### 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 grantopportunities 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