15484 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 59 / Monday, March 29, 2009 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 6934] 

Waiver of Restriction on Assistance to 

the Central Government of Uzbekistan 

Related to Budget Transparency 

Pursuant to section 7086(c)(2) of the 

Department of State, Foreign 

Operations, and Related Programs 

Appropriations Act, 2010 (Division F, 

Pub. L. 111–117) (‘‘the Act’’), and 

Department of State Delegation of 

Authority Number 245–1, I hereby 

determine that it is important to the 

national interest of the United States to 

waive the requirements of section 

7086(c)(1) of the Act with respect to the 

Government of Uzbekistan, and I hereby 

waive such restriction. 

This determination shall be reported 

to the Congress, and published in the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: March 22, 2010. 

Jacob J. Lew, 

Deputy Secretary of State for Management 

and Resources. 

[FR Doc. 2010–6910 Filed 3–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–46–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket No. FRA–2010–005–N–5] 

Railroad Safety Technology Program 

Grant Program 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability, 

Solicitation of Applications. 

SUMMARY: The Rail Safety Technology 

Program is a newly authorized program 

under the Rail Safety Improvement Act 

of 2008 (RSIA) (Pub. L. 110–432; 

October 16, 2008). The program 

authorizes the Department of 

Transportation to provide grants to 

passenger and freight rail carriers, 

railroad suppliers, and State and local 

governments for projects that have a 

public benefit of improved railroad 

safety and efficiency. The program 

makes available $50,000,000 in Federal 

funds. This grant program has a 

maximum 80 percent Federal and 

minimum 20 percent grantee cost share 

(cash or in-kind) match requirement. 

DATES: FRA will begin accepting grant 

applications 10 days after publication of 

this Notice of Funding Availability in 

the Federal Register. Applications may 

be submitted until July 1, 2010. Reviews 

will be conducted immediately 

following the solicitation close date. 

Selection announcements will be made 

on or around September 3, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Applications for grants 

under this Program must be submitted 

electronically to Grants.gov (http:// 

www.grants.gov) following the detailed 

procedures in the grant application 

package online. The Grants.gov Web site 

allows organizations to find and apply 

electronically for competitive grant 

opportunities from all Federal grantmaking agencies. Any entity wishing to 

submit an application pursuant to this 

notice should immediately initiate the 

process of registering with Grants.Gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Those interested in responding to this 

solicitation are strongly encouraged to 

first call Dr. Mark Hartong, FRA, Senior 

Electronics Engineer (Phone: (202) 493– 

1332; e-mail: Mark.Hartong@dot.gov), or 

Mr. David Blackmore, FRA, Program 

Manager–Advanced Technologies 

(Phone: (312) 835–3903, e-mail: 

David.Blackmore@dot.gov), to discuss 

the prospective idea, its potential 

responsiveness to the solicitation, and 

potential for FRA interest. Taking this 

action could forestall costly efforts by 

interested parties whose proposed work 

may not be of interest to FRA under this 

grant. Non-technical inquiries should be 

directed to the Grants Officer, Ms. 

Jennifer Capps (Phone: (202) 493–0112, 

e-mail: Jennifer.Capps@dot.gov). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority and Funding: The Railroad 

Safety Technology Program (RSTP) 

authorized under section 105 of the RSIA 

(Division A, Pub. L. 110–432) (49 U.S.C. 

20158), authorizes the appropriation of $50 

million annually for fiscal years (FY) 2009 

through 2013. The Transportation, Housing 

and Urban Development, and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 

provided $50 million for this purpose. 

Eligible Organizations: Title 49 U.S.C. 

20158 provides that ‘‘Grants shall be 

made under this section to eligible 

passenger and freight railroad carriers, 

railroad suppliers, and State and local 

governments for projects * * * that 

have a public benefit of improved safety 

and network efficiency.’’ 

To be eligible for assistance, entities 

must have either received approval of 

the Technology Implementation Plans 

(TIP) and Positive Train Control 

Implementation Plans (PTCIP) required 

by 49 U.S.C. 20156(e)(2) and 20157, or 

demonstrate to the satisfaction of FRA 

that they are currently developing the 

required plans. Preference will be given 

in the following order: 

1. Entities that have completed and 

received FRA approval of both their TIP 

and PTCIP. 

2. Entities that have completed and 

received FRA approval of their PTCIP. 

3. Entities that have submitted their 

PTCIP to FRA for approval. 

4. Entities that have certified to FRA 

progress towards completion of their 

PTCIP and TIP. 

5. All other entities. 

Collaborative project submissions by 

freight and passenger carriers, suppliers, 

and State and local governments on 

eligible projects will be evaluated more 

favorably. 

Eligible Projects: Grant awards will 

focus on using technologies or methods 

that are ready for deployment, or of 

sufficient technical maturity that they 

can be made ready for deployment 

within the 24 months of the grant 

award. FRA will give preference to 

collaborative projects by multiple 

railroads that have active railroad 

carrier and sponsoring public authority 

participation in the following order: 

Priority 1: Projects that: 

(a) Support the resolution of 

Northeast Corridor Positive Train 

Control (PTC) interoperability issues, 

(b) Support the resolution of mixed 

freight and passenger PTC 

interoperability issues in the Los 

Angeles Basin, or 

(c) Facilitate sharing of PTC 

communications infrastructure and 

spectrum. 

Priority 2: Projects that: 

(a) Support high-speed passenger 

operations using general freight PTC 

technologies, 

(b) Optimize PTC deployment on the 

core 2015 PTC territory, or 

(c) Support PTC deployment on non2015 core PTC territory. 

Priority 3: All other projects. 

Selection Criteria: Applications will 

be evaluated and ranked based on both 

technical and cost/price factors. 

Technical Factors (75% overall 

weighting): 

1. Responsiveness to Solicitation 

Intent and Requirements (20%): Degree 

to which proposal meets the conceptual 

intent and submission requirements of 

the solicitation. 

2. Significance for Implementing 

Interoperable PTC Deployment and Fit 

with FRA Mission (30%): Degree to 

which successful implementation of 

proposed idea would make 

interoperable PTC deployment more 

technically or economically practical 

(includes contribution to cost 

effectiveness, reliability, safety, 

availability, or maintainability), and fit 

within FRA’s primary mission of 

ensuring the safety of the Nation’s 

approximately 700 railroads. 

3. Technical Merit (20%): Degree to 

which proposed ideas exhibit a sound 

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