4900 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

FTA Fiscal Year 2001 Apportionments,

Allocations and Program Information

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration

(FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Department of

Transportation (DOT) and Related

Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal

Year 2001 (FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act) (Pub. L. 106–346)

was signed into law by President

Clinton on October 23, 2000, and

provides FY 2001 appropriations for the

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

transit assistance programs. Based upon

this Act, and the Transportation Equity

Act for the 21st Century (TEA–21), on

November 3, 2000, FTA published, on

its website, a list of apportionments and

allocations for transit programs—

excluding the FY 2001 Bus allocations

for the Section 5309 Capital Investment

Program. Publication of the ‘‘FTA Fiscal

Year 2001 Apportionments, Allocations

and Program Information Notice’’ in the

Federal Register was delayed pending

the completion of the appropriation

process by Congress.

The FY 2001 Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 106–554),

which was signed by the President on

December 21, 2000, contains provisions

that impact the level of funding made

available to FTA in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act and cause the FY

2001 apportionments and allocations

previously published on the website to

change. More specifically, the FY 2001

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations

Act contain the following provisions

relative to FTA programs in this fiscal

year: (1) Section 1403(a) GovernmentWide Rescission, which rescinds an

amount equal to .22 percent of the

discretionary budget authority is to be

applied to programs, projects, and

activities; (2) Section 1108, which

directs that funding for the Clean Fuels

Formula Grant program under 49 U.S.C.

5309(m)(3)(C) does not apply to funds

made available in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act; and (3) Sections

1105, 1107, and 1123, which

appropriate from the Mass Transit

Account of the Highway Trust Fund,

$1,000,000 for Southeast Light Rail

Extension Project, in Dallas, TX,

$3,000,000 for the Newark-Elizabeth rail

link project in New Jersey, and $500,000

for Alabama A&M University buses and

bus facilities, respectively.

This notice includes the

apportionment of FY 2001 funds made

available in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act—adjusted in

accordance with the applicable

provisions of the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act—for

the: Metropolitan Planning Program and

State Planning and Research Program;

Urbanized Area Formula Program;

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program;

Rural Transit Assistance Program;

Elderly and Persons with Disabilities

Program; and the Capital Investment

Program for Fixed Guideway

Modernization. This notice also

contains the adjusted allocations for the

New Starts and Bus categories under the

Capital Investment Program and the Job

Access and Reverse Commute Program.

It contains general information about

other programs established under TEA–

21, including the Over-the-Road Bus

Accessibility Program and the Clean

Fuels Formula Program.

Information regarding TEA–21

funding authorization levels for use in

developing Metropolitan Transportation

Improvement Programs (TIPs) and

Statewide Transportation Improvement

Programs (STIPs) is included. For

informational purposes, the notice

contains the estimated apportionment of

FY 2001 funds for the Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) Metropolitan

Planning Program and the estimated

apportionment of FY 2001 funds for the

FHWA State Planning and Research

Program.

Listings of prior year unobligated

allocations for the section 5309 New

Starts and Bus Programs are included,

as in previous years. In addition, the

FTA policy regarding pre-award

authority to incur project costs and the

Letter of No Prejudice Policy are

provided. Other pertinent program

information is also included.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

appropriate FTA Regional

Administrator for grant-specific

information and issues; Patricia Levine,

Director, Office of Resource

Management and State Programs, (202)

366–2053, for general information about

the Urbanized Area Formula Program,

the Nonurbanized Area Formula

Program, the Rural Transit Assistance

Program, the Elderly and Persons with

Disabilities Program, the Clean Fuels

Formula Program, the Over-the-Road

Bus Accessibility Program, or the

Capital Investment Program; or Paul L.

Verchinski, Chief, Statewide and

Intermodal Planning Division,

(202)366–1626, for general information

concerning the Metropolitan Planning

Program and the State Planning and

Research Program; or Dr. Lewis P.

Clopton, Director, Office of Research

Management, (202)366–9157, for

information about the Job Access and

Reverse Commute Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background

II. Overview

A. Fiscal Year 2001 Appropriations

B. TEA–21 Authorized Program Levels

C. Project Management Oversight

D. 2002 Winter Olympic Games

III. Fiscal Year 2001 Focus Areas

A. Urbanized Area Formula Study

B. National Transit Database Redesign

C. New Starts Roundtable

D. Intelligent Transportation Systems

IV. Section 5303 Metropolitan Planning

Program and Section 5313(b) State

Planning and Research Program

A. Metropolitan Planning Program

B. State Planning and Research Program

C. Data Used for Metropolitan Planning

and State Planning and Research

Apportionments

D. FHWA Metropolitan Planning Program

and State Planning and Research

Program

E. Local Match Waiver for Specified

Planning Activities

F. Planning Emphasis Areas for Fiscal Year

2001

G. Federal Planning Certification Reviews

H. Consolidated Planning Grants

I. New Starts Approval to Enter

Preliminary Engineering and Final

Design

V. Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula

Program

A. Total Urbanized Area Formula

Apportionments

B. Fiscal Year 2000 Apportionment

Adjustments

C. Data Used for Urbanized Area Formula

Apportionments

D. Urbanized Area Formula

Apportionments to Governors

E. Transit Enhancements

F. Fiscal Year 2001 Operating Assistance

G. Unobligated Funds for Operating

Assistance

H. Designated Transportation Management

Areas

I. Urbanized Area Formula Funds Used for

Highway Purposes

J. National Transit Database Internet

Reporting

VI. Section 5311 Nonurbanized Area Formula

Program and Section 5311(b) Rural

Transit Assistance Program (RTAP)

A. Nonurbanized Area Formula Program

B. Rural Transit Assistance Program

(RTAP)

VII. Section 5310 Elderly and Persons With

Disabilities Program

VIII. FHWA Surface Transportation Program

and Congestion Mitigation and Air

Quality Funds Used for Transit Purposes

(Title 23, U.S.C.)

A. Transfer Process

B. Matching Share for FHWA Transfers

IX. Section 5309 CapitaL Investment Program

A. Fixed Guideway Modernization

B. New Starts

C. Bus

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4901

X. Job Access and Reverse Commute

Program—Section 3037 oF TEA–21

XI. Over-The-Road Bus Accessibility

Program—Section 3038 of TEA–21

XII. Section 5308 Clean Fuels Formula

Program

XIII. Unit Values of Data for Section 5307

Urbanized Area Formula Program,

Section 5311 Nonurbanized Area

Formula Program, and Section 5309

Fixed Guideway Modernization Program

XIV. Period of Availability of Funds

XV. Automatic Pre-Award Authority to Incur

Project Costs

A. Policy

B. Conditions

C. Environmental, Planning, and Other

Federal Requirements

D. Pre-award Authority for New Starts

Projects Approved for Preliminary

Engineering and/or Final Design

XVI. Letter of No Prejudice Policy (Prior

Approval of Pre-Award Authority)

A. Policy

B. Conditions

C. Environmental, Planning, and Other

Federal Requirements

D. Request for LONP

XVII. FTA Homepage on the Internet

XVIII. FTA Fiscal Year 2001 Annual List of

Certifications and Assurances

XIX. Grant Application Procedures Tables

1. FTA Revised FY 2001 Appropriations

for Grant Programs

2. FTA Revised FY 2001 Section 5303

Metropolitan Planning Program and

Section 5313(b) State Planning and

Research Program Apportionments

3. FHWA FY 2001 Estimated Metropolitan

Planning (PL) Program and Estimated

State Planning and Research Program

(SPRP) Apportionments

4. FTA Revised FY 2001 Section 5307

Urbanized Area Formula

Apportionments

5. FTA Revised FY 2001 Section 5311

Nonurbanized Area Formula

Apportionments, and Section 5311(b)

Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP)

Allocations

6. FTA Revised FY 2001 Section 5310

Elderly and Persons With Disabilities

Apportionments

7. FTA Revised FY 2001 Section 5309

Fixed Guideway Modernization

Apportionments

8. FTA Revised FY 2001 Section 5309 New

Starts Allocations

8A. FTA Prior Year Unobligated Section

5309 New Starts Allocations

9. FTA FY 2001 Section 5309 Bus

Allocations

9A. FTA Prior Year Unobligated Section

5309 Bus Allocations

10. FTA Revised FY 2001 Job Access and

Reverse Commute Program Allocations

11. FTA TEA–21 Authorization Levels

(Guaranteed Funding Only)

11A. FTA TEA–21 Authorization Levels

(Guaranteed and Non-Guaranteed

Funding)

12. FTA FY 2001 Apportionment Formula

for Section 5307 Urbanized Area

Formula Program

13. FTA FY 1998–2003 Section 5309 Fixed

Guideway Modernization Program

Apportionment Formula

14. FTA Revised FY 2001 Formula Grant

Apportionments Unit Values of Data

I. Background

Metropolitan Planning funds are

apportioned by statutory formula to the

Governors for allocation to Metropolitan

Planning Organizations (MPOs) in

urbanized areas or portions thereof to

provide funds for their Unified Planning

Work Programs. State Planning and

Research funds are apportioned to states

by statutory formula to provide funds

for their State Planning and Research

Programs. Urbanized Area Formula

Program funds are apportioned by

statutory formula to urbanized areas and

to Governors to provide capital,

operating and planning assistance in

urbanized areas. Nonurbanized Area

Formula Program funds are apportioned

by statutory formula to Governors for

capital, operating and administrative

assistance in nonurbanized areas.

Elderly and Persons with Disabilities

Program funds are apportioned by

statutory formula to Governors to

provide capital assistance to

organizations providing transportation

service for the elderly and persons with

disabilities. Fixed Guideway

Modernization funds are apportioned by

statutory formula to specified urbanized

areas for capital improvements in rail

and other fixed guideways. New Starts

and Bus allocations identified in the FY

2001 DOT Appropriations Act or the

Conference Report accompanying the

FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act are

included in this notice. FTA will honor

those allocations included in report

language provided that the projects meet

the statutory intent of the specific

program.

II. Overview

A. Fiscal Year 2001 Appropriations

The FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

made $6,271,000,000 available for FTA

programs, which is the guaranteed

funding level under TEA–21. After the

.22 percent reduction for the

government-wide rescission and

addition of new funding (as directed in

the FY 2001 Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriations Act), and transfer of

funds to the Office of the Inspector

General (OIG) as directed in the FY 2001

DOT Appropriations Act, FTA’s FY

2001 appropriation is $6,260,696,100.

The revised/adjusted FY 2001 funding

amounts for FTA programs are

displayed in Table 1.

The following text provides a

narrative explanation of the funding

levels and other factors affecting the

apportionments and allocations.

B. TEA–21 Authorized Program Levels

TEA–21 provides a combination of

trust and general fund authorizations

that total $7,274,000,000 for the FY

2001 FTA program. Of this amount,

$6,271,000,000 was guaranteed under

the discretionary spending cap and

made available in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act. Adjustments

directed by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act reduce

funding for FTA programs to

$6,260,696,100 for FY 2001. See Table

11 for fiscal years 1998–2003 guaranteed

funding levels by program and Table

11A for the total of guaranteed and nonguaranteed levels by program.

Information regarding estimates of the

funding levels for 1999–2003 by state

and urbanized area is available on the

FTA website. The numbers are for

planning purposes only as they will be

revised in the future but may be used for

programming Metropolitan

Transportation Improvement Programs

and Statewide Transportation

Improvement Programs.

C. Project Management Oversight

Section 5327 of Title 49 U.S.C. allows

the Secretary of Transportation to use

not more than one-half percent of the

funds made available under the

Urbanized Area Formula Program and

the Nonurbanized Area Formula

Program, and three-quarters percent of

funds made available under the Capital

Investment Program to contract with

any person to oversee the construction

of any major project under these

statutory programs to conduct safety,

procurement, management and financial

reviews and audits, and to provide

technical assistance to correct

deficiencies identified in compliance

reviews and audits. Therefore, one-half

percent of the funds appropriated for

the Urbanized Area Formula Program

and the Nonurbanized Area Formula

Program for FY 2001, and three-quarters

percent of Capital Investment Program

funds were reserved for these purposes

before funds were apportioned.

D. 2002 Winter Olympic Games

The FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

made $60,000,000 available from the

formula grants program for the 2002

Winter Olympic Games. After applying

a .22 percent reduction, in accordance

with the government-wide rescission

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act,

$59,868,000 is available for this activity.

The funds shall be available for grants

for the costs of planning, delivery and

temporary use of transit vehicles for

special transportation needs and

4902 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

construction of temporary

transportation facilities for the XIX

Winter Olympiad and the VIII

Paralympiad for the Disabled, to be held

in Salt Lake City, Utah.

III. Fiscal Year 2001 Focus Areas

A. Urbanized Area Formula Study

Section 3033 of TEA–21 requires the

Secretary of Transportation to conduct a

study of FTA’s Urbanized Area Formula

Program (49 U.S.C. 5307) and the needs

of small urbanized areas with unusually

high levels of transit service. On

September 29, 2000, the Secretary of

Transportation approved ‘‘The

Urbanized Area Formula Program and

the Needs for Small Intensive Cities’’,

which reports the result of the study.

The report concludes that sufficient

issues exist suggesting that changes to

the existing Urbanized Area Formula

Grants Program should be considered as

part of the FY 2004 and beyond

reauthorization cycle. However, the

formula apportionments should

continue to reflect underlying transit

needs. For further information contact

Richard Steinmann, FTA Office of

Policy Development, at (202) 366–4050.

B. National Transit Database Redesign

There have been major changes in

federal reporting requirements affecting

FTA. Most notable among these is

prompt reporting of certain National

Transit Database (NTD) data under the

Government Performance and Results

Act, and an increase in the level of

detail. In addition, FTA must respond to

congressional direction for new safety

data reporting. These factors, along with

other significant considerations and

concerns, served as the impetus to

redesign the NTD.

In the Spring of 2000, FTA conducted

an outreach effort to the transit industry

and then prepared a report to Congress

entitled, ‘‘Review of the National

Transit Database’’ (May 31, 2000),

which evaluates the NTD reporting

system. The report suggests a number of

changes that will enhance the

usefulness of the NTD while minimizing

reporting burden. The report is available

on the FTA website.

Presently, FTA is in the process of

redesigning the data requirements of the

NTD, which is expected to be completed

by the Spring of 2001. System

reprogramming and database testing

will precede final implementation,

which will take place during the Spring

of 2002.

C. New Starts Roundtable

In FY 2000, FTA sponsored a series of

New Starts Roundtable (NSR) meetings.

The purpose of the NSR is to facilitate

continued dialogue and information

sharing between FTA and local sponsors

of projects pursuing Capital Investment

Program (section 5309) New Starts

funding. This includes projects

currently in FTA’s New Starts pipeline

or a study that may result in the

selection of a major fixed guideway

transit investment in the near future.

The NSR provides a forum for FTA

and the New Starts community to

jointly explore and address issues

related to the New Starts planning,

project development, and evaluation

processes. The NSR Steering Committee,

a partnership whose membership is

comprised of the FTA Administrator,

FTA staff and representatives from local

transit agencies is responsible for

outlining the strategy, developing topic

areas and agendas and selecting sites

and setting schedules for NSR meetings,

in addition to implementing the NSR

workplan activities.

The targeted participants for NSR

meetings include planning directors or

project/study managers who can share

their views of the New Starts criteria

and project development process. In FY

2000, two roundtable meetings were

held: July 27th–28th, in Washington,

DC; and August 2nd–3rd, in Las Vegas,

NV. FTA is in the process of organizing

NSR meetings for FY 2001. For

additional information regarding this

initiative, contact David Vozzolo or

Tonya Holland, FTA Office of Planning

Innovation and Analysis, at (202) 366–

4033.

D. Intelligent Transportation Systems

(ITS)

Section 5206(e) of TEA–21 requires

that Intelligent Transportation Systems

(ITS) projects using funds from the

Highway Trust Fund (including the

Mass Transit Account) conform to

National ITS Architecture and

Standards. Interim guidance on

conformity with National ITS

Performance Standards was issued

October 2, 1998, jointly by FTA and

FHWA. This document provides

guidance for meeting this provision of

TEA–21 and is available from FTA

regional offices and on the FTA website.

These standards and requirements apply

to FY 2001 allocations included in this

notice that contain ITS components.

Using existing FTA oversight

procedures, FTA has initiated a program

to provide initial oversight and

technical assistance with respect to

National ITS Architecture Consistency

requirements.

Questions regarding the applicability

of these standards and requirements

should be addressed to the FTA

Regional Office or Ronald Boenau, FTA

Office of Research, Demonstration and

Innovation, at (202) 366–0195.

IV. Section 5303 Metropolitan Planning

Program and Section 5313(b) State

Planning and Research Program

A. Metropolitan Planning Program

Funding made available for the

Metropolitan Planning Program in the

FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act was

$52,113,600—the guaranteed funding

level under TEA–21. This amount has

been reduced to $51,998,950 after

application of the .22 percent reduction

for the government-wide rescission

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The FY 2001 Metropolitan Planning

Program apportionment to states for

MPOs’ use in urbanized areas totals

$52,278,930. This amount includes

$51,998,950 in FY 2001 funds, and

$279,980 in prior year deobligated funds

available for reapportionment under this

program. A basic allocation of 80

percent of this amount ($41,423,144) is

distributed to the states based on the

state’s urbanized area population as

defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for

subsequent state distribution to each

urbanized area, or parts thereof, within

each state. A supplemental allocation of

the remaining 20 percent ($10,455,786)

is also provided to the states based on

an FTA administrative formula to

address planning needs in the larger,

more complex urbanized areas. Table 2

contains the final state apportionments

for the combined basic and

supplemental allocations. Each state, in

cooperation with the MPOs, must

develop an allocation formula for the

combined apportionment, which

distributes these funds to MPOs

representing urbanized areas, or parts

thereof, within the state. This formula,

which must be approved by the FTA,

must ensure to the maximum extent

practicable that no MPO is allocated less

than the amount it received by

administrative formula under the

Metropolitan Planning Program in FY

1991 (minimum MPO allocation). Each

state formula must include a provision

for the minimum MPO allocation.

Where the state and MPOs desire to use

a new formula not previously approved

by FTA, it must be submitted to the

appropriate FTA Regional Office for

prior approval.

In FY 2001, the results of the 2000

Census will be made available and the

Census Bureau will designate new

urbanized areas. Since the statutory

formula for distribution of the

Metropolitan Planning Program utilizes

the latest available decennial census,

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4903

FTA anticipates use of the 2000 Census

for FY 2002 funding apportionments.

This will affect each state’s

apportionment. In addition, each state

has an FTA approved in-state allocation

formula to each urbanized area. States

will be free to continue using their

existing in-state formula distribution.

When the Census Bureau issues its

population data, FTA will request a

state reaffirmation of these in-state

formulas since most were last approved

in FY 1992. A reaffirmation or new instate formula should be submitted to the

FTA Regional Office for approval prior

to October 1, 2001 so that the funding

distributions are effective in FY 2002.

Currently, guaranteed and authorized

funding levels for each state over the life

of TEA–21 (fiscal years 1999–2003)

based on the 1990 Census, are posted at

[http://www.fta.dot.gov/office/

planning/gaf.htm]. By June 2001, FTA

will post revised fiscal year 2002 and

2003 guaranteed and authorized funding

levels based on the 2000 census for each

state at this same website address. This

information should be utilized by each

state when reaffirming or revising instate formulas.

B. State Planning and Research Program

Funding made available for the State

Planning and Research Program in the

FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act was

$10,886,400, the guaranteed funding

level under TEA–21. This amount has

been reduced to $10,862,450, after

applying the .22 percent reduction for

the government-wide rescission

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The FY 2001 apportionment for the

State Planning and Research Program

(SPRP) totals $10,938,770. This amount

includes $10,862,450 in FY 2001 funds,

and $76,320 in prior year deobligated

funds, which have become available for

reapportionment under this program.

Final state apportionments for this

program are also contained in Table 2.

These funds may be used for a variety

of purposes such as planning, technical

studies and assistance, demonstrations,

management training, and cooperative

research. In addition, a state may

authorize a portion of these funds to be

used to supplement metropolitan

planning funds allocated by the state to

its urbanized areas, as the state deems

appropriate.

C. Data Used for Metropolitan Planning

and State Planning and Research

Apportionments

Population data from the 1990 Census

is used in calculating these

apportionments. The Metropolitan

Planning funding provided to urbanized

areas in each state by administrative

formula in FY 1991 was used as a ‘‘hold

harmless’’ base in calculating funding to

each State.

D. FHWA Metropolitan Planning

Program and State Planning and

Research Program

For informational purposes, the

estimated FY 2001 apportionments for

the FHWA Metropolitan Planning

Program (PL) and estimated

apportionments for FY 2001 State

Planning and Research Program (SPRP)

are contained in Table 3. These

estimates include expected SPRP

funding increases from the Revenue

Budget Aligned Authority authorized in

TEA–21, Section 1105. The amounts are

as originally provided by FHWA and

may be adjusted by that agency to

incorporate the .22 percent reduction

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act.

E. Local Match Waiver for Specified

Planning Activities

Job Access Planning. Federal, state

and local welfare reform initiatives may

require the development of new and

innovative public and other

transportation services to ensure that

former welfare recipients have adequate

mobility for reaching employment

opportunities. In recognition of the key

role that transportation plays in

ensuring the success of welfare-to-work

initiatives, FTA and FHWA permit the

waiver of the local match requirement

for job access planning activities

undertaken with Metropolitan Planning

Program and State Planning and

Research Program funds. FTA and

FHWA will support requests for waivers

when they are included in Metropolitan

Unified Planning Work Programs and

State Planning and Research Programs

and meet all other appropriate

requirements.

F. Planning Emphasis Areas for Fiscal

Year 2001

The FTA and FHWA identify

Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs)

annually to promote priority themes for

consideration, as appropriate, in

metropolitan and statewide

transportation planning processes.

Identification of PEAs calls attention to

a national policy emphasis on the

themes and priorities within FTA and

FHWA for enhanced inventory of

current practice, guidance and training

in those areas. The FTA and FHWA are

committed to providing opportunities to

the planning community to exchange

ideas and experiences on innovative

practice in these topic areas throughout

the year. Furthermore, this information

will constitute an important component

of guidance for implementing the

planning and environmental provisions

of TEA–21.

To that end, FTA and FHWA intend

to periodically develop information that

will be made available through

publications, on the FTA and FHWA

websites, and through other means. As

opportunities become available, this

information also will be promoted for

inclusion on the agendas of regional and

national conferences held during the

year. To support these efforts, FTA and

FHWA encourage planning

organizations to expand their work

activities on these topics through their

planning work activities, as set forth in

Unified Planning Work Programs

(UPWPs) and State Planning and

Research Programs. This will be the

resource base and means by which

innovative and effective practices can be

identified and reported back to the

planning community.

For FY 2001, five key planning

themes have been identified as PEAs: (1)

Mainstreaming safety in the

transportation planning and decisionmaking process; (2) incorporation of

environmental streamlining as a policy

and planning analysis theme within

planning processes; (3) transportation

system management and operations; (4)

demonstrated compliance with Title VI

of the Civil Rights Act and

accommodation of the principles of

environmental justice; and (5)

coordination of non-emergency

transportation services.

(1) Safety in Transportation. TEA–21

emphasizes the safety of transportation

systems as a national priority and calls

for transportation plans and strategies

that ‘‘increase the safety and security of

transportation systems.’’ The DOT

Strategic Plan identifies safety as the

highest priority and includes a goal to

‘‘promote the public health and safety

by working toward the elimination of

transportation-related deaths, injuries

and property damage.’’

The DOT short-term objective is to

integrate safety considerations into all

stages of the transportation planning

process, including identification of

activities to be considered during the

development of UPWPs and SPRPs.

States and MPOs are encouraged to

consider both long and short-term

strategies for inclusion in their plans

and transportation improvement

programs (TIPs).

FTA and FHWA are working together

to advance the state-of-practice in

addressing safety in the metropolitan

and statewide planning process. In May

2000, FTA and FHWA hosted a meeting

along with the Transportation Research

4904 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

Board (TRB) of safety professionals and

planners to address safety in the

metropolitan planning process. From

that meeting, a TRB report describing

the issues and recommendations

identified at the meeting will be

produced, and is expected to be

available on the TRB website in the Fall

of 2000 at [http://www.nas.edu/trb].

Participants in the TRB meeting

summarized the following strategies for

addressing safety in planning processes:

• Establish a foundation for safety in

planning;

• Improve access to safety data and

encourage its use;

• Address safety in the consideration

of alternative mode choice options;

• Explicitly address safety in federal

and state regulatory policy; and

• Market and advocate safety through

‘‘champions’’ to user groups.

These suggested strategies are just a

beginning. FTA and FHWA are also

working to document good practice and

develop guidance in the area of safety

planning that will be a tool for both

states and MPOs in addressing safety in

their planning processes. Through good

practice and guidance, MPOs can begin

to identify methods to integrate safety

within the planning process. These

methods may include:

• Providing an umbrella for the

coordination of transportation safety

activities among various levels of

government, the private sector and other

specialized transportation safety groups;

• Enhancing the knowledge of local

officials and the public on traffic safety;

and

• Developing assessment tools for

safety based upon existing problems and

how proposed projects will decrease

problems in a regional context.

(2) Environmental Streamlining.

TEA–21 reflects the concerns of

Congress and the transportation

community that the planning and

project development processes are

requiring too much time before

solutions to serious transportation

problems are ready for implementation.

TEA–21 mandated the elimination of

the Major Investment Study as a standalone requirement and the streamlining

of the process for complying with the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) and other environmental

statutes and regulations. Developing and

guiding projects through the planning

and review processes faster, without

compromising environmental

safeguards, is a complex undertaking for

which there is no easy solution.

FHWA and FTA have engaged the

federal environmental and permitting

agencies in a dialogue on ways to

improve the planning and NEPA

processes. This dialogue has produced a

national Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) on

environmental streamlining among the

federal agencies, which formalizes their

commitment to streamline the

environmental review process for

federally-funded highway and transit

projects, while fulfilling their

responsibilities to protect the

environment. The MOU calls for early

consideration of environmental and

community issues during the planning

process in consultation with federal and

state environmental resource agencies.

FHWA followed up on the national

MOU by convening regional summits on

environmental streamlining. These

summits have resulted in a number of

regional and statewide MOUs that

address more specific linkage between

planning and project development.

These documents are generally available

in the environmental streamlining ‘‘tool

kit’’ that has been posted on the FHWA

website at [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/

environment/strmlng.htm].

FTA and FHWA are establishing

environmental streamlining as a PEA to

encourage greater effort, innovative

approaches, and a national dialogue on

using the planning process to advance

this objective. Examples of the kinds of

innovative planning concepts that might

serve to streamline the environmental

process under the appropriate

conditions include the introduction and

use of new technologies such as

Geographic Information Systems to

study regional environmental issues in

support of programmatic approvals, or

closer coordination of transportation

planning with other planning efforts

such as land use planning, air quality

planning, or watershed management

and associated mitigation banking.

Additional streamlining concepts are

being explored in a number of states

such as Florida, Oregon, and California

through pilot projects or pilot programs

specifically identified by the State

DOTs, MPOs, and transit agencies for

this purpose. An expert panel

established through the National

Cooperative Highway Research Program

is monitoring, analyzing, and reporting

on the status of the pilot streamlining

effort around the country. The results

will be added to the streamlining tool

kit on the FHWA website mentioned

above.

As part of this PEA, FHWA and FTA

are seeking not only to demonstrate that

earlier consideration of environmental

issues during planning makes sense, but

also actually to quantify, to the extent

possible, the time savings and

environmental benefits that result. To

that end, a preliminary baseline

assessment of processing times has been

completed and a more detailed

assessment is underway. As additional

data becomes available, it too will be

posted on the FHWA streamlining

website.

(3) Transportation System

Management and Operations. TEA–21

challenges the FHWA and FTA to move

beyond traditional infrastructure-based

approaches to improve the movement of

people and goods. TEA–21 emphasizes

a greater need to improve the way

transportation systems are managed and

operated. The challenge, in terms of

transportation planning, is not only to

make a good investment in

infrastructure, but also to see that this

investment is managed and operated to

meet a broad range of customer needs.

The FHWA and FTA are establishing

management and operations as a PEA to

encourage innovation, promote a

national dialogue, and advance the state

of the practice.

FTA and FHWA recognize that future

transportation planning must look

beyond the perception that management

and operation strategies merely reduce

congestion problems or move vehicles

faster. The FHWA and FTA are

convening a working group to develop

recommendations to better integrate

transportation operations and planning

to address a broad array of

transportation issues.

Information is available at website

address [http://plan2op.fhwa.dot.gov] to

guide and inform transportation

planners on effective ways to consider

management and operations

investments, programs and actions in

planning contexts. It provides a

document library that may be searched

for recent documents that deal with this

subject and also presents a forum for the

exchange of experiences.

(4) Transportation Equity and Public

Involvement. Increasingly, concerns for

compliance with provisions of Title VI

of the Civil Rights Act have been raised

by citizens and advocacy groups with

regard to broad patterns of

transportation investment and impact

considered in metropolitan and

statewide planning. While Title VI and

environmental justice concerns have

most often been raised during project

development, it is important to

recognize that the law applies equally to

the processes and products of

metropolitan and statewide planning.

Public involvement is a major element

of this process.

FTA and FHWA are working jointly to

develop guidance to support

metropolitan areas and states in their

efforts to incorporate considerations of

transportation equity in their local

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4905

planning processes and substantiate

Title VI compliance through

demonstrated actions. Several releases

of resource materials have taken place

over the past year, including:

• ‘‘Title VI Environmental Justice

Planning Technical Assistance Manual’’

with accompanying implementation

training;

• brochure and fact sheet to facilitate

a better understanding of Title VI/

Environmental Justice considerations in

transportation activities; and

• creation of an informational website

which can be accessed at [http://

www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/

ej2.htm].

Case studies and effective practice

materials are being prepared for wide

distribution, and a companion training

and education package is being

designed. These will be completed by

the end of 2000.

States and Metropolitan Planning

Organizations (MPOs) are advised to

strengthen their planning processes in

this area and to document their effort in

two categories of work activity:

(a) Strengthen the focus of public

involvement efforts, with special

attempts to include the traditionally

under-served and under-represented in

the planning process; and

(b) assessing the distribution of

benefits and adverse environmental

impacts at both the plan and project

levels.

Over the fiscal year, a range of

possible procedural and analytical

approaches for complying with

provisions of Title VI and the Executive

Order on Environmental Justice at the

planning stage will be developed and

disseminated through guidance and

regulation. To support that effort,

‘‘innovative practice’’ case study

development and training opportunities

will be enhanced, based in part on the

reported activities and experiences of

metropolitan and statewide planning

processes in this area.

(1) Coordination of Non-Emergency

Transportation Services. Experience and

research have shown that coordinating

program resources for transportation

services can lead to increased service

availability and more cost-effective

transportation services to persons with

limited access and special needs. The

DOT and the U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services (HHS) recognize

that there are over 70 federal programs

in which some aspect of transportation

services is an allowable use of funds.

The Departments are jointly developing

a coordination resource, the

Transportation Coordination Toolkit, to

assist states and communities in their

efforts to improve access to

transportation services for persons with

special mobility needs.

The initial piece in the Transportation

Coordination Toolkit is a guide to

coordinating transportation planning for

DOT and HHS. It addresses the

information and actions necessary to

coordinate the transportation resources

of various programs of DOT and HHS.

Additional pieces will include case

studies, a compilation of federalfunding sources, and a program resource

guide. Additional information on these

can be found on the website for the

Coordinating Council on Access and

Mobility at [http://www.ccamweb.org].

G. Federal Planning Certification

Reviews

The Intermodal Surface

Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)

required FTA and FHWA to certify, at

least every three years, that the planning

processes conducted in the largest

metropolitan areas were being carried

out in compliance with applicable

provisions of federal law. This provision

applies specifically to localities termed

‘‘Transportation Management Areas’’

(TMA), which are urbanized areas with

populations of 200,000 and above, or

other urbanized areas that may be

designated by the Secretary of

Transportation. TEA–21 further

required that, in conducting these

certification reviews, provisions be

made for public involvement

appropriate to the metropolitan area

under review.

To that end, an annual calendar of

prospective dates and locations for

certification reviews of TMAs

anticipated in FY 2001 has been

prepared and is posted on the FTA

website at [http://www.fta.dot.gov/

library/planning/cert2001.htm].

For further information regarding

federal certifications of the planning

process contact: for FTA, Charles

Goodman, FTA Metropolitan Planning

Division, (202) 366–1944, or Scott Biehl,

FTA Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366–

4063; for FHWA, Sheldon Edner, FHWA

Metropolitan Planning Division, (202)

366–4066, or Reid Alsop, FHWA Office

of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366–1371.

H. Consolidated Planning Grants

In FY 1997, FTA and FHWA began

offering states the option of

participating in a pilot Consolidated

Planning Grant (CPG) program. FTA and

FHWA have now made CPG a

permanent pilot. As part of the

permanent pilot, additional state

participants are sought so that FTA and

FHWA can benefit from the widest

possible range of participant input to

improve and further streamline the

process.

Since the first CPG grant was awarded

in April 1997, almost $228 million has

been obligated by the pilot states. Of

this total, more than $180 million is

from FHWA sources. Of the 11 pilot

participants, three have used annual

grants only; three have a mixture of

grant time lengths, starting with annual

and switching to multi-year grants or

vice versa; and five have used only

multi-year grants with the grant period

ranging up to three years so far. Under

the multi-year approach option, the CPG

grant would remain open for a period of

years to be determined by the state (and

MPO, jointly, for Metropolitan Planning

funds) with the approval of the federal

government. New apportionments can

be added by grant amendment, as funds

become available. The annual approach

treats the CPG much as FHWA funds are

treated currently, that is, as basically

annual apportionments with a yearly

close-out of project activities and a

deobligation and reobligation cycle.

Those with the multi-year grants can

close them at any time and begin the

next year with either a new multi-year

grant or an annual grant. The ease with

which a state can opt for the single year

or the multi-year approach to the CPG

grant is just one example of the

flexibility intended for the pilot.

Under the CPG, states can report

metropolitan planning expenditures (to

comply with the Single Audit Act) for

both FTA and FHWA under the

Catalogue of Federal Domestic

Assistance number for FTA’s

Metropolitan Planning Program.

Additionally, for states with an FHWA

Metropolitan Planning (PL) fund

matching ratio greater than 80 percent,

the state (through FTA) can request a

waiver of the 20 percent local share

requirement in order that all FTA funds

used for metropolitan planning in a CPG

can be granted at the higher FHWA rate.

For some states, this federal match rate

can exceed 90 percent. Currently, two

western states participating in the pilot

are using the FHWA PL match rate.

Pre-award authority has been granted

to FTA’s planning programs for the life

of TEA–21 (through FY 2003). This preaward authority enables states to

continue planning program activities

from year to year with the assurance

that eligible costs can later be converted

to a regularly funded federal project

without the need for prior approval or

authorization from the granting agency.

Beginning in FY 2000, the transfer

procedures established to implement

the transfer provision in TEA–21

(section 1103(i) ‘‘Transfer of Highway

and Transit Funds’’) is applicable to

4906 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

FHWA funds used in CPG. For planning

projects funded through CPG, the state

DOT requests the transfer of funds in a

letter to the FHWA Division Office. The

FHWA-funded planning activities must

be in accordance with the state’s or

MPO’s Planning Work Program. The

letter must be signed by the appropriate

state official or their designee and must

specify the state and the amount of

funding to be transferred for the CPG by

apportionment category (e.g. STP,

CMAQ, Donor State Bonus, Funding

Restoration, etc.) and by appropriation

year. The letter should include only the

funding for planning activities

contained in the state’s or MPO’s

Planning Work Program. If no FTA

program, either Metropolitan Planning

(49 U.S.C. 5303) or Statewide Planning

and Research (49 U.S.C. 5313(b)), is

indicated for transfers to CPG, funds

will be credited to the Metropolitan

Planning Program.

As part of the pilot, FTA will

continue to work with participating

states to increase the flexibility and

further streamline the consolidated

approach to planning grants. For further

information on participating in the CPG

Pilot, contact Candace Noonan,

Intermodal and Statewide Planning

Division, FTA, at (202) 366–1648 or

Anthony Solury, Office of Planning and

Environment, FHWA, at (202) 366–

5003.

I. New Starts Approval To Enter

Preliminary Engineering and Final

Design

TEA–21 extends FTA’s long-standing

authority for approving the

advancement of candidate New Starts

projects into preliminary engineering

(PE) by requiring that FTA also approve

entrance into the final design (FD) stage

of project development. Specifically, 49

U.S.C. 5309(e)(6) requires that the basis

for PE/FD approval is FTA’s evaluation

of candidate project’s New Starts

criteria, leading to an overall project

rating of ‘‘Highly Recommended,’’

‘‘Recommended,’’ or ‘‘Not

Recommended.’’ FTA has established a

set of decision rules for approving

entrance into preliminary engineering

and final design. After first meeting

several basic planning, environmental,

and project management requirements

which demonstrate the ‘‘readiness’’ of

the project to advance into the next

stage of project development, candidate

projects are subject to FTA evaluation

against the New Starts project

justification and local financial

commitment criteria. Projects may

advance to the next appropriate stage of

project development (PE or FD) only if

rated ‘‘Recommended’’ or ‘‘Highly

Recommended,’’ based on the criteria.

Projects rated ‘‘Not Recommended’’ will

not be approved to advance.

Section 5309(e)(8)(A) of Title 49

U.S.C. exempts projects which request a

section 5309 New Starts share of less

than $25 million from the requirements

of section 5309(e). TEA–21 also

provides statutory exemptions to certain

specific projects. It is important to note

that any exemption under section

5309(e)(8)(A) applies only to the New

Starts criteria serving as the basis for

FTA’s approval to advance to

preliminary engineering and final

design for such projects. New Starts

projects with less than $25 million in

New Starts funding must still request

entrance to the next stage of

development, and must fulfill all

appropriate planning, environmental,

and project management requirements.

Aside from the formal evaluation and

rating of (non-exempt) New Starts

projects, the general process for

approving entrance into PE and FD is

largely consistent with FTA’s prior

procedures for approving entrance into

preliminary engineering. FTA issued

guidance for evaluating and approving

local agency requests for advancing

projects in the New Starts project

development process in FY 2000.

Another revision is planned for 2001.

V. Section 5307 Urbanized Area

Formula Program

A. Total Urbanized Area Formula

Apportionments

The amount made available to the

Urbanized Area Formula Program in the

FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act was

$2,942,578,081. After the .22 percent

reduction for the government-wide

rescission required by the FY 2001

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations

Act and transfer of $1,000,000 to the

OIG, $2,935,106,609 is available.

In addition to the $2,935,106,609

available in FY 2001 funds, the

apportionment includes $4,735,805 in

deobligated funds, which became

available for reapportionment under the

Urbanized Area Formula Program as

provided by 49 U.S.C. 5336(i).

Table 4 displays the amount

apportioned for the Urbanized Area

Formula Program. After reserving

($13,682,722) for oversight, the amount

of FY 2001 funds available for

apportionment is $2,921,423,887. The

funds to be reapportioned, described in

the previous paragraph, are then added

and increase the total amount

apportioned for this program to

$2,926,159,692.

An additional $4,839,280 is made

available for the Alaska Railroad for

improvements to its passenger

operations, after the .22 percent

reduction required by the FY 2001

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations

Act. After reserving ($24,196) for

oversight, $4,815,084 is available for the

Alaska Railroad.

Table 12 contains the FY 2001

apportionment formula for the Section

5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program.

B. Fiscal Year 2000 Apportionment

Adjustments

An adjustment has been made to the

apportionment for one urbanized area

because of corrections to data that were

used to compute the FY 2000 formula

grant apportionment published in the

Federal Register of October 28, 1999 (64

FR 58212). The difference between the

corrected apportionment and the

previously published apportionment

has been resolved and the necessary

adjustment has been made to the area’s

apportionment for FY 2001. The dollar

amounts published in this notice

contain the adjustment, and the affected

urbanized area has been advised.

C. Data Used for Urbanized Area

Formula Apportionments

Data from the 1999 NTD (49 U.S.C.

5335) Report Year submitted in late

1999 and early 2000 have been used to

calculate the FY 2001 Urbanized Area

Formula apportionments for urbanized

areas 200,000 in population and over.

The population and population density

figures used in calculating the

Urbanized Area Formula are from the

1990 Census.

D. Urbanized Area Formula

Apportionments to Governors

The total Urbanized Area Formula

apportionment to the Governor for use

in areas under 200,000 in population for

each state is shown in Table 4. This

table also contains the total

apportionment amount attributable to

each of the urbanized areas within the

state. The Governor may determine the

allocation of funds among the urbanized

areas under 200,000 in population with

one exception. As further discussed

below in Section H, funds attributed to

an urbanized area under 200,000 in

population, located within the planning

boundaries of a transportation

management area, must be obligated in

that area.

E. Transit Enhancements

For urbanized areas with populations

200,000 and over, TEA–21 established a

minimum annual expenditure

requirement of one percent for transit

projects and project elements that

qualify as enhancements under the

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4907

Urbanized Area Formula Program. Table

4 shows the amount set aside for

enhancements in these areas. The term

‘‘transit enhancement’’ includes projects

or project elements that are designed to

enhance mass transportation service or

use and are physically or functionally

related to transit facilities.

(1) Eligible Enhancements. The

following are transit projects and project

elements that may be counted to meet

the minimum enhancement expenditure

requirement:

(a) historic preservation,

rehabilitation, and operation of historic

mass transportation buildings,

structures, and facilities (including

historic bus and railroad facilities);

(b) bus shelters;

(c) landscaping and other scenic

beautification, including tables,

benches, trash receptacles, and street

lights;

(d) public art;

(e) pedestrian access and walkways;

(f) bicycle access, including bicycle

storage facilities and installing

equipment for transporting bicycles on

mass transportation vehicles;

(g) transit connections to parks within

the recipient’s transit service area;

(h) signage; and

(i) enhanced access for persons with

disabilities to mass transportation.

(2) Requirements. One percent of the

Urbanized Area Formula Program

apportionment in each urbanized area

with a population of 200,000 and over

must be made available only for transit

enhancements. When there are several

grantees in an urbanized area, it is not

required that each grantee spend one

percent of its Urbanized Area Formula

Program funds on transit enhancements.

Rather, one percent of the urbanized

area’s apportionment must be expended

on projects and project elements that

qualify as enhancements. If these funds

are not obligated for transit

enhancements within three years

following the fiscal year in which the

funds are apportioned, the funds will

lapse and no longer be available to the

urbanized area, and will be

reapportioned under the Urbanized

Area Formula Program.

It will be the responsibility of the

MPO to determine how the one percent

will be allotted to transit projects. The

one percent minimum requirement does

not preclude more than one percent

being expended in an urbanized area for

transit enhancements. Items that are

only eligible as enhancements—in

particular, operating costs for historic

facilities—may be assisted only within

the one percent fund level.

(3) Project Budget. The project budget

for each grant application that includes

enhancement funds must include a

scope code for transit enhancements

and specific budget activity line items

for transit enhancements.

(4) Bicycle Access. TEA–21 provides

that projects providing bicycle access to

transit assisted with the FTA

enhancement apportionment shall be

eligible for a 95 percent Federal share.

(5) Enhanced Access for Persons with

Disabilities. Enhancement projects or

elements of projects designed to

enhance access for persons with

disabilities must go beyond the

requirements contained in the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,

42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.

(6) Enhancement Report. The

recipient must submit a report to the

appropriate FTA Regional Office listing

the projects or elements of projects

carried out with those funds during the

previous fiscal year and the amount

awarded. The report must be submitted

with the Federal fiscal year’s final

quarterly progress report in the

Transportation Electronic Awards and

Management System (TEAM). The

report should include the following

elements: (a) Grantee name, (b)

urbanized area name and number, (c)

FTA project number, (d) transit

enhancement category, (e) brief

description of enhancement and

progress towards project

implementation, (f) activity line item

code from the approved budget, and (g)

amount awarded by FTA for the

enhancement.

F. Fiscal Year 2001 Operating

Assistance

FY 2001 funding for operating

assistance is available only to urbanized

areas with populations under 200,000.

For these areas, there is no limitation on

the amount of the state apportionment

that may be used for operating

assistance, and the Federal/local share

ratio is 50/50.

TEA–21 provided two exceptions to

the restriction on operating assistance in

areas over 200,000 in population. These

exceptions have been addressed and

eligible areas identified.

G. Unobligated Funds for Operating

Assistance

Unobligated funds for FY 1998, which

were eligible for use as operating

assistance, are still available for

operating assistance. However, the

operating assistance limitations remain

on the unobligated FY 1998 funds.

These funds continue to be available for

obligation at the Federal/local share

ratio of 50/50 through FY 2001. If the

FY 1998 funds are not obligated before

the end of FY 2001 they lapse to the

area and are reapportioned. For

unobligated FY 1998 funds for areas

under 200,000, operating assistance as a

capital project with an 80 percent

federal match ratio (without limitation)

will continue to be available through FY

2001.

H. Designated Transportation

Management Areas

All urbanized areas over 200,000 in

population have been designated as

Transportation Management Areas

(TMAs), in accordance with 49 U.S.C.

5305. These designations were formally

made in a Federal Register Notice dated

May 18, 1992 (57 FR 21160). Additional

areas have been designated as TMAs

upon the request of the Governor and

the MPO designated for such area or the

affected local officials. During FY 2000,

no additions to existing TMAs were

designated.

Guidance for setting the boundaries of

TMAs is contained in the joint

transportation planning regulations

codified at 23 CFR part 450 and 49 CFR

part 613. In some cases, the TMA

boundaries, which have been

established by the MPO for the

designated TMA, also include one or

more urbanized areas with less than

200,000 in population. Where this

situation exists, the discretion of the

Governor to allocate Urbanized Area

Formula Program ‘‘Governor’s

Apportionment’’ funds for urbanized

areas with less than 200,000 in

population is restricted.

As required by 49 U.S.C. 5307(a)(2), a

recipient(s) must be designated to

dispense the Urbanized Area Formula

funds attributable to TMAs. Those

urbanized areas that do not already have

a designated recipient must do so and

notify the appropriate FTA Regional

Office of the designation. This includes

those urbanized areas with less than

200,000 in population that may receive

TMA designation independently, or

those with less than 200,000 in

population that are currently included

within the boundaries of a larger

designated TMA. In either case, the

Governor only has discretion to allocate

Governor’s Apportionment funds

attributable to areas that are outside of

designated TMA boundaries. To enable

FTA and Governors to identify which

urbanized areas under 200,000 in

population are included within the

boundaries of an existing TMA, so that

they can be identified in future Federal

Register notices, each MPO whose TMA

planning boundaries include these

smaller urbanized areas is requested to

report such areas to FTA. This

notification should be made in writing

to the Associate Administrator for

4908 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

Program Management, Federal Transit

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20590, no later than

July 1 of each fiscal year. To date, FTA

has been notified of the following

urbanized areas with population less

than 200,000 that are included within

the planning boundaries of designated

TMAs:

Designated TMA Small urbanized area included in TMA boundaries

Baltimore, Maryland.Annapolis, Maryland.

Dallas-Fort Worth Denton, Texas; Lewisville,

Texas.

Houston, Texas .. Galveston, Texas; Texas

City, Texas.

Orlando, Florida Kissimmee, Florida.

Melbourne-Palm

Bay, Florida.

Titusville, Florida.

Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania.

Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Monessen, Pennsylvania;

Steubenville-Weirton,

OH–WV–PA (PA portion).

Seattle, Washington.Bremerton, Washington.

Washington, DC–

MD–VA.

Frederick, Maryland (MD

portion).

I. Urbanized Area Formula Funds Used

for Highway Purposes

Urbanized Area Formula funds

apportioned to a TMA can be

transferred to FHWA and made

available for highway projects if the

following three conditions are met: (1)

Such use must be approved by the MPO

in writing after appropriate notice and

opportunity for comment and appeal are

provided to affected transit providers;

(2) in the determination of the Secretary,

such funds are not needed for

investments required by the Americans

with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); and

(3) the MPO determines that local

transit needs are being addressed.

Urbanized Area Formula funds that

are designated for highway projects will

be transferred to and administered by

FHWA. The MPO should notify FTA of

its intent to program FTA funds for

highway purposes.

J. National Transit Database Internet

Reporting

The National Transit Database (NTD)

is FTA’s national database for statistics

on the transit industry, including safety

data. In recent years, about 600 FTA

grantees have used diskettes to report on

their operating, financial and safety

statistics to FTA.

Urbanized Area Formula Program

funds for areas 200,000 and over in

population are apportioned, in part,

using NTD statistics. In addition, NTD

data is summarized and used to report

to Congress on the performance of the

transit industry and the associated costs.

These data are also used to assess

whether FTA Strategic Plan goals have

been met.

In FY 2001, NTD data may be

reported via a new Internet-based

reporting system or by the traditional

diskette. Over 300 NTD reporters have

been trained on the new Internet

system. Internet reporting should speed

data collection and validation. The FTA

encourages each agency to use the new

Internet reporting system.

VI. Section 5311 Nonurbanized Area

Formula Program and Section 5311(b)

Rural Transit Assistance Program

(RTAP)

A. Nonurbanized Area Formula

Program

The amount made available for the

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program in

the FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

was $205,461,168. After the .22 percent

reduction for the government-wide

rescission required by the FY 2001

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations

Act, $205,009,154 is available.

The FY 2001 Nonurbanized Area

Formula apportionments to the states

total $205,485,900 and are displayed in

Table 5. Of the $205,009,154 available,

($1,025,046) was reserved for oversight.

In addition to the FY 2001 funding, the

funds available for apportionment

included $1,501,792 in deobligated

funds from fiscal years prior to FY 2001.

The population figures used in

calculating these apportionments are

from the 1990 Census.

The Nonurbanized Formula Program

provides capital, operating and

administrative assistance for areas

under 50,000 in population. Each state

must spend no less than 15 percent of

its FY 2001 Nonurbanized Area Formula

apportionment for the development and

support of intercity bus transportation,

unless the Governor certifies to the

Secretary that the intercity bus service

needs of the state are being adequately

met. FY 2001 Nonurbanized Area

Formula grant applications must reflect

this level of programming for intercity

bus or include a certification from the

Governor.

B. Rural Transit Assistance Program

(RTAP)

Funding made available for the RTAP

in the 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

was $5,250,000—the guaranteed

funding level under TEA–21. This

amount has been reduced to $5,238,450,

after applying the .22 percent reduction

for the government-wide rescission

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The FY 2001 RTAP allocations to the

states total $5,404,340 and are also

displayed in Table 5. This amount

includes $5,238,450 in FY 2001 funds,

and $165,890 in prior year deobligated

funds, which are available for

reapportionment.

The funds are allocated to the states

to undertake research, training,

technical assistance, and other support

services to meet the needs of transit

operators in nonurbanized areas. These

funds are to be used in conjunction with

the states’ administration of the

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program.

FTA requested and Congress made

available an additional $750,000 in FY

2001 (in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act) to support RTAP

activities carried out at the national

level. The national projects support the

states in their use of the formula

allocations for training and technical

assistance. These funds are also subject

to the .22 percent reduction required by

the FY 2001 Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriations Act and will be reduced

accordingly.

VII. Section 5310 Elderly and Persons

With Disabilities Program

Funds in the amount of $77,410,801

were made available for the Elderly and

Persons with Disabilities Program in the

FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act. After

the .22 percent reduction for the

government-wide rescission required by

the FY 2001 Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriations Act, $77,240,497 is

available.

A total of $77,560,406 is apportioned

to the states for FY 2001 for the Elderly

and Persons with Disabilities Program.

In addition to the FY 2001 funding of

$77,240,497, the FY 2001

apportionment includes $319,909 in

prior year unobligated funds, which are

available for reapportionment under the

Elderly and Persons with Disabilities

Program. Table 6 shows each state’s

apportionment.

The formula for apportioning these

funds uses 1990 Census population data

for persons aged 65 and over and for

persons with disabilities.

The funds provide capital assistance

for transportation for elderly persons

and persons with disabilities. Eligible

capital expenses may include, at the

option of the recipient, the acquisition

of transportation services by a contract,

lease, or other arrangement.

While the assistance is intended

primarily for private non-profit

organizations, public bodies that

coordinate services for the elderly and

persons with disabilities, or any public

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4909

body that certifies to the state that there

are no non-profit organizations in the

area that are readily available to carry

out the service, may receive these funds.

These funds may be transferred by the

Governor to supplement the Urbanized

Area Formula or Nonurbanized Area

Formula capital funds during the last 90

days of the fiscal year.

VIII. FHWA Surface Transportation

Program and Congestion Mitigation and

Air Quality Funds Used for Transit

Purposes (Title 23, U.S.C.)

A. Transfer Process

TEA–21 made changes in how to

apply the flexibility provisions of funds

transferred from FHWA to FTA. Section

1103(i) of TEA–21, as amended,

provides that when funds are

transferred, obligation authority will be

transferred to the receiving agency.

Under ISTEA, obligation authority was

not transferred.

Effective October 1, 1999, new

procedures were implemented to

accommodate this change for FY 2000

and subsequent years. The process for

transfers to the FTA formula programs

is described below. Information on the

transfer of FHWA funds to FTA

planning programs can be found in

section IV.H., above.

Transfer from FHWA to FTA. FHWA

funds designated for use in transit

capital projects must result from the

metropolitan and state planning and

programming process, and must be

included in an approved Statewide

Transportation Improvement Program

(STIP) before the funds can be

transferred. The state DOT requests, by

letter, the transfer of highway funds for

a transit project to the FHWA Division

Office. The letter should specify the

project, amount to be transferred,

apportionment year, state, federal aid

apportionment category (i.e. Surface

Transportation Program (STP),

Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality

(CMAQ), Interstate Substitute, or

congressional earmark), and a

description of the project as contained

in the STIP.

The FHWA Division Office confirms

that the apportionment amount is

available for transfer and concurs in the

transfer by letter to the state DOT and

FTA. FHWA then transfers obligation

authority and an equal amount of cash

to FTA. All CMAQ or STP, or FHWA

earmark funds will be transferred to one

of the three FTA formula capital

programs (i.e. Urbanized Area Formula

(section 5307), Nonurbanized Area

Formula (section 5311) or Elderly and

Persons with Disabilities (section 5310).

The FTA grantee application for the

project must specify for which Title 49

U.S.C., transit program funds will be

used and the application should be

prepared in accordance with the

requirements and procedures governing

that section. Upon review and approval

of the grantee’s application, FTA

obligates funds for the project.

The transferred funds are treated as

FTA formula funds, although they retain

an identifying code for tracking

purposes. The funds may be used for

any purpose eligible under the FTA

formula capital program to which they

are transferred. CMAQ funds, however,

have to be used for air quality purposes

and some eligible projects are defined

by the Clean Air Act. All FTA

requirements are applicable to

transferred funds. Transferred funds

should be combined with regular FTA

funds in a single annual grant

application.

Transfers from FTA to FHWA. The

Metropolitan Planning Organization

(MPO) submits a request to the FTA

Regional Office for a transfer of FTA

section 5307 formula funds

(apportioned to an urbanized area

200,000 and over in population) to

FHWA based on approved use of the

funds for highway purposes, as

contained in the Governor’s approved

State Transportation Improvement

Program. The MPO must certify that: (1)

The funds are not needed for capital

investments required by the Americans

with Disabilities Act; (2) notice and

opportunity for comment and appeal

has been provided to affected transit

providers; and (3) local funds used for

non-Federal match are eligible to

provide assistance for either highway or

transit projects. The FTA Regional

Administrator reviews and concurs in

the request then forwards the approval

to FTA Headquarters, where a reduction

is made to the grantee’s formula

apportionment and FTA’s National

Operating Budget in TEAM (FTA’s

electronic grants management system),

by the dollar amount being transferred

to FHWA.

For information regarding these

procedures, please contact Kristen D.

Clarke, FTA Budget Division at (202)

366–1699 or Richard Meehleib, FHWA

Finance Division at (202) 366–2869.

B. Matching Share for FHWA Transfers

The provisions of Title 23, U.S.C.,

regarding the non-federal share apply to

Title 23 funds used for transit projects.

Thus, FHWA funds transferred to FTA

retain the same matching share that the

funds would have if used for highway

purposes and administered by the

FHWA.

There are three instances in which a

higher than 80 percent federal share

would be permitted. First, in states with

large areas of Indian and certain public

domain lands, and national forests,

parks and monuments, the local share

for highway projects is determined by a

sliding scale rate, calculated based on

the percentage of public lands within

that state. This sliding scale, which

permits a greater federal share, but not

to exceed 95 percent, is applicable to

transfers used to fund transit projects in

these public land states. FHWA

develops the sliding scale matching

ratios for the increased federal share.

Secondly, commuter carpooling and

vanpooling projects and transit safety

projects using FHWA transfers

administered by FTA may retain the

same 100 percent federal share that

would be allowed for ride-sharing or

safety projects administered by the

FHWA.

The third instance includes the 100

percent federal safety projects; however,

these are subject to a nationwide 10

percent program limitation.

IX. Section 5309 Capital Investment

Program

A. Fixed Guideway Modernization

The formula for allocating the Fixed

Guideway Modernization funds

contains seven tiers. The allocation of

funding under the first four tiers,

through FY 2003, will be based on data

used to apportion the funding in FY

1997. Funding under the last three tiers

will be apportioned based on the latest

available route miles and revenue

vehicle miles on segments at least seven

years old as reported to the National

Transit Database.

Table 7 displays the FY 2001 Fixed

Guideway Modernization

apportionments. Fixed Guideway

Modernization funds apportioned for

this section must be used for capital

projects to maintain, modernize, or

improve fixed guideway systems.

All urbanized areas with fixed

guideway systems that are at least seven

years old are eligible to receive Fixed

Guideway Modernization funds. A

request for the start-up service dates for

fixed guideways has been incorporated

into the National Transit Database

reporting system to ensure that all

eligible fixed guideway data is included

in the calculation of the

apportionments. A threshold level of

more than one mile of fixed guideway

is required to receive Fixed Guideway

Modernization funds. Therefore,

urbanized areas reporting one mile or

less of Fixed Guideway mileage under

4910 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

the National Transit Database are not

included.

For FY 2001, $1,058,400,000 was

made available for fixed guideway

modernization in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act, which was the

guaranteed funding level in TEA–21.

After applying the .22 percent reduction

for the government-wide rescission

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act,

$1,056,071,520 is available.

An amount of ($7,920,536) was then

deducted for oversight, leaving

$1,048,150,984 available for

apportionment to the eligible urbanized

areas. In addition to the FY 2001

funding, $289,758 in deobligated funds

from fiscal years prior to FY 2001 is

added and increases the total amount

apportioned to $1,048,440,742 under

fixed guideway modernization. Table 13

contains information regarding the fixed

guideway modernization apportionment

formula.

B. New Starts

Amounts made available for New

Starts in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act was $1,058,400,000,

which was fully allocated and

represents the guaranteed funding level

under TEA–21. After applying the .22

percent reduction for the governmentwide rescission and adding

appropriated funding of $1,000,000 for

Southeast Light Rail Extension project,

in Dallas, TX, and $3,000,000 for the

Newark-Elizabeth rail link project in

New Jersey, as directed by the FY 2001

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations

Act, $1,060,062,720 is available.

Of this amount ($7,942,987) was

reserved for oversight activities, leaving

$1,052,119,733 available for allocations

to projects. Prior year unobligated funds

specified by Congress to be reallocated

in the amount of $26,994,048 are then

added and increase the total amount

allocated to $1,079,113,781. The

reallocated funds were derived from

unobligated and deobligated balances

for the following projects: Burlington to

Gloucester, New Jersey (Pub.L. 103–

331), $1,488,750; Orlando, Florida Lynx

rail project, $20,521,470; and Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania airport busway project

(Pub.L. 105–66), $4,983,828. The final

allocation for each New Starts project is

shown in Table 8 of this notice.

Prior year unobligated allocations for

New Starts in the amount of

$459,373,575 remain available for

obligation in FY 2001. This amount

includes $448,966,118 in fiscal years

1999 and 2000 unobligated allocations,

and $10,407,457 for fiscal years 1997

and 1998 unobligated allocations that

were extended in the Conference

Report. These unobligated amounts are

displayed in Table 8A.

Capital Investment Program funds for

New Starts projects identified as having

been extended in the Conference Report

accompanying the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act will lapse

September 30, 2001. A list of the

extended project amounts that remain

unobligated as of September 30, 2000 is

appended to Table 8A for ready

reference.

The FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

directs that a New Starts FY 1999

allocation for the Colorado North Front

Range corridor feasibility study

($496,280) is to be made available for

the ‘‘Colorado Eagle Airport to Avon

light rail system feasibility study.’’ Also,

section 360 of the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act provides that a FY

1998 allocation for Jackson, Mississippi

Intermodal Corridor is now available for

obligation in this fiscal year for studies

to evaluate and define transportation

alternatives, including an intermodal

facility at Jackson International Airport

and for related preliminary engineering,

final design or construction.

C. Bus

The FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

provides $529,200,000, for the purchase

of buses, bus-related equipment and

paratransit vehicles, and for the

construction of bus-related facilities.

This amount represents the guaranteed

funding level under TEA–21. After the

.22 percent reduction for the

government-wide rescission and adding

newly appropriated funding of $500,000

for the Alabama A&M University buses

and bus facilities project, as directed by

the FY 2001 Omnibus Consolidated

Appropriations Act, $528,534,660 is

available.

TEA–21 established a $100,000,000

Clean Fuels Formula Program under

Section 5308. The program is authorized

to be funded with $50,000,000 from the

Bus category of the Capital Investment

Program, and $50,000,000 from the

Formula Program. However, recent

congressional appropriation actions

have directed the formula portion of the

Clean Fuels Program be transferred and

available for the Bus category of the

Capital Investment Program. In

addition, these funds have been reduced

by .22 percent, in accordance with the

government-wide rescission. Thus,

$578,424,660 of funds appropriated in

FY 2001 is available for funding the Bus

category of the Capital Investment

Program. After deducting ($4,334,443)

for oversight, the amount of FY 2001

funds available for allocation is

$574,090,217.

The Conference Report accompanying

the FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

allocated most of the FY 2001 Bus funds

to specified states or localities for bus

and bus-related projects. FTA will

honor those allocations to the extent

that they comply with the statutory

authorization for that program.

However, allocations for two projects

authorized to be funded under TEA–21

(the ‘‘Georgetown University fuel cell

bus program’’ and the ‘‘Altoona bus

testing facility’’) were not included in

the Conference Report. Absent language

overriding the authorization, these

projects need to be funded with section

5309 Bus funds. To provide funding for

these projects at the levels authorized

under TEA–21, a minor deduction was

applied to the other Bus allocations on

a prorated basis. In addition, the

suballocations for the Commonwealth of

Virginia specified in the Conference

Report exceeded the statewide

allocation amount. Therefore, a prorated

reduction was applied to each statewide

suballocation to correct the difference so

that the total for the suballocations

equaled the statewide allocated amount.

Table 9 displays the allocation of the FY

2001 Bus funds by state and project.

Prior year unobligated balances for

Bus Program allocations in the amount

of $443,354,553 remain available for

obligation in FY 2001. This includes

$436,416,460 in fiscal years 1999 and

2000 unobligated allocations, and

$6,938,093 for fiscal years 1997 and

1998 unobligated allocations that were

extended in the Conference Report.

These unobligated amounts are

displayed in Table 9A.

Capital Investment Program funds for

Bus projects identified as having been

extended in the Conference Report

accompanying the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act will lapse

September 30, 2001. A list of the

extended project amounts that remain

unobligated as of September 30, 2000 is

appended to Table 9A for ready

reference.

In addition, the Conference Report

indicates that the following revisions to

projects or the reprogramming of funds

should be made under the bus category:

(1) Two FY 2000 bus allocations,

Alabama, Gees Bend Ferry facilities,

Wilcox County ($3,743,808) and

Alabama, Jefferson State Community

College/University of Montevallo

pedestrian walkway ($198,503) are

made available to the State of Alabama

for buses and bus-related facilities;

(2) remaining balances of $800,000

from FY 1999 and FY 2000 allocations

to Fayette County, PA are made

available for an intermodal parking

facility in Cambria County, PA;

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4911

(3) FY 2000 allocation for Michigan

statewide buses is expanded to include

‘‘bus-related equipment and bus

facilities;’’

(4) up to $560,000 of funds allocated

for the transportation depot and plaza

project in Hot Springs, Arkansas in FY

2000, may be available for buses and

bus facilities; and

(5) fiscal year 1999 and 2000

allocations for ‘‘Intermodal Facilities’’

for Washington County, and

Westmoreland County, PA shall include

‘‘bus and bus facilities.’’

X. Job Access and Reverse Commute

Program

The FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act

provides $100 million for the Job Access

and Reverse Commute Program, which

is the guaranteed funding level under

TEA–21. After the .22 percent reduction

for the government-wide rescission

required by the FY 2001 Omnibus

Consolidated Appropriations Act, this

amount has been reduced to

$99,780,000. Of this amount,

$75,079,461 has been allocated to 67

states and localities specified in the FY

2001 Conference report. These

allocations are listed in Table 10. FTA

will honor those allocated projects that

meet the statutory intent of the program.

This program, established under

TEA–21, provides funding for the

provision of transportation services

designed to increase access to jobs and

employment-related activities. Job

Access projects are those that transport

welfare recipients and low-income

individuals in urban, suburban, or rural

areas to and from jobs and activities

related to their employment. Reverse

Commute projects provide

transportation services for the general

public from urban, suburban, and rural

areas to suburban employment

opportunities. A total of up to

$10,000,000 from the appropriation can

be used for Reverse Commute Projects.

One of the goals of the Job Access and

Reverse Commute program is to increase

collaboration among transportation

providers, human service agencies,

employers, metropolitan planning

organizations, states, and affected

communities and individuals. All

projects funded under this program

must be derived from an area-wide Job

Access and Reverse Commute

Transportation Plan, developed through

a regional approach which supports the

implementation of a variety of

transportation services designed to

connect welfare recipients to jobs and

related activities. A key element of the

program is making the most efficient use

of existing public, nonprofit and private

transportation service providers.

In FY 2000, $49,570,000 was allocated

to projects specified in the FY 2000

Conference report. FTA undertook a

national solicitation of applications for

the remaining funds under this program

and conducted a competitive process to

select applications. As a result, FTA

selected 91 competitive proposals for a

total of $25.69 million, including

projects in 44 states and the District of

Columbia.

XI. Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility

Program

The amount made available for the

Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility (OTRB)

Program in the FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act was $4,700,000,

which is the guaranteed funding level

under TEA–21. After applying the .22

percent reduction for the governmentwide rescission required by the FY 2001

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations

Act, this amount has been reduced to

$4,689,660. Of this amount, $2,993,400

is available to providers of intercity

fixed-route service, and $1,696,260 is

available to other providers of over-theroad bus services, including local fixedroute service, commuter service, and

charter and tour service.

The OTRB program authorizes FTA to

make grants to operators of over-theroad buses to help finance the

incremental capital and training costs of

complying with the DOT over-the-road

bus accessibility final rule, published in

a Federal Register Notice on September

24, 1998. Funds will be provided at 90

percent Federal share. FTA conducts a

national solicitation of applications and

grantees are selected on a competitive

basis.

In FY 2000, a total of $2 million was

available to intercity fixed-route

providers and $1.7 million was

available to all other providers. FTA

selected 47 applicants from among the

57 applications submitted for funding

incremental capital and training costs of

complying with DOT’s OTRB

Accessibility requirements.

A separate Federal Register Notice

providing program guidance and

application procedures for FY 2001 will

be issued.

XII. Clean Fuels Formula Program

TEA–21 established the Clean Fuels

Formula Grant Program under section

5308 of Title 49 U.S.C., to assist nonattainment and maintenance areas in

achieving or maintaining attainment

status and to support markets for

emerging clean fuel technologies. Under

the program, public transit agencies in

maintenance and non-attainment areas

(as defined by the EPA) are to apply for

formula funds to acquire clean fuel

vehicles. The legislation specified the

program to be funded with $50,000,000

from the bus category of the Capital

Investment Program, and $50,000,000

from the Urbanized Area Formula

Program in each fiscal year of TEA–21.

However, congressional appropriation

actions in this fiscal year as well as in

fiscal years 1999 and 2000, have

provided no funds for this program.

XIII. Unit Values of Data for the Section

5307 Urbanized Area Formula

Program, Section 5311 Nonurbanized

Area Formula Program, and Section

5309 Capital Fixed Guideway

Modernization

The dollar unit values of data derived

from the computations of the Urbanized

Area Formula Program, the

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program,

and the Capital Investment Program—

Fixed Guideway Modernization

apportionments are displayed in Table

14 of this notice. To determine how an

apportionment amount was computed

for an area, multiply its population,

population density, and data from the

NTD by the unit values.

XIV. Period of Availability of Funds

The funds apportioned under the

Metropolitan Planning Program and the

State Planning and Research Program,

the Urbanized Area Formula Program,

and the Fixed Guideway Modernization

Program, in this notice, will remain

available to be obligated by FTA to

recipients for three fiscal years

following FY 2001. Any of these

apportioned funds unobligated at the

close of business on September 30, 2004

will revert to FTA for reapportionment

under these respective programs.

Funds apportioned to nonurbanized

areas under the Nonurbanized Area

Formula Program, including RTAP

funds, will remain available for two

fiscal years following FY 2001. Any

such funds remaining unobligated at the

close of business on September 30,

2003, will revert to FTA for

reapportionment among the states under

the Nonurbanized Area Formula

Program. Funds allocated to states

under the Elderly and Persons with

Disabilities Program in this notice must

be obligated by September 30, 2001.

Any such funds remaining unobligated

as of this date will revert to FTA for

reapportionment among the states under

the Elderly and Persons with

Disabilities Program. The FY 2001 DOT

Appropriations Act includes a provision

requiring that FY 2001 New Starts and

Bus funds not obligated for their

original purpose as of September 30,

2003, shall be made available for other

projects under 49 U.S.C. 5309.

4912 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

Capital Investment Program funds for

New Starts and Bus projects identified

as having been extended in the

Conference Report accompanying the

FY 2001 DOT Appropriations Act will

lapse September 30, 2001.

XV. Automatic Pre-award Authority to

Incur Project Costs

A. Policy

FTA provides blanket or automatic

pre-award authority to cover certain

program areas described below. This

pre-award authority allows grantees to

incur project costs prior to grant

approval and retain their eligibility for

subsequent reimbursement after grant

approval. The grantee assumes all risk

and is responsible for ensuring that all

conditions, which are described below,

are met to retain eligibility. This

automatic pre-award spending authority

permits a grantee to incur costs on an

eligible transit capital or planning

project without prejudice to possible

future Federal participation in the cost

of the project or projects. Prior to

exercising pre-award authority, grantees

must comply with the conditions and

Federal requirements outlined in

paragraphs B and C immediately below.

Failure to do so will render an

otherwise eligible project ineligible for

FTA financial assistance. In addition,

grantees are strongly encouraged to

consult with the appropriate regional

office if there could be any question

regarding the eligibility of the project for

future FTA funds or the applicability of

the conditions and Federal

requirements.

Authority to incur costs for FY 1998

Fixed Guideway Modernization,

Metropolitan Planning, Urbanized Area

Formula, Elderly and Persons with

Disabilities, Nonurbanized Area

Formula, STP or CMAQ flexible funds

to be transferred from the FHWA and

State Planning and Research Programs

in advance of possible future Federal

participation was provided in the

December 5, 1997, Federal Register

Notice. Pre-award authority was

extended in the June 24, 1998 Federal

Register Notice on TEA–21 to all

formula funds and flexible funds that

will be apportioned during the

authorization period of TEA–21, 1998–

2003.

Pre-award authority also applies to

Capital Investment Bus allocations

identified in this notice. Pre-award

authority does not apply to Capital New

Start funds, or to Capital Investment Bus

projects not specified in this or previous

notices, except as described in D. below.

Pre-award authority also applies to

preventive maintenance costs incurred

within a local fiscal year ending during

calendar year 1997, or thereafter, under

the formula programs cited above.

For section 5309 Capital Investment

Bus projects, the date that costs may be

incurred is the date that the

appropriation bill in which they are

contained is enacted. For blanket preaward authority in formula programs

described above, the effective date is

June 9, 1998.

B. Conditions

Similar to the FTA Letter of No

Prejudice (LONP) authority, the

conditions under which this authority

may be utilized are specified below:

(1) The pre-award authority is not a

legal or moral commitment that the

project(s) will be approved for FTA

assistance or that FTA will obligate

Federal funds. Furthermore, it is not a

legal or moral commitment that all

items undertaken by the applicant will

be eligible for inclusion in the project(s).

(2) All FTA statutory, procedural, and

contractual requirements must be met.

(3) No action will be taken by the

grantee that prejudices the legal and

administrative findings that the Federal

Transit Administrator must make in

order to approve a project.

(4) Local funds expended by the

grantee pursuant to and after the date of

the pre-award authority will be eligible

for credit toward local match or

reimbursement if FTA later makes a

grant for the project(s) or project

amendment(s).

(5) The Federal amount of any future

FTA assistance awarded to the grantee

for the project will be determined on the

basis of the overall scope of activities

and the prevailing statutory provisions

with respect to the Federal/local match

ratio at the time the funds are obligated.

(6) For funds to which the pre-award

authority applies, the authority expires

with the lapsing of the fiscal year funds.

(7) The Financial Status Report, in

TEAM, must indicate the use of preaward authority.

C. Environmental, Planning, and Other

Federal Requirements

FTA emphasizes that all of the

Federal grant requirements must be met

for the project to remain eligible for

Federal funding. Some of these

requirements must be met before preaward costs are incurred, notably the

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and

the planning requirements. Compliance

with NEPA and other environmental

laws or executive orders (e.g., protection

of parklands, wetlands, historic

properties) must be completed before

state or local funds are spent on

implementing activities such as final

design, construction, and acquisition for

a project that is expected to be

subsequently funded with FTA funds.

Depending on which class the project is

included under in FTA environmental

regulations (23 CFR 771), the grantee

may not advance the project beyond

planning and preliminary engineering

before FTA has issued either a

categorical exclusion (refer to 23 CFR

771.117(d)), a finding of no significant

impact, or a final environmental impact

statement. The conformity requirements

of the Clean Air Act (40 CFR part 93)

also must be fully met before the project

may be advanced with non-Federal

funds.

Similarly, the requirement that a

project be included in a locally adopted

metropolitan transportation

improvement program and federally

approved statewide transportation

improvement program must be followed

before the project may be advanced with

non-Federal funds. For planning

projects, the project must be included in

a locally approved Planning Work

Program that has been coordinated with

the State. In addition, Federal

procurement procedures, as well as the

whole range of Federal requirements,

must be followed for projects in which

Federal funding will be sought in the

future. Failure to follow any such

requirements could make the project

ineligible for Federal funding. In short,

this increased administrative flexibility

requires a grantee to make certain that

no Federal requirements are

circumvented through the use of preaward authority. If a grantee has

questions or concerns regarding the

environmental requirements, or any

other Federal requirements that must be

met before incurring costs, it should

contact the appropriate regional office.

Before an applicant may incur costs

either for activities expected to be

funded by New Start funds, or for Bus

Capital projects not listed in this notice

or previous notices, it must first obtain

a written LONP from FTA. To obtain an

LONP, a grantee must submit a written

request accompanied by adequate

information and justification to the

appropriate FTA regional office.

D. Pre-Award Authority for New Starts

Projects Approved for Preliminary

Engineering and/or Final Design

New Starts Projects are required to

follow a federally defined planning

process. This process includes, among

other things, FTA approval of entry of

a project into preliminary engineering

and approval to enter final design. The

grantee request for entry into

preliminary engineering and the request

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4913

for entry into final design both

document the project and how it meets

the New Starts criteria in detail. With

FTA approval to enter preliminary

engineering, and subsequent approval to

enter final design, FTA will

automatically extend pre-award

authority to that phase of project

development. The pre-award authority

to incur costs for final design is strictly

limited to design work. No capital items

or right of way acquisition is included

in this blanket pre-award authority.

This provision was first implemented

in FY 2000 and is intended to

streamline and eliminate duplicative

and unnecessary paperwork and

reinforce the importance of these New

Starts approval actions. New Starts

construction or right-of-way acquisition

as well as New Starts planning funded

with section 5309 funds not covered by

preliminary engineering or final design

approval still need letters of no

prejudice requested as described below.

XVI. Letter of No Prejudice Policy

(Prior Approval of Pre-Award

Authority)

A. Policy

Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) Policy

authority allows an applicant to incur

costs on a future project utilizing nonFederal resources with the

understanding that the costs incurred

subsequent to the issuance of the LONP

may be reimbursable as eligible

expenses or eligible for credit toward

the local match should FTA approve the

project at a later date. LONPs are

applicable to projects not covered by

automatic pre-award authority. The

majority of LONPs will be for Section

5309 New Starts funds not covered

under a full funding grant agreement or

for Section 5309 Bus funds not yet

appropriated by Congress. At the end of

an authorization period, there may be

LONPs for formula funds beyond the

life of the current authorization.

Under most circumstances the LONP

will cover the total project. Under

certain circumstances the LONP may be

issued for local match only. In such

cases the local match would be to

permit real estate to be used for match

for the project at a later date.

B. Conditions

The following conditions apply to all

LONPs.

(1) LONP pre-award authority is not a

legal or moral commitment that the

project(s) will be approved for FTA

assistance or that FTA will obligate

Federal funds. Furthermore, it is not a

legal or moral commitment that all

items undertaken by the applicant will

be eligible for inclusion in the project(s).

(2) All FTA statutory, procedural, and

contractual requirements must be met.

(3) No action will be taken by the

grantee that prejudices the legal and

administrative findings that the Federal

Transit Administrator must make in

order to approve a project.

(4) Local funds expended by the

grantee pursuant to and after the date of

the LONP will be eligible for credit

toward local match or reimbursement if

FTA later makes a grant for the

project(s) or project amendment(s).

(5) The Federal amount of any future

FTA assistance to the grantee for the

project will be determined on the basis

of the overall scope of activities and the

prevailing statutory provisions with

respect to the Federal/local match ratio

at the time the funds are obligated.

(6) For funds to which this pre-award

authority applies, the authority expires

with the lapsing of the fiscal year funds.

C. Environmental, Planning, and Other

Federal Requirements

As with automatic pre-award

authority, FTA emphasizes that all of

the Federal grant requirements must be

met for the project to remain eligible for

Federal funding. Some of these

requirements must be met before preaward costs are incurred, notably the

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and

the planning requirements. Compliance

with NEPA and other environmental

laws or executive orders (e.g., protection

of parklands, wetlands, historic

properties) must be completed before

state or local funds are spent on

implementation activities such as final

design, construction, or acquisition for a

project expected to be subsequently

funded with FTA funds. Depending on

which class the project is included

under in FTA’s environmental

regulations (23 CFR part 771), the

grantee may not advance the project

beyond planning and preliminary

engineering before FTA has approved

either a categorical exclusion (refer to 23

CFR part 771.117(d)), a finding of no

significant impact, or a final

environmental impact statement. The

conformity requirements of the Clean

Air Act (40 CFR part 93) also must be

fully met before the project may be

advanced with non-Federal funds.

Similarly, the requirement that a

capital project be included in a locally

adopted metropolitan transportation

improvement program and federally

approved statewide transportation

improvement program must be followed

before the project may be advanced with

non-Federal funds. For planning

projects, the project must be included in

a locally approved Planning Work

Program that has been coordinated with

the State. In addition, Federal

procurement procedures, as well as the

whole range of Federal requirements,

must be followed for projects in which

Federal funding will be sought in the

future. Failure to follow any such

requirements could make the project

ineligible for Federal funding. In short,

this pre-award authority requires a

grantee to make certain that no Federal

requirements are circumvented. If a

grantee has questions or concerns

regarding the environmental

requirements, or any other Federal

requirements that must be met before

incurring costs, it should contact the

appropriate regional office.

D. Request for LONP

Before an applicant may incur costs

for a project not covered by automatic

pre-award authority, it must first submit

a written request for an LONP to the

appropriate regional office. This written

request must include a description of

the project for which pre-award

authority is desired and a justification

for the request.

XVII. FTA Home Page on the Internet

FTA provides extended customer

service by making available transit

information on the FTA website,

including this Apportionment Notice.

Also posted on the website are FTA

program Circulars: C9030.1C, Urbanized

Area Formula Program: Grant

Application Instructions, dated October

1, 1998; C9040.1E, Nonurbanized Area

Formula Program Guidance and Grant

Application Instructions, dated October

1, 1998; C9070.1E, The Elderly and

Persons with Disabilities Program

Guidance and Application Instructions,

dated October 1, 1998; C9300.1A,

Capital Program: Grant Application

Instructions, dated October 1, 1998;

4220.1D, Third Party Contracting

Requirements, dated April 15, 1996;

C5010.1C, Grant Management

Guidelines, dated October 1, 1998; and

C8100.1B, Program Guidance and

Application Instructions for

Metropolitan Planning Program Grants,

dated October 25, 1996. The FY 2001

Annual List of Certifications and

Assurances is also posted on the FTA

website. Other documents on the FTA

website of particular interest to public

transit providers and users include the

1998 Statistical Summaries of FTA

Grant Assistance Programs, and the

National Transit Database Profiles.

FTA circulars are listed at:[http://

www.fta.dot.gov/library/admin/

checklist/circulars.htm]. Other guidance

4914 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

of interest to Grantees can be found at:

[http://www.fta.dot.gov/grantees/

index.html].

Grantees should check the FTA

website frequently to keep up to date on

new postings.

XVIII. FTA Fiscal Year 2001 Annual

List of Certifications and Assurances

The ‘‘Fiscal Year 2001 Annual List of

Certifications and Assurances’’ is

published in conjunction with this

notice. It appears as a separate Part of

the Federal Register on the same date

whenever possible. The FY 2001 list

contains several changes to the previous

year’s Federal Register publication. As

in previous years, the grant applicant

should certify electronically. Under

certain circumstances the applicant may

enter its PIN number in lieu of an

electronic signature provided by its

attorney, provided the applicant has on

file the current affirmation of its

attorney in writing dated this federal

fiscal year. The applicant is advised to

contact the appropriate FTA Regional

Office for electronic procedure

information.

The ‘‘Fiscal Year 2001 Annual List of

Certifications and Assurances’’ is

accessible on the Internet at [http//

:www.fta.dot.gov/library/legal/ca.htm].

Any questions regarding this document

may be addressed to the appropriate

Regional Office.

XIX. Grant Application Procedures

All applications for FTA funds should

be submitted to the appropriate FTA

Regional Office. FTA utilizes an

electronic grant application system

known as TEAM and all applications

should be filed electronically. FTA has

provided exceptions to the requirement

for electronic filing of applications for

certain new, non-traditional grantees in

the Job Access and Reverse Commute

and Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility

programs as well as to a few grantees

that have not successfully connected to

or accessed TEAM.

With FY 2001, FTA is establishing a

90-day goal for processing and

approving all capital, planning and

operating grants, including the section

5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program,

section 5309 Fixed Guideway

Modernization Program, the New Starts

and Bus Programs, the section 5310

Elderly and Persons with Disabilities

Program, the section 5311

Nonurbanized Area Formula Program,

the Job Access and Reverse Commute

Program, the Over-the-Road Bus

Accessibility Program, section 5303

Metropolitan Planning Program, and

section 5313(b) State Planning and

Research Program. The 90-day

processing time begins with the receipt

of a complete application by the

Regional Office. In order for an

application to be considered complete,

it must meet the following

requirements: all projects must be

contained in an approved STIP, all

environmental findings must be made

by FTA, there must be an adequate

project description, local share must be

secure, all required civil rights

submissions must have been submitted,

and certifications and assurances must

be properly submitted. Once an

application is complete, the FTA

Regional Office will assign a project

number and submit the application to

the Department of Labor for a

certification under section 5333(b). The

FTA circulars referenced below contain

more information regarding application

contents and complete applications.

Formula and Capital Investment grant

applications should be prepared in

conformance with the following FTA

Circulars: Program Guidance and

Application Instructions for

Metropolitan Planning Program

Grants—C8100.1B, October 25, 1996;

Urbanized Area Formula Program: Grant

Application Instructions—C9030.1C,

October 1, 1998; Nonurbanized Area

Formula Program Guidance and Grant

Application Instructions—C9040.1E,

October 1, 1998; Section 5310 Elderly

and Persons with Disabilities Program

Guidance and Application Instructions

C9070.1E, October 1, 1998; and Section

5309 Capital Program: Grant

Application Instructions—C9300.1A,

October 1, 1998. Guidance on

preparation of applications for State

Planning and Research funds may be

obtained from each FTA Regional

Office. Copies of circulars are available

from FTA Regional Offices as well as

the FTA website.

Applications for grants containing

transferred FHWA funds (STP, CMAQ,

and others) should be prepared in the

same manner as for funds under the

program to which they are being

transferred. The application for flexible

funds needs to specifically indicate the

type and amount of flexible funds being

transferred to FTA. The application

should also describe which items are

being funded with transferred funds,

consistent with the Statewide

Transportation Improvement Program

(STIP).

Issued on: January 9, 2001.

Nuria I. Fernandez,

Acting Administrator.

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[FR Doc. 01–1082 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

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