Notice of Order Soliciting Community Proposals, 5705-5716 [06-983]

Agencies

• Office of the Secretary
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5705-5716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-983]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Notice of Order Soliciting Community Proposals

AGENCY: Department of Transportation

ACTION: Notice of Order Soliciting Community Proposals (Order 2006-1-
13) Docket OST-2006-23671.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation is soliciting proposals from 
communities or consortia of communities interested in receiving a grant 
under the Small Community Air Service Development Program. The full 
text of the Department's order is attached to this document. This year, 
there are two mandatory requirements for filing of applications, both 
of which must be completed for a community's application to be deemed 
timely and considered by the Department. The first requirement is the 
submission of the community's proposal to Dockets, as described below, 
the second requirement is the filing of SF424 through https://
www.grants.gov.

DATES: Grant Proposals as well as the SF424 should be submitted no 
later than April 7, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should submit an original and two copies 
of their proposals bearing the title ``Proposal under the Small 
Community Air Service Development Program, Docket OST-2006-23671, as 
well as the name of the applicant community or consortium of 
communities, the legal sponsor, and the applicant's DUNS number to 
Dockets Operations and Media Management, M-30, Room PL-401, Department 
of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. The SF424 
is submitted electronically through https://www.grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aloha Ley, Office of Aviation 
Analysis, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-2347.

    Dated: January 20, 2005.
Michael W. Reynolds,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.
    Issued by the Department of Transportation on the 20th day of 
January, 2006.

In the Matter of Grant Applications: Small Community Air Service 
Development Program; Under 49 U.S.C. 41743 et seq.

Order Soliciting Community Grant Proposals

Overview

    By this order, the Department invites proposals from communities 
and/or consortia of communities interested in obtaining a federal grant 
under the Small Community Air Service Development Program (Small 
Community Program) to address air service and airfare problems in their 
communities. Proposals should be submitted in the above-referenced 
docket no later than April 7, 2006. Communities should be aware of a 
new application procedure which requires that applicants also submit 
form SF424, a standard federal government application form, in 
Grants.gov. An application will not be deemed complete until and unless 
all required documents are filed. (See Appendix C for additional 
information on filing form SF424.)

Funding Opportunity

    The Small Community Program was established under the Wendell H. 
Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21), 
Public Law 106-181, as a three-year ``pilot'' program and was designed 
to provide financial assistance to small communities to help them 
enhance their air service. The Department provides this assistance in 
the form of financial grants. The program was not funded in its first 
year, fiscal year 2001, but was funded and implemented in each of 
fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The Vision 100-Century of Aviation 
Reauthorization Act, Public Law 108-176 (Vision 100), reauthorized the 
program for an additional five years, through fiscal year 2008, and 
eliminated the ``pilot'' status of the program. The program has been 
funded for FY 2004, FY 2005 and FY 2006.
    Under the statute, the Secretary may award a maximum of 40 grants 
each year that the program is funded, although no more than four grants 
each year may be to communities in the same state.\1\ The grants may be 
made to single communities or to consortia of communities.\2\
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    \1\ See 49 U.S.C. 41743. A copy of the statute is provided in 
Appendix A.
    \2\ The statute specifies a consortium of communities should be 
considered as a single entity; therefore, throughout this order we 
use ``community'' to include consortia.
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    Communities that are eligible to participate in the grant program 
are those communities that are served by an airport that was not larger 
than a small hub airport for calendar year 1997 and had insufficient 
air service or unreasonably high airfares.\3\ Communities that do not 
currently have commercial air service are also eligible, but where they 
seek grant funds to secure air service under the grant program they 
must have met or be able to meet in a reasonable period all necessary 
requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration for the type of 
service involved in their grant proposals.
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    \3\ A small hub is defined as an airport that has at least 
0.05%, but less than 0.25%, of the annual passenger boardings in the 
United States.
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    In selecting communities to participate in the program, the statute 
directs the Secretary to give priority to those communities where: (a) 
Average air fares are higher than the air fares for all communities; 
(b) a portion of the cost of the activity proposed by the community is 
provided from local, non-airport-revenue resources; (c) a public-
private partnership has been or will be established to facilitate air 
carrier service to the public; (d) improved service will bring the 
material benefits of scheduled air transportation to a broad section of 
the traveling public, including businesses, educational institutions, 
and other enterprises whose access to the National air transportation 
system is limited; and (e) the assistance will be used in a timely 
fashion.
    The Small Community Program provides considerable flexibility in 
how funds can be used to implement a community's grant proposal. (See 
49 U.S.C. 41743(d).) For example, grant funds can be used to cover the 
expenses of any new advertising or promotional activities related to 
improving the air service to the community. Funds may also be used for 
new studies designed to measure air service deficiencies, or to measure 
traffic loss or diversion to other communities. Another example would 
be using the funds for the employment or use of new, dedicated air 
service development staff on a long-term basis, advertising or public 
relations agencies, universities, and consulting firms. In addition, 
grant funds may also be used for financial incentives, including 
subsidy or revenue guarantees, to air carriers in conjunction with 
their

[[Page 5706]]

provision of air service or the fare levels charged, or to ground 
service providers in providing access to air transportation 
services.\4\ The use of grant funds for air carrier subsidy is limited 
to a maximum period of three years.
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    \4\ Qualified expenses are set forth in the Department's 
regulations, 14 CFR 18.22 and Office of Management and Budget 
Circular A-87. See www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a0087/
a0087.html.
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    While the statute does not preclude communities from including 
capital expenditures, such as terminal/runway improvements or airport 
equipment in their grant requests, communities are encouraged not to do 
so. Because the Department generally receives many more applications 
than it can accommodate under the limitations of the statute and there 
are other government programs more suited and specifically designed for 
capital expenditures, the Department will treat such requests with 
lower priority. Applicants may pursue capital improvement projects 
separately in conjunction with their grant proposals under the Small 
Community Program.\5\
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    \5\ Each applicant is responsible for assuring that no part of 
its proposal would, if accepted, violate any of the assurances 
associated with other federal grants, including, but not limited to, 
all Airport Improvement Program assurances regarding use of airport 
revenues.
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    The statute also provides that the Department will designate one of 
the grant recipients as an Air Service Development Zone. Communities 
seeking to attract business to the area surrounding the airport and/or 
to develop land use options for the area as set forth in the statute 
are invited to compete for the designation. The Department will assist 
the designated community in establishing contacts with and obtaining 
advice and assistance from appropriate government agencies, including 
the Department of Commerce as well as other offices within the 
Department of Transportation, and in identifying other pertinent 
resources which may aid the community in its efforts to attract 
businesses and to formulate land use options for the airport vicinity. 
However, upon receiving the designation, it will be the responsibility 
of the community to develop, implement and manage activities related to 
the air service development zone initiative. There are no additional 
funds associated with this designation. Furthermore, communities 
seeking this designation will receive no special benefit or preference 
in receiving a grant under the Small Community Program.
    Applicant communities interested in this designation should clearly 
indicate that interest in their applications and should provide 
detailed information in support of their selection for this designation 
in a separate section of their grant proposals. (See Application and 
Submission Section below, for more details on the application 
requirements for this designation.) Supporting information will include 
property and facilities available for the air service development zone, 
demographic information regarding the community and its environs, and 
the community's goals and preliminary plans for its air service/
economic development initiatives.
    In each of the years that the program has been funded, the 
Department received many more applications than could be accommodated 
under the limitations of the statute. In fiscal year 2002, the 
Department received 180 proposals and made 40 grant awards; in fiscal 
year 2003, the Department received 170 applications and made 36 grant 
awards; in fiscal year 2004, the Department received 108 applications 
and made 40 grant awards; and in fiscal year 2005, the Department 
received 84 applications and made 35 grant awards.\6\
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    \6\ See Orders 2002-6-14 (June 26, 2002), 2002-12-16 (December 
20, 2002) (both in Docket OST-2002-11590); Orders 2003-9-14 
(September 17, 2003), 2003-9-25 (September 30, 2003) (both in Docket 
OST-2003-15065); Order 2004-8-30 (August 30, 2004) in Docket OST-
2004-17343; and Order 2005-8-19 (August 25, 2005) in Docket OST-
2005-20127 for a complete description of the Department's grant 
awards over the past four years.
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Award Information

    The Department of Transportation's budget appropriation for 2006 as 
set forth in the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban 
Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent 
Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006, Public Law 109-115, November 30, 
2005, provides funding of up to $10 million for the program in fiscal 
year 2006.\7\
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    \7\ This funding is subject to a 1% across-the-board rescission. 
Furthermore, the program's funding for this year may be affected by 
a provision in Public Law 109-115 that provides the Secretary with 
authority to transfer funds from any program within or administered 
by the Office of the Secretary to the Essential Air Service (EAS) 
program if the EAS program does not have sufficient funds to meet 
its statutory obligations. In all previous years, the program has 
been funded at a level of $20 million per year. In some cases, that 
funding was also subject to a slight across-the-board rescission.
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    The financial assistance under this program is in the form of 
financial grants. As mentioned above, the statute limits the Department 
to a maximum of 40 grant awards (with a maximum of four grants per 
state) in each year that the program is funded. It does not prescribe 
any limits on the amounts of individual awards. The grant amounts 
awarded will vary depending upon the features and merits of the 
proposals selected. Over the past four years, the Department's 
individual grants have ranged from $20,000 to nearly $1.6 million.
    The grant funds awarded do not need to be expended in the fiscal 
year that they are awarded. Nor do they need to be used within a one-
year period. Authorized grant projects may include activities that 
extend over a multi-year period under a single grant award to the 
extent reasonable and practicable. Generally speaking, grant awards 
have not exceeded a three-to-four-year period.
    Grant funds to the selected communities are available on a 
reimbursable basis under which the community expends funds related to 
implementation of the approved grant project, and then seeks 
reimbursement from the Department at regular intervals (usually 
monthly) for project expenditures under the terms set forth in the 
Grant Agreement between the Department and the selected community.

Eligibility Information

Applicant Eligibility

    Communities that are eligible to participate in the grant program 
are those communities that are served by an airport that was not larger 
than a small hub airport for calendar year 1997 and had insufficient 
air service or unreasonably high airfares.\8\ Communities that do not 
currently have commercial air service are also eligible, but where they 
seek grant funds to secure air service under the grant program, they 
must have met or be able to meet in a reasonable period all necessary 
requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration for the type of 
service involved in their grant proposals. Communities served by medium 
and large hubs are not eligible to apply under this program.
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    \8\ The hub classifications are based on the Federal Aviation 
Administration's CY 1997 enplanement data.
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    The law does not exclude small communities that currently receive 
subsidized air service under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program 
from seeking funds under the Small Community Program. A number of EAS-
subsidized communities applied in past years and the Department has 
made grant awards to some of those applicants. When analyzing grant 
proposals, the Department will consider the fact that subsidized EAS 
communities are already receiving federal funding to support their air

[[Page 5707]]

services under the EAS program, and that Vision 100 made several 
substantive changes to the EAS program, including provision for an 
``alternate'' EAS program that provides EAS-subsidized communities many 
of the same options for addressing their air service issues as those 
generally available under this program.\9\ Furthermore, EAS-subsidized 
communities should be aware that we will not award grants to 
communities whose proposals are inconsistent with long-standing EAS 
policies, including proposals that contemplate air service to a second 
hub where such service is not now authorized under the community's EAS 
determination.
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    \9\ Public Law 108-176, Sec. 405 amending 49 U.S.C. Section 
41745. Pursuant to Vision 100, on July 27, 2004, the Department 
announced the ``Establishment of Alternate Essential Air Service 
Pilot Program'' and provided procedures for communities interested 
in participating in this component of the EAS program. See order in 
Docket OST-2004-18715.
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    Communities that were awarded grants in previous years that want to 
apply for a grant this year should be aware that they are precluded 
from seeking funds for projects that have already received an award 
under the Small Community Program. However, previous grant recipients 
may submit grant proposals and seek funds for new projects in a 
different category. For example, if a community had received a grant 
for a market study, it could not apply for a new grant for another 
market study; however, the community could apply for funding for a 
revenue guarantee for new air service. That said, the funds for this 
program are very limited and the interest in the program has far 
exceeded both the funds available and the number of communities that 
can participate under the statute in any one year. The fact that a 
community has already received one or more grants will be a 
consideration when comparing its new proposal with those of other 
applicant communities.
    Communities that propose to use the grant funds to support service 
in a city-pair market that is already served on a non-subsidized basis 
should be prepared to explain in detail why the existing service is 
insufficient or unsatisfactory, or provide other compelling information 
to support their proposal. This information is necessary for the 
Department to consider the competitive implications of subsidizing one 
carrier's service over service that is not subsidized. The Department 
is concerned that, while bringing new competition may benefit the 
community in the short term, a market may prove insufficient to support 
two carriers and service may deteriorate to the point that the 
community's service in the market is less beneficial than before. Thus, 
the Department may look skeptically at proposals that do not fully 
address these concerns.
    The statute permits individual communities and consortia of 
communities to apply for grant awards under this program. In some 
instances in the past, several communities in a state have filed a 
single application as a ``consortium'' while in effect the application 
is a collection of individual community requests that involve different 
projects. We do not view this as a consortium. Rather, an application 
representing a consortium would be one that facilitates efforts of 
communities working together toward a joint grant project. For example, 
several communities surrounding an airport may apply together to 
improve air services at that airport.
    The Department expects that communities will file only one 
application for a grant. In the past, some communities have filed both 
individual applications and requests as part of a consortium. In many 
cases these applications have involved the same project at the same or 
different funding levels. We will not consider the stand-alone 
application if a community is also submitting a largely identical 
request as part of a consortium. To the extent that a community files 
separately and as part of a consortium for complementary projects--for 
example, one request for funding a revenue guarantee and one for 
marketing--we will consider such proposals. Communities should be 
aware, however, that such multiple applications will not necessarily 
improve their chances for receiving a grant, and the Department cannot 
make multiple awards involving the same community in any one fiscal 
year.

Cost Sharing/Local Contributions

    The statute does not require communities to contribute toward a 
grant project, although those that do contribute from local sources 
other than airport revenues are accorded priority consideration. One 
core objective of the Small Community Program is to promote community 
involvement in addressing air service/air fare issues through public/
private partnerships. As a financial stakeholder in the process, the 
community gains greater control over the type, quality, and success of 
the air service initiatives that will best meet its needs, and 
demonstrates a greater commitment towards achieving the stated goals. 
The Department has historically received many more applications than 
can be accommodated and nearly all of those applications have proposed 
a community financial contribution to the project. Thus, proposals that 
do not propose a community financial contribution will be at a 
competitive disadvantage.
    For those communities that propose to contribute to the grant 
project, that contribution can be in the following forms:
    Cash from non-airport revenues: This cash contribution can include 
funds from the State, the County or the local government, and/or from 
local businesses, or other private organizations in the community. The 
``value'' of donated advertising will not be considered a ``cash'' 
contribution.
    Cash from airport revenues: This includes contributions from funds 
generated by airport operations. Such contributions do not accord 
priority consideration for selection and FAA policies preclude the use 
of airport revenues for revenue guarantees to airlines.
    In-Kind Contributions from the airport: This can include such items 
as waivers of landing fees, terminal rents, fuel fees, and/or parking 
fees.
    In-Kind Contributions from the community: This can include such 
items as donated advertising from media outlets, catering services for 
inaugural events, or in-kind trading, such as advertising in exchange 
for free air travel. Travel banks and travel commitments/pledges are 
regarded as an in-kind contribution. Similarly, reduced fares by 
airlines will be considered an in-kind contribution.
    Only cash contributions will be eligible for reimbursement. ``In-
kind'' contributions involve services or benefits that do not include a 
cash transaction between the parties. Because grant funding under the 
Small Community Program is provided on a reimbursable basis, the 
Department cannot reimburse the grant sponsor for ``in-kind'' or non-
cash contributions. Therefore, in-kind contributions are not considered 
as part of the community's cash financial contribution to the project. 
Of course, communities are free to include in-kind contributions in 
their proposals. In fact, communities are encouraged to offer in-kind 
inducements as an extra incentive to facilitate air service/fare 
improvements. While these contributions will not be considered as part 
of the community's cash contribution toward the project on which 
reimbursements are made, they will be considered as illustrative of the 
community's overall commitment to the proposed grant project. If there 
is any question about whether a proposed contribution would be 
considered as

[[Page 5708]]

``in-kind'' or cash, the applicant should contact the Department before 
submitting its proposal.
    Contributions should represent a new financial commitment or new 
financial resources devoted to attracting new or improved service, or 
addressing specific high-fare or other service issues, such as 
improving patronage of existing service at the airport. Contributions 
from already-existing programs or projects (e.g., designating a portion 
of an airport's existing annual marketing budget to the project) are 
considered less favorably than contributions for new and innovative 
programs or projects.
    Applicant communities should also note that, as part of the grant 
agreement between the Department and the community, the community must 
fulfill its proposed financial contribution to the project. Community 
participation with respect to all aspects of the proposal, including 
the financial aspects, is critical to the success of the authorized 
project initiative. As with the grant awards in past years, receipt of 
the full federal contribution awarded will thus be linked to the 
community's fulfillment of its financial contribution. Furthermore, 
communities cannot propose a certain level of cash contribution from 
non-airport sources, and subsequent to being awarded a grant, seek to 
substitute or replace that contribution with either ``in-kind'' 
contributions or contributions from airport revenues, or both. Given 
the statute's priority for contributions from non-airport sources and 
the competitive nature of the selection process, a community's grant 
award could be reduced or terminated altogether if it is unable to 
replace the committed funds from non-airport revenue sources.

Application and Submission Information

Types of Projects and Application Content

    The statute is very general about the types of projects that can be 
authorized in order to provide communities as much flexibility as 
possible to address air service and airfare issues. Moreover, as each 
community's circumstances may be different, applicants will have some 
latitude in identifying their own objectives and developing strategies 
for accomplishing them. However, the purpose of this program is to 
provide additional financial support to improve air service at small 
communities. It is not intended to shift existing expenditures for this 
purpose from the local or state level to the federal level.
    A core objective of the Small Community Program is to help 
communities secure enhancements that will be responsive to their air 
transportation/air fare needs on a long-term basis after the financial 
support of the grant has discontinued. There are many ways that a 
community might enhance its current air service or attract new service, 
such as: by promoting awareness among residents of locally available 
service; by attracting a new carrier through revenue guarantees or 
operating cost offsets: by offering an incumbent carrier financial 
incentives to lower its fares, increase its frequencies, add new 
routes, or deploy more suitable aircraft, including upgrading its 
equipment from turboprops to regional jets; by combining traffic 
support from surrounding communities with regionalized service through 
one airport; or by providing local ground transportation service to 
improve access to air service to the community and the surrounding 
area. These serve merely as illustrative examples and are not meant to 
comprise a list of the types of projects that are considered most 
favorably.
    Consequently, communities are encouraged to be innovative and to 
consider a wide range of initiatives in developing their proposals. At 
the same time, general, vague, or unsupported proposals will be to be 
entertained. The more highly defined and focused the proposal, the more 
likely it will received favorable consideration, particularly given the 
statute's focus on a timely used of the federal grant funding. (48 
U.S.C. 41743(c)(5)(E)).
    At a minimum, proposals must provide the following information:
     A description of the community's existing air service, 
including the carrier(s) providing service, service frequency, direct 
and connection destination offered, available fares, and equipment 
types.
     A synopsis of the community's historical service, 
including destination, traffic levels, service providers, and any 
extenuating factors that might have affected traffic in the past or 
that can be expected to influence service needs in the near to 
intermediate terms.
     A description of the community's air service needs or 
deficiencies, including any major origin/destination markets not now 
served or not served adequately. In addition, communities are free to 
submit any information about their fare situation that they deem 
relevant to consideration of their grant request.
     A strategic plan for meeting those needs under the Small 
Community Program, including the community's specific project goal(s) 
and detailed plan for attaining the goal(s). Proposals should clearly 
identify the target audience of each component of the proposed 
transportation initiative, including all advertising and promotional 
efforts. Proposals should also provide a realistic timetable for 
implementation of the grant project. In this regard, the statute 
including timely use of the grant funds as a priority consideration. 
Consequently, communities must have a well-developed project plan and 
detailed timetable for implementing that plan. In establishing the 
timetable, however, communities should be realistic about their ability 
to meet their project deadlines.\10\ Furthermore, proposals involving 
new or improved service should include self-sufficiency of the service 
as an integral part of the community's goal since, under the statute, 
they cannot seek grant funding in subsequent year in support of the 
same project. Therefore, it is important that communities seriously 
consider the scale of their proposed projects in developing their 
proposals and the timetable for achieving them. To the extent that a 
propoed project is dependent upon or relevant to completion of other 
federally funded capital improvement projects, the community should 
provide a description of, and the construction time-line for, those 
projects keeping in mind the new statutory requirement to use Small 
Community Program funding in a timely manner.
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    \10\ The projected timetable will be an integral part of the 
grant agreements between the selected communities and the 
Department. Therefore, there is no advantage to a community in 
proposing an aggressive timetable that cannot be met, and there may 
be disadvantages if the community find that it cannot meet its 
timetable. Communities should carefully consider all factors 
affecting implementation of their projects and develop realistic 
timeframes for achieving those objectives, keeping in mind that 
authorized projects generally have not exceeded three to four years.
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    Further, when drafting a proposal, applicants should fully and 
clearly outline the goals and objectives sought to be achieved, e.g., 
``to broaden the awareness by residents in the Tri-County area of the 
operations provided by passenger carriers at the Tri-County airport,'' 
or ``to obtain new and affordable service to a hub airport in a direct 
where there is no such service.'' When an application is selected, 
these goals and objectives will be incorporated into the grant 
agreement and shape its basic scope. Once an agreement is signed, if 
circumstances change and an amendment is sought to allow for different 
activities or a different approach, the Department will

[[Page 5709]]

look to whether the change being sought is consistent with those 
fundamental project goals and objectives. Proposed changes that would 
alter those fundamental project goals and objectives cannot be 
authorized, because doing so would undermine the competitive nature of 
the selection process.
     A description of any public-private partnership that will 
participate in the project. Full community involvement is a key aspect 
of the Small Community Program. The statute gives a priority to those 
communities that already have established, or will establish, a public-
private partnership to facilitate air service to the public. The 
proposal should give a full description of the public-private 
partnership that will participate in the community's proposal and how 
the partnership will actively participate in implementing the proposed 
project. In addition, applicants should identify each member of the 
partnership, the role that each will play, and its specific 
responsibilities in implementation of the project. If the application 
does not include specific information on the partnership participation 
in the project, the Department cannot evaluate how well a community has 
met this consideration, and the applicant will not be deemed as having 
met this priority consideration in the Department's evaluation of the 
community's proposal.
     A detailed description of the funding necessary for 
implementation of the community's project, including the federal and 
non-federal contributions. Proposal should clearly identify the level 
of federal funding sought. They should also clearly identify the other 
cash contributions toward the proposed project, ``in-kind'' 
contributions from the airport, and ``in-kind'' contributions from the 
community. Cash contributions from airport revenues should be 
identified separately from cash contributions from other community 
sources. Similarly, cash contributions from the state and/or local 
government should be separately identified and described.
    In this regard, instances have arisen in the past where communities 
have relied extensively on what they characterize as travel banks for a 
significant portion of their local contribution. A travel ``bank'' 
involves an actual deposit of funds from the participating entities 
into a bank for the purpose of purchasing committed air travel on the 
selected airline and defined procedures for use of those funds under an 
agreement with the airline. Most often, however, what communities refer 
to as a travel ``bank'' in reality involves travel ``pledges'' from 
businesses in the community without any collection of funds or formal 
procedures for use of the funds. Despite having awarded several 
proposals contemplating ``travel banks,'' there are a few that have 
been implemented. Two communities that have established true travel 
banks are Redmond, Oregon, and Dubuque, Iowa. In the majority of cases, 
however, community discussions with air carriers have revealed that 
many carriers are not interested in travel banks or travel pledges/
commitments, preferring other forms of financial incentives for risk 
abatement in the initial stages of their airline service. Therefore, if 
communities include travel banks in their proposals, they must also 
provide written confirmation that the potential transportation 
provider(s) involved in the project is interested in such a financial 
incentive. If such confirmation cannot be secured, the community should 
provide alternative funding proposals to address the carrier/financial 
incentive packages that may be needed. Further, if official travel 
banks are proposed, the Department will require documentation during 
the term of the grant that the travel banks are funded.
    Applicant communities should be aware that, if awarded a grant, the 
Department will not reimburse the community for pre-award expenses such 
as the cost of preparing the grant application or for any expenses 
incurred prior to the community executing a grant agreement with the 
Department for implementation of the grant. In addition, 10 percent of 
the grant funds will be withheld until the Department receives the 
final report of the grant project. See Award Administration 
Information, below.
     An explanation of how the community will ensure that its 
own funding contribution is spent in the manner proposed.
     Descriptions of how the community will monitor the 
progress of the grant project and identify critical milestones during 
the life of the grant, including the need to modify or discontinue 
funding if identified milestones cannot be met. This is an important 
component of the community's proposal and serves to demonstrate the 
thoroughness of the community's planning of the proposed grant project. 
Applicant communities are on notice that any modifications must first 
be approved by the Department. Moreover, modifications to the project 
will be considered only to the extent that the changes do not deviate 
from the original goal and scope of the authorized grant project. As 
noted above, the Department will not permit fundamental changes to a 
community's proposal in order to preserve a grant award.
     A description of how the community plans to continue with 
the project if it is not self-sustaining after the grant award expires. 
A particular goal of the Small Community Program is to provide long-
term, self-sustaining improvements to air service at small communities. 
Under the Vision 100 amendments to the statute, the community cannot 
seek further grant funding in support of the same project. It is 
possible that a new or improved service at a community will be well on 
its way to becoming self-sustaining, but will not have reached that 
goal when the grant has expired. Similarly, it is possible that 
extensive marketing and promotional efforts may be in process, but not 
completed, at the end of the grant period and will require continued 
support. Therefore, in developing its proposal, the community should 
carefully consider and describe its plans for continued financial 
support for the project after the grant funding is no longer available. 
This aspect of the application reflects on the community's commitment 
to the grant project and is an important component to the Department's 
consideration of the community's proposal for selection for a grant 
award.
     A description of the community's air service development 
efforts over the past five years and the results of those efforts. Many 
communities have been active on an on-going basis for many years in air 
service development efforts, while others are just beginning. To the 
extent that a community has previously engaged in other air service 
initiatives, including through public/private partnerships, it should 
describe those efforts and their results in its grant proposal. This 
should include marketing and promotional efforts of airport services as 
well as efforts to recruit additional or improved air service and 
airfare initiatives.
     Designation of a legal sponsor responsible for 
administering the program. The legal sponsor must be a government 
entity. If the applicant is a public-private partnership, a public 
government member of the organization must be identified as the 
community's sponsor to accept program reimbursements. In this regard, 
communities can designate only a single government entity as the legal 
sponsor, even if a consortium, for example, consists of two or more 
local government entities. Private organizations cannot be designated 
as

[[Page 5710]]

the legal sponsor of a grant under the Small Community Program.\11\
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    \11\ The community has the responsibility to ensure that the 
recipient of any funding has the legal authority under State and 
local laws to carry out all aspects of the grant.
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     Air Service Development Zone Designation. As noted 
earlier, the Department will designate one of the selected grant 
recipients as an Air Service Development Zone. The purpose of the 
designation is to provide communities interested in attracting business 
to the area surrounding the airport and/or developing land use options 
for the area to work with the Department on means to achieve those 
goals. Only communities that are interested in these objectives and 
have a plan to accomplishing them should compete for the available 
designation. Applying for this designation will provide no special 
benefit or preference to a community in receiving a grant award.
    Against this background, grant applications interested in selection 
for the Air Service Development Zone designation, must include in their 
applications a separate section, titled, Support for Air Service 
Development Zone Designation. That section should include detailed 
information regarding the property and facilities available for 
development such as an existing airpark or land for such an airpark; 
the other modes of transportation that would be available to support 
additional economic development, such as rail, road, and/or water 
access; information concerning historic, existing, and any future 
business activity in the area that would support further development; 
demographic information concerning the community and its environs 
relevant to the developmental efforts, including population, 
employment, and per capita income data; and any other information that 
the community believes is relevant to its plans to enhance air service 
development. In this regard, the community should provide as detailed a 
plan as possible, including what goals it expects to achieve from the 
air service development zone designation and the types of activities on 
which it would like to work with the Department in achieving those 
goals. The community should also indicate whether further local 
government approvals are required in order to implement the proposed 
activities.
    The Department will work with the selected grant recipient by 
reviewing its proposed goals and plans and will meet with the community 
to help direct the community's efforts to appropriate government 
agencies, including the Department of Commerce as well as other U.S. 
DOT offices that could provide further support and guidance for 
achieving the community's goals. The community and its leaders are in 
the best position to determine what activities will benefit its goals 
for greater air service development. The Department will serve as a 
liaison in helping the selected community connect directly with others 
that have the expertise and ability, including funding where the 
community meets the necessary requirements, to support the community's 
developmental activities.
    There is no set format that applicants should use in submitting 
their applications, other than the guidance above concerning issues 
that must be addressed in community applications. The law provides 
considerable latitude to communities in developing their proposals and 
a strict format could serve to stifle innovation. However, given the 
historical high volume of applications received, applicants are 
required to submit a Summary Information Sheet (attached as Appendix B 
to this order) at the beginning of their applications and to complete 
the SF424 standard federal grant applications form (see Appendix C to 
this order) to assist our review of each proposal.

Filing Date/Confidential Material

    Proposals are due April 7, 2006.\12\ They may be submitted by hand, 
mail, or express delivery. Proposals postmarked after the due date will 
not be accepted. This year, there are two mandatory requirements for 
filing of applications, both of which must be completed for a 
community's application to be deemed timely and considered by the 
Department.
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    \12\ The original application should be submitted on 8.5'' x 
11'' paper, in dark ink (not green) and without tabs to facilitate 
inclusion in the Department's docket management system. The 
remaining copies may be tabbed and include use of any color ink.
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    First, the applicant must submit a proposal that includes all of 
the information required by the Application and Submission section, 
above, including the Summary Sheet in Appendix B. The applications will 
be maintained in a public docket accessible by the general public and 
other applicants. Interested communities should submit an original and 
two copies of their proposals, including the Summary Information Sheet, 
if submitting their proposals by mail, hand, or express delivery.\13\
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    \13\ Communities may submit their proposals electronically by 
following the instructions at the following Web site https://
dms.dot.gov. If they do so, however, they should not also submit a 
hard copy of the application to the Dockets Operations and Media 
Management Office. However, communities using this option are 
required to submit one hard copy of their application to the 
Department's Office of Aviation Analysis, X-50, Room 6401, 400 7th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Moreover, any additional 
materials such as DVDs and videos cannot be included in the docket 
management system. To the extent that communities want to include 
such information in their proposals, they should provide that 
information to the Department's Office of Aviation Analysis, X-50, 
Room 6401. Questions about electronic filing procedures should be 
addressed to Renee Wright, Dockets Operations and Media Management, 
at (202) 366-9826.
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    The cover page for all applications regardless of the method of 
submission should bear the title ``Proposal Under the Small Community 
Air Service Development Program,'' and should include the docket number 
as shown on the first page of this order, the name of the community or 
consortium of communities applying, the legal sponsor, and the 
community's Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System 
(DUNS) number. The application should be sent/delivered to Dockets 
Operations and Media Management, M-30, Room PL-401, Department of 
Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Questions 
regarding the program or the filing of proposals should be directed to 
the Office of Aviation Analysis, at (202) 366-1053 or 
terri.bingham@dot.gov.\14\
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    \14\ To the extent that applicants are interested in reviewing 
proposals that were submitted in prior years, those applications are 
publicly available in Docket OST-2002-11590, Docket OST-2003-15065, 
Docket OST-2004-17343, and Docket OST-2005-20127 for FY 2002, 2003, 
2004, and 2005 grants, respectively, through the Department's docket 
management system at the following Web address: https://dms.dot.gov/.
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    Applicants will be able to provide certain information relevant to 
their proposals on a confidential basis. Under the Department's 
regulations, such information is limited to commercial or financial 
information that, if disclosed, would either significantly harm the 
competitive position of a business or enterprise or make it more 
difficult for the Federal Government to obtain similar information in 
the future. Applicants seeking confidential treatment of a portion of 
their applications must segregate the confidential material in a sealed 
envelope marked ``Confidential Submission of X (the applicant) in 
Docket OST-2006-23671'' and include with that material a request in the 
form of a motion seeking confidential treatment of the material under 
14 CFR 302.12 (Rule 12) of the Department's regulations. The applicant 
should submit an original and two copies of its motion and an original 
and two copies of the confidential material in the sealed envelope. The 
confidential material

[[Page 5711]]

should not be included in the original or in any of the copies of the 
applicant's proposal that are submitted to the Department. Those 
submissions, however, should indicate clearly where the confidential 
material would have been inserted. If applicants invoke Rule 12, the 
confidential portion of the filing will be treated as confidential 
pending a final determination. All confidential material must also be 
received by April 7, 2006.
    Second, in order to comply with this year's Grants.gov initiative, 
a mandate of the President's Management Agenda, all applicants must 
also submit form SF424, Application for Federal Domestic Assistance, 
found on https://www.grants.gov. In this regard, applicants should be 
aware that they must complete a one-time registration process in order 
to submit the SF424 application, and the registration process can take 
approximately three to five days to complete.
    Therefore, communities intending to file applications should 
complete the registration process sooner rather than later to ensure 
that they can meet the application deadline. Appendix C provides 
additional information with respect to the registering process in 
Grants.gov as well as instructions on submitting SF424 once the 
registration process has been completed. As noted above, an application 
will not be deemed complete unless the proposal has been submitted to 
the Department's Docket Operations and Media Management office 
referencing the appropriate docket, an the SF424 application has been 
submitted through Grants.gov by the April 7 deadline.

Application Review Information

    The Department will carefully review each proposal and the staff 
may contact applicants if clarification is needed. Communities may 
amend their proposals at any time prior to the Department's selection 
of grant recipients and those amendments will be considered to the 
extent the review process permits. The grant awards will be made as 
quickly as possible so that communities awarded grants can complete the 
grant agreement process and proceed to implement their plans. Pending 
unforeseen circumstances, this process should be completed before 
September 16, 2006.
    The Small Community Program provides a valuable opportunity for 
communities to gain assistance in securing long-term, self-sustaining 
improvements in their air service. It is not intended to address short-
term anomalies affecting a community's air service. Nor is it intended 
as a continuing financial support program for small community 
service.\15\ It does represent an important opportunity for the 
community as a whole to take a creative approach to addressing its 
service and fare issues and to partner with the federal government to 
make meaningful and lasting improvements in its air service.
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    \15\ See 40 U.S.C. 41743(d)(1) which limits the use of grant 
funds to no longer than three years to support an air carrier's 
operations, and section 41743(c)(4) which precludes communities from 
seeking additional financial assistance for the same project.
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    The statute directs the Department to give priority consideration 
to those communities or consortia where air fares are higher than the 
average air fares for all communities, the community or consortium will 
provide a portion of the cost of the activity from local sources other 
than airport revenues; the community or consortium has established or 
will establish a public-private partnership to facilitate air carrier 
service to the public; the assistance will provide material benefits to 
a broad segment of the traveling public whose access to the national 
air transportation system is limited; and the assistance will be used 
in a timely fashion.
    Applications will be evaluated against these priority 
considerations. Given previous experience, it is likely that more 
applications will be received than can be funded under the limitations 
of the Small Community Program. With this in mind, consistent with the 
criteria stated above, the selection process will take into 
consideration such factors as the relative size of each applicant 
community; the geographic location of each applicant, including the 
community's proximity to larger centers of air service and low-fare 
service alternatives; the community's existing level of air service and 
whether that service has been increasing or decreasing, the number of 
passengers expected to benefit from the proposed transportation 
initiative, taking into consideration the historic and current 
demographic indicators for the community, including population growth, 
business activity, and per capita income data; the community's 
demonstrated commitment to and participation in the proposed grant 
project; the grant amount requested compared with total funds available 
for all communities; the proposed federal grant amount requested 
compared with the local share offered; whether the community has 
demonstrated a reasonable plan to use the funds in a timely manner; the 
uniqueness of applicants' claimed program(s); the uniqueness of the 
applicant's proposed solution(s) to solving the problem(s); whether the 
proposed project addresses the stated problem; and whether the 
community's proximity to an existing grant recipient could impact its 
proposal. Finally, we will consider whether the applicant community has 
previous received a grant award under this program.
    Full community participation is a key goal of this program as 
demonstrated by the statute's focus on local contributions and active 
participation in the project. Therefore, applications that demonstrate 
broad community support will be given additional favorable 
consideration. For example, communities providing higher levels of cash 
contributions from other than airport revenues will also be accorded 
additional favorable consideration. Communities that provide multiple 
levels of contributions--cash and in-kind contributions--can also 
receive additional consideration. Similarly, communities that 
demonstrate historic and/or active participation in the proposed air 
service project will be accorded additional consideration.
    Favorable consideration will also be given to those proposals that 
offer innovative solutions to the transportation issues facing the 
community. Small communities have faced many problems retaining and 
enhancing their air services and in dealing with their airfare issues. 
Therefore, proposals that offer new, creative approaches to addressing 
these problems, to the extent that they are reasonable, will be given 
additional favorable consideration. Proposals that provide a well-
defined plan, a reasonable timetable for use of the grant funds, and a 
plan for continuation and/or monitoring of the project after the grant 
expires will also receive greater consideration.
    Less favorable consideration will be accorded proposals that rely 
primarily on contributions from already-existing programs or projects 
(e.g., designating a portion of an airport's existing annual marketing 
budget to the project), and proposals that would merely shift the costs 
of an ongoing or existing activity from the state or local level to the 
federal level. Contributions should represent a new financial 
commitment or new financial resources devoted to attracting new or 
improved service, or addressing specific high-fare or other service 
issues, such as improving patronage of existing services at the 
airport.
    As a general matter, given prior experience, proposals that include 
travel banks, particularly if they serve as

[[Page 5712]]

the community's primary financial contribution to the project will be 
considered with greater scrutiny. As noted earlier, there is concern 
that such arrangements do not come to fruition and ultimately are not 
supported by the carriers. Often travel banks have involved ``pledges'' 
from the community to use the air service, rather than cash available 
for implementation of the project. Therefore, any proposals that 
include travel banks should also provide evidence of their acceptance 
by the selected or potential air or ground service providers. Moreover, 
the community should provide an alternative financial plan for the 
project in the event that the travel bank ultimately is not viable.
    An important objective of the Small Community Program is to 
formulate and implement solutions to transportation problems of small 
communities which could serve as models for other small communities to 
improve and retain their access to air service and to the nation's air 
transportation system. We recognize that communities in different parts 
of the country do not necessarily face the same challenges with respect 
to their air services and airfares. Therefore, subject to the quality 
of the proposals submitted in meeting the evaluation criteria and the 
funding and overall community participation constraints of the program, 
to the extent possible, our goals will be to select proposals that will 
(a) benefit communities in all areas of the United States and its 
territories; (b) benefit small communities of all sizes, ranging from 
very small to those that qualify as small hubs and are eligible for 
participation in the program under the statute; \16\ (c) promote 
regional solutions to air service issues, where appropriate; (d) 
include a variety of different types of projects; and (e) address 
different air service and/or airfare issues.
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    \16\ In this regard, we recognize that communities served by 
small hub airports generally have significant levels of service by a 
number of airlines, and thus, would not meet the ``insufficient 
service'' criteria of the statute. Therefore, absent evidence to the 
contrary, we would give more favorable consideration to proposals 
involving small hub airports where the community has demonstrated 
that its proposal meets the ``higher than average airfares'' 
requirement of the statute.
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    Given the competitive nature of the grant process, the Department 
does not intend to meet with grant applicants with respect to their 
grant proposals. The Department's selection of communities for grant 
awards will be based on the community's written submissions to the 
Department.

Award Administration Information

    The Department will announce its grant selections by Order, which 
will be served on each grant recipient, all other applicants, and all 
parties served with this order. It will also be published in the 
Federal Register and posted on the Department's webpage.
    Communities awarded grants will be expected to execute a grant 
agreement with the Department before they begin to spend funds under 
the grant award. Grant funds will be provided on a reimbursable basis 
only and only for expenses incurred and billed during the period that 
the grant agreement is in effect. Applicants therefore should not 
assume they have received a grant, nor obligate or spend local funds 
prior to receiving and fully executing a grant agreement with the 
Department under this program. Expenditures made prior to the execution 
of a grant agreement, including costs associated with preparation of 
the grant applicant, will not be reimbursed. Moreover, there are 
numerous assurances that are required to be made and honored when 
federal funds are awarded. All communities receiving a grant under the 
Small Community Program will be required to accept the responsibilities 
of these assurances, and to execute the assurances when they execute 
their grant agreements. Copies of the applicable assurances are 
available for review on the Department's webpage at https://
ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/X-50%20Role_files/smallcommunity.htm.\17\
_____________________________________-

 \17\ The applicable regulations include, among others: (1) 49 
CFR Parts 21 and 27 and 14 CFR Parts 271 and 382--Nondiscrimination 
in federally-assisted programs of the Department of Transportation--
Effectuation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 49 CFR 
Part 27--Nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in programs 
and activities receiving or benefiting from Federal financial 
assistance; and 14 CFR Part 382--Nondiscrimination on the basis of 
disability in air travel; (2) 49 CFR Part 29--Government-wide 
debarment and suspension (non-procurement) and government-wide 
requirements for drug-free workplace (grants); and (3) 49 CFR Part 
20--New restrictions on lobbying. The complete list of the 
applicable assurances is on the cited webpage. The assurances noted 
are for reference purposes only and should not be included in the 
community's application. The assurances are part of the grant 
agreement that will be sent to each grant recipient and should be 
completed at that time.
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    The grant agreements between the Department and selected 
communities will require quarterly reports on the progress of 
implementation of the grant project, as well as the submission on a 
quarterly or other time-specific basis of additional material relevant 
to the grant project, such as copies of advertising and promotional 
material, and copies of contracts with consultants and service 
providers. In addition, communities will be required to submit a final 
report to the Department with respect to their grant projects and 10 
percent of the grant funds available will not be reimbursed to the 
community until the final report has been received. Communities will be 
permitted to seek reimbursement of project implementation costs on a 
regular basis. The frequency of such requests will be established in 
the grant agreement, which will be tailored to the specific features of 
the community's grant project. In most cases, reimbursements will be 
made on a monthly basis. In this regard, the Department will provide 
the grant recipient communities with details and procedures for 
securing reimbursements electronically.
    This order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.56a(f).

Accordingly,

    1. Community proposals for funding under the Small Community Air 
Service Development Program should be submitted in Docket OST 2006-
23671 no later than April 7, 2006; \18\ and
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    \18\ Proposals must be postmarked no later than April 7, 2006. 
The original application should be submitted on 8.5'' x 11'' paper, 
in dark ink (not green) and without tabs to facilitate inclusion in 
the Department's docket management system. The remaining copies may 
be tabbed and include use of any color ink.
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    2. This order will be published in the Federal Register and also 
will be served on the Conference of Mayors, the National League of 
Cities, the National Governors Association, the National Association of 
State Aviation Officials (NASAO), the Association of County Executives, 
the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), and the Airports 
Council International-North America (ACI), and posted on https://
www.grants.gov.

By:

Michael W. Reynolds,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs.

    An electronic version of this document is available on the World 
Wide Web at https://www.dms.dot.gov.

Appendix A

Section 41743 Airports not Receiving Sufficient Service

    (a) Small community air service development program. The 
Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program that meets the 
requirements of this section for improving air carrier service to 
airports not receiving sufficient air carrier service.
    (b) Application required. In order to participate in the program 
established under subsection (a), a community or consortium of 
communities shall submit an application to the Secretary in such 
form, at such time, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require, including--
    (1) An assessment of the need of the community or consortium for 
access, or

[[Page 5713]]

improved access, to the national air transportation system; and
    (2) An analysis of the application of the criteria in subsection 
(c) to that community or consortium.
    (c) Criteria for participation. In selecting communities, or 
consortia of communities, for participation in the program 
established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall apply the 
following criteria:
    (1) Size. For calendar year 1997, the airport serving the 
community or consortium was not larger than a small hub airport, 
and--
    (A) Had insufficient air carrier service; or
    (B) H