Federal Transit Administration Update The American Recovery

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Federal Transit Administration Update The
American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009
Virginia Transit AssociationAnnual
MeetingJune 8, 2009
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Transit and Recovery Act Overview

• Overview of Recovery Act
• FTA Formula programs
• Urbanized
• Non-urbanized
• Fixed Guideway
• 3. FTA Discretionary programs
• New Starts
• Tribal Transit
• Energy/Greenhouse Gas Savings (TIGGER)

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Transit and Recovery Act Overview

• 4. ARRA Multimodal Discretionary
  Program-Transportation Investment Generating
  Economic Recovery (TIGER)
• 5. Reporting Requirements
• 6. Questions

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Transit and Recovery Act Overview

• Recovery
• Maintain and create jobs
• Infuse cash into cash strapped state and local
  economies
• Reinvest
• Build and repair infrastructure

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Transit Funding in ARRA
Note Amounts are after takedown for
Administration and Oversight
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Virginia Transit Funding in ARRA
161 million available to Virginia so far
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Key Provisions

• No waiver of FTA program requirements
  (planning/NEPA/Buy America/Labor Protections)
• 100 Federal share, except New Starts
• Capital expenses only are eligible
• Cannot mix Recovery Funds in same grant with any
  other funds
• ARRA STP Funds can be flexed to transit
• Grant obligation deadlines apply

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ARRA Transit Formula Programs

• Urbanized Area Formula (5.97 B) Allocated to
  Urbanized Areas using Section 5307 formula
  (includes section 5340, but excludes Transit
  Intensive Cities Tier)
• Non Urbanized Formula (760 M) Allocated to
  States using regular Section 5311 formula
• Fixed Guideway Modernization (742 M) Allocated
  to Urbanized Areas using regular Section 5309 FGM
  formula Tiers 1, 2, 3 and part of 4

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsUrbanized Area
Formula

• 100 percent federal funds
• Pre-Award Authority
• October 1, 2008
• Availability of funds
• 50 percent of allocated funds must be obligated
  by
• September 1, 2009
• The remaining 50 percent must be obligated by
  March 5, 2010

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsUrbanized Area
Formula

• Allocated directly to large UZAs (200K people
  and over)
• State (Governors) apportionment for small UZAs
  (under 200K people)
• Funds tracked at UZA level for large UZAs,
  statewide level for small UZAs
• Program Requirements from 5307 include
• Transit Enhancement Provision (over 200K UZAs)
• Security Spending

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsUrbanized Area
Formula

• Capital Expenses consistent with 5302(a)(1)
• Preventive Maintenance
• Up to 10 percent ADA paratransit
• Engineering and Design
• Crime prevention and security
• Excluding operating activities
• Exceptions costs associated with emergency
  response drills and security training

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsNon-Urbanized Area
Formula

• Allocated to States by 5311 and 5340 formulas
• 100 percent federal funds
• Pre-Award Authority
• October 1, 2008
• Availability of funds
• 50 percent of allocated funds must be obligated
  by
• September 1, 2009
• The remaining 50 percent must be obligated by
  March 5, 2010

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsNon-Urbanized Area
Formula

• State Responsibilities
• Sub-awards to Subrecipients
• Submits Program of Projects
• Applies to FTA for funds Eligible Subrecipients
  State, local govt, nonprofit organizations,
  Indian tribes, operators of public transportation
  or intercity bus services.
• Eligible Activities
• Capital Expenses consistent with 5302(a)(1)
• Preventive Maintenance
• Up to 10 percent ADA paratransit
• Engineering and Design
• State Administration
• Up to 15 of apportionment

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsNon-Urbanized Area
Formula

• Program Requirements
• Section 5311 including
• Intercity Bus Provision
• 15 percent required, or
• Certification
• FY 2009 certifications sufficient
• DOL Special Warranty Provision
• Tribal subrecipients
• May apply directly to FTA

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsFixed Guideway
Infrastructure Investment

• 100 percent federal funds
• Pre-Award Authority
• October 1, 2008
• Availability of funds
• 50 percent of allocated funds must be obligated
  by
• September 1, 2009
• The remaining 50 percent must be obligated by
  March 5, 2010

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ARRA Transit Formula ProgramsFixed Guideway
Infrastructure Investment

• Allocated directly to UZAs
• Fixed guideway systems 7 years or older
• Must have a threshold of at least one mile
• Allocation made under Tiers 1,2,3, and partially
  Tier 4

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Formula Program - Key Dates

• July 1 Deadline for submitting first round
  grants to DOL for review
• September 1 Deadline to obligate one half of
  apportionment (180 Days from apportionment
  notice)
• September 16 Apportionment notice of
  reallocation of formula funds published in
  Federal Register
• December 30 Deadline for submitting second round
  (including reallocation funds) grants to DOL for
  review
• March 5, 2010 Second deadline to obligate funds
  (365 days from apportionment notice
• September 30, 2010 Unobligated funds revert to
  Treasury
• September 30, 2015 Last day obligated funds
  available for drawdown
• Recovered funds will be redistributed

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ARRA Funds Tracking Gov Appt and 5311
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ARRA Funds Tracking Large UZAs
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ARRA Transit Discretionary Programs

• Major Capital Investments New Starts (742.5M)?
  - FTA focussing on projects under construction
  or able to obligate funds within 150 days
• Tribal Transit (17M)? - Competitive solicitation
  and selection? using existing procedures capital
  projects only
• Energy Program - TIGGER (100M) - Competitive
  solicitation and selection based on new
  procedures and criteria

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ARRA Transit Discretionary ProgramsNew Starts
Major Capital Investments

• 1. 750 million allocated under Section
  5309(m)(2)(A)..to enable the Secretary of
  Transportation to make discretionary grants as
  authorized by Section 5309(d) (New Starts) and
  (e) (Small Starts)
• 2. Statutory Priority to
• Projects that are in construction or are
• Eligible to obligate funds within 150 days of
  enactment

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ARRA Transit Discretionary ProgramsTribal
Transit Program

• 17 million
• Eligible Applicants Federally-recognized Indian
  tribes or Alaska Native villages, groups, or
  communities as identified by the Bureau of Indian
  Affairs (BIA) in the Department of the Interior
  (DOI).
• Eligible Projects
• Capital Projects

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ARRA Transit Discretionary ProgramsTribal
Transit Program

• A separate Notice of Funding Availability issued
  from 5311 Tribal Transit Program (published
  3/23/2009)
• Application periods will be concurrent, allowing
  budgets to reflect both resources
• 60 days to Submit proposals, period closed
  5/22/2009
• Availability Funds must be obligated before
  September 30, 2010

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ARRA Transit Discretionary ProgramsTribal
Transit Program

• Evaluation Criteria Being Considered
• 1. Project Planning and Coordination
• 2. Demonstration of Need
• 3. Project Benefits
• 4. Financial Commitment and Operating Capacity

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ARRA Transit Discretionary Programs Transit
Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy
Reduction (TIGGER)

• 100 Million
• Grants to transit agencies for Capital Projects
  that either
• Reduce energy consumption of the transit agency,
  or
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the transit
  agency.
• Application Procedures Proposal deadline was
  May 22, 2009

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ARRA TIGGER Selection Criteria

• For Energy Consumption Reduction Projects
• Energy purchased directly by a public
  transportation system.
• Examples include diesel fuel, compressed natural
  gas, and electricity purchased from power plants.
  
• The TIGGER Program focuses on the total energy
  savings of a project expected over its useful
  life.
• For greenhouse gas emission reduction projects
• TIGGER Program focuses on direct emissions from
  public transportation systems (e.g., systems
  vehicles)
• Program does not include indirect emissions
  (e.g., third-party power plants) or displaced
  emissions (e.g., emissions from manufacturing
  transit equipment, waste disposal, etc.).
• TIGGER program focuses on the total greenhouse
  gas emission reductions of a project expected
  over its useful life.

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Sample TIGGER Projects

• Replacement of existing buses with more energy
  efficient buses (Hybrid, Fuel Cell)
• Re-powering of existing buses
• Conversion to more efficient control technology
  vehicles
• (DC to AC)
• Construction or rehabilitation of transit system
  facilities

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TIGGER Proposal Amounts

• Each submitted proposal must request a minimum of
  2M.
• FTA will allow consolidated proposals from
  several transit agencies together to reach this
  2M threshold
• Individual projects within a consolidated
  proposal may receive less than 2M.
• To ensure a variety of projects are funded, FTA
  has established a maximum grant amount of 25M.

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TIGGER General Evaluation Criteria

• Return on Investment
• Project Readiness
• Capabilities of Applicant
• Degree of Innovation
• National Applicability

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ARRA Multimodal Discretionary Program-Transportat
ion Investment Generating Economic Recovery
(TIGER)

• Capital investments in surface transportation
  infrastructure
• 1.5 billion competitive grant program
• Projects with significant impact on Nation, metro
  area or region
• Grant awards 20 m to 300 m
• (can be less than 20m at DOT discretion)
• Can be up to 100 Federal share

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ARRA TIGER Grants

• Eligible Projects
• Highway or bridge projects (Title 23)
• Public transportation projects (Title 49)
• Public transportation projects, including
  investments in New Starts or Small Starts
  projects
• Passenger and freight rail projects
• Port infrastructure investments
• Projects that connect ports to other modes of
  transportation

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ARRA TIGER Grants

• Considerations
• Equitable geographic distribution of funds (no
  more than 20 of funds may be awarded to projects
  in a single State)
• Balance needs of urban and rural communities
• Up to 200 million to pay federal credit
  assistance subsidy costs (TIFIA program)
• Priority Projects
• Projects that need Federal funds to complete
  financing package - gap funding (less than 100
  Fed share)
• Projects expected to be completed by February 17,
  2012

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ARRA TIGER Grants

• Primary Selection Criteria
• Long-term outcomes
• State of Good Repair
• Economic Competitiveness
• Livibility
• Sustainability
• Safety
• Jobs Creation and Economic stimulus
• Secondary Selection Criteria
• Innovation
• Partnership

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ARRA TIGER Grants

• Implementation Schedule
• Published Federal Register Notice 5/18/2009
• Application Deadline 9/15/2009
• Projects selection announcement no later than
  2/17/2010
• For further questions, write
• TIGERGrants_at_dot.gov

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REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

• All Recipients of ARRA funds will be required to
  submit Financial Status Reports and Milestone
  Progress Reports no later than 10 days after each
  quarter
• Section 1201 Report Grantees to report basic
  data ( commitments, number of Federal of
  projects, and job estimates) to USDOT
• Section 1512 Report Grantees to report data by
  program to OMB first report due October 10, 2009

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Please visit www.fta.dot.gov/economicrecovery
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Questions?

• Tony Cho
• Community Planner
• 1760 Market St., Suite 500
• Philadelphia, PA 19103
• 215-656-7250
• tony.cho_at_dot.gov
• www.fta.dot.gov/economicrecovery