or $118.75 

million) may be awarded to projects in 

a single State. 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

directs that not less than $120 million 

of the funds provided for TIGER 

Discretionary Grants be used for projects 

located in rural areas. Further, DOT will 

take measures to ensure an equitable 

geographic distribution of grant funds, 

an appropriate balance in addressing the 

needs of urban and rural areas, and 

investment in a variety of transportation 

modes. 

For projects receiving a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant, federal funds 

(including the TIGER Discretionary 

Grant and any other federal 

discretionary or formula funds) may be 

used for up to 80 percent of the costs of 

the project. DOT may increase the 

federal share above 80 percent only for 

projects located in rural areas, in which 

case DOT may fund up to 100 percent 

of the costs of a project. However, 

priority must be given to projects that 

use TIGER Discretionary Grant funds to 

complete an overall financing package, 

and both urban and rural projects can 

increase their competitiveness for 

purposes of the TIGER program by 

demonstrating significant non-federal 

financial contributions. In the first four 

rounds, on average, projects awarded 

funding attracted more than 4 additional 

non-federal dollars for every TIGER 

grant dollar. DOT will consider any 

non-federal funds, whether such funds 

are contributed by the public sector 

(State or local) or the private sector, as 

a local match for the purposes of this 

program. Due to special statutory 

treatment, funds from the Federal Tribal 

Transportation Program (formerly 

known as Indian Reservation Roads) 

will also be considered as a local match 

for purposes of this program. However, 

DOT cannot consider any funds already 

expended towards the matching 

requirement or any funds being used to 

meet the match requirement for other 

federal grants. Also, while ‘‘matching’’ 

funds may be provided by a State DOT 

or transit agency, DOT will not consider 

those funds to be matching funds if the 

source of those funds is ultimately a 

federal program. 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

requires that TIGER funds are only 

available for DOT to obligate through 

September 30, 2014. The limited 

amount of time for which the funds will 

be made available means that DOT, 

when evaluating applications, must 

focus on whether or not a project is 

ready to proceed with obligation of 

grant funds within the limited time 

provided. Under the FY 2013 

Appropriations Act, TIGER funding 

expires automatically after the deadline 

of September 30, 2014, if DOT does not 

obligate these funds. This deadline is 

provided in law and waivers cannot be 

granted under any circumstances. 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

allows for an amount not to exceed 

$165.8 million of the $473.847 million 

to be used to pay the subsidy and 

administrative costs for a project 

receiving credit assistance under the 

Transportation Infrastructure Finance 

and Innovation Act of 1998 (TIFIA) 

program, if it would further the 

purposes of the TIGER Discretionary 

Grant program. Whether seeking TIFIA 

support or not, you should show where 

you have leveraged both existing and 

new sources of funding through both 

traditional and innovative means and 

demonstrate how the TIGER assistance 

would serve to complete the project’s 

financing package and allow for 

expedited project completion. 

Recipients of TIGER Discretionary 

Grants in prior rounds may apply for 

funding to support additional phases of 

a project awarded funds in earlier 

rounds of this program. However, to be 

competitive, the applicant should 

demonstrate the extent to which the 

previously funded project phase has 

been able to meet estimated project 

schedules and budget, including the 

ability to realize the benefits expected 

for the project. 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

provides that the Secretary of 

Transportation may retain up to $20 

million of the $473.847 million to fund 

the award and oversight of TIGER 

Discretionary Grants. Portions of the $20 

million may be transferred for these 

purposes to the Administrators of the 

Federal Highway Administration, the 

Federal Transit Administration, the 

Federal Railroad Administration, and 

the Federal Maritime Administration. 

The purpose of this notice is to solicit 

applications for TIGER Discretionary 

Grants. This is a final notice. 

Tiger Discretionary Grants 

II. Selection Criteria and Guidance on 

Application of Selection Criteria 

This section specifies the criteria that 

DOT will use to evaluate applications 

for TIGER Discretionary Grants. The 

criteria incorporate the statutory 

eligibility requirements for this 

program, which are specified in this 

notice as relevant. 

TIGER Discretionary Grants will be 

awarded based on the selection criteria 

as outlined below. There are two 

categories of selection criteria, ‘‘Primary 

Selection Criteria’’ and ‘‘Secondary 

Selection Criteria,’’ the significance of 

which are detailed below. 

A. Primary Selection Criteria 

DOT will give priority to projects that 

are ready to proceed quickly and have 

a significant impact on desirable longterm outcomes for the Nation, a 

metropolitan area, or a region. 

Applications that do not demonstrate a 

likelihood of significant long-term 

benefits in this criterion will not 

proceed in the evaluation process. The 

first five primary selection criteria are 

based on the priorities included in 

DOT’s Strategic Plan for FY 2012–FY 

2016. DOT is elevating project readiness 

as a primary selection criterion for this 

round of TIGER Discretionary Grants 

due to the legislatively-mandated 

timeline for obligation of TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funds. For more 

detail on DOT’s long-term priorities, 

please refer to the Strategic Plan, which 

can be found at: http://www.dot.gov/

sites/dot.dev/files/docs/990_355_DOT

_StrategicPlan_508lowres.pdf. The longterm outcomes and readiness criteria 

that will be given priority are: 

1. State of Good Repair: Improving 

the condition of existing transportation 

facilities and systems, with particular 

emphasis on projects that minimize lifecycle costs and improve resiliency. DOT 

will assess whether and to what extent 

(i) The project is consistent with 

relevant plans to maintain 

transportation facilities or systems in a 

state of good repair and address 

vulnerabilities; (ii) if left unimproved, 

the poor condition of the asset will 

threaten future transportation network 

efficiency, mobility of goods or 

accessibility and mobility of people, or 

economic growth; (iii) the project is 

appropriately capitalized up front and 

uses asset management approaches that 

optimize its long-term cost structure; 

and (iv) the extent to which a 


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2The Executive Office of the President, Council 

of Economic Advisers, (CEA), issued a 

memorandum in May 2009 on ‘‘Estimates of Job 

Creation from the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009.’’ That memorandum 

provides a simple rule for estimating job-years 

created by government spending, which is that 

$92,000 of government spending creates one jobyear (or 10,870 job-years per billion dollars of 

spending). More recently, in September 2011, based 

on further analysis both of actual job-creation 

experience from transportation projects under the 

Recovery Act and on further macroeconomic 

analysis, the CEA determined that a job-year is 

created by every $76,923 in transportation 

infrastructure spending (or 13,000 job-years per 

billion dollars of transportation infrastructure 

spending). This figure can now be used in place of 

the earlier $92,000/job-year estimate. Applicants 

can use this estimate as an appropriate indicator of 

direct, indirect and induced job-years created by 

TIGER Discretionary Grant spending, but are 

encouraged to supplement or modify this estimate 

to the extent they can demonstrate that such 

modifications are justified. However, since this 

guidance makes job creation purely a function of 

the level of expenditure, applicants should also 

demonstrate how quickly jobs will be created under 

the proposed project. Projects that generate a given 

number of jobs more quickly will have a more 

favorable impact on economic recovery. A quarterby-quarter projection of the number of direct jobhours expected to be created by the project is useful 

in assessing the impacts of a project on economic 

recovery. Furthermore, applicants should be aware 

that certain types of expenditures are less likely to 

align well with the Job Creation & Near-Term 

Economic Activity criterion. These types of 

expenditures include, among other things, 

engineering or design work and purchasing existing 

facilities or right-of-way. 

3The six livability principles are listed fully at 

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot8009.htm. 

4 In full, this principle reads: ‘‘Provide more 

transportation choices. Develop safe, reliable and 

economical transportation choices to decrease 

household transportation costs, reduce our nations’ 

dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, 

reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote 

public health.’’ 

sustainable source of revenue is 

available for long-term operations and 

maintenance of the project. 

2. Economic Competitiveness: 

Contributing to the economic 

competitiveness of the United States 

over the medium- to long-term by 

improving the national transportation 

system while creating and preserving 

jobs. DOT will assess whether the 

project will (i) Improve long-term 

efficiency, reliability or costcompetitiveness in the movement of 

workers or goods, with a particular 

focus on projects that have a significant 

effect on reducing the costs of 

transporting export cargoes; (ii) increase 

the economic productivity of land, 

capital or labor at or between specific 

locations, particularly in Economically 

Distressed Areas; or (iii) result in job 

creation and practicable opportunities, 

particularly for low-income workers or 

for people in Economically Distressed 

Areas, and practicable opportunities for 

small businesses and disadvantaged 

business enterprises, including veteranowned small businesses and service 

disabled veteran-owned small 

businesses.2

3. Livability: Increasing transportation 

choices and access to transportation 

services for people in communities 

across the United States. DOT will 

consider whether the project furthers 

the six livability principles developed 

by DOT with the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development (HUD) and the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

as part of the Partnership for 

Sustainable Communities.3 DOT will 

give particular consideration to the first 

principle, which prioritizes the creation 

of affordable and convenient 

transportation choices,4 particularly for 

economically disadvantaged 

populations, non-drivers, senior 

citizens, and persons with disabilities. 

Further, DOT will prioritize projects 

developed in coordination with landuse planning and economic 

development decisions, including 

through programs like TIGER II 

Planning Grants, the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development’s 

Regional Planning Grants, or the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Pilot 

Program as well as technical assistance 

programs focused on livability or 

economic development planning. 

4. Environmental Sustainability: 

Improving energy efficiency, reducing 

dependence on oil, reducing greenhouse 

gas emissions and benefitting the 

environment. DOT will assess the 

project’s ability to (i) Reduce energy use, 

air or water pollution; (ii) avoid adverse 

environmental impacts to air or water 

quality, wetlands, and endangered 

species; or (iii) provide environmental 

benefits, such as brownfield 

redevelopment, wetlands creation or 

improved habitat connectivity. 

Applicants are encouraged to provide 

quantitative information that 

demonstrates the existence of 

substantial existing transportationrelated costs related to energy 

consumption and adverse 

environmental effects and evidence of 

the extent to which the project will 

reduce or mitigate those costs. 

5. Safety: Improving the safety of U.S. 

transportation facilities and systems. 

DOT will assess the project’s ability to 

reduce the number, rate, and 

consequences of surface transportationrelated crashes, serious injuries, and 

fatalities among drivers and/or nondrivers in the United States or in the 

affected metropolitan area or region, 

and/or the project’s contribution to the 

elimination of highway/rail grade 

crossings, the protection of pipelines, or 

the prevention of unintended releases of 

hazardous materials. 

6. Project Readiness: For projects that 

receive funding in this round of TIGER, 

DOT is required to obligate funds to 

those projects by September 30, 2014, or 

the funding will expire. Priority will be 

given to projects that can meet all local, 

State, and federal requirements by June 

30, 2014. This is a shorter period of time 

for obligation of funds than the 

comparable period for any prior round 

of TIGER, and is therefore a primary 

concern to DOT that will be treated as 

such during the evaluation and 

selection process. DOT will assess 

whether a project is ready to proceed 

rapidly upon receipt of a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant (see Additional 

Information on Project Readiness 

Guidelines located at www.dot.gov/ 

TIGER for further details), as evidenced 

by: 

(a) Technical Feasibility: The 

technical feasibility of the project 

should be demonstrated by engineering 

and design studies and activities; the 

development of design criteria and/or a 

basis of design; the basis for the cost 

estimate presented in the TIGER 

application, including the identification 

of contingency levels appropriate to its 

level of design; and any scope, 

schedule, and budget risk-mitigation 

measures. Applicants must include a 

detailed statement of work that focuses 

on the technical and engineering 

aspects of the project and describes in 

detail the project to be constructed. 

(b) Financial Feasibility: The viability 

and completeness of the project’s 

financing package (assuming the 

availability of the requested TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funds), including 

evidence of stable and reliable capital 

and (as appropriate) operating fund 

commitments including specific sources 

of funds sufficient to cover estimated 

costs; the availability of contingency 

reserves should planned capital or 

operating revenue sources not 

materialize; evidence of the financial 

condition of the project sponsor; and 

evidence of the grant recipient’s ability 

to manage grants. Applicants must 

include a detailed project budget in this 

section of their application containing a 

detailed breakdown of how the funds 

will be spent that provides estimates— 

both dollar amount and percentage of 

cost—of how much each activity would 

cost e.g. preparation, grading, asphalt, 

etc. If the project will be completed in 

individual segments or phases, a budget 

for each individual segment or phase 

must be included. Budget spending 

categories must be broken down 

between TIGER, other federal, and nonfederal sources and should identify how 


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5The schedule should show how many direct, 

on-project jobs are expected to be created or 

sustained during each calendar quarter after the 

project is underway. 

6 DOT has a responsibility under Executive Order 

12893, Principles for Federal Infrastructure 

Investments, 59 FR 4233, to base infrastructure 

investments on systematic analysis of expected 

benefits and costs, including both quantitative and 

qualitative measures. 

each funding source will share in each 

activity. 

(c) Project Schedule: You must 

include a detailed project schedule that 

includes all major project milestones 

such as start and completion of 

environmental reviews and approvals, 

design, right-of-way acquisition, 

approval of PS&E, procurement, and 

construction in this section of their 

application with sufficient information 

detail to demonstrate that: 

(i) All necessary pre-construction 

activities will be complete to allow for 

any potential grant funding awarded to 

be obligated no later than June 30, 2014, 

to give DOT reasonable assurance that 

the TIGER Discretionary Grant funds 

will likely to be obligated sufficiently in 

advance of the September 30, 2014, 

statutory deadline, and that any 

unexpected delays will not put TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funds at risk of 

expiring before they are obligated; 

(ii) The project can begin construction 

quickly upon receipt of a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant, and that the grant 

funds will be spent steadily and 

expeditiously once construction starts; 5

and 

(iii) Any applicant that is applying for 

a TIGER Discretionary Grant and does 

not own all of the property or right-ofway required to complete the project 

should provide evidence that the 

property and/or right-of-way acquisition 

can and will be completed 

expeditiously. 

(d) Assessment of Project Risks and 

Mitigation Strategies: You should 

identify the material risks to the project 

and the strategies that the lead applicant 

and any project partners have 

undertaken or will undertake in order to 

mitigate those risks. In past rounds of 

TIGER Discretionary Grants, certain 

projects have been affected by 

procurement delays, environmental 

uncertainties, and increases in real 

estate acquisition costs. You must assess 

the greatest risks to your projects and 

identify how those risks will be 

mitigated by the project parties. 

Applicants, to the extent they are 

unfamiliar with the federal 

transportation program, should contact 

DOT’s field offices for information on 

what steps are pre-requisite to the 

obligation of federal funds in order to 

ensure that their project schedule is 

reasonable and that there are no risks of 

delays in satisfying federal 

requirements. Contacts for the Federal 

Highway Administration Division 

offices—which are located in all 50 

States, Washington, DC, and Puerto 

Rico—can be found at http:// 

www.fhwa.dot.gov/about/field.cfm. 

Contacts for the ten Federal Transit 

Administration regional offices can be 

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

12926.html. 

B. Secondary Selection Criteria 

1. Innovation: Use of innovative 

strategies to pursue the long-term 

outcomes outlined above. DOT will 

assess the extent to which the project 

uses innovative technology (such as, 

intelligent transportation systems, 

dynamic pricing, value capture, rail 

wayside or on-board energy recovery, 

smart cards, active traffic management, 

or radio frequency identification) to 

pursue one or more of the long-term 

outcomes outlined above and/or to 

significantly enhance the operational 

performance of the transportation 

system. DOT will also assess the extent 

to which the project incorporates 

innovations in transportation funding 

and finance, leverages both existing and 

new sources of funding through both 

traditional and innovative means, and 

demonstrates how the TIGER grant 

would serve to complete the project’s 

financing package and allow for 

expedited project completion. Further, 

DOT will consider the extent to which 

the project utilizes innovative practices 

in contracting, project delivery, 

congestion management, safety 

management, asset management, or 

long-term operations and maintenance. 

Projects integrating creative uses of 

technology to improve capacity or 

performance as part of an overall project 

to construct or replace traditional 

transportation facilities have been 

competitive in previous rounds, and 

DOT expects projects which 

intelligently use technology and other 

innovations to continue to be 

competitive. 

2. Partnership: Demonstrating strong 

collaboration among a broad range of 

participants, integration of 

transportation with other public service 

efforts, and/or projects that are the 

product of a robust planning process. 

(a) Jurisdictional & Stakeholder 

Collaboration: Projects that involve 

multiple partners in project 

development and funding, such as State 

and local governments, other public 

entities, and/or private or nonprofit 

entities. DOT will also assess the extent 

to which the project application 

demonstrates collaboration among 

neighboring or regional jurisdictions to 

achieve national, regional or 

metropolitan benefits. Multiple States or 

jurisdictions may submit a joint 

application and must identify a lead 

applicant as the primary point of 

contact. Joint applications must include 

a description of the roles and 

responsibilities of each project party 

and must be signed by, or include letters 

of support from, each project party. 

(b) Disciplinary Integration: Projects 

supported, financially or otherwise, by 

non-transportation public agencies that 

are pursuing similar and/or related 

objectives. For example, DOT will 

consider transportation projects that are 

coordinated with economic 

development, housing, water 

infrastructure and land use plans and 

policies, particularly those that employ 

evidence-based, cross-sector strategies 

to revitalize targeted areas and foster 

private capital investment in 

disinvested communities; similarly, 

DOT will consider transportation 

projects that encourage energy 

efficiency or improve the environment 

and are supported by relevant public 

agencies with energy or environmental 

missions. Projects that grow out of a 

robust planning process—such as those 

conducted with DOT’s various planning 

programs and initiatives, the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development’s Regional Planning 

Grants and Choice Neighborhood 

Planning Grants, or the Environmental 

Protection Agency’s Brownfield AreaWide Planning Pilot Program as well as 

technical assistance programs focused 

on livability or economic development 

planning—will also be given priority. 

C. Additional Guidance on Evaluation 

1. Project Costs and Benefits 

Applicants for TIGER Discretionary 

Grants are generally required to identify, 

quantify, and compare expected benefits 

and costs, subject to the following 

qualifications: 6

Applicants will be expected to 

prepare an analysis of benefits and 

costs. However, DOT understands that 

the detail of analysis that should be 

expected (for items such as surveys, 

travel demand forecasts, market 

forecasts, and statistical analyses) is less 

for smaller projects than for larger 

projects. The level of sophistication of 

the benefit-cost analysis (BCA) should 

be commensurate to the size of the 

overall project and the amount of grant 

funds requested in the application. In 

other words, larger projects should have 

more/better data elements than smaller 


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7All regionally significant projects requiring an 

action by the Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) or the Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA) must be in the metropolitan transportation 

plan, transportation improvement program (TIP) 

and Statewide transportation improvement program 

(STIP). Further, in air quality non-attainment and 

maintenance areas, all regionally significant 

projects, regardless of the funding source, must be 

included in the conforming metropolitan 

transportation plan and TIP. To the extent a project 

is required to be on a metropolitan transportation 

plan, TIP, and/or STIP, it will not receive a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant until it is included in such 

plans. Projects not currently included in these plans 

can be amended in to the plans by the State and 

metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Projects 

that are not required to be in long range 

transportation plans, STIPs, and TIPs will not need 

to be included in such plans in order to receive a 

TIGER Discretionary Grant. Freight and passenger 

rail projects are not required to be on the State Rail 

Plans called for in the Passenger Rail Investment 

and Improvement Act of 2008, consistent with the 

exemption for high speed and intercity passenger 

rail projects under the Recovery Act. However, 

applicants seeking funding for freight and passenger 

rail projects are encouraged to demonstrate that 

they have done sufficient planning to ensure that 

projects fit into a prioritized list of capital needs 

and are consistent with long-range goals. 

projects. However, even small projects 

should provide subjective estimates of 

benefits and should still quantify costs, 

and applicants should provide whatever 

evidence they have available to lend 

credence to their subjective estimates. 

Estimates of benefits should be 

presented in monetary terms whenever 

possible. If a monetary estimate is not 

possible, then at least a quantitative 

estimate (in physical, non-monetary 

terms, such as crash rates, ridership 

estimates, emissions levels, etc.) should 

be provided. 

The lack of a useful analysis of 

expected project benefits and costs may 

be the basis for not selecting a project 

for award of a TIGER Discretionary 

Grant. If it is clear to DOT that the total 

benefits of a project are not reasonably 

likely to justify the project’s costs, DOT 

will not award a TIGER Discretionary 

Grant to the project. 

Detailed guidance for the preparation 

of benefit-cost analyses is provided in 

Guide to Preparing Benefit-Cost 

Analyses for TIGER Grants (at 

www.dot.gov/TIGER). Benefits should be 

presented, whenever possible, in a 

tabular form showing benefits and costs 

in each year for the useful life of the 

project. Benefits and costs should both 

be discounted to the year 2013, and 

present discounted values of both the 

stream of benefits and the stream of 

costs should be calculated. If the project 

has multiple parts, each of which has 

independent utility, the benefits and 

costs of each part should be estimated 

and presented separately. The results of 

the benefit-cost analysis should be 

summarized in the Project Narrative 

section of the application itself, but the 

details may be presented in an 

attachment to the application if the full 

analysis cannot be included within the 

page limit for the project narrative. 

Based on feedback over the last four 

rounds of TIGER, DOT recognizes that 

the benefit-cost analysis can be 

particularly burdensome on Tribal 

governments. Therefore, consistent with 

the preceding paragraph, the 

Department is providing flexibility to 

Tribal governments for the purposes of 

this Notice. At their discretion, Tribal 

applicants may elect to provide raw data 

to support the need for a project (such 

as crash rates, ridership estimates, and 

the number of people who will benefit 

from the project). These data will then 

be used to allow DOT economists to 

make the best estimates they can 

develop (given the data provided) of 

benefits and costs. Examples of BCAs by 

successful Tribal applicants are also 

available online. 

2. Other Environmental Reviews and 

Approvals 

(a) National Environmental Policy 

Act: An application for a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant must detail whether 

the project will significantly impact the 

natural, social and/or economic 

environment. The application should 

demonstrate receipt (or reasonably 

anticipated receipt) of all environmental 

approvals and permits necessary for the 

project to proceed to construction on the 

timeline specified in the project 

schedule and necessary to meet the 

statutory obligation deadline, including 

satisfaction of all federal, State, and 

local requirements and completion of 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(‘‘NEPA’’) process. You should submit 

the information listed below with your 

application: 

(i) Information about the NEPA status 

of the project. If the NEPA process is 

completed, an applicant must indicate 

the date of, and provide a Web site link 

or other reference to, the final 

Categorical Exclusion, Finding of No 

Significant Impact or Record of 

Decision. If the NEPA process is 

underway but not complete, the 

application must detail the type of 

NEPA review underway, where the 

project is in the process, and indicate 

the anticipated date of completion. You 

must provide a Web site link or other 

reference to copies of any NEPA 

documents prepared. 

(ii) Information on reviews by other 

agencies. An application for a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant must indicate 

whether the proposed project requires 

reviews or approval actions by other 

agencies, indicate the status of such 

actions, and provide detailed 

information about the status of those 

reviews or approvals and/or 

demonstrate compliance with any other 

applicable other federal, State, or local 

requirements. 

(iii) Environmental studies or other 

documents—preferably by way of a Web 

site link—that describe in detail known 

project impacts, and possible mitigation 

for those impacts. 

(iv) A description of discussions with 

the appropriate DOT modal 

administration field office regarding 

compliance with NEPA and other 

applicable environmental reviews and 

approvals. 

(b) Legislative Approvals: Receipt of 

all necessary legislative approvals (for 

example, legislative authority to charge 

user fees or set toll rates), and evidence 

of support from State and local elected 

officials. Support from all relevant State 

and local officials is not required; 

however, you should demonstrate that 

there are no significant legislative 

barriers to timely completion, and that 

the project is broadly supported. 

(c) State and Local Planning: The 

planning requirements of the operating 

administration administering the TIGER 

project will apply.7 Where required by 

an operating administration, you should 

demonstrate that a project that is 

required to be included in the relevant 

State, metropolitan, and local planning 

documents, has been or will be 

included. If the project is not included 

in the relevant planning documents at 

the time the application is submitted, 

you should submit a certification from 

the appropriate planning agency that 

actions are underway to include the 

project in the relevant planning 

document. DOT reserves the right to 

revoke any award of TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funds and to award 

such funds to another project to the 

extent either that awarded funds cannot 

be timely expended and/or that 

construction does not begin in 

accordance with the anticipated project 

schedule. DOT will consider on a caseby-case basis how much time after 

selection for award of a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant each project has 

before funds must be obligated 

(consistent with law) and construction 

started through an executed grant 

agreement between the selected 

applicant and the modal administration 

administering the grant. This deadline 

will be specified for each TIGER 

Discretionary Grant in the projectspecific grant agreements signed by the 

grant recipients and will be based on 

critical path items identified by 


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8For Census 2010, the Census Bureau defined an 

Urbanized Area (UA) as an area that consists of 

densely settled territory that contains 50,000 or 

more people. Updated lists of UAs are available on 

the Census Bureau Web site. Urban Clusters (UCs) 

will be considered rural areas for purposes of the 

TIGER Discretionary Grant program. 

applicants in response to items (i) 

through (iv) above. 

III. Evaluation of Applications and 

Eligibility 

A. Evaluation Process 

TIGER Discretionary Grant 

applications will be evaluated in 

accordance with the evaluation process 

discussed below. 

DOT will establish application 

evaluation teams to review each 

application that is received by DOT 

prior to the Application Deadline. These 

evaluation teams will be organized and 

led by the Office of the Secretary of 

Transportation and will include 

members from each of the relevant 

modal administrations in DOT with the 

most experience and/or expertise in the 

relevant project areas (the ‘‘Relevant 

Modal Administrations’’) and, in some 

cases, staff from other federal agencies 

with relevant expertise, including 

freight, resiliency, livability, 

environmental review, and permitting. 

The evaluation teams will be 

responsible for evaluating all of the 

projects and making recommendations 

to the Secretary. 

DOT will not assign specific 

numerical scores to projects based on 

the selection criteria outlined above in 

Section II (Selection Criteria and 

Guidance on Application of Selection 

Criteria). Rather, ratings of ‘‘highly 

recommended,’’ ‘‘recommended,’’ 

‘‘acceptable,’’ or ‘‘not recommended’’ 

will be assigned to projects. DOT will 

award TIGER Discretionary Grants to 

projects that are well-aligned with one 

or more of the selection criteria. In 

addition, DOT will consider whether a 

project has a negative effect on any of 

the selection criteria, and any such 

negative effect may reduce the 

likelihood that the project will receive 

a TIGER Discretionary Grant. To the 

extent the initial evaluation process 

does not sufficiently differentiate among 

highly rated projects, DOT will use a 

similar rating process to re-assess the 

projects and identify those that should 

be most highly rated. 

DOT will give more weight to the 

Primary Selection Criteria than to the 

two Secondary Selection Criteria. DOT 

does not consider any of the first five 

Primary Selection Criteria, which are 

the DOT Strategic Goals, to be more 

important than the others. DOT reserves 

the right to select projects that will lead 

to the best overall promotion of these 

goals, which may result in variance in 

the numbers of projects well-aligned 

with each goal. Failure to demonstrate 

the sixth primary selection criterion, 

Project Readiness, will make it less 

likely that your otherwise wellperforming application will be selected. 

Upon completion of this rating 

process DOT will analyze the 

preliminary list and determine whether 

the ratings are consistent with the 

distributional requirements of the FY 

2013 Appropriations Act, including an 

equitable geographic distribution of 

grant funds, an appropriate balance in 

addressing the needs of urban and rural 

areas, and investment in a variety of 

transportation modes. If necessary, DOT 

will adjust the list of recommended 

projects to satisfy the statutory 

distributional requirements while 

remaining as consistent as possible with 

the ratings. The Secretary of 

Transportation will make the final 

project selections. 

B. Evaluation of Eligibility 

To be selected for a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant, a project must be 

an Eligible Project, the applicant must 

be an Eligible Applicant, and all other 

threshold eligibility requirements must 

be met, including commitment of 

matching funds. DOT may consider one 

or more components of a large project to 

be an Eligible Project, but only to the 

extent that the components have 

independent utility, meaning the 

components themselves, not the project 

of which they are a part, are Eligible 

Projects and satisfy the selection criteria 

identified above in Section II (Selection 

Criteria and Guidance on Application of 

Selection Criteria). For these projects, 

the benefits described in an application 

must be related to the components of 

the project for which funding is 

requested, not the full project of which 

they are a part. DOT will not fund 

individual phases of a project if the 

benefits of completing only these phases 

would not align well with the selection 

criteria specified in this Notice because 

the overall project would still be 

incomplete. 

IV. Grant Administration 

DOT expects that each TIGER 

Discretionary Grant will be 

administered by one of the Relevant 

Modal Administrations, pursuant to a 

grant agreement between the TIGER 

Discretionary Grant recipient and the 

Relevant Modal Administration. Service 

Outcome Agreements, Stakeholder 

Agreements, Buy America compliance, 

and other requirements such as those 

required for DOT’s other highway, 

transit, rail, and maritime port grant 

programs will be incorporated into the 

TIGER grant agreements, where 

appropriate. Under the TIGER 

Discretionary Grant program, the 

Secretary delegates such responsibilities 

to the appropriate operating 

administration. Applicable federal laws, 

rules and regulations of the Relevant 

Modal Administration administering the 

project will apply to projects that 

receive TIGER Discretionary Grants. 

V. Projects in Rural Areas 

The FY 2013 Appropriations Act 

directs that not less than $120 million 

of the funds provided for TIGER 

Discretionary Grants are to be used for 

projects in rural areas. For purposes of 

this notice, DOT is defining ‘‘rural area’’ 

as any area not in an Urbanized Area, 

as such term is defined by the Census 

Bureau,8 and will consider a project to 

be in a rural area if all or the majority 

of a project (determined by geographic 

location(s) where majority of project 

money is to be spent) is located in a 

rural area. Therefore, if all or the 

majority of a project is located in a rural 

area, such a project is eligible to apply 

for less than $10 million, but at least $1 

million in TIGER Discretionary Grant 

funds, and up to 100% of the project’s 

costs may be paid for with federal 

funds. To the extent more than a de 

minimis portion of a project is located 

in an Urbanized Area, you should 

identify the estimated percentage of 

project costs that will be spent in 

Urbanized Areas and the estimated 

percentage that will be spent in rural 

areas. 

VI. Applications 

A. Submitting Applications 

Applicants must submit a complete 

application package through Grants.gov 

by the Application Deadline, which is 

June 3, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. 

Grants.gov ‘‘Apply’’ function will open 

on April 29, 2013, allowing applicants 

to submit applications. You are 

encouraged to submit applications in 

advance of the Application Deadline, 

but applications will not be evaluated, 

and selections for awards will not be 

made, until after the Application 

Deadline. 

Applications must be submitted 

through Grants.gov. To apply for 

funding through Grants.gov, you must 

be properly registered. Complete 

instructions on how to register and 

submit applications can be found at 

www.grants.gov. Please be aware that 

the registration process usually takes 2– 

4 weeks and must be completed before 

an application can be submitted. If 


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interested parties experience difficulties 

at any point during the registration or 

application process, please call the 

Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 

1–800–518–4726, Monday-Friday from 

7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT. Additional 

information on applying through 

Grants.gov is available in Information 

about Applying for Federal Grants 

through Grants.gov at www.dot.gov/ 

TIGER. 

B. Contents of Applications 

You must include all of the 

information requested below in your 

application. DOT reserves the right to 

ask any applicant to supplement data in 

its application, but expects applications 

to be complete upon submission. To the 

extent practical, you should provide 

data and evidence of project merits in a 

form that is publicly available or 

verifiable. 

1. Standard Form 424, Application for 

Federal Assistance 

Please see www07.grants.gov/assets/ 

SF424Instructions.pdf for instructions 

on how to complete the SF 424, which 

is part of the standard Grants.gov 

submission. Additional clarifying 

guidance and FAQs to assist you in 

completing the SF 424 will be available 

at www.dot.gov/TIGER by April 29, 

2013, when the ‘‘Apply’’ function 

within Grants.gov opens to accept 

applications under this notice. 

2. Project Narrative (Attachment to 

SF–424) 

The project narrative must respond to 

the application requirements outlined 

below. DOT recommends that the 

project narrative be prepared with 

standard formatting preferences (.i.e., a 

single-spaced document, using a 

standard 12-point font, such as Times 

New Roman, with 1-inch margins). 

Your application must include 

information required for DOT to assess 

each of the criteria specified in Section 

II (Selection Criteria and Guidance on 

Application of Selection Criteria). You 

must demonstrate the responsiveness of 

a project to any pertinent selection 

criteria with the most relevant 

information that you can provide, 

regardless of whether such information 

has been specifically requested, or 

identified, in this notice. You should 

provide concrete evidence of the 

feasibility of achieving project 

milestones, and of financial capacity 

and commitment in order to support 

project readiness. DOT will consider for 

the extent to which a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant will help to 

complete an overall funding package, so 

you should clearly demonstrate the 

extent to which the project cannot be 

readily and efficiently completed 

without a TIGER Discretionary Grant, 

and the extent to which other sources of 

federal, State, or local funding may or 

may not be readily available for the 

project. Any such information shall be 

considered part of the application, not 

supplemental, for purposes of the 

application size limits identified below 

in Part C (Length of Applications). 

Information provided pursuant to this 

paragraph must be quantified, to the 

extent possible, to describe the project’s 

benefits to the Nation, a metropolitan 

area, or a region. Information provided 

pursuant to this paragraph should 

include projections for both the build 

and no-build scenarios for the project 

for a point in time at least 20 years 

beyond the project’s completion date or 

the lifespan of the project, whichever is 

closer to the present. 

All applications should include a 

detailed description of the proposed 

project and geospatial data for the 

project, including a map of the project’s 

location and its connections to existing 

transportation infrastructure. 

Applications should also include a 

description of how the project addresses 

the needs of an urban and/or rural area. 

Applications should clearly describe the 

transportation challenges that the 

project aims to address, and how the 

project will address these challenges. 

Descriptions should include relevant 

data, such as passenger or freight 

volumes, congestion levels, 

infrastructure condition, and safety 

experience. 

DOT recommends that the project 

narrative adhere to the following basic 

outline, and in addition to a detailed 

Statement of work, detailed project 

schedule, and detailed project budget, 

you should include a table of contents, 

maps, and graphics that make the 

information easier to review: 

I. Project Description (including 

information on the expected users of the 

project, a description of the 

transportation challenges that the 

project aims to address, and how the 

project will address these challenges); 

II. Project Parties (information about 

the grant recipient and other project 

parties); 

III. Grant Funds and Sources/Uses of 

Project Funds (information about the 

amount of grant funding requested, 

availability/commitment of funds 

sources and uses of all project funds, 

total project costs, percentage of project 

costs that would be paid for with TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funds, and the 

identity and percentage shares of all 

parties providing funds for the project, 

including any other pending or past 

federal funding requests for the project 

as well as federal funds already 

provided under other programs and 

required match for those funds); 

IV. Selection Criteria (information 

about how the project aligns with each 

of the primary and secondary selection 

criteria and a description of the results 

of the benefit-cost analysis): 

a. Long-Term Outcomes 

i. State of Good Repair 

ii. Economic Competitiveness 

iii. Livability 

iv. Sustainability 

v. Safety 

vi. Project Readiness 

b. Innovation 

c. Partnership 

d. Results of Benefit-Cost Analysis 

V. Planning Approvals, NEPA and 

other environmental reviews/approvals, 

(including information about 

permitting, legislative approvals, State 

and local planning, and project 

partnership and implementation 

agreements); and 

VI. Federal Wage Rate Certification 

(an application must include a 

certification, signed by the applicant, 

stating that it will comply with the 

requirements of subchapter IV of 

chapter 31 of title 40, United States 

Code (federal wage rate requirements), 

as required by the FY 2013 Continuing 

Appropriations Act). 

The purpose of this recommended 

format is to ensure that applications 

clearly address the program 

requirements and make critical 

information readily apparent. 

C. Length of Applications 

The project narrative may not exceed 

30 pages in length. Documentation 

supporting the assertions made in the 

narrative portion may also be provided, 

but should be limited to relevant 

information. If possible, Web site links 

to supporting documentation (including 

a more detailed discussion of the 

benefit-cost analysis) should be 

provided rather than copies of these 

materials. Spreadsheets supporting the 

benefit-cost analysis should be original 

Excel spreadsheets, not PDFs of those 

spreadsheets. At your discretion, 

relevant materials provided previously 

to a Relevant Modal Administration in 

support of an application to a different 

DOT discretionary program (for 

example, New Starts or TIFIA) may be 

referenced and described as unchanged. 

To the extent referenced, this 

information need not be resubmitted for 

the TIGER Discretionary Grant 

application (although provision of a 

Web site link would facilitate DOT’s 

consideration of the information). DOT 


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recommends use of appropriately 

descriptive file names (e.g., ‘‘Project 

Narrative,’’ ‘‘Maps,’’ ‘‘Memoranda of 

Understanding and Letters of Support,’’ 

etc.) for all attachments. Cover pages, 

tables of contents, and the federal wage 

rate certification do not count towards 

the 30-page limit for the narrative 

portion of the application. Otherwise, 

the only substantive portions of the 

application that should exceed the 30- 

page limit are any supporting 

documents (including a more detailed 

discussion of the benefit-cost analysis) 

provided to support assertions or 

conclusions made in the 30-page 

narrative section. 

D. Contact Information 

Contact information for a direct 

employee of the lead applicant 

organization is required as part of the 

SF–424. DOT will use this information 

to inform parties of DOT’s decision 

regarding the selection of projects, as 

well as to contact parties in the event 

that DOT needs additional information 

about an application. Contact 

information for a contractor, agent, or 

consultant of the lead applicant 

organization is insufficient for DOT’s 

purposes. 

E. Protection of Confidential Business 

Information 

All information submitted as part of 

or in support of any application shall 

use publicly available data or data that 

can be made public and methodologies 

that are accepted by industry practice 

and standards, to the extent possible. If 

the application includes information 

you consider to be a trade secret or 

confidential commercial or financial 

information, you should do the 

following: (1) Note on the front cover 

that the submission ‘‘Contains 

Confidential Business Information 

(CBI);’’ (2) mark each affected page 

‘‘CBI;’’ and (3) highlight or otherwise 

denote the CBI portions. DOT protects 

such information from disclosure to the 

extent allowed under applicable law. In 

the event DOT receives a Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) request for the 

information, DOT will follow the 

procedures described in its FOIA 

regulations at 49 CFR 7.17. Only 

information that is ultimately 

determined to be confidential under that 

procedure will be exempt from 

disclosure under FOIA. 

VII. Performance Measurement 

Each applicant selected for TIGER 

Discretionary Grant funding will be 

required to work with DOT on the 

development and implementation of a 

plan to collect information and report 

on the project’s performance with 

respect to the relevant long-term 

outcomes that are expected to be 

achieved through construction of the 

project. Each recipient of a TIGER 

Discretionary Grant will, in accordance 

with its grant agreement, report on 

specified performance indicators for its 

project. Performance indicators will be 

negotiated for each project, and will 

consider the individual project’s stated 

goals as well as resource constraints of 

applicants. Performance indicators will 

not include formal goals or targets, but 

will include baseline measures as well 

as post-project outputs for an agreed 

upon timeline, and will inform the 

TIGER Discretionary Grant program in 

working towards best practices, 

programmatic performance measures, 

and future decision making guidelines. 

VIII. Questions and Clarifications 

For further information concerning 

this notice please contact the TIGER 

Discretionary Grant program staff via 

email at TIGERGrants@dot.gov, or call 

Howard Hill at 202–366–0301. A TDD is 

available for individuals who are deaf or 

hard of hearing at 202–366–3993. DOT 

will regularly post answers to these 

questions and other important 

clarifications on DOT’s Web site at 

www.dot.gov/TIGER. 

Issued on: April 22, 2013. 

Ray LaHood, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2013–09889 Filed 4–25–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions 

on the Proposed Presque Isle Bypass 

in Aroostook County, Maine 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), U.S. DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Limitation on Claims 

for Judicial Review of Actions by FHWA 

and Other Federal Agencies. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces actions 

taken by the FHWA and other Federal 

agencies that are final within the 

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

actions relate to the proposed Aroostook 

County Transportation Study Tier II 

Presque Isle Bypass FEIS located in the 

Town of Presque Isle, Aroostook 

County, Maine. Those actions grant 

approvals for the 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 September 23, 2013. 

If this date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, 

or legal holiday, parties are advised to 

file their claim no later than the 

business day preceding this date. If the 

Federal law that authorizes judicial 

review of a claim provides a time period 

of less than 150 days for filing such 

claim, then that shorter time period still 

applies. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Todd D. Jorgensen, Division 

Administrator, Federal Highway 

Administration, Edmund S. Muskie 

Federal Building, 40 Western Avenue, 

Room 614, Augusta, ME 04330, 

Telephone (207) 512–4911; or Russell D. 

Charette, Project Manager, Maine 

Department of Transportation, Child 

Street, 16 State House Station, Augusta, 

ME 04333–0016, Telephone (207) 624– 

3238. 

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 Maine: Aroostook 

County Transportation Study Tier II 

Presque Isle Bypass Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), 

a proposed new controlled access 

highway extending northeast from U.S. 

Route 1 immediately north of 

Cambridge Road in Westfield, Maine, 

continuing north for 7.3 miles, crossing 

the Aroostook River, and reconnecting 

to Route 1 immediately south of Brewer 

Road in Presque Isle, Maine. The total 

length of the proposed Presque Isle 

Bypass is 9.8 miles, of which 0.6 miles 

is in Westfield, Maine. The actions by 

the Federal agencies, and the laws 

under which such actions were taken, 

are described in the FEIS for the project, 

approved on January 22, 2013, in the 

FHWA Record of Decision (ROD) issued 

on April 15, 2013, and in other 

documents in the FHWA administrative 

record. The FEIS, ROD, and other 

documents in the FHWA administrative 

record file are available by contacting 

the FHWA or the Maine Department of 

Transportation at the addresses 

provided above. The FHWA FEIS and 

ROD can be viewed and downloaded 

from the project Web site at http:// 

www.maine.gov/mdot or viewed at 

public libraries in the project area. 

This notice applies to all Federal 

agency decisions as of the issuance date 

of this notice and all laws under which 

such actions were taken, including but 

not limited to: 

1. General: National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) [42 U.S.C. 4321– 


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