65762 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Notices 

24783; FMCSA–2008–0231; FMCSA– 

2010–0187; FMCSA–2011–0124; 

FMCSA–2012–0161; FMCSA–2012– 

0279’’ in the ‘‘Keyword’’ box and click 

‘‘Search.’’ Next, click ‘‘Open Docket 

Folder’’ button choose the document 

listed to review. If you do not have 

access to the Internet, you may view the 

docket online by visiting the Docket 

Management Facility in Room W12–140 

on the ground floor of the DOT West 

Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., ET., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Issued on: October 27, 2014. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26273 Filed 11–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Selection of Public Transportation 

Resilience Projects in Response to 

Hurricane Sandy 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Announcement of project 

selections for resilience projects in 

response to Hurricane Sandy. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) announces the 

selection of public transportation 

resilience projects in response to 

Hurricane Sandy under the Emergency 

Relief Program. These projects are 

funded under the Disaster Relief 

Appropriations Act of 2013, which 

made approximately $10.9 billion 

available for public transportation 

systems impacted by Hurricane Sandy 

in October 2012. This amount was 

subsequently reduced to $10.2 billion 

by sequestration and intergovernmental 

transfers of funds to other bureaus and 

offices within DOT. On December 26, 

2013, FTA published a Federal Register 

Notice (78 FR 78486) announcing the 

availability of approximately $3 billion 

for projects that will reduce the risk of 

damage from future disasters in the 

areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy. 

FTA has allocated the maximum 

amount available for resilience projects: 

$3.592 billion. Resilience projects 

awarded in this notice are subject to the 

recently issued Final Rule for the 

Emergency Relief Program, which was 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 7, 2014 (79 FR 60349). FTA has 

published additional guidance on 

policies and procedures for competitive 

resilience funding in the form of 

frequently asked questions (FAQs) at 

www.fta.dot.gov/emergencyrelief. 

Recipients are responsible for 

monitoring this Web site for additional 

guidance. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Contact the appropriate FTA Regional 

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

For program-specific questions, or 

additional information about project 

selections, please contact Adam 

Schildge, Office of Program 

Management, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, phone: (202) 

366–0778, or email, adam.schildge@

dot.gov. For legal questions, please 

contact Bonnie Graves, Office of Chief 

Counsel, same address, phone: (202) 

366–4011, or email, Bonnie.Graves@

dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

A. Overview of Resilience Project Selections 

B. Award Administration 

C. Pre-Award Authority 

D. Grant Requirements 

E. Reporting Requirements 

A. Overview of Resilience Project 

Selections 

As a result of Hurricane Sandy, and 

in accordance with the Stafford Act, 

President Obama declared a major 

disaster in late 2012 for 12 States and 

the District of Columbia affected by 

Hurricane Sandy, making public 

transportation agencies in specified 

counties in those States eligible for 

financial assistance under FTA’s Public 

Transportation Emergency Relief 

Program. 

The Disaster Relief Appropriations 

Act (Pub. L. 113–2) provides $10.9 

billion for FTA’s Emergency Relief 

Program for recovery, relief and 

resilience efforts in areas affected by 

Hurricane Sandy, with approximately 

$10.2 billion still available after 

implementation of the Balanced Budget 

and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

2011 (Pub. L. 112–25) and after 

intergovernmental transfers to other 

bureaus and offices within DOT. FTA 

has allocated approximately $9.27 

billion in multiple tiers for response, 

recovery and rebuilding, for locallyprioritized resilience projects, and, now 

for competitively selected resilience 

projects. In addition, FTA has reserved 

approximately $817 million for 

remaining unfunded recovery expenses. 

On March 29, 2013 FTA announced 

the allocation of $2 billion for response 

and recovery expenses. On May 29, 

2013, FTA announced the allocation of 

an additional $2.4 billion for response 

and recovery, including long term 

rebuilding, and $1.3 billion for locally 

prioritized resilience improvements. 

On December 26, 2013, FTA 

published a Notice of Funding 

Availability (NOFA) for approximately 

$3 billion for capital projects to reduce 

the risk of damage to public 

transportation systems from future 

disasters in the areas impacted by 

Hurricane Sandy. FTA received 61 

eligible project proposals from 10 

applicants requesting a total of over $6.6 

billion. The proposed projects were 

evaluated based on the criteria and 

policy priorities described in the NOFA. 

This notice allocates $3,591,883,625 to 

9 applicants for 40 of the 61 proposed 

resilience projects. 

The following chart illustrates the 

overall allocation of funding under the 

FTA Emergency Relief Program and the 

Disaster Relief Appropriations Act: 

Award type Applicants Available funding Eligibility criteria 

Response, Recovery & 

Rebuilding.

Affected FTA Recipients ................................. $4.4 billion .................. Damage assessments submitted by affected 

agencies and reviewed by FTA, and costs 

incurred by affected agencies. 

Locally-Prioritized Resilience.MTA, NJT, PANYNJ, NYCDOT ...................... $1.3 billion .................. Resilience Projects and Project Components. 

Competitive Resilience (1) States, (2) public transportation agencies 

that receive funding through FTA formula 

programs, (3) other entities responsible for 

an eligible public transportation capital 

project that enter into a subrecipient arrangement with an existing FTA grantee, 

and (4) entities that provide intercity passenger rail service.

$3.6 billion .................. Resilience Projects Announced in this Notice. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Notices 65763 

Award type Applicants Available funding Eligibility criteria 

Response, Recovery & 

Rebuilding.

Affected FTA Recipients ................................. $817 million (to be announced in a subsequent notice).Damage assessments submitted by affected 

agencies and reviewed by FTA, and costs 

incurred by affected agencies. 

Direct Transfer Resilience 1.Eligible DOT grantees/funding recipients implementing programs authorized under titles 23 and 49 U.S.C.$185 million ................ Funds allocated for projects intended to be 

undertaken by entities that are not current 

FTA recipients may be transferred to other 

DOT entities for administration. Additional 

transfers may be requested for resilience 

projects included in this notice. 

1The Secretary is authorized by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act to transfer emergency relief resilience funding to other DOT operating 

administrations for eligible projects. 

Selected resilience projects are shown 

in Table 1. Allocations may be less than 

requested if either a scalable scope and 

amount was provided by the applicant, 

or if FTA has identified a reduced scope 

and amount for award. The awarded 

amounts represent a 75 percent Federal 

share of the total project cost. 

Applicants are required to provide a 25 

percent matching cost share. The local 

share may be provided from an 

undistributed cash surplus, a 

replacement or depreciation cash fund 

or reserve, or new capital. In addition to 

local and State funds, non-Federal 

match may include the use of 

Community Development Block Grant 

(CDBG) funds, including CDBG Disaster 

Recovery (CDBG–DR) funds that are 

available for transportation purposes. 

B. Award Administration 

Recipients are required to submit a 

grant application electronically via 

FTA’s Transportation Electronic Award 

Management system (TEAM), and 

should work with their FTA Regional 

Office to develop and submit their 

application in TEAM so that funds can 

be obligated expeditiously. Grant 

applications in TEAM may only include 

eligible activities under the Emergency 

Relief program. Upon award, payments 

to recipients will be made by electronic 

transfer to the recipient’s financial 

institution through FTA’s Electronic 

Clearing House Operation (ECHO) 

system. A discretionary project 

identification number has been assigned 

to each project for tracking purposes 

and must be used in FTA’s electronic 

grants management system. Successful 

intercity rail projects may be transferred 

to the FRA for administration and 

oversight at the project sponsor’s 

request. 

Although Section 904(c) of the 

Disaster Relief Appropriations Act 

requires that funds received under the 

Disaster Relief Appropriations Act be 

expended within two years of 

obligation, OMB issued a waiver of this 

requirement for grants awarded under 

FTA’s Emergency Relief Program. In 

issuing this waiver, OMB stated an 

expectation that Federal agencies and 

grantees will work together to ensure 

that funds obligated under the Disaster 

Relief Appropriations Act are expended 

in a timely manner. Recipients are 

advised to work with their FTA regional 

office to develop a timeline for project 

development and award. While there is 

not a defined timeframe in which these 

funds must be obligated and expended, 

all projects should be undertaken and 

completed in accordance with the 

project application and grant agreement 

and all identified milestones. FTA will 

use the projected milestones at the time 

of grant award to estimate future 

program expenditures and to provide 

information on Hurricane Sandy 

resilience progress to Congress. 

There are some cases where the 

allocated amount is less than the full 

amount of funding requested. In these 

cases, the amount allocated will fund 

either a reduced scope alternative 

provided by the applicant or identified 

by FTA. Funds awarded to a resilience 

project may only be used for the project 

scope associated with the amount 

awarded. A recipient may utilize other 

sources of funding such as local priority 

resilience funding or FTA formula 

program funds for the non-funded 

elements of the proposed project. 

Recipients that were awarded less than 

their request should work with their 

FTA regional office to ensure the funds 

are obligated for the project scope 

associated with the amount awarded. 

C. Pre-Award Authority 

Pre-award authority allows affected 

FTA recipients to incur certain project 

costs before grant approval and retain 

the eligibility of those costs for 

subsequent reimbursement after grant 

approval. Previously, FTA extended 

pre-award authority for costs associated 

with the environmental review, as well 

as design and engineering expenses for 

selected projects. These costs remain 

eligible for reimbursement or may count 

towards the local match, regardless of 

the date incurred. Pre-award authority 

for other project costs is extended as of 

September 22, 2014, if the project costs 

meet the criteria described below. If a 

recipient is unsure whether a cost 

incurred prior to September 22 is 

eligible for pre-award authority or to be 

counted as local match, the recipient 

should contact their FTA regional office. 

Consistent with FTA policy on preaward authority, a project must have 

met all applicable Federal requirements 

prior to incurring expenses. The 

recipient assumes all risk and is 

responsible for ensuring that all 

applicable Federal program and grant 

requirements are met to retain 

eligibility. Recipients are also advised 

that incurring certain project costs prior 

to NEPA completion may render the 

entire project ineligible for Federal 

assistance. Therefore, FTA strongly 

encourages all recipients to consult with 

the appropriate FTA regional office 

regarding the anticipated environmental 

review requirements and the 

applicability of Federal conditions and 

requirements before incurring expenses 

under pre-award authority with the 

hope of future reimbursement. 

Pre-award authority is not a legal or 

implied commitment that the subject 

project will be approved for FTA 

assistance or that FTA will obligate 

Federal funds. Furthermore, it is not a 

legal or implied commitment that all 

items undertaken by the applicant will 

be eligible for inclusion in the project. 

The conditions under which preaward authority may be used are 

specified below: 

(i) All FTA statutory, procedural, and 

contractual requirements must be met. 

(ii) The recipient must take no action 

that prejudices the legal and 

administrative findings that the Federal 

Transit Administrator must make in 

order to approve a project. 

(iii) When a grant for the project is 

subsequently awarded, the Federal 

Financial Report in TEAM-Web must 

indicate the use of pre-award authority. 

Expenses incurred for projects that 

were not selected may not be 

reimbursed with competitive resilience 

funding. If a grantee intends to carry out 

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65764 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Notices 

a project that was not selected for 

competitive resilience funding using 

local priority resilience funding, the 

grantee should contact the regional 

office immediately to discuss whether 

any expenses already incurred for the 

project are eligible for reimbursement. 

Expenses incurred for projects that 

were not selected may be eligible for 

reimbursement under FTA formula 

programs such as Section 5307, 

provided that they comply with the 

terms of pre-award authority and that all 

applicable Federal requirements were 

met prior to incurring costs. 

D. Grant Requirements 

Emergency Relief funds may only be 

used for eligible purposes as defined 

under 49 U.S.C. 5324 and as described 

in the Emergency Relief Program Rule 

(49 CFR part 602). 

Recipients of section 5324 funds must 

comply with all applicable Federal 

requirements, including FTA’s Master 

Agreement. Each grant for section 5324 

funds will include special grant 

conditions, including but not limited to 

specific requirements of the Disaster 

Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, 

Federal share, and enhanced oversight. 

All projects announced in this notice 

are subject to the labor protection 

provisions of Section 5333(b). 

Accordingly, all grants containing 

resilience projects will be sent to the 

Department of Labor for certification of 

transit employee protections prior to 

FTA approval. 

Proposals that receive competitive 

funding allocations must provide 

evidence of continued progress toward 

key project milestones, which will be 

determined cooperatively by FTA and 

the awardee within 6 months of the 

announcement of allocations. Projects 

that cease to make progress towards 

these milestones within an agreed-upon 

timeframe may have their funding 

allocations deobligated or rescinded. 

Recipients are advised that FTA is 

implementing an enhanced oversight 

process for Disaster Relief 

Appropriation Act funds awarded under 

the Emergency Relief Program. FTA 

intends to undertake a risk analysis of 

each recipient and grant to determine 

the appropriate level of oversight. 

Selected resilience projects involving 

intercity rail may be transferred to the 

FRA for administration and oversight at 

the project sponsor’s request. If 

transferred, such projects will be subject 

to FRA program requirements. 

Recipients are advised to contact FTA 

for additional information. 

E. Reporting Requirements 

Post-award reporting requirements 

include submission of the Federal 

Financial Report and Milestone Progress 

Reports in FTA’s electronic grant 

management system consistent with 

FTA’s grants management Circular 

5010.1D and the special conditions of 

award for Hurricane Sandy Emergency 

Relief grants, as well as any other 

reporting requirements FTA determines 

are necessary. 

Therese W. McMillan, 

Acting Administrator. 

TABLE 1—PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION RESILIENCE PROJECTS IN RESPONSE TO HURRICANE SANDY

Project sponsor Project title Funding ID Amount 

Connecticut Department of Transportation 

(CTDOT).

Replacement of Norwalk River Railroad 

Bridge on the Northeast Corridor (Walk 

Bridge Replacement Project).

D2013–RESL–001 ..... $160,979,022 

Connecticut Department of Transportation 

(CTDOT).

New Haven Rail Yard Power Upgrade ........... D2013–RESL–002 ..... 8,978,750 

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 

(MBTA).

MBTA Green Line Fenway Portal Flood 

proofing.

D2013–RESL–003 ..... 21,673,689 

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 

(MBTA).

MBTA Charlestown Seawall Replacement ..... D2013–RESL–004 ..... 13,391,443 

City of Nashua, NH ......................................... Nashua Transit Facility Back-up Power Supply.D2013–RESL–005 ..... 25,781 

New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT).Delco Lead Safe Haven Storage and Re-Inspection Facility Project.D2013–RESL–006 ..... 184,493,910 

New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT).Hoboken Long Slip Flood Protection .............. D2013–RESL–007 ..... 146,548,432 

New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT).NJ TRANSIT Raritan River Drawbridge Replacement Project.D2013–RESL–008 ..... 446,312,465 

New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT).NJ TransitGrid ................................................. D2013–RESL–009 ..... 409,764,814 

New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT).Train Controls—Wayside Signals, Power & 

Communication Resiliency Project.

D2013–RESL–010 ..... 88,903,190 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .. Exchange Place, Newport Station & Grove 

Street Station Head House Protection.

D2013–RESL–011 ..... 37,084,650 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .. Harrison Car Maintenance Facility Automatic 

Flood Barrier.

D2013–RESL–012 ..... 14,861,400 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .. Extension of Rail Yards .................................. D2013–RESL–013 ..... 18,900,000 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .. Concrete Sea Wall East of PATH Harrison 

Car Maintenance Facility.

D2013–RESL–014 ..... 16,815,975 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .. Penn-Moynihan Station Complex Train-shed 

Hardening Project.

D2013–RESL–030 ..... 40,200,000 

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey .. World Trade Center Site and Transit Facilities 

Flood Mitigation and Resiliency Improvements Program.

D2013–RESL–031 ..... 84,675,000 

New York City Department of Transportation 

(NYCDOT).

New York City Comprehensive Ferry Transit 

Resilience Project.

D2013–RESL–015 ..... 191,550,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Emergency Communications Enhancements 

(NYCT).

D2013–RESL–016 ..... 74,950,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Flood Mitigation in Yards (NYCT) ................... D2013–RESL–017 ..... 617,200,000 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Notices 65765 

TABLE 1—PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION RESILIENCE PROJECTS IN RESPONSE TO HURRICANE SANDY—Continued 

Project sponsor Project title Funding ID Amount 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Hardening of Substations in Flood Prone 

Areas and Purchase of Mobile Substations 

(NYCT).

D2013–RESL–018 ..... 112,050,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Protection of Tunnel Portals and Internal Tunnel Sealing (NYCT).D2013–RESL–019 ..... 43,090,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Flood Resiliency for Long Island City Yard 

(LIRR).

D2013–RESL–020 ..... 19,150,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Flood Resiliency for Critical Support Facilities 

(NYCT).

D2013–RESL–021 ..... 24,320,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Protection of Street Level Openings in Flood 

Prone Areas (NYCT).

D2013–RESL–022 ..... 300,690,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Metro-North Railroad Power and Signals Resiliency Improvements.D2013–RESL–023 ..... 37,500,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Internal Station Hardening (NYCT) ................. D2013–RESL–024 ..... 19,730,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Pumping Capacity Improvements (NYCT) ...... D2013–RESL–025 ..... 24,140,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Right-of-Way (ROW) Equipment Hardening in 

Flood-Prone Areas (NYCT).

D2013–RESL–026 ..... 63,550,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).New York-New Jersey River to River Rail Resiliency (R4) Project (LIRR).D2013–RESL–027 ..... 81,007,104 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Rockaway Line Protections (NYCT) ............... D2013–RESL–028 ..... 136,820,000 

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).Flood Resiliency for Critical Bus Depots 

(NYCT).

D2013–RESL–029 ..... 44,770,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Ancillary Control Center Project ........ D2013–RESL–032 ..... 9,003,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Railroad Embankment & Slope Stabilization Project.D2013–RESL–033 ..... 18,739,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Sharon Hill Line Flood Mitigation 

Project.

D2013–RESL–034 ..... 3,752,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Railroad Signal Power Reinforcement 

Project.

D2013–RESL–035 ..... 32,026,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Jenkintown Area Flood Mitigation 

Project.

D2013–RESL–036 ..... 14,987,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Manayunk/Norristown Line Shoreline 

Stabilization Project.

D2013–RESL–037 ..... 4,502,000 

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 

Authority (SEPTA).

SEPTA Subway Pump Room Emergency 

Power Project.

D2013–RESL–038 ..... 3,749,000 

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).Protecting the Subway System by Raising 

Ventilation Shaft Elevations.

D2013–RESL–039 ..... 13,500,000 

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).Protecting WMATA’s Existing Subway System Investment by Improving Drainage.D2013–RESL–040 ..... 7,500,000 

Total ................................................................ ..................................................................... ................................ 3,591,883,625 

[FR Doc. 2014–26244 Filed 11–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA–2014–0091] 

Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Request for public comment on 

proposed collection of information. 

SUMMARY: Before a Federal agency can 

collect certain information from the 

public, it must receive approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). Under procedures established 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before seeking 

OMB approval, Federal agencies must 

solicit public comment on proposed 

collections of information, including 

extensions and reinstatements of 

previously approved collections. 

This document describes an 

Information Collection Request (ICR) for 

which NHTSA intends to seek OMB 

approval. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before January 5, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by DOT Docket ID Number 

NHTSA–2014–0091 using any of the 

following methods: 

Electronic submissions: Go to http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

M–30, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590. 

Hand Delivery: West Building Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Instructions: Each submission must 

include the Agency name and the 

Docket number for this Notice. Note that 

all comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov including any 

personal information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Diane Wigle, Division Chief, Impaired 

Driving Division (NTI–111), Office of 

Impaired Driving and Occupant 

Protection, National Highway Traffic 

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