Document ID: FRA-2009-0031-0028
Agency: fra
Document Type: Notice
Title: Resolicitation of Applications: Railroad Safety Technology Program Grant Program
Posted Date: 2010-07-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register: July 27, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 143)]
[Notices]               
[Page 44051-44053]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27jy10-152]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2010-005-N-5]

 
Resolicitation of Applications for the Railroad Safety Technology 
Program Grant Program (RS-TEC-10-001)

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability, Resolicitation of Applications 
(RS-TEC-10-001).

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SUMMARY: Due to a significant number of technical errors in applicant 
grant proposal submissions for the Railroad Safety Technology Grant 
Program

[[Page 44052]]

(Funding Opportunity RS-TEC-10-001), the Federal Railroad 
Administration (FRA) has elected to reopen the application period.
    Applicants who previously submitted a proposal for funding under 
this program and those who do not want to make changes to their 
submission do not need to do anything. Their original application will 
be reviewed as is.
    Applicants wanting to make any changes to their application must 
reapply and submit a new, complete application package with all 
required documentation. The new application package will be reviewed 
and the previous application from the July 1, 2010, deadline will be 
ignored. It is therefore essential that applicants submit all required 
documentation as if they were a new applicant. Those seeking to modify 
their application must resubmit their proposals through Grants.gov 
(http://www.grants.gov/) before 23:59 (11:59 p.m.) Eastern Daylight 
Time September 3, 2010. Applications after this date and time will not 
be considered. Applications submitted directly to GrantSolutions or via 
e-mail, fax, or any other method other than Grants.gov, will not be 
considered.
    The Railroad Safety Technology Program (RSTP) is a newly authorized 
program under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) (Pub. L. 
110-432; October 16, 2008). The program authorizes DOT to provide 
grants to passenger and freight rail carriers, railroad suppliers, and 
State and local governments for projects that have a public benefit of 
improved railroad safety and efficiency. The program makes available 
$50 million in Federal funds. This grant program has a mandatory 
maximum 80 percent Federal, and minimum 20 percent grantee, cost share 
(cash or in-kind) requirement. Applications that do not clearly 
indicate at least a 20 percent non-Federal cost share, and do not 
adequately identify how the non-Federal cost share will be provided, 
will be rejected as nonresponsive.

DATES: FRA will begin accepting grant applications 10 days after 
publication of this Notice of Funding Availability in the Federal 
Register. Applications may be submitted until September 3, 2010. 
Reviews will be conducted immediately following the solicitation close 
date. Selection announcements will be made approximately 60 days after 
the closing date for applications.

ADDRESSES: All grant applications must be submitted through Grants.gov 
(http://www.grants.gov). The Grants.gov Web site allows organizations 
to find and electronically apply for competitive grant opportunities 
from all Federal grant-making agencies. Any entity wishing to submit an 
application pursuant to this notice should immediately initiate the 
process of registering with Grants.gov. FRA strongly recommends that 
applicants complete and submit their applications with sufficient lead 
time to account for any difficulties they may have in the use of 
Grants.gov. FRA does not recommend waiting until the closing date to 
submit applications. Instructions for the use of Grants.gov by 
applicants can be found on the Grants.gov Web site (http://
www.grants.gov/). The help center for the use of Grants.gov can be 
reached at (800) 518-4726. The help center is closed on Federal 
holidays. Callers to the help center should have the Funding 
Opportunity Number (RS-TEC-10-001), the name of the agency you are 
applying to (Federal Railroad Administration), and the specific area of 
concern. No applications will be accepted after the closing date and 
time.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Those interested in responding to this 
solicitation are strongly encouraged to first call Dr. Mark Hartong, 
FRA, Senior Electronics Engineer (phone: (202) 493-1332; e-mail: 
Mark.Hartong@dot.gov); or Mr. David Blackmore, FRA, Program Manager, 
Advanced Technologies (phone: (312) 835-3903, e-mail: 
David.Blackmore@dot.gov) to discuss the prospective idea, its potential 
responsiveness to the solicitation, and potential for FRA interest. 
Taking this action could forestall costly efforts by interested parties 
whose proposed work may not be of interest to FRA under this grant. 
Nontechnical inquiries should be directed to the Grants Officer, Ms. 
Jennifer Capps (phone: (202) 493-0112, e-mail: Jennifer.Capps@dot.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Authority and Funding: RSTP, authorized under Section 105 of RSIA 
(Division A, Pub. L. 110-432) (49 U.S.C. 20158), authorizes the 
appropriation of $50 million annually for fiscal years (FY) 2009 
through 2013. The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010 provided $50 million for 
this purpose.
    Eligible Organizations: Title 49 U.S.C. 20158 provides that 
``Grants shall be made under this section to eligible passenger and 
freight railroad carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local 
governments for projects * * * that have a public benefit of improved 
safety and network efficiency.''
    To be eligible for assistance, entities must have either received 
approval of the Technology Implementation Plans (TIP) and Positive 
Train Control Implementation Plans (PTCIP) required by 49 U.S.C. 
20156(e)(2) and 20157, or demonstrate, to the satisfaction of FRA, that 
they are currently developing the required plans. Preference will be 
given in the following order:
    1. Entities that have completed and received FRA approval of both 
their TIP and PTCIP.
    2. Entities that have completed and received FRA approval of their 
PTCIP.
    3. Entities that have submitted their PTCIP to FRA for approval.
    4. Entities that have certified to FRA progress towards completion 
of their PTCIP and TIP.
    5. All other entities.
    Collaborative project submissions by freight and passenger 
carriers, suppliers, and State and local governments on eligible 
projects will be evaluated more favorably.
    Eligible Projects: Grant awards will focus on using technologies or 
methods that are ready for deployment, or of sufficient technical 
maturity that they can be made ready for deployment within the 24 
months after the grant award. FRA will give preference to collaborative 
projects by multiple railroads that have active railroad carrier and 
sponsoring public authority participation in the following order:
    Priority 1: Projects that:
    (a) Support the resolution of Northeast Corridor Positive Train 
Control (PTC) interoperability issues,
    (b) Support the resolution of mixed freight and passenger PTC 
interoperability issues in the Los Angeles basin, or
    (c) Facilitate sharing of PTC communications infrastructure and 
spectrum.
    Priority 2: Projects that:
    (a) Support high-speed passenger operations using general freight 
PTC technologies, or
    (b) Optimize PTC deployment on the core 2015 PTC territory, or
    (c) Support PTC deployment on non-2015 core PTC territory.
    Priority 3: All other projects.
    Selection Criteria: Applications will be evaluated and ranked based 
on both technical and cost/price factors.
    Technical Factors (75% overall weighting):
    1. Responsiveness to Solicitation Intent and Requirements (20%): 
Degree to which the proposal meets the conceptual intent and submission 
requirements of the solicitation.
    2. Significance for Implementing Interoperable PTC Deployment and 
Fit with FRA Mission (30%): Degree to which successful implementation 
of the

[[Page 44053]]

proposed idea would make interoperable PTC deployment more technically 
or economically practical (includes contribution to cost-effectiveness, 
reliability, safety, availability, or maintainability), and fit within 
FRA's primary mission of ensuring the safety of the Nation's 
approximately 700 railroads.
    3. Technical Merit (20%): Degree to which proposed ideas exhibit a 
sound scientific and engineering basis; how well the proposed ideas 
could be practically applied in and would be compatible with the 
railroad environment; and perceived likelihood of technical and 
practical success.
    4. Key Personnel and Supporting Organization (15%): Technical 
qualifications and demonstrated experience of key personnel proposed to 
lead and perform the technical efforts; qualifications of primary and 
supporting organizations to fully and successfully execute proposal 
plan within the proposed timeframe and budget.
    5. Collaborative Efforts (15%): Degree to which the proposed effort 
is supported by multiple entities and the applicability and 
availability of results to the larger railroad industry.
    Cost/Price Factor (25% overall weighting):
    1. Affordability and degree to which proposed effort appears to be 
a good value for the amount of funding requested. This includes the 
reasonableness and realism of the proposed costs (60%).
    2. The extent of proposed cost-sharing or cost-participation under 
the proposed effort (exclusive of the applicant's prior investment) 
(40%).
    An offer must be found acceptable under all applicable evaluation 
factors to be considered eligible for award. Awards will be made to 
responsible applicants whose offers provide the best value to the 
Government in terms of technical excellence, cost or price, and 
performance risk, to include consistency and accord with the objectives 
of the solicitation and FRA's expressed areas of interest.
    Requirements and Conditions for Grant Applications: Detailed 
application requirements and conditions may be found in the grant 
application guidance for this solicitation on Grants.gov. Before 
submitting their proposals, applicants must carefully read the grant 
guidance associated with this funding opportunity, ensure that their 
applications are submitted on or before the closing date provided 
herein, and ensure that they have complied with all of the requirements 
of the grant application guidance, including providing applicable 
certifications.
    Information Collection: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
under emergency clearance procedures, has approved the information 
collection associated with the PTC grant program for 6 months. The 
approval number for this collection of information is OMB No. 2130-
0587, and the expiration date is September 30, 2010. FRA will be 
publishing a Notice in the Federal Register shortly in which the agency 
will be seeking regular OMB clearance for this collection of 
information. Such approvals are normally good for 3 years. FRA will 
publish a Notice for this second OMB approval once it is obtained.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 20, 2010.
Robert C. Lauby,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulatory and Legislative 
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-18266 Filed 7-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P