38944 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 127 / Friday, July 1, 2011 / Notices 

1See http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/ 

app_help_reso.jsp. 

2For detailed background on the Small 

Community Program, see our Web site at: http:// 

ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/X-50%20Role_files/ 

smallcommunity.htm. 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. DOT–OST 2011–0119] 

Notice of Order Soliciting Community 

Proposals 

AGENCY: Department of Transportation, 

Office of the Secretary. 

ACTION: Notice of Order Soliciting 

Community Proposals (Order 2011–7– 

1). 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Transportation is soliciting proposals 

from communities or consortia of 

communities interested in receiving a 

grant under the Small Community Air 

Service Development Program. The full 

text of the Department’s order is 

attached to this document. There are 

two mandatory requirements for filing 

of applications, both of which must be 

completed for a community’s 

application to be deemed timely and 

considered by the Department. The first 

requirement is the submission of the 

community’s proposal, as described 

below; the second requirement is the 

filing of SF424 through http:// 

www.grants.gov. 

DATES: Grant Proposals as well as the 

SF424 should be submitted no later than 

August 2, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties can 

submit applications and the SF424 

electronically through http:// 

www.grants.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Aloha Ley, Office of Aviation Analysis, 

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE., W86–310, 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–2347. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

By this order, the Department invites 

proposals from communities and/or 

consortia of communities interested in 

obtaining a Federal grant under the 

Small Community Air Service 

Development Program (Small 

Community Program and/or SCASDP) to 

address air service and airfare problems 

in their communities. Proposals, 

including all required information, must 

be submitted to http://www.grants.gov 

no later than 5 p.m., Eastern Daylight 

Time (EDT), on Tuesday, August 2, 

2011. Communities are reminded to 

register with Grants.gov early in the 

application period since the mandatory 

Grants.gov registration process can take 

up to three weeks to complete. Tutorials 

and other guidance for completing the 

required registration and application 

procedures are available at the 

‘‘Applicant Resources’’ page of 

Grants.gov.1 If a community is a 

registered user of Grants.gov, it is the 

community’s responsibility to verify 

that the Grants.gov account is valid and 

that the AOR (Authorized Organization 

Representative) is current and approved. 

Required Steps 

• Determine eligibility (see Page 4); 

• Register with http:// 

www.grants.gov; 

• Submit an Application for Federal 

Domestic Assistance (SF424); 

• Submit a cover sheet including all 

required information (see Appendix B); 

• Submit a completed ‘‘Summary 

Information’’ schedule (see Appendix 

C); 

• Submit a detailed proposal which 

meets all required criteria (see 

Appendix D); 

• Attach any letters of support to the 

proposal, which should be addressed to 

Aloha Ley, Associate Director, Small 

Community Program; and, 

• Provide separate submission of 

confidential material, if requested. (see 

Appendix E) 

An application will not be deemed 

complete and will be ineligible for a 

grant award until and unless all 

required materials, including SF424, 

have been submitted through http:// 

www.grants.gov by the 5 p.m. EDT 

August 2, 2011, deadline. 

This order is organized into the 

following sections: 

I. Background 

II. Eligibility Information 

III. Types of Projects 

IV. Application Review Information 

V. Award Administration Information 

VI. Appendix A—49 U.S.C. § 41743 

VII. Appendix B—Cover Sheet Contents 

VIII. Appendix C—Summary Information 

IX. Appendix D—Application Checklist 

X. Appendix E—Confidential Commercial 

Information 

I. Background 

The Small Community Program was 

established under the Wendell H. Ford 

Aviation Investment and Reform Act for 

the 21st Century (AIR–21), Pubic Law 

106–181, and reauthorized under the 

Vision 100–Century of Aviation 

Reauthorization Act, Public Law 108– 

176 (Vision 100). The program is 

designed to provide financial assistance 

to small communities to help them 

enhance their air service. The 

Department provides this assistance in 

the form of financial grants that are 

disbursed on a reimbursable basis.2

Authorized grant projects may 

include activities that extend over a 

multi-year period under a single grant 

award; however, because there is a 

priority established by statute for 

communities and consortia that show 

that they can use the assistance ‘‘in a 

timely fashion,’’ applicants are advised 

to consider that criterion in developing 

their proposals. 

Current funding and limitations 

The Small Community Program is 

authorized to receive appropriations 

under 49 U.S.C. 41743(e)(2), as 

amended. Appropriations are provided 

for the program pursuant to Section 

1104 of the FY 2011 Full-Year 

Continuing Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 

112–10 (extending the FY 2010 

Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. 

L. 111–117)). The Department has up to 

$15 million available for FY 2011 grant 

awards to carry out the Small 

Community Program. 

The program is limited to a maximum 

of 40 grant awards, with a maximum of 

four grants per State, in each year the 

program is funded. There are no limits 

on the amounts of individual awards, 

and the amounts awarded will vary 

depending upon the features and merits 

of the proposals selected. In past years, 

the Department’s individual grant sizes 

have ranged from $20,000 to nearly $1.6 

million. 

II. Eligibility Information 

Registration With Grants.Gov 

Communities not previously 

registered are encouraged to register 

with http://www.grants.gov early during 

the application period because the 

registration and SF424 application 

process required by http:// 

www.grants.gov can take up to three 

weeks to complete. A community may 

file its proposal anytime after the initial 

registration process has been completed 

on http://www.grants.gov as long as the 

entire application is filed by August 2, 

2011. 

Communities are encouraged to 

contact the Grants.gov help desk for any 

technical assistance in filing their 

applications. The Grants.gov ‘‘Applicant 

Resources’’ page (http:// 

www07.grants.gov/applicants/ 

app_help_reso.jsp) provides 

instructions and guidance on 

completing the registration and 

application processes. Further, grant 

proposals must be submitted as an 

attachment to the SF424. 

Eligibility Requirements 

When selecting applicants to 

participate in the Small Community 


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3 49 U.S.C. 41743(c). 

4 49 U.S.C. 41743(d). 

5 49 U.S.C. 41743(c)(5). 

Program, the Department is statutorily 

required to apply the following 

eligibility criteria: 3

1. As of calendar year 1997, the 

airport serving the community was not 

larger than a small hub airport, and it 

has insufficient air carrier service or 

unreasonably high air fares, 

2. The airport serving the community 

presents characteristics, such as 

geographic diversity or unique 

circumstances that demonstrate the 

need for, and feasibility of, grant 

assistance from the Small Community 

Program; 

3. An applicant may not receive an 

additional grant to support the same 

project from a previous grant; 

4. An applicant may not receive an 

additional grant, prior to the completion 

of its previous grant; 

5. No more than 4 communities or 

consortia of communities, or a 

combination thereof, from the same 

State may be selected to participate in 

the program in any fiscal year; and 

6. No more than 40 communities or 

consortia of communities, or a 

combination thereof, may be selected to 

participate in the program in each year 

for which the funds are appropriated. 

In assessing whether a previous 

grantee’s current proposal represents a 

new project, we compare the goals and 

objectives of the earlier grant, including 

the key components of the means by 

which those goals and objectives were 

to be achieved, to the current proposal. 

For example, if a community received 

an earlier grant to support a revenue 

guarantee for service to a particular 

destination or direction, a new 

application for another revenue 

guarantee for the same service would be 

disqualified under Section 41743(c), 

even if the revenue guarantee were 

structured differently or the type of 

carrier were different. However, we do 

not read Section 41743(c) to disqualify 

a new application for service to a new 

destination or direction using a revenue 

guarantee, or for general marketing of 

the airport and the various services it 

offers. We recognize that not all revenue 

guarantees, marketing agreements, 

equipment purchases, etc. are of the 

same nature, and that if a subsequent 

proposal incorporates different goals or 

significantly different components, it 

may be sufficiently different to 

constitute a new project under Section 

41743(c). 

The Department is authorized to 

award grants to communities that seek 

to provide assistance to: 

• An air carrier to subsidize service to 

and from an underserved airport for a 

period not to exceed 3 years; 

• An underserved airport to obtain 

service to and from the underserved 

airport; and/or 

• An underserved airport to 

implement such other measures as the 

Secretary, in consultation with such 

airport, considers appropriate to 

improve air service both in terms of the 

cost of such service to consumers and 

the availability of such service, 

including improving air service through 

marketing and promotion of air service 

and enhanced utilization of airport 

facilities.4

Priority Considerations 

Priority factors considered. The law 

directs the Department to give priority 

consideration to those communities or 

consortia where: 5

• Air fares are higher than the 

national average air fares for all 

communities; 

• The community or consortium will 

provide a portion of the cost of the 

activity from local sources other than 

airport revenue sources; 

• The community or consortium has 

established or will establish a publicprivate partnership to facilitate air 

carrier service to the public; 

• The assistance will provide material 

benefits to a broad segment of the 

traveling public, including business, 

educational institutions, and other 

enterprises, whose access to the national 

air transportation system is limited; and 

• The assistance will be used in a 

timely manner. 

Additional factors considered. 

Applications will be evaluated against 

the priority considerations listed above. 

Our experience has been that more 

applications are received than can be 

funded under the Small Community 

Program. Consequently, consistent with 

the criteria stated above, the selection 

process will take into consideration 

such additional factors as: 

• The geographic location of each 

applicant, including the community’s 

proximity to larger centers of air service 

and low-fare service alternatives; 

• The proposed Federal grant amount 

requested compared with the local share 

offered; 

• Whether the applicant community 

has previously received a grant award 

under this program and, if so, whether 

its application includes an explanation 

of how the community’s proposed 

project differs from its previously 

funded project; 

• The community’s demonstrated 

commitment to and participation in the 

proposed grant project; 

• The extent to which the applicant’s 

proposed solution(s) to solving the 

problem(s) is new or innovative; 

• The population and business 

activity as well as the relative size of 

each applicant community; 

• The community’s existing level of 

air service and whether that service has 

been increasing or decreasing; 

• Whether the community’s proposal, 

if successfully implemented, could 

serve as a working model for other 

communities; 

• The grant amount requested 

compared with total funds available for 

all communities; 

• Whether the community has a 

viable plan to use the funds in a timely 

manner; 

• The uniqueness of an applicant’s 

claimed problems and whether the 

proposed project clearly addresses the 

applicant’s claimed problems; and 

• Whether the community’s 

proximity to an existing or prior grant 

recipient could adversely affect either 

its proposal or the project undertaken by 

the other recipient. 

Full community participation is a key 

goal of this program as demonstrated by 

the statute’s focus on local contributions 

and active participation in the project. 

Therefore, applications that demonstrate 

broad community support will be more 

attractive. For example, communities 

providing proportionately higher levels 

of cash contributions from other than 

airport revenues will have more 

attractive proposals. Communities that 

provide multiple levels of contributions 

(state, local, airport, cash and in-kind 

contributions) also will have more 

attractive proposals. Similarly, 

communities that demonstrate 

participation in the development and 

execution of the proposed air service 

project will enhance the attractiveness 

of their proposals. In this regard, the 

Department welcomes letters of intent 

from airlines on behalf of community 

proposals that are specifically intended 

to enlist new or expanded air carrier 

presence. Such letters will be accorded 

greater weight when authorized by 

airline planning departments. 

Proposals that offer innovative 

solutions to the transportation issues 

facing the community will be more 

attractive. Small communities have 

faced many problems retaining and 

improving their air services and in 

coping with air fares that are higher 

than typical for larger communities. 

Therefore, proposals that offer new, 

creative approaches to addressing these 

problems, to the extent that they are 


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reasonable, will have their 

attractiveness enhanced. Proposals that 

provide a well-defined plan, a 

reasonable timetable for use of the grant 

funds, and a plan for continuation and/ 

or monitoring of the project after the 

grant expires also will have greater 

attractiveness. 

Additional Criteria and Grant 

Limitations 

Communities without existing air 

service. Communities that do not 

currently have commercial air service 

are also eligible, but air service 

providers must have met or be able to 

meet in a reasonable period all 

Departmental requirements for air 

service certification, including safety 

and economic authorities. 

Essential Air Service communities. 

Small communities that meet the basic 

criteria and currently receive subsidized 

air service under the Essential Air 

Service (EAS) program are eligible to 

apply for funds under the Small 

Community Program. However, grant 

awards to EAS-subsidized communities 

are limited to marketing or promotion 

projects that support existing or newly 

subsidized EAS. Grant funds will not be 

authorized for EAS-subsidized 

communities to support any new 

competing air service. Furthermore, no 

funds will be authorized to support 

additional flights by EAS carriers or 

changes to those carriers’ existing 

schedules. These restrictions are 

necessary to avoid conflicts with the 

EAS program. 

Consortium applications. The statute 

permits individual communities and 

consortia of communities to apply for 

grant awards under this program. In 

some instances in the past, several 

communities in a State have filed a 

single application as a ‘‘consortium,’’ 

but in effect the application was a 

collection of individual community 

requests involving different projects. 

This is not a consortium. An application 

from a consortium of communities must 

be one that seeks to facilitate the efforts 

of the communities working together 

toward a joint grant project. In other 

words, the application must set forth 

one grant project, with one joint 

objective, and establish one entity to 

ensure that the joint objective is 

accomplished according to the terms of 

a grant agreement. For example, several 

communities surrounding an airport 

may apply together to improve air 

services at that airport, with a joint 

objective of securing new or additional 

service to that airport. Or, surrounding 

airports may apply together in support 

of a regional plan to lower fares or 

reverse a decline in traffic. 

Prior grant recipients. Communities or 

members of a consortia that were 

awarded grants in previous years and 

want to apply for a grant this year 

should be aware that they are precluded 

from seeking new funds for projects for 

which they have already received an 

award under the Small Community 

Program. 

In its application, a community that is 

a previous grant recipient should 

compare and contrast its proposed 

project with its previously funded 

one(s) to demonstrate why its latest 

proposal represents a new project. 

Communities should also note that in 

prior years of the program, interest in 

participation exceeded the funds 

available in any one year. For this 

reason, the fact that a community has 

already received one or more grants will 

be a consideration when comparing its 

new proposal with those of other 

applicant communities. 

Concurrent applications. A 

community or member of a consortium 

may participate in the program a 

subsequent time only after its 

participation in a prior grant has 

terminated. 49 U.S.C. 41743(c)(4). 

Simply stated, a community can have 

only one Small Community Program 

grant at any time. If a grant applicant is 

applying for a subsequent grant and its 

current grant has not yet expired, it 

must notify the Department of its intent 

to terminate the current grant prior to 

entering into the new grant. In addition, 

for grant applicants that are members of 

a consortia grant, permission must be 

granted from both the grant sponsor and 

the Department to withdraw from the 

current grant prior to being eligible to 

receive a subsequent grant. 

Multiple Applications. The 

Department requests that communities 

file only one application for a grant. In 

the past, some communities have filed 

both individual applications and 

applications as part of a consortium. In 

many cases these applications have 

involved the same project at the same or 

different funding levels. We will not 

consider the stand-alone application if a 

community is also submitting a largely 

identical request as part of a 

consortium. To the extent that a 

community files separately and as part 

of a consortium for complementary 

projects—for example, one for a revenue 

guarantee and one for marketing—we 

will consider such proposals. However, 

communities should be aware that they 

can receive only one grant, either the 

stand-alone grant or as a member of a 

consortium, because no community can 

have concurrent grants. 

Market analysis and a complementary 

marketing commitment. A thorough 

understanding of the target market is 

essential for the ultimate success of new 

or expanded air service. Likewise, the 

chances that such a service will become 

self-sustaining are enhanced when its 

implementation is supported by a welldesigned marketing campaign. For these 

reasons, communities requesting funds 

for a revenue guarantee/subsidy/ 

financial incentive are encouraged to 

include in their proposals an in-depth 

analysis evidencing close familiarity 

with their target markets. Such 

communities also are encouraged to 

designate in their proposals a portion of 

the project funds (Federal, local or inkind) for the development and 

implementation of a marketing plan in 

support of the service sought. 

Subsidies for a carrier to compete 

against an incumbent. The Department 

is reluctant to subsidize one carrier but 

not others in a competitive market. For 

this reason, communities that propose 

to use the grant funds for service in a 

city-pair market that is already served 

by a carrier must explain in detail why 

the existing service is insufficient or 

unsatisfactory, or provide other 

compelling information to support such 

proposals. This information is necessary 

for the Department to consider the 

competitive implications of giving 

financial or other tangible incentives for 

one carrier that the other carrier is not 

receiving. 

Cost Sharing and Local Contributions 

Are Important Factors. The statute does 

not require communities to contribute 

toward a grant project, but those 

communities that contribute from local 

sources other than airport revenues are 

accorded priority consideration. One 

core objective of the Small Community 

Program is to promote community 

involvement in addressing air service/ 

air fare issues through public/private 

partnerships. As a financial stakeholder 

in the process, the community gains 

greater control over the type, quality, 

and success of the air service initiatives 

that will best meet its needs, and 

demonstrates a greater commitment 

towards achieving the stated goals. The 

Department has historically received 

many more applications than can be 

accommodated and nearly all of those 

applications have proposed a 

community financial contribution to the 

project. Thus, proposals that propose a 

community financial contribution will 

be given priority consideration. 

Applicant communities should be 

aware that, if awarded a grant, the 

Department will not reimburse the 

community for pre-award expenses such 

as the cost of preparing the grant 

application or for any expenses incurred 

prior to the community executing a 


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6 49 U.S.C. 47107, 47133. 

7A travel ‘‘bank’’ involves the actual deposit of 

funds from participating parties (e.g., businesses, 

individuals) into a designated bank account for the 

purpose of purchasing air travel on the selected 

airline, with defined procedures for the subsequent 

use or withdrawal of those funds under an 

agreement with the airline. Often, however, what 

communities refer to as a travel ‘‘bank’’ in reality 

involves travel ‘‘pledges’’ from businesses in the 

community without any collection of funds or 

formal procedures for use of the funds. As with 

other types of in-kind contributions, the 

Department views travel banks and pledges 

included in grant proposals as an indicator of local 

community support. 

8These examples are illustrative only and are not 

meant as a list of projects favored by the 

Department. Interested communities can view 

actual proposals submitted in prior years. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and, under ‘‘Search,’’ 

enter one of the following depending on the desired 

filing year: DOT–OST–2002–11590, DOT–OST– 

2003–15065, DOT–OST–2004–17343, DOT–OST– 

2005–20127, DOT–OST–2006–23671; DOT–OST– 

2007–27370, DOT–OST–2008–0100, DOT–OST– 

2009–0149, and DOT–OST–2010–0124. 

grant agreement with the Department. In 

addition, ten percent of the grant funds 

will be withheld until the Department 

receives the final report on the grant 

project. See ‘‘Award Administration 

Information,’’ below. 

Types of contributions. Contributions 

should represent a new financial 

commitment or new financial resources 

devoted to attracting new or improved 

service, or addressing specific high-fare 

or other service issues, such as 

improving patronage of existing service 

at the airport. Contributions from 

already-existing programs or projects 

(e.g., designating a portion of an 

airport’s existing annual marketing 

budget to the project) are considered 

less favorably than contributions for 

new and innovative programs or 

projects. For those communities that 

propose to contribute to the grant 

project, that contribution can be in the 

following forms: 

Cash from non-airport revenues. A 

cash contribution can include funds 

from the State, the County or the local 

government, and/or from local 

businesses, or other private 

organizations in the community. 

Contributions that are comprised of 

intangible non-cash items, such as the 

‘‘value’’ of donated advertising, are 

considered ‘‘in-kind’’ contributions (see 

further discussion below). 

Cash from airport revenues. This 

includes contributions from funds 

generated by airport operations. Airport 

revenues may not be used for revenue 

guarantees to airlines.6 Community 

proposals that include local 

contributions based on airport revenues 

do not receive priority consideration for 

selection. 

In-kind contributions from the airport. 

This can include such items as waivers 

of landing fees, terminal rents, fuel fees, 

and/or vehicle parking fees. 

In-kind contributions from the 

community. This can include such 

items as donated advertising from media 

outlets, catering services for inaugural 

events, or in-kind trading, such as 

advertising in exchange for free air 

travel. Travel banks and travel 

commitments/pledges are considered to 

be in-kind contributions,7 as are 

reduced fares offered by airlines. 

Cash vs. in-kind contributions. 

Communities that include local 

contributions made in cash are given 

priority consideration for selection. 

Financial commitments must be 

fulfilled. Applicant communities should 

note that, as part of the grant agreement 

between the Department and the 

community, the community has legally 

committed itself to fulfilling its 

proposed financial contribution to the 

project and that its failure to meet this 

commitment could lead the Department 

to terminate the grant. Community 

participation in all aspects of the 

proposal, including the financial 

aspects, is critical to the success of the 

authorized project initiative. 

Furthermore, communities cannot 

propose a certain level of cash 

contribution from non-airport sources, 

and subsequent to being awarded a 

grant, seek to substitute or replace that 

contribution with either ‘‘in-kind’’ 

contributions or contributions from 

airport revenues, or both. Given the 

statute’s priority for contributions from 

non-airport sources and the competitive 

nature of the selection process, a 

community’s grant award could be 

reduced or terminated altogether if it is 

unable to replace the committed funds 

from non-airport revenue sources. 

Payment Reimbursement Receipts: 

The Small Community Program is a 

reimbursable program; therefore, 

communities are required to make 

expenditures in full for project 

implementation under the program 

prior to seeking reimbursement from the 

Department. Reimbursement rates are 

calculated as a percentage of the total 

Federal funds requested divided by the 

Federal funds plus the local cash 

contribution (which is not refundable). 

Payments/expenditures in forms other 

than cash (e.g. in-kind) are not 

reimbursable. For example, if a 

community requests $500,000 in 

Federal funding and provides $100,000 

in local contribution the reimbursement 

rate would be 83.33 percent: ((500,000)/ 

(500,000 + 100,000)) = 83.33. 

III. Types of Projects 

The statute is very general about the 

types of projects that can be authorized 

so that communities are provided 

flexibility in addressing their particular 

air service and airfare issues. Because 

circumstances may differ among 

communities, applicants have some 

latitude in identifying their own 

objectives and developing strategies for 

accomplishing them. 

The major objective of the Small 

Community Program is to help 

communities secure enhancements that 

will be responsive to their air 

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

the grant has ended. There are many 

ways that a community might enhance 

its current air service or attract new 

service, such as: 

• Promoting awareness among 

residents of locally available service; 

• Attracting a new carrier through 

revenue guarantees or operating cost 

offsets; 

• Attracting new forms of service, 

such as on-demand air taxi service; 

• Offering an incumbent carrier 

financial or other incentives to lower its 

fares, increase its frequencies, add new 

routes, or deploy more suitable aircraft, 

including upgrading its equipment from 

turboprops to regional jets; 

• Combining traffic support from 

surrounding communities with 

regionalized service through one airport; 

or 

• Providing local ground 

transportation service to improve access 

to air service to the community and the 

surrounding area.8

The SCASDP program has already 

supported numerous standard revenue 

guarantee and marketing projects; there 

is an increased prospect for favorable 

consideration if the proposal offers 

distinctive or creative aspects or 

features that have potential for 

establishing new and better practices. At 

the same time, proposals must not be 

general, vague, or unsupported. The 

more highly defined and focused the 

proposal, the more competitive it will 

be, particularly in light of the priority 

consideration afforded by the statute to 

those applicants that can use the funds 

in a timely manner. 49 U.S.C. 

41743(c)(5)(E). 

Additional Information 

There is no set format that must be 

used in submitting grant proposals. At 

a minimum, however, a proposal must 

provide the following information: 

• A description of the community’s 

existing air service, including the 

carrier(s) providing service, service 


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9The projected timetable will be an integral part 

of the grant agreements between the selected 

communities and the Department. Therefore, there 

is no advantage to a community in proposing an 

aggressive timetable that cannot be met, and there 

may be disadvantages if the community finds that 

it cannot meet its timetable or if its timeline is 

deemed unrealistic. Communities should carefully 

consider all factors affecting implementation of 

their projects and develop realistic timeframes for 

achieving those objectives. 

frequency, nonstop destinations offered, 

fares, and equipment types. 

• A synopsis of the community’s 

historical service, including 

destinations, traffic levels, service 

providers, and any extenuating factors 

that might have affected traffic in the 

past or that can be expected to influence 

service needs in the near to intermediate 

term. 

• A description of the community’s 

air service development efforts over the 

past five years and the results of those 

efforts. The community should describe 

past air service development efforts and 

their results in its grant proposal. The 

description should include marketing 

and promotional efforts of airport 

services as well as efforts to recruit 

additional or improved air service and 

airfare initiatives. 

• A description of the community’s 

air service needs or deficiencies. A 

community should submit any 

information about (1) major origin/ 

destination markets that are not now 

served or are not served adequately, and 

(2) fare levels that the community 

deems relevant to consideration of its 

grant request, including market analyses 

or studies demonstrating an 

understanding of local air service needs. 

• A strategic plan for meeting those 

needs under the Small Community 

Program, including the community’s 

specific project goal(s) and detailed plan 

for attaining such goal(s). Plans should: 

Æ Clearly identify the target audience 

of each component of the proposed 

transportation initiative, including all 

advertising and promotional efforts. 

Æ Set forth a realistic timetable for 

implementation of the grant project 

including a timeline chart. Because the 

statute includes timely use of the grant 

funds as a priority consideration, a 

community must have a well-developed 

project plan and a detailed timetable for 

implementing that plan. In establishing 

the timetable, however, the community 

should be realistic about its ability to 

meet its project deadlines.9

Æ For proposals involving new or 

improved service, explain how the 

service will become self-sufficient. 

Under the statute, a community cannot 

seek grant funding in subsequent years 

in support of the same project. 

Moreover, in developing a proposal, it is 

important that a community seriously 

consider the scale of its proposed 

project and the timetable for achieving 

the stated goals. To the extent that a 

proposed project is dependent upon or 

relevant to the completion of other 

Federally funded capital improvement 

projects, the community should provide 

a description of, and the construction 

time-line for, those projects, keeping in 

mind the statutory requirement to use 

Small Community Program funding in a 

timely manner. 

Æ Fully and clearly outline the goals 

and objectives of the project; e.g., ‘‘to 

broaden the awareness by residents in 

the Tri-County area of the various 

services provided by passenger carriers 

at the Tri-County airport,’’ or ‘‘to obtain 

new and affordable service to a hub 

airport in a direction where there is no 

such service.’’ When an application is 

selected, these goals and objectives will 

be incorporated into the grant agreement 

and define its basic project scope. Once 

an agreement is signed, if circumstances 

change and an amendment is sought to 

allow for different activities or a 

different approach, the Department will 

look to whether the change being sought 

is consistent with those fundamental 

project goals and objectives. Proposed 

changes that would alter those 

fundamental goals and objectives cannot 

be authorized, because doing so would 

undermine the competitive nature of the 

selection process. Applicants are also 

encouraged to include in their proposals 

alternative or back-up strategies for 

achieving their desired goals and 

objectives. By incorporating such 

information into the grant agreement, 

desired changes may be permitted. 

Æ Include metrics by which progress 

towards goals will be measured, the 

source(s) of those data, and how the 

data will be analyzed. 

Æ If the applicant received a Small 

Community Program grant in the past, 

explain how its proposed project differs 

from its earlier one by comparing and 

contrasting project goals, objectives and 

methods of achieving them. 

• A description of any public-private 

partnership that will participate in the 

project. Full community involvement is 

a key aspect of the Small Community 

Program. The statute gives priority to 

those communities that already have 

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

service to the public. The proposal 

should fully describe the public-private 

partnership that will participate in the 

community’s proposal and how the 

partnership will actively participate in 

the implementation of the proposed 

project. In addition, applicants should 

identify each member of the 

partnership, the role that each will play, 

and the specific responsibilities of each 

member in project implementation. If 

the application does not include 

specific information on the partnership 

participation in the project, the 

Department will not be able to evaluate 

how well a community has met this 

consideration, and the applicant will 

not be deemed to have met this priority 

consideration in the Department’s 

evaluation of the community’s proposal. 

• A detailed description of the 

funding necessary for implementation of 

the community’s project, including the 

Federal and non-Federal contributions. 

Proposals should clearly identify the 

level of Federal funding sought. They 

should also clearly identify the 

community’s cash contributions to the 

proposed project, ‘‘in-kind’’ 

contributions from the airport, and ‘‘inkind’’ contributions from the 

community. Cash contributions from 

airport revenues should be identified 

separately from cash contributions from 

other community sources. Similarly, 

cash contributions from the State and/ 

or local government should be 

separately identified and described. 

• An explanation of how the 

community will ensure that its own 

funding contribution is spent in the 

manner proposed. 

• Descriptions of how the community 

will monitor the progress of the grant 

project and identification of a list of 

critical milestones to be met during the 

life of the grant, including the need to 

modify or discontinue funding if the 

community cannot achieve such 

milestones. This is an important 

component of the community’s proposal 

and serves to demonstrate the 

thoroughness of the community’s 

planning of the proposed grant project. 

• A description of how the 

community plans to continue with the 

project if it is not self-sustaining after 

the grant award expires. A particular 

goal of the Small Community Program is 

to provide long-term, self-sustaining 

improvements to air service for small 

communities. A community cannot seek 

further grant funding in support of the 

same project. 49 U.S.C. 41743(c)(4). It is 

possible that new or improved service at 

a community will be well on its way to 

becoming a self-sustaining service, but it 

may not have reached that goal before 

the grant expires. Similarly, it is 

possible that extensive marketing and 

promotional efforts may be in progress, 

but not have been completed at the end 

of the grant period and will require 


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10Project implementation costs are reimbursable 

from grant funds only for services or property 

delivered during the grant term. 

11The community has the responsibility to 

ensure that the recipient of any funding has the 

legal authority under State and local laws to carry 

out all aspects of the grant. 

12The percentage is determined by: (SCASDP 

Grant Amount) ÷ (SCASDP Grant Amount + Local 

Cash Contribution + State Cash Contribution, if 

applicable). 

continued support.10 Therefore, in 

developing its proposal, the community 

should carefully consider and describe 

in detail its plans for providing any 

necessary continued financial support 

for the project after the grant funding is 

no longer available. This aspect of the 

application reflects the community’s 

commitment to the grant project and is 

an important component to the 

Department’s consideration of the 

community’s proposal for selection for a 

grant award. 

• Designation of a legal sponsor 

responsible for administering the 

program. The legal sponsor of the grant 

project must be a government entity. If 

the applicant is a public-private 

partnership, a public government 

member of the organization must be 

identified as the community’s sponsor 

to receive program reimbursements. In 

this regard, communities can designate 

only a single government entity as the 

legal sponsor, even if it is applying as 

a consortium that consists of two or 

more local government entities. Private 

organizations cannot be designated as 

the legal sponsor of a grant under the 

Small Community Program.11

Air Service Development Zone 

Designation 

The statute authorizing the Small 

Community Program also provides that 

the Department will designate one of the 

grant recipients as an Air Service 

Development Zone. The purpose of the 

designation is to provide communities 

interested in attracting business to the 

area surrounding the airport and/or 

developing land-use options for the area 

to work with the Department on means 

to achieve those goals. The Department 

will assist the designated community in 

establishing contacts with and obtaining 

advice and assistance from appropriate 

government agencies, including the 

Department of Commerce as well as 

other offices within the Department of 

Transportation, and in identifying other 

pertinent resources that may aid the 

community in its efforts to attract 

businesses and to formulate land-use 

options. However, the community 

receiving the designation will be 

responsible for developing, 

implementing, and managing activities 

related to the air service development 

zone initiative. Only communities that 

are interested in these objectives and 

have a plan to accomplish them should 

compete for the available designation. 

There are no additional funds associated 

with this designation, and applying for 

the designation will provide no special 

benefit or preference to a community in 

receiving a grant award under the Small 

Community Program. 

Grant applicants interested in 

selection for the Air Service 

Development Zone designation must 

include in their applications a separate 

section, titled, Support for Air Service 

Development Zone Designation. That 

section should include: 

Æ Detailed information regarding the 

property and facilities available for 

development such as an existing airpark 

or land for such an airpark; 

Æ The other modes of transportation 

that would be available to support 

additional economic development, such 

as rail, road, and/or water access; 

Æ Information concerning historic, 

existing, and any future business 

activity in the area that would support 

further development; 

Æ Demographic information 

concerning the community and its 

environs relevant to the developmental 

efforts, including population, 

employment, and per capita income 

data; and 

Æ Any other information that the 

community believes is relevant to its 

plans to enhance air service 

development. 

The community should provide as 

detailed a plan as possible, including 

what goals it expects to achieve from the 

air service development zone 

designation and the types of activities 

on which it would like to work with the 

Department in achieving those goals. 

The community should also indicate 

whether further local government 

approvals are required in order to 

implement the proposed activities. 

IV. Award Administration Information 

The grant awards will be made as 

promptly as possible so that selected 

communities can complete the grant 

agreement process and proceed to 

implement their plans. Given the 

competitive nature of the grant process, 

the Department will not meet with grant 

applicants with respect to their grant 

proposals. 

The Department will announce its 

grant selections via a selection order, 

which will be served on each grant 

recipient, all other applicants, and all 

parties served with this solicitation 

order. The selection order will also be 

on the Department’s Small Community 

Program Web page. 

Grant agreement. Communities 

awarded grants are required to execute 

a grant agreement with the Department 

before they begin to expend funds under 

the grant award. Grant funds will be 

provided on a reimbursable basis only, 

with reimbursements made only for 

expenses incurred and billed during the 

period that the grant agreement is in 

effect and at the appropriate percentage 

rate.12 Applicants should not assume 

they have received a grant, nor should 

they obligate or expend local funds 

prior to receiving and fully executing a 

grant agreement with the Department. 

Expenditures made prior to the 

execution of a grant agreement, 

including costs associated with 

preparation of the grant application, 

will not be reimbursed. Moreover, there 

are numerous assurances that grant 

recipients must sign and honor when 

Federal funds are awarded. All 

communities receiving a grant under the 

Small Community Program will be 

required to accept the responsibilities of 

these assurances and to execute such 

the assurances when they execute their 

grant agreements. Copies of the 

applicable assurances are available for 

review on the Department’s Web page at 

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

(click on ‘‘SCASDP Grant Assurances’’). 

Grantee reports. The grant agreement 

between the Department and each 

selected community will require the 

submission of quarterly reports on the 

progress the community has made 

during the previous quarter in 

implementing its grant project. In 

addition, the grant agreement will 

require the submission, on a quarterly or 

other time-specific basis, of other 

materials relevant to the grant project, 

such as copies of advertising and 

promotional material and copies of 

contracts with consultants and service 

providers. In addition, each community 

will be required to submit a final report 

on its project to the Department, and 10 

percent of the grant funds will not be 

reimbursed to the community until such 

final report is received. 

Additional information on award 

administration for selected communities 

will be provided in the grant agreement. 

Grant amendments. A grantee may 

wish to amend its agreement with the 

Department in the event of a change in 

circumstances after the date the 

agreement is executed. Typically, 

amendments involve an extension to the 

time period for completing the grant or 

a change in the types of activities 

authorized for reimbursement under the 

goals and objectives (‘‘project scope’’) of 


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the grant agreement. Grantees are 

cautioned, however, that the 

Department cannot authorize 

amendments that are incompatible with 

the scope of the agreement. For 

example, a grant awarded solely for the 

purpose of developing an airport 

marketing plan cannot be amended to 

permit subsidization of an air carrier’s 

startup costs, or a grant awarded solely 

for the purpose of attracting low-fare 

service cannot be amended to permit it 

to attract service from a legacy carrier, 

since the latter, in each example, was 

never contemplated by the original 

agreement. 

Applicants are advised to obtain firm 

assurances from air carriers proposing to 

offer new air service if a grant is 

awarded. Many grants have been 

awarded for the purpose of subsidizing 

new or additional air service for a small 

community, with the goal of that service 

becoming self-sustaining by the end of 

the subsidy period. In virtually all cases, 

the community seeking the grant funds 

received expressions of interest from 

one or more air carriers. In some 

instances, these expressions of interest 

failed to materialize and the community 

was left without any immediate 

prospects, at which time it asked for a 

grant extension to allow more time to 

pursue other carriers. Because the 

Department is charged by law to 

consider timely use of funds when 

selecting grant recipients, the 

Department will grant an extension only 

when the community can provide strong 

evidence of a firm commitment on the 

part of an air carrier to deliver the 

desired service. 

To ensure understanding, grantees 

contemplating amendments to their 

agreements are urged to discuss their 

situations with the Small Community 

Program staff before requesting a formal 

amendment. 

This order is issued under authority 

delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f). 

Accordingly, 

1. Community proposals for funding 

under the Small Community Air Service 

Development Program should be 

submitted via http://www.grants.gov as 

an attachment to the SF424 no later than 

August 2, 2011; and 

2. This order will be published in the 

Federal Register and also will be served 

on the Conference of Mayors, the 

National League of Cities, the National 

Governors Association, the National 

Association of State Aviation Officials 

(NASAO), County Executives of 

America, the American Association of 

Airport Executives (AAAE), and the 

Airports Council International-North 

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

www.grants.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on June 28, 

2011. 

Susan L. Kurland, 

Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 

International Affairs. 

An electronic version of this 

document is available on the World 

Wide Web at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Small Community Air Service 

Development Program 

United States Code Annotated 

Title 49. Transportation 

Subtitle VII. Aviation Programs 

Part A. Air Commerce and Safety 

Subpart II. Economic Regulation 

Chapter 417. Operations of Carriers 

Subchapter II. Small Community Air Service 

➡ § 41743. Airports not receiving sufficient 

service 

(a) Small community air service 

development program.—The Secretary of 

Transportation shall establish a program that 

meets the requirements of this section for 

improving air carrier service to airports not 

receiving sufficient air carrier service. 

(b) Application required.—In order to 

participate in the program established under 

subsection (a), a community or consortium of 

communities shall submit an application to 

the Secretary in such form, at such time, and 

containing such information as the Secretary 

may require, including— 

(1) An assessment of the need of the 

community or consortium for access, or 

improved access, to the national air 

transportation system; and 

(2) An analysis of the application of the 

criteria in subsection (c) to that community 

or consortium. 

(c) Criteria for participation.—In selecting 

communities, or consortia of communities, 

for participation in the program established 

under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

apply the following criteria: 

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

airport serving the community or consortium 

was not larger than a small hub airport, 

and— 

(A) Had insufficient air carrier service; or 

(B) Had unreasonably high air fares. 

(2) Characteristics.—The airport presents 

characteristics, such as geographic diversity 

or unique circumstances, that will 

demonstrate the need for, and feasibility of, 

the program established under subsection (a). 

(3) State limit.—Not more than 4 

communities or consortia of communities, or 

a combination thereof, from the same State 

may be selected to participate in the program 

in any fiscal year. 

(4) Overall limit.—No more than 40 

communities or consortia of communities, or 

a combination thereof, may be selected to 

participate in the program in each year for 

which funds are appropriated for the 

program. 

No community, consortia of communities, 

nor combination thereof may participate in 

the program in support of the same project 

more than once, but any community, 

consortia of communities, or combination 

thereof may apply, subsequent to such 

participation, to participate in the program in 

support of a different project. 

(5) Priorities.—The Secretary shall give 

priority to communities or consortia of 

communities where— 

(A) Air fares are higher than the average air 

fares for all communities; 

(B) The community or consortium will 

provide a portion of the cost of the activity 

to be assisted under the program from local 

sources other than airport revenues; 

(C) The community or consortium has 

established, or will establish, a public-private 

partnership to facilitate air carrier service to 

the public; 

(D) The assistance will provide material 

benefits to a broad segment of the traveling 

public, including business, educational 

institutions, and other enterprises, whose 

access to the national air transportation 

system is limited; and 

(E) The assistance will be used in a timely 

fashion. 

(d) Types of assistance.—The Secretary 

may use amounts made available under this 

section— 

(1) To provide assistance to an air carrier 

to subsidize service to and from an 

underserved airport for a period not to 

exceed 3 years; 

(2) To provide assistance to an underserved 

airport to obtain service to and from the 

underserved airport; and 

(3) To provide assistance to an underserved 

airport to implement such other measures as 

the Secretary, in consultation with such 

airport, considers appropriate to improve air 

service both in terms of the cost of such 

service to consumers and the availability of 

such service, including improving air service 

through marketing and promotion of air 

service and enhanced utilization of airport 

facilities. 

(e) Authority to make agreements.— 

(1) In general.—The Secretary may make 

agreements to provide assistance under this 

section. 

(2) Authorization of appropriations.— 

There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

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

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

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

2004 through 2008 to carry out this section. 

Such sums shall remain available until 

expended. 

(f) Additional action.—Under the program 

established under subsection (a), the 

Secretary shall work with air carriers 

providing service to participating 

communities and major air carriers (as 

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

hub airports to facilitate joint-fare 

arrangements consistent with normal 

industry practice. 

(g) Designation of responsible official.— 

The Secretary shall designate an employee of 

the Department of Transportation— 

(1) To function as a facilitator between 

small communities and air carriers; 

(2) To carry out this section; 

(3) To ensure that the Bureau of 

Transportation Statistics collects data on 

passenger information to assess the service 

needs of small communities; 

(4) To work with and coordinate efforts 

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to increase the viability of service to small 

communities and the creation of aviation 

development zones; and 

(5) To provide policy recommendations to 

the Secretary and Congress that will ensure 

that small communities have access to 

quality, affordable air transportation services. 

(h) Air Service Development Zone.—The 

Secretary shall designate an airport in the 

program as an Air Service Development Zone 

and work with the community or consortium 

on means to attract business to the area 

surrounding the airport, to develop land use 

options for the area, and provide data, 

working with the Department of Commerce 

and other agencies. 

Cover Page 

The cover page for all applications should 

bear the title ‘‘Proposal Under the Small 

Community Air Service Development 

Program, Docket DOT–OST–2011–0119’’ and 

should include: 

(1) The name of the community or 

consortium of communities applying for the 

grant; 

(2) The legal sponsor and its Dun and 

Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number, including + 4; 

Employee Identification Number (EIN) or Tax 

ID; and, 

(3) The 2-digit Congressional district code 

applicable to the sponsoring organization 

and, if a consortium, to each participating 

community. 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 


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BILLING CODE 4910–9X–C 

Confidential Commercial Information 

Applicants will be able to provide certain 

confidential business information relevant to 

their proposals on a confidential basis. Under 

the Department’s Freedom of Information Act 

regulations (49 CFR 7.17), such information 

is limited to commercial or financial 

information that, if disclosed, would either 

likely cause substantial harm to the 

competitive position of a business or 

enterprise or make it more difficult for the 

Federal Government to obtain similar 

information in the future. 

Applicants seeking confidential treatment 

of a portion of their applications must 

segregate the confidential material in a sealed 

envelope marked ‘‘Confidential Submission 

of X (the applicant) in Docket DOT–OST– 

2011–0119,’’ and include with that material 

a request in the form of a motion seeking 

confidential treatment of the material under 

14 CFR 302.12 (Rule 12) of the Department’s 

regulations. The applicant should submit an 

original and two copies of its motion and an 

original and two copies of the confidential 

material in the sealed envelope. 

The confidential material should not be 

included with the original of the applicant’s 

proposal that is submitted via http:// 

www.grants.gov. The applicant’s original 

submission, however, should indicate clearly 

where the confidential material would have 

been inserted. If an applicant invokes Rule 

12, the confidential portion of its filing will 

be treated as confidential pending a final 

determination. All confidential material must 

be received by August 2, 2011, and delivered 

to the Office of Aviation Analysis, 8th Floor, 

Room W86–310, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

A template for the confidential motion can 

be found at http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/ 

X–50%20Role_files/smallcommunity.htm. 

[FR Doc. 2011–16727 Filed 6–30–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–C 


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