Federal Register, Volume 67 Issue 213 (Monday, November 4, 2002)

[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67236-67238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27995]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Job Access and Reverse Commute Program Announcement of Project
Selection

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded
under Fiscal Year 2002 appropriations for the Job Access and Reverse
Commute (JARC) Program, authorized by Section 3037 of the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). A total of
$125 million was available for the JARC Program in FY 2002, the
guaranteed funding level under TEA-21. In the Congressional conference
committee report language accompanying the appropriations bill, $109.3
million was designated for projects in specific areas. However, the
General Accounting Office, in a December 2001 report to Congress,
concluded that FTA could only select and fund projects through a
national competition as specified in the JARC legislation. Accordingly,
FTA required all applicants for FY 2002 JARC funding, including those
designated in Congressional report language, to submit a project
proposal application to be evaluated, scored, and ranked against all
others. Subsequently, however, in the FY 2003 Supplemental
Appropriations Act (H.R. 4775), signed into law on August 2, 2002,
Congress authorized and instructed FTA to fund all projects designated
in the report language upon receipt of an application. A number of
applications for projects in congressionally-designated areas were
submitted in FY 2002 and FTA has obligated $13 million for those
projects. The list of congressionally-designated areas was included in
FTA's 2002 Annual Apportionment Notice, published in the Federal
Register on January 2, 2002. That notice can be found at: http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/legal/federalregister/2002/fr1202a.pdf.
Because FTA solicited applications for both 2002 and 2003 funding,
we will be prepared to announce projects selected for FY 2003 funds as
soon as these funds become available.
Local agencies and authorities and private non-profit organizations
are eligible to apply for JARC Program funds. Local agencies and
authorities include states, local governments, metropolitan planning
organizations, public transit agencies and tribal organizations. A Job
Access project is one that provides new or expanded transportation
service designed to fill gaps that exist for welfare recipients and
other low-income individuals to and from jobs and other employment-
related services. A Reverse Commute project facilitates the provision
of new or expanded public mass transportation services for the general
public from urban, suburban, and rural areas to suburban work sites.
Capital and operating costs for such projects are eligible.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate FTA Regional
Administrator for grant-specific issues; or Sue Masselink, Office of
Program Management, 202-366-2053 for general information about the JARC
Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After setting aside the $109.3 million for
Congressional earmarks, a total of $15.7 million was available for
allocation by FTA. In FY 2002, the total amount requested from
applicants other than those with Congressional earmarks was $43
million. Among these applicants, 49 requested $23 million for 108
continuation projects and 39 requested $20 million for 77 new projects.
In order to encourage the creation of partnerships at the local level
and afford a reasonable period in which to establish and sustain
service, FTA announced in the solicitation notice that it would give
funding priority to continuation projects. Because of the limited
funding available for competitive allocation by FTA, only 76 of the 108
proposed continuation projects were selected for funding, and none of
the 77 proposed new projects were funded. The 76 projects selected were
submitted by 39 applicants, and are being funded at a total of
$16,765,367. The $15.7 million in available FY 2002 funds, together
with a small balance of unobligated and uncommitted funds from prior
years, will be used to fund the selected projects. The following
continuation projects rated most meritorious in the evaluation process
have been selected for funding:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Region State Agency Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I MA Massachusetts Office of $1,064,223
Transportation and
Construction.
MA Massachusetts Bay 803,810
Transportation
Authority.
MA Pioneer Valley 300,000
Transportation
Authority.
NH City of Nashua.......... 149,302
II NY New York Metropolitan 396,941
Transportation Council.
NY Central NY Regional 104,167
Transportation
Authority.
NY Capital District 232,250
Transportation
Authority.
III PA Southeastern PA Transit 116,300
Authority (SEPTA).
IV FL Jacksonville 1,569,750
Transportation
Authority.
GA Georgia Department of 200,000
Transportation.
NC North Carolina 122,000
Department of
Transportation.

[[Page 67237]]

V IL Chicago Transit 1,128,000
Authority.
IL Metra Commuter Rail 75,000
Board.
IL Regional Transportation 100,000
Authority.
IL Sparta-Monroe Randolph 113,000
Co. Transit Consortium.
IN Muncie Public Transit 106,722
Corporation.
MI City of Detroit 1,436,482
Employment and Training
Dept..
MI Michigan Department of 814,408
Transportation.
OH Lorain County Transit... 114,475
OH Western Reserve Transit 750,000
Authority.
VI LA Louisiana Dept. of 1,234,492
Transportation &
Development.
TX City of Abilene-- 100,000
CityLink.
TX City of El Paso Mass 250,000
Transit Dept. (Sun
Metro).
TX City of Lubbock/Citibus. 460,000
TX Fort Worth 200,000
Transportation
Authority.
VII IL Rock Island County 184,625
Metropolitan Transit
District.
MO City Utilities of 643,000
Springfield (CUS).
MO East-West Gateway 305,197
Coordinating Council.
MO Missouri Department of 750,000
Transportation.
VIII CO City of Loveland........ 97,355
CO City of Ft. Collins..... 130,981
CO Mesa County............. 200,000
CO Archuleta County 85,887
Department of Social
Services.
ND Standing Rock Public 63,500
Transportation.
IX AZ Maricopa Association of 1,500,000
Governments (MAG).
CA Mendocino Transit 80,000
Authority.
CA Metropolitan Transit 388,500
Development Board.
CA Napa County TPA......... 20,000
CA San Luis Obispo Council 25,000
of Governments.
X OR Central Oregon Commuter 350,000
Network.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pre-Award Authority

JARC costs may be incurred for eligible projects before grants are
made without prejudice to possible Federal participation in the cost of
the project(s). However, in exercising pre-award authority, applicants
must comply with all Federal requirements. Failure to do so will render
a project ineligible for FTA financial assistance. Applicants must
consult the appropriate FTA regional office regarding the eligibility
of the project for future FTA funds or the applicability of the
conditions and Federal requirements. Pre-award spending authority is
provided effective December 18, 2001, the date on which the Department
of Transportation (DOT) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for
Fiscal Year 2002 was signed into law by President Bush.

Certifications and Assurances

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(n), certifications and assurances
have been compiled for the various FTA programs. Before FTA may award a
Federal grant, each successful applicant must provide to FTA all
certifications and assurances required by Federal laws and regulations
applicable to itself and its project. A state providing certifications
and assurances on behalf of its prospective subrecipients should obtain
sufficient documentation from those subrecipients needed to provide
informed certifications and assurances.
The signature page accompanying the Certifications and Assurances
contains the current fiscal year's certifications assurances and, when
properly attested to and submitted to FTA, assures FTA that the
applicant intends to comply with the requirements for the specific
program involved. FTA will not award any federal assistance until the
successful applicant provides assurance of compliance by selecting
Category I on the signature page and all other categories applicable to
itself and its project.
FTA's (FY) 2003 Certifications and Assurances Notice is expected to
be published in the Federal Register soon. The document is already
available on the opening page of the TEAM Website. Copies may also be
obtained from FTA regional offices. Applicants that need further
assistance should contact the appropriate FTA regional office (see
Appendix A) for further information.

U.S. Department of Labor Certification

As a condition of release of Federal funds for this program,
Federal Transit law requires that applicants must comply with 49 U.S.C.
5333(b), administered under the Department of Labor's (DOL) Mass
Transit Employee Protection Program. These employee protections include
the preservation of rights, privileges, and benefits under existing
collective bargaining agreements, the continuation of collective
bargaining rights, the protection of individual employees against a
worsening of their positions related to employment, assurances of
employment to employees of acquired mass transportation systems,
priority of reemployment, and paid training or retraining. Generally,
DOL processes the employee protection certification required under
Section 5333(b) in accordance with the procedural guidelines published
at 29 CFR 215.3. However, for the Job Access and Reverse Commute Grants
program, DOL has proposed to apply appropriate protections without
referral for Job Access and Reverse Commute Grant applications serving
populations under 200,000 and to utilize the guidelines for Job Access
and Reverse Commute Grant applications serving populations of 200,000
or more. FTA will submit the grant application to DOL for
certification. Grant funds will NOT be released without DOL
certification. Where there are questions regarding the DOL
certification process and/or information needed by DOL to obtain a
labor certification, successful applicants must contact the appropriate
FTA regional office (See Appendix A). Additional guidance is provided
on the World Wide Web at http://www.fta.dot.gov/wtw/labor.htm.

[[Page 67238]]

Completed Applications

All successful applicants must now proceed to complete their grant
application by fully documenting all the Job Access and Reverse Commute
Grant program requirements that were not fully documented when the
original grant proposal was submitted. In a few cases, not all projects
in the applicant's proposal were selected. FTA regional offices will
advise applicants by letter of any conditions relative to the selection
or remaining outstanding items, as well as stipulations specific to the
Job Access and Reverse Commute Grant projects that need to be addressed
and/or fully documented prior to grant approval. Successful applicants
will be notified in writing by the FTA regional offices with further
guidance.

Issued on October 23, 2002.
Jennifer L. Dorn,
Administrator.

Appendix A--FTA Regional Offices

Region I

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
Massachusetts. Richard Doyle, FTA Regional Administrator, Volpe
National Transportation Systems Center, Kendall Square, 55 Broadway,
Suite 920, Cambridge, MA 02142-1093, (617) 494-2055.

Region II

New York, New Jersey, and Virgin Islands. Letitia Thompson, FTA
Regional Administrator, One Bowling Green, Room 429, New York, NY
10004-1415, (212) 668-2170.

Region III

Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and
District of Columbia. Susan Schruth, FTA Regional Administrator, 1760
Market Street, Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19103-4124, (215) 656-7100.

Region IV

Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico. Jerry Franklin, FTA
Regional Administrator, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Suite 17T50, Atlanta,
GA 30303, (404) 562-3500.

Region V

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Joel
Ettinger, FTA Regional Administrator, 200 West Adams Street, Suite
2410, Chicago, IL 60606-5232, (312) 353-2789.

Region VI

Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Robert
Patrick, FTA Regional Administrator, 819 Taylor Street, Room 8A36, Ft.
Worth, TX 76102, (817) 978-0550.

Region VII

Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. Mokhtee Ahmad, FTA Regional
Administrator, 901 Locust Street, Suite 404, Kansas City, MO 64106,
(816) 329-3920.

Region VIII

Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota. Lee
Waddleton, FTA Regional Administrator, Columbine Place, 216 16th
Street, Suite 650, Denver, CO 80202-5120, (303) 844-3242.

Region IX

California, Hawaii, Guam, Arizona, Nevada, American Samoa, and the
Northern Mariana Islands. Leslie Rogers, FTA Regional Administrator,
201 Mission Street, Suite 2210, San Francisco, CA 94105-1839, (415)
744-3133.

Region X

Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Richard F. Krochalis, FTA
Regional Administrator, Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue,
Suite 3142, Seattle, WA 98174-1002, (206) 220-7954.
[FR Doc. 02-27995 Filed 11-1-02; 8:45 am]
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