Discretionary Bus and Bus Facilities Program and National Research Program Funds., 6172-6178 [2012-2755]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6172-6178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2755]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Discretionary Bus and Bus Facilities Program and National 
Research Program Funds.

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) of FTA Section 5309 Bus 
and Bus Facilities Program and Section 5312 National Research Program 
Funds: Solicitation of Project Proposals for Veterans Transportation 
and Community Living Initiative II Grants.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the 
availability of discretionary funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 
Section 5309(b)(3) Bus and Bus Facilities Program and the FY 2011 
Section 5312 National Research Program for continuing support of the 
Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility's 
(Coordinating Council or CCAM) Veterans Transportation and Community 
Living Initiative (VTCLI).
    The Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011 
(Temporary Authorization, 2012) continues the authorization of the 
Federal transit programs of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 
through March 31, 2012, and provides contract authority for these 
programs equal to approximately one half of the amounts available in FY 
2011. Under this funding opportunity, subject to funding availability 
by Congress, FTA will provide approximately $25 million in unallocated 
discretionary FY 2012 Bus and Bus Facilities Program funds, 
supplemented by approximately $5 million in unallocated FY 2011 
National Research Program funds.
    This grant opportunity, referred to as ``VTCLI II'' in this notice, 
makes funds available to state and local governmental agencies for the 
capital costs of creating, expanding, or increasing access to local 
One-Call/One-Click Transportation Resource Centers (One-Call/One-Click 
Centers), as well as some research costs to demonstrate successful 
implementation of these capital projects. The One-Call/One-Click 
Centers simplify access to transportation for the public by providing 
one place to connect veterans, service members, military families, 
persons with disabilities and other transportation-disadvantaged 
populations, such as older adults, low-income families or disadvantaged 
youth, to rides and transportation options provided in their locality 
by a variety of transportation providers and programs.
    This notice describes the transportation service coordination and 
simplified customer access priorities established by the Coordinating 
Council's partnership, the criteria the interagency review panel will 
use to identify meritorious projects for funding, and how to apply. 
This announcement is available on the FTA's Web site, on the Veterans 
Transportation and Community Living Initiative Web page at: https://www.fta.dot.gov/veterans. FTA will announce final selections on the FTA 
Web site and may announce selections in the Federal Register. A 
synopsis of this announcement will be posted in the FIND module of the 
government-wide electronic grants Web site at https://www.grants.gov.

DATES: Complete proposals for VTCLI II grants must be submitted by 
11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 2012. Applicants who have not already begun 
registering on the GRANTS.GOV site should do so immediately to ensure 
completion of registration before the submission deadline.

ADDRESSES: Proposals must be submitted electronically at https://www.grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general program information, as 
well as proposal-specific questions, please send an email to 
VeteransTransportation@dot.gov or contact Erik Weber, (202) 366-0705. A 
TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 (TDD/FIRS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Funding Opportunity Description
II. FTA and Other Partnership Award Information
III. Eligibility Information
IV. Proposal Submission Information
V. Proposal Review and Selection
VI. Award Administration
VII. Agency Contacts

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Authority

    The capital funding for VTCLI II is authorized under 49 U.S.C. 
Section 5309(b), as amended by Section 3011 of SAFETEA-LU:

    The Secretary may make grants under this section to assist State 
and local governmental authorities in financing * * * capital 
projects to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related 
equipment and to construct bus-related facilities, including 
programs of bus and bus-related projects for assistance to 
subrecipients that are public agencies, private companies engaged in 
public

[[Page 6173]]

transportation, or private non-profit organizations * * *

    Eligible capital projects, as defined in 49 U.S.C. Section 
5302(a)(1) include projects for:

``* * * acquiring, constructing, supervising, or inspecting 
equipment or a facility for use in public transportation * * *. 
(including designing, engineering * * *), * * * transit-related 
intelligent transportation systems,''

and,

``the introduction of new technology, through innovative and 
improved products, into public transportation * * *.''

    Funding to demonstrate implementation of VTCLI II projects is 
authorized under 49 U.S.C. 5312(a) as amended by Section 3014(a) of 
SAFETEA-LU:

    ``* * * The Secretary may make grants * * * for research, 
development, demonstration, and deployment projects * * * that the 
Secretary determines will improve public transportation service * * 
*.''

B. Background

    President Obama has made the care and support of military families 
a top policy priority. In a January 2011 report, ``Strengthening Our 
Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment,'' the White House 
noted the importance of ``harnessing resources and expertise across the 
Federal Government [to improve] the quality of military family life 
[and to help] communities more effectively support military families.''
    Reliable mobility has direct and substantial impacts on many of the 
priorities presented in the report--such as promoting housing security 
among veterans, developing career and educational opportunities, and 
reducing barriers to employment. To fulfill the President's objectives 
on behalf of veterans, active duty service members and their families, 
representatives of the Coordinating Council came together with Veteran 
and Military Service Organizations (VSO/MSO) around the country to 
discuss transportation challenges. They agreed that:
    1. When it comes to transportation, more effective and consistent 
coordination is needed among Federal, state, and community-based 
programs that already deliver or sponsor services to veterans, military 
families and persons with disabilities where they live; and,
    2. Enhancing veterans' and military families' awareness of, and 
access to, transportation choices in their communities is integral to 
successfully reintegrating these men and women and their families.
    In order to achieve these outcomes, several CCAM members--the 
Departments of Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Health and 
Human Services--joined with the Department of Defense to launch the 
Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative. FTA awarded 
$34.6 million of VTCLI discretionary capital grants in the fall of 
2011. Due to the demand for these funds, FTA is making another $25 
million of FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities funds, as well 
as approximately $5 million of FY 2011 Section 5312 Research Program 
funds available under this notice, subject to funding availability. 
These efforts build upon FTA National Research Program efforts to 
demonstrate and implement one-call/one-click centers through the 
Mobility Services for All Americans (MSAA) Program, jointly funded with 
the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) ITS Joint 
Program Office.
    With these funds, FTA will continue to help communities address 
transportation needs of veterans, military families, persons with 
disabilities and other transportation-disadvantaged populations and 
enable the communities to acquire technologies to implement One-Call/
One-Click Centers.

C. Program Purpose

    Building on the success of the MSAA and United We Ride (UWR) ``One-
Call Center'' model, the VTCLI II will help communities build or expand 
local One-Call/One-Click Centers to bring together transportation 
services available to the general public with those available to 
customers of human services programs, and especially services for 
veterans and military families. Coordinating transportation services 
promotes improved access to community services and employment, and will 
advance the integration of those with disabilities into their 
communities.
    Based on its mission to care for America's veterans, the Department 
of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides transportation only to and from VA 
medical facilities. In the coming years, the country's aging veterans 
will require increasing levels of medical care. Meanwhile service 
members are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and many wounded 
warriors will be transitioning into the VA system. They need reliable 
transportation options and services beyond those the VA is able to 
directly provide in order to maintain or regain an active community 
life.
    In many communities, transportation resources already exist for 
those who are not able to drive themselves. Yet all too often, members 
of the veterans and military communities aren't aware of the existing 
transportation resources, don't know how to access them, or aren't 
involved in the transportation planning and resource allocation 
processes. Improving transportation options for America's veterans, 
service members and their families will help to integrate these valued 
members of our society.
    The VTCLI goal is to increase the availability of community 
transportation resources, and awareness of them among the military 
community by:
     Establishing or expanding One-call/One-Click 
Transportation Resource Centers, to include resources for veterans, 
service members and military families, and promoting use of the One-
Call/One-Click Centers within the military community;
     Creating partnerships between transportation providers and 
veterans and military communities; and
     Increasing involvement of veterans and military 
communities in local Coordinated Human Services Transportation Planning 
process.
    Importantly, the One-Call/One-Click infrastructure funded by VTCLI 
II will be available to all members of the community. Better 
integration of transportation information and services benefit not only 
veterans, service members and their families, but all transportation-
disadvantaged populations. One-Call/One-Click Centers will enhance 
communities' ability to integrate individuals with disabilities and 
prevent institutionalization, in accordance with the President's 
commitment to the principles of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision 
(Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999)), which addresses the rights of 
individuals with disabilities to live independently.
    As an initiative of the Coordinating Council, VTCLI II grants 
should not create narrowly-focused programs or services. Proposals are 
expected to enhance and/or increase transportation or mobility benefits 
to other community members, particularly, transportation-disadvantaged 
populations.
    The VTCLI II awards will go to communities whose proposals:
    1. Identify transportation and mobility needs of their veterans and 
military community;
    2. Propose to create or increase access to a community One-Call/
One-Click Center or expand an existing community One-Call/One-Click 
Center to include transportation resources and address identified needs 
of veterans and military families;

[[Page 6174]]

    3. Demonstrate a community coalition of transportation, military 
family and veteran service providers which has participated in the 
proposal writing and will guide the project implementation;
    4. Commit to increase involvement of veterans and the military 
community in locally coordinated transportation planning, including 
revising the community Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan, 
to address the needs of these target groups; and,
    5. Lay out a framework for measuring the performance of the project 
in meeting the goals of the VTCLI.

II. FTA and Other Partnership Award Information

A. FTA Award Information

    VTCLI II projects may consist of awards from two discretionary 
funding sources: FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Program 
and FY 2011 Section 5312 Research Program.
     FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities Program funds. 
FTA will award a maximum of $2 million of FY 2012 Section 5309 funds 
for any single project. FTA will fund up to 80% of the project cost, 
requiring a minimum 20% local match for capital costs.
     FY 2011 Section 5312 Research Program funds. FTA will 
award a maximum of $50,000 or 50% of the Section 5309 request, 
whichever is less, in FY 2011 Section 5312 funds for research and 
demonstration costs directly related to the implementation of the 
capital project. FTA will fund 100% of the research costs.
    FTA funds are available to State or local governmental authorities 
as recipients and other public, private and non-profit organizations as 
subrecipients. FTA may partially fund applications based on the number 
and size of funding requests.
    The evaluation process will consider geographical distribution, 
distribution amongst large urban, small urban and rural areas, as well 
as distribution of other discretionary program funding in making 
funding decisions. The FTA Administrator will determine the final 
selection and amount of funding for each project. FTA will announce 
selected projects in the summer of 2012.

B. Other Partnership Information

    The partnership is supporting the goals of the VTCLI with 
additional programs and technical assistance. These include:
    1. The Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment 
Policy, along with FTA, will provide online, collaborative workspaces 
for communities to use in planning and implementing One-Call/One-Click 
Centers and further transportation coordination efforts.
    2. FTA's Office of United We Ride, through its transportation 
technical assistance centers, will provide technical assistance to 
awardees to assist in One-Call/One-Click Center implementation to 
address customer transportation connections and issues as well as plans 
to address unmet transportation needs of veterans, service members and 
their families.
    3. The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to support VA 
medical facilities with its Veterans Transportation Service (VTS). 
VTCLI II applicants are highly encouraged to partner with existing VTS 
sites, if nearby, on their applications, or work with their nearby VA 
facility on a VTS application if it is not already a part of the VTS 
program. More information on VTS can be found at www.va.gov/veteranstransportationservice.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants and eventual grant recipients for VTCLI II 
awards must be Direct Recipients under FTA's Section 5307 Urbanized 
Area Formula program, local governments, States, or Indian Tribes. 
States may submit consolidated proposals for multiple projects.
    Proposals may contain projects to be implemented by the recipient 
or its subrecipients. Eligible subrecipients of FTA funding include: 
public agencies, private non-profit organizations, including Veterans 
Service Organizations and Military Family Service Organizations, and 
private providers engaged in public transportation.

B. Eligible Expenses

    Projects eligible for funding under VTCLI II must focus on the 
implementation of One-Call/One-Click Centers and related transportation 
coordination. Eligible expenses under the Section 5309(b)(3) portion of 
VTCLI II are capital expenses related to the establishment of a One-
Call/One-Click Center and technologies to ensure transportation service 
connectivity.
    These costs include, but are not limited to: hardware purchases 
(computers, servers); in-vehicle technology (automatic vehicle location 
systems, communication devices, mobile data terminals); software 
(scheduling & dispatching, communications, billing, consumer mobile 
applications); facility-related capital (purchase, lease, alteration); 
design and engineering, including consultant costs; and project 
administration (up to 10% of total capital project costs). Capital 
items not listed may be eligible if clearly associated with the 
implementation of a One-Call/One-Click Center. Applicants should check 
the eligibility of such items by contacting FTA through one of the 
methods listed in this notice.
    FTA will not fund vehicle acquisition, operating assistance or 
preventive maintenance costs under this grant opportunity. Operation 
costs of the One-Call/One-Click Center also are not eligible.
    Eligible expenses for the Section 5312 portion of VTCLI II include, 
but are not limited to, coordinated planning, marketing, and public 
engagement efforts not eligible as capital but directly related to 
demonstrating the implementation of the proposed VTCLII capital 
project. FTA is interested in demonstrating how these types of 
additional efforts can improve the success of the One-Call/One-Click 
Centers. Under VTCLI II, FTA will not award research funds independent 
of a related request for Section 5309 capital award in either this 
competition or a project selected in the previous round of the VTCLI.

C. Cost Sharing

    FY 2012 Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities funds received under a 
VTCLI II grant will be shared at the following ratio: 80% FTA/20% local 
contribution. FY 2011 Section 5312 Research funds will not require a 
local match. FTA will not approve deferred local match under this 
program. The local match can be provided from cash or in-kind 
resources.

III. Proposal Submission Information

A. Proposal Process

    Complete proposals for VTCLI II must be submitted electronically 
through the GRANTS.GOV Web site no later than 11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 
2012. Applicants are encouraged to begin the process of registration on 
the GRANTS.GOV site well in advance of the submission deadline. 
Registration is a multi-step process, which may take several weeks to 
complete before a proposal can be submitted.
    A complete proposal submission will consist of at least two files: 
(1) The SF 424 Mandatory form (downloaded from GRANTS.GOV) and (2) the 
Supplemental Form targeting the relevant FTA program found on the FTA 
Web site. The supplemental form provides guidance and a consistent 
format for proposers to respond to the criteria outlined in this NOFA. 
Once

[[Page 6175]]

completed, the supplemental form will be placed in the attachments 
section of the SF 424 Mandatory form. Proposers must use the correct 
Supplemental Form and attach it to their submission in GRANTS.GOV to 
successfully complete the application process. A proposal submission 
may contain additional supporting documentation as attachments.
    Within 24-48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the 
applicant should receive three email messages from GRANTS.GOV: (1) 
Confirmation of successful transmission to GRANTS.GOV, (2) confirmation 
of successful validation by GRANTS.GOV and (3) confirmation of 
successful validation by FTA. If confirmations of successful validation 
are not received and a notice of failed validation or incomplete 
materials is received, the applicant must address the reason for the 
failed validation, as described in the notice, and resubmit before the 
submission deadline. If making a resubmission for any reason, include 
all original attachments regardless of which attachments were updated.
    Complete instructions on the application process can be found at 
https://www.fta.dot.gov/veterans. Important: FTA urges applicants to 
submit their proposal at least 72 hours prior to the due date to allow 
time to receive the validation message and to correct any problems that 
may have caused a rejection notification. Submissions received after 
11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 2012, will not be accepted. GRANTS.GOV 
scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the GRANTS.GOV 
Web site https://www.GRANTS.GOV. Deadlines will not be extended due to 
scheduled maintenance or outages.

B. Proposal Content

    All pertinent application information and narrative should be 
submitted electronically through Grants.gov directly in the SF424 and 
the FTA-required Supplemental Form. Do not submit responses to the 
evaluation criteria in a separate attachment. Only supporting exhibits 
such as maps, diagrams, detailed budget documents, or letters of 
support should be submitted as separate attachments to the SF424 in 
Grants.gov.
1. Applicant Information
    The SF424 and FTA Supplemental Form will ask for the following 
basic sponsor identifying information:
    a. Applicant's name and FTA recipient ID number.
    b. Contact Information for notification of project selection 
(including contact name, title, address, congressional district, email, 
fax and phone number).
    c. Eligibility information.
    d. Description of services provided by the agency including areas 
served.
2. Proposal Information
    The FTA Supplemental Form instructs applicants to include the 
following information (for each project if submitting a consolidated 
proposal):

    a. Subrecipient name and contact (if the project will be performed 
by a subrecipient).
    b. A project title.
    c. A project executive summary, including the scope, purpose and 
goals of the project, not to exceed 250 words.
    d. Project type.
    e. Requested information and narrative justifications for each of 
the four evaluation criteria detailed in Section V of this Notice.
    f. Basic line-item budgets for the capital and research funds, if 
requested, describing the various key components of the project and 
cost.

    Note:  Proposals may use estimated costs for implementation if 
exact costs are unknown prior to development. Scalable guidelines 
for cost estimation of one-call technology are available on the FTA 
Web site.

    g. Capital project scalability detailing minimum funds requires for 
a smaller project to provide independent utility.
    h. The total amount of Federal funds requested, and the amount of 
matching funds, including source and documentation of the match.
    i. An estimated project timeline and major milestones.
    j. The congressional district(s) in which the project will be 
implemented.

V. Proposal Review and Selection

A. Project Evaluation Criteria

    Projects will be evaluated by an interagency review team based on 
the proposals submitted according to: (1) Planning and partnership; (2) 
Readiness; (3) Technical, legal and financial capacity; (4) 
Demonstration of need; and (5) Project Development. The FTA 
Supplemental Form prompts applicants to address these criteria which 
are detailed below.
    Each applicant is encouraged to demonstrate the responsiveness of a 
project to all of the selection criteria with the most relevant 
information that the applicant can provide, regardless of whether such 
information has been specifically requested, or identified, in this 
notice. The FTA Supplemental Form provides narrative justification 
sections for each of the criteria. FTA will evaluate the extent to 
which a project proposal addresses the following criteria:
1. Planning and Partnership
    a. Indicate that the project is or can be included in the 
financially-constrained Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)/
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). If selected, the 
project must be in TIP or STIP before the grant can be awarded.
    b. Describe applicant's experience with regional coordinated 
transportation and human services planning, including indicating:
    i. When was the most recent coordinated public transit-human 
services transportation plan (``coordinated plan'') developed?
    ii. Have the applicant and/or any proposed subrecipients previously 
been involved in developing their community's coordinated plan?
    c. Indicate prior work on veterans/military family mobility issues, 
including addressing the following questions:
    i. Has the community taken steps prior to the VTCLI to address the 
mobility needs of local veterans and military families?
    ii. Have veterans/military family needs previously been addressed 
in the coordinated plan?
    d. Demonstrate a substantive partnership with the following types 
of organizations or service providers. In addition to letters of 
support from partners, outstanding applications will describe how the 
partners were involved in the proposal development and how they will 
participate in its implementation. The review committee will look for 
proof of strong, substantive partnerships. Proposals without proof of 
partnerships with all four of the following organization categories or 
adequate justification for a missing category will not be considered:
    i. Transportation organizations, which include, but are not limited 
to: transit agencies, brokers, taxis, volunteer driver services; 
planning agencies, such as a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), 
and local coordinated plan's public transit/human services lead agency;
    ii. Veteran/Military Governmental Service Providers, which include, 
but are not limited to: VA medical center networks; Veterans 
Transportation Service; Department of Defense recovery care programs; 
Military bases, hospitals, and other medical providers; and/or State, 
county or city veterans affairs offices;
    iii. Veteran/Military Service Organizations which include, but are 
not limited to: Iraq and Afghanistan

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Veterans of America, American Legion; and Military Family 
Organizations, which include, but are not limited to: Wounded Warrior 
Project, Blue Star Families, National Military Family Association; and,
    iv. Existing One-Call/One-Click Service or Transportation Centers 
in the community, such as 211s or transit customer service center, if 
any. If the new One-Call/One-Click Center will stand as its own entity, 
the proposer must indicate that there are either no existing One-Call/
One-Click Services or Centers in the community OR provide a strong 
justification why a separate One-Call/One-Click Center will produce the 
best outcomes for the community.
    e. Applicants are encouraged to develop partnerships with 
additional groups beyond those required above, including:
    i. Employers, workforce development and training agencies, etc.
    ii. Independent living/aging organizations (e.g., Centers for 
Independent Living, Senior Centers, Aging and Disability Resource 
Centers)
    iii. Local political officials
    f. Applicants may also provide documentation and/or descriptions of 
any additional partners who participated in the planning and 
development of their proposal, if applicable.
    g. Project partners should be listed in the appropriate section on 
the Supplemental From. Check the box next to each partner which has 
submitted a letter of support.
2. Readiness
    If the proposal was submitted for the first round of VTCLI funding, 
and has not been substantially modified, check the box indicating this. 
Indicate the time in which the grant can be obligated and the time in 
which the project can be implemented.
    While project funds may be expended over the course of design, 
development, procurement and implementation stages of the One Call/One-
Click Center, applicants must indicate that the project can actively 
initiate upon receiving a grant. The project should be completed in a 
reasonable period as determined on a case-by-case basis, in order to 
provide the new or enhanced coordinated services as soon as 
practicable.
    Address all of the following points in the Project Readiness 
Justification:
    a. Indicate the short-term, mid-range and long-term goals for the 
project.
    b. Indicate prior work on One-Call/One-Click Centers, addressing 
the following questions:
    i. Does the community have an existing human service/workforce or 
transportation One-Call/One-Click Center?
    ii. If not, has the community identified the need for a One-Call/
One-Click Center in its local coordinated plan?
    iii. If so, has the existing One-Call/One-Click Center incorporated 
any veterans or military transportation services? Can existing one 
call/one click centers capacity be used in this project, including the 
ability to use existing shared-space?
    iv. Have you conducted any outreach or programs for staffing the 
One-Call/One-Click Center? Will the center employ any veterans, 
military family members or individuals with disabilities?
    c. Indicate the project is a Categorical Exclusion (CE), or the 
required environmental work has been initiated or completed for 
construction projects requiring an Environmental Assessment (EA) or 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under, among others, the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.
    d. For facility construction or modification project, indicate 
project implementation plans are complete, including initial design of 
facilities projects
    e. For applicants who are not existing FTA direct recipients, 
indicate willingness of an existing grantee to receive funds on behalf 
of the applicant, or that the applying organization has the capacity to 
meet all pre-requisites and requirements of becoming an FTA grantee in 
a timely manner.
3. Technical, Legal & Financial Capacity
    Address all of the following points in the justification:
    a. Technical capacity: Only applicants who are willing to undertake 
further coordination of transportation and veterans or military family 
services and track the project performance under their VTCLI proposals 
will be selected. Applicants must indicate their commitment to:
    i. Update the appropriate state, regional and/or local coordinated 
human services transportation plan to include a section on the mobility 
needs of the veteran and military community. If the community has 
already done this, this should be indicated in the narrative and the 
plan should be attached to the application.
    ii. Address the mobility and transportation challenges of veterans 
and military families through additional coordinated transportation 
strategies, such as mobility management, community transportation gap 
assessment, etc.
    iii. Identify local technical assistance needs in order to 
effectively implement One-Call/One-Click Centers and further address 
veterans and/or military families' mobility needs in the coordinated 
plan.
    iv. Develop a performance measurement plan to track success of the 
project relative to desired VTCLI goals outlined in Section I. C. of 
this notice. This commitment should be indicated by inclusion of 
preliminary proposed performance measures for the project.
    b. Legal capacity: Applicants must indicate that there are no legal 
issues which would prevent acceptance of FTA funds, their eligibility 
and authority to apply.
    c. Financial capacity: Leveraging other funds -Proposals that 
leverage additional FTA, other Federal, State, or local funds beyond 
the required local match will be scored favorably. Local match details 
will be entered in the appropriate section later on the Supplemental 
Form. For Financial Capacity, indicate the following:
    i. A funding plan for long-term sustainability, including the 
operation of the One Call/One-Click Center;
    ii. Additional FTA program funding identified--Mobility management, 
vehicle purchases, and vehicle modifications will not be eligible 
expenses under the VTCLI. Applicants are encouraged to update their 
coordinated plan and identify funds from other FTA grant programs, such 
as Sections 5310 (Elderly/Disabled), 5316 (Job Access/Reverse Commute) 
or 5317 (New Freedom), to meet vehicle or mobility management needs;
    iii. Additional Federal resources to be leveraged (e.g. Aging and 
Disability Resource Center/Area Agencies on Aging [ADRC/AAA], One-Stop 
employment, VA, DoD, HHS funds, Vocational Rehabilitation/RSA); and
    iv. Other non-Federal funding above and beyond local match (State 
funding, private donations, etc.).
4. Demonstration of Need
    Projects will be selected in part based on demonstrated need of 
veterans, military families and other transportation-disadvantaged 
populations for services proposed.
    State the size of the local veteran and military population and 
identify transportation and mobility needs of these populations. When 
available, provide quantitative support; otherwise, providing narrative 
description of challenges and needs will suffice.
    Each application should address the following questions:

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    a. How large are the veterans/military communities in the project 
area to be served by the project?
    b. What portion of the veterans/military population in the projects 
area are persons with disabilities?
    c. Where are the nearest veterans and military support services 
that support the project's area?
    d. What are the specific transportation barriers and other 
challenges facing veterans and military families in the project's area?
    e. Identify the community's existing public, non-profit and private 
transportation providers.
    f. Demonstrate how the One-Call/One-Click Center will address the 
mobility needs of the above identified populations.
    g. Describe how veterans, especially disabled veterans, will be 
engaged in the development and operation of the project.
5. Research
    Applicants may request Research funds in addition to the Capital 
project funds, up to $50,000 or 50% of the amount of Section 5309 funds 
requested, whichever is smaller. In the Research justification, provide 
a description of activities to be funded and a justification of the 
relationship to the capital project.
    The Research budget information should be entered separately on the 
Supplemental Form following the Capital Project Budget.

B. Submission Dates and Time

    All proposals must be submitted electronically via GRANTS.GOV no 
later than 11:59 pm EDT on April 19, 2012.

C. Funding Restrictions

    Proposals must be submitted by FTA recipients eligible to receive 
FTA Section 5309 funds. Due to funding limitations, applicants that are 
selected for funding may receive less than the amount originally 
requested.

D. Proposal Selection Process

    VTCLI II proposals will first be screened by FTA staff members. 
Eligible proposals will be then rated by an interagency review panel 
representing the members of the VTCLI. Members of the interagency 
review panel and other involved FTA staff reserve the right to:
    (1) If a large number of parties apply, FTA may screen and rank the 
applications it receives, and limit its review to the most promising 
proposals;
    (2) Seek clarification from any applicant about any statement in 
its application that FTA finds ambiguous. FTA will review applications 
strictly in light of the common meanings of words used in the 
proposals, as understood in the transit community.
    (3) Conduct discussions with the applicants about their 
applications; and
    (4) Extend the time for applicants to submit or amend their 
applications.
    Final decisions and allocation of FTA funds will be made by the FTA 
Administrator. Geographic distribution may be a factor in FTA's award 
decisions. FTA will announce selected projects in the summer of 2012.

VI. Award Administration

A. Award Notices

    FTA will announce final VTCLI II project selections on the FTA Web 
site and may announce selections in the Federal Register. FTA will 
contact successful applicants. After receipt of a complete application, 
FTA will award grants for the selected projects to the proposer through 
the FTA Transportation Electronic Award Management (TEAM) System. These 
grants will be administered and managed by the FTA regional offices in 
accordance with the Federal requirements of the Section 5309 Bus and 
Bus Facilities Program and Section 5312 National Research Program. 
There is no blanket pre-award authority for the selected projects. Once 
selected for funding, applicants may request pre-award authority which 
may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Grant Requirements. If selected, applicants will apply for a 
grant through TEAM and adhere to the customary FTA grant requirements 
of the Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities program, including those of 
FTA C 9300.1A Circular and C 5010.1C and Section 5333(b) labor 
protections. Awards greater than $500,000 will go through a 
Congressional Notification and Release process. Technical assistance 
regarding these requirements and processes is available from each FTA 
regional office.
    2. Additional requirements if receiving Section 5312 Research 
funds. If an applicant has requested and been awarded Section 5312 
funds, the applicant will need to apply separately in TEAM for these 
funds. Research funds must adhere to the requirements of the Section 
5312 National Research Program, including those of FTA C 6100.1D 
Circular. Section 5312 funds require submission of a final report on 
the results of the demonstration. FTA may waive this requirement by 
completing an overall assessment collecting information from each 
awarded project.
    3. Planning. Applicants are encouraged to notify the appropriate 
State Departments of Transportation and MPO in areas likely to be 
served by the project funds made available under this program. 
Incorporation of funded projects in the long range plans and 
transportation improvement programs of States and metropolitan areas is 
required of all funded projects.
    4. Standard Assurances. The Applicant assures that it will comply 
with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, 
FTA circulars, and other Federal administrative requirements in 
carrying out any project supported by the FTA grant. The Applicant 
acknowledges that it is under a continuing obligation to comply with 
the terms and conditions of the grant agreement issued for its project 
with FTA. The Applicant understands that Federal laws, regulations, 
policies, and administrative practices might be modified from time to 
time and that modifications may affect the implementation of the 
project. The Applicant agrees that the most recent Federal requirements 
will apply to the project, unless FTA issues a written determination 
otherwise. The Applicant must submit the Certifications and Assurances 
before receiving a grant if it does not have current Certifications on 
file.

C. Reporting

    Post-award reporting requirements include submission of Financial 
Status Reports and Milestone reports in TEAM on a quarterly basis for 
all projects. Documentation of project progress is required for 
payment. Additional reporting may be required specific to the VTCLI. 
Recipients may also be expected to participate in events or peer 
networks related to VTCLI. Grants which include research funds may be 
required to develop a final report or provide data for a consolidated 
report on the program.

VII. Agency Contacts

    For general program information, as well as proposal-specific 
questions, please send an email to VeteransTransportation@dot.gov or 
contact Erik Weber at (202) 366-0705. A TDD is available at 1-800-877-
8339 (TDD/FIRS). Applicants may also visit www.fta.dot.gov/veterans for 
frequently asked questions and answers.


[[Page 6178]]


    Issued in Washington, DC, this 2nd day of February, 2012.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-2755 Filed 2-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P