Notice of Funding Availability for the Department of Transportation's National Infrastructure Investments Under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, 24786-24794 [2013-09889]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
• Office of the Secretary of Transportation

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 81 (Friday, April 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24786-24794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09889]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary of Transportation

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2013-XXXX]


Notice of Funding Availability for the Department of 
Transportation's National Infrastructure Investments Under the 
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary of Transportation, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of funding and requests 
proposals for the Department of Transportation's National 
Infrastructure Investments. This notice is addressed to organizations 
that are interested in applying and provides guidance on selection 
criteria and application requirements for the National Infrastructure 
Investments.
    Title VIII of The Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 
(Division F of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations 
Act, 2013, Public Law 113-6, March 26, 2013) (``FY 2013 Appropriations 
Act'') appropriated $473.847 million to be awarded by the Department of 
Transportation (``DOT'') for National Infrastructure Investments. DOT 
will continue to refer to the program as ``TIGER Discretionary 
Grants,'' as this is the title with which most stakeholders are 
familiar. As with previous rounds of TIGER, funds for the FY 2013 TIGER 
program are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will 
have a significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area or a 
region.
    Through this notice, DOT is soliciting applications for TIGER 
Discretionary Grants. In the event that this solicitation does not 
result in the award and obligation of all available funds, DOT may 
decide to publish an additional solicitation(s) or provide additional 
funds to selected projects.

DATES: You must submit final applications through Grants.gov by June 3, 
2013, at 5:00 p.m. EDT (the ``Application Deadline''). The Grants.gov 
``Apply'' function will open on April 29, 2013, allowing applicants to 
submit final applications. You are strongly encouraged to submit 
applications in advance of the deadline.

ADDRESSES: You must submit applications electronically through 
Grants.gov. Only applications received electronically through 
Grants.gov will be deemed properly filed. Instructions for submitting 
applications through Grants.gov can be found on the TIGER Web site 
(www.dot.gov/TIGER).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information concerning 
this notice please contact the TIGER Discretionary Grant program staff 
via email at TIGERGrants@dot.gov, or call Howard Hill at 202-366-0301. 
A TDD is available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at 
202-366-3993. In addition, DOT will regularly post answers to questions 
and requests for clarifications on DOT's Web site at www.dot.gov/TIGER. 
Applicants are encouraged to contact DOT directly rather than rely on 
third parties to prepare application materials or otherwise receive 
information about TIGER Discretionary Grants.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is substantially similar to the 
final notice published for the FY 2012 TIGER Discretionary Grant 
program in the Federal Register on January 31, 2012. However, there are 
a few significant differences:
    1. Given the date of enactment of the final year-long FY 2013 
Appropriations Act, the statutory timeframe for DOT to obligate funds 
under this round of TIGER Discretionary Grants is the shortest of all 
of the rounds to date. In order to meet this deadline, your application 
must demonstrate that that the project can meet all local, State, and 
federal requirements by June 30, 2014, in order for DOT to obligate 
funding in advance of September 30, 2014. Each application must include 
a detailed statement of work, detailed project schedule, and detailed 
project budget. Due to the short timeframe for obligation, project 
readiness and the risk of delays will be treated as primary selection 
criteria in DOT's evaluation process. You must identify risks and 
mitigation strategies in your project narratives. If your application 
is submitted without a sufficiently

[[Page 24787]]

detailed statement of work, project schedule, and project budget it 
will not be selected for a TIGER award.
    2. Selection criteria have been modified to make applications 
easier to prepare and review. Among other things, short-term economic 
impacts of projects, including their impact on employment, are now 
included in the primary criterion of economic competitiveness.
    3. You do not need to submit a pre-application, as was required in 
recent rounds of TIGER. As this is the fifth round of TIGER and the 
basic structure has been consistent throughout the rounds, DOT has 
decided to eliminate the pre-application from the application process 
for this round of TIGER. Further, the short obligation deadline means 
that DOT needs to receive and evaluate applications and move TIGER 
funding quickly. Moving straight to the application will help 
accomplish this.
    4. The notice has been shortened in comparison to the notices for 
prior rounds of TIGER Discretionary Grants, and the Appendices that 
provide additional information on Benefit-Cost Analysis, Applying 
through Grants.gov, and Project Readiness are posted at www.dot.gov/TIGER, along with recordings of previous webinars DOT has hosted on the 
TIGER program and answers to frequently asked questions. You should 
visit www.dot.gov/TIGER for access to supplemental guidance and 
additional important information.
    5. Applications that identify project co-applicants or project 
partners in addition to a lead applicant must be signed by each co-
applicant or partner organization or include letters of support.
    Other than the differences above, and minor edits for clarification 
and those made to conform the notice to the statutory circumstances of 
this round of TIGER Discretionary Grants funding, there have been no 
material changes made to the notice. Each section of this notice 
contains information and instructions relevant to the application 
process for these TIGER Discretionary Grants, and you should read this 
notice in its entirety so that you have the information you need to 
submit eligible and competitive applications.

Table of Contents

I. Background
Tiger Discretionary Grants
II. Selection Criteria and Guidance on Application of Selection 
Criteria
III. Evaluation of Applications and Eligibility
IV. Grant Administration
V. Projects in Rural Areas
Application Requirements
VI. Applications
VII. Performance Measurement
VIII. Questions and Clarifications

I. Background

    The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery or 
``TIGER Discretionary Grants'' program was first created in the 
Recovery Act of 2009. Through the Recovery Act and subsequent three 
appropriations acts, Congress provided DOT with funding for four rounds 
of competitive grants totaling just over $3 billion for capital 
investments in surface transportation infrastructure. See DOT's Web 
site at www.dot.gov/TIGER for further background on the disbursement of 
past rounds of TIGER Discretionary Grants.

FY 2013 TIGER Discretionary Grants

    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act appropriated $473.847 million to be 
awarded by DOT for the TIGER Discretionary Grants program. Like 
previous rounds, the FY 2013 TIGER Discretionary Grants are for capital 
investments in surface transportation infrastructure and are to be 
awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a 
significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. 
Larger projects of national or regional significance which DOT 
determines demonstrate achievement of several of the strategic goals, 
as well as the project readiness criterion, could be considered for 
grants larger than those typically awarded in recent rounds of TIGER. 
The FY 2013 Appropriations Act allows for a small portion of the 
$473.847 million to be used for oversight of grants.
    ``Eligible Applicants'' for TIGER Discretionary Grants are State, 
local, and tribal governments, including U.S. territories, transit 
agencies, port authorities, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), 
other political subdivisions of State or local governments, and multi-
State or multi-jurisdictional groups applying through a single lead 
applicant (for multi-jurisdictional groups, each member of the group, 
including the lead applicant, must be an otherwise Eligible Applicant 
as defined in this paragraph).
    To ensure applicants receive the most accurate information 
possible, you must contact DOT directly, rather than through 
intermediaries, to get answers to questions, set up briefings on the 
TIGER Discretionary Grants selection and award process, or receive 
other assistance. Assistance can be obtained by contacting the TIGER 
Discretionary Grant program staff via email at TIGERGrants@dot.gov, or 
by calling Howard Hill at 202-366-0301.
    Projects that are eligible for TIGER Discretionary Grants 
(``Eligible Projects'') include, but are not limited to: (1) Highway or 
bridge projects eligible under title 23, United States Code; (2) public 
transportation projects eligible under chapter 53 of title 49, United 
States Code; (3) passenger and freight rail transportation projects; 
and (4) marine port infrastructure investments. Federal wage rate 
requirements included in subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, 
United States Code, apply to all projects receiving funds, and apply to 
all parts of the project, whether funded with TIGER Discretionary Grant 
funds, other federal funds, or non-federal funds. This description of 
Eligible Projects is identical to the description of eligible projects 
under earlier rounds of the TIGER Discretionary Grant program.\1\
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    \1\ Consistent with the FY 2013 Appropriations Act, DOT will 
apply the following principles in determining whether a project is 
eligible as a capital investment in surface transportation: (1) 
Surface transportation facilities generally include roads, highways 
and bridges, marine ports, freight and passenger railroads, transit 
systems, and projects that connect transportation facilities to 
other modes of transportation; and (2) surface transportation 
facilities also include any highway or bridge project eligible under 
title 23, U.S.C., or public transportation project eligible under 
chapter 53 of title 49, U.S.C. Please note that the Department may 
use a TIGER Discretionary Grant to pay for the surface 
transportation components of a broader project that has non-surface 
transportation components, and applicants are encouraged to apply 
for TIGER Discretionary Grants to pay for the surface transportation 
components of these projects.
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    As was the case in earlier rounds of the TIGER Discretionary Grant 
program, Eligible Projects do not include research, demonstration, or 
pilot projects that do not result in publically accessible surface 
transportation infrastructure. To be funded, projects or elements of a 
project must have independent utility, which means that the project 
provides transportation benefits and is ready for its intended use upon 
completion of project construction.
    Each applicant may submit no more than three applications. You 
should focus on applications that are most likely to align well with 
DOT's selection criteria. While applications may include requests to 
fund more than one project, you may not bundle together unrelated 
projects in the same application for purposes of avoiding the three 
application limit that applies to each applicant. Please note that the 
three application limit applies only to applications where the 
applicant is the lead applicant, and there is no limit on applications 
for which an applicant can be listed as a partnering agency. If you 
submit more than three applications as the lead applicant, only the 
first three received will be considered.
    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act specifies that TIGER Discretionary

[[Page 24788]]

Grants may be not less than $10 million (except in rural areas) and not 
greater than $200 million. For projects located in rural areas (as 
defined in Section V (Projects in Rural Areas)), the minimum TIGER 
Discretionary Grant size is $1 million.
    DOT reserves the right to award funds for a part of the project 
included in an application, if a part of the project has independent 
utility and aligns well with the selection criteria specified in this 
notice. You are encouraged to provide information in your application 
as to how or whether your project can be segmented (e.g., by providing 
details on project phases) to assist DOT in its selections.
    Pursuant to the FY 2013 Appropriations Act, no more than 25 percent 
of the funds made available for TIGER Discretionary Grants (or $118.75 
million) may be awarded to projects in a single State.
    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act directs that not less than $120 
million of the funds provided for TIGER Discretionary Grants be used 
for projects located in rural areas. Further, DOT will take measures to 
ensure an equitable geographic distribution of grant funds, an 
appropriate balance in addressing the needs of urban and rural areas, 
and investment in a variety of transportation modes.
    For projects receiving a TIGER Discretionary Grant, federal funds 
(including the TIGER Discretionary Grant and any other federal 
discretionary or formula funds) may be used for up to 80 percent of the 
costs of the project. DOT may increase the federal share above 80 
percent only for projects located in rural areas, in which case DOT may 
fund up to 100 percent of the costs of a project. However, priority 
must be given to projects that use TIGER Discretionary Grant funds to 
complete an overall financing package, and both urban and rural 
projects can increase their competitiveness for purposes of the TIGER 
program by demonstrating significant non-federal financial 
contributions. In the first four rounds, on average, projects awarded 
funding attracted more than 4 additional non-federal dollars for every 
TIGER grant dollar. DOT will consider any non-federal funds, whether 
such funds are contributed by the public sector (State or local) or the 
private sector, as a local match for the purposes of this program. Due 
to special statutory treatment, funds from the Federal Tribal 
Transportation Program (formerly known as Indian Reservation Roads) 
will also be considered as a local match for purposes of this program. 
However, DOT cannot consider any funds already expended towards the 
matching requirement or any funds being used to meet the match 
requirement for other federal grants. Also, while ``matching'' funds 
may be provided by a State DOT or transit agency, DOT will not consider 
those funds to be matching funds if the source of those funds is 
ultimately a federal program.
    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act requires that TIGER funds are only 
available for DOT to obligate through September 30, 2014. The limited 
amount of time for which the funds will be made available means that 
DOT, when evaluating applications, must focus on whether or not a 
project is ready to proceed with obligation of grant funds within the 
limited time provided. Under the FY 2013 Appropriations Act, TIGER 
funding expires automatically after the deadline of September 30, 2014, 
if DOT does not obligate these funds. This deadline is provided in law 
and waivers cannot be granted under any circumstances.
    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act allows for an amount not to exceed 
$165.8 million of the $473.847 million to be used to pay the subsidy 
and administrative costs for a project receiving credit assistance 
under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 
1998 (TIFIA) program, if it would further the purposes of the TIGER 
Discretionary Grant program. Whether seeking TIFIA support or not, you 
should show where you have leveraged both existing and new sources of 
funding through both traditional and innovative means and demonstrate 
how the TIGER assistance would serve to complete the project's 
financing package and allow for expedited project completion.
    Recipients of TIGER Discretionary Grants in prior rounds may apply 
for funding to support additional phases of a project awarded funds in 
earlier rounds of this program. However, to be competitive, the 
applicant should demonstrate the extent to which the previously funded 
project phase has been able to meet estimated project schedules and 
budget, including the ability to realize the benefits expected for the 
project.
    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act provides that the Secretary of 
Transportation may retain up to $20 million of the $473.847 million to 
fund the award and oversight of TIGER Discretionary Grants. Portions of 
the $20 million may be transferred for these purposes to the 
Administrators of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal 
Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the 
Federal Maritime Administration.
    The purpose of this notice is to solicit applications for TIGER 
Discretionary Grants. This is a final notice.

Tiger Discretionary Grants

II. Selection Criteria and Guidance on Application of Selection 
Criteria

    This section specifies the criteria that DOT will use to evaluate 
applications for TIGER Discretionary Grants. The criteria incorporate 
the statutory eligibility requirements for this program, which are 
specified in this notice as relevant.
    TIGER Discretionary Grants will be awarded based on the selection 
criteria as outlined below. There are two categories of selection 
criteria, ``Primary Selection Criteria'' and ``Secondary Selection 
Criteria,'' the significance of which are detailed below.

A. Primary Selection Criteria

    DOT will give priority to projects that are ready to proceed 
quickly and have a significant impact on desirable long-term outcomes 
for the Nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. Applications that do 
not demonstrate a likelihood of significant long-term benefits in this 
criterion will not proceed in the evaluation process. The first five 
primary selection criteria are based on the priorities included in 
DOT's Strategic Plan for FY 2012-FY 2016. DOT is elevating project 
readiness as a primary selection criterion for this round of TIGER 
Discretionary Grants due to the legislatively-mandated timeline for 
obligation of TIGER Discretionary Grant funds. For more detail on DOT's 
long-term priorities, please refer to the Strategic Plan, which can be 
found at: https://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.dev/files/docs/990_355_DOT_StrategicPlan_508lowres.pdf. The long-term outcomes and readiness 
criteria that will be given priority are:
    1. State of Good Repair: Improving the condition of existing 
transportation facilities and systems, with particular emphasis on 
projects that minimize life-cycle costs and improve resiliency. DOT 
will assess whether and to what extent (i) The project is consistent 
with relevant plans to maintain transportation facilities or systems in 
a state of good repair and address vulnerabilities; (ii) if left 
unimproved, the poor condition of the asset will threaten future 
transportation network efficiency, mobility of goods or accessibility 
and mobility of people, or economic growth; (iii) the project is 
appropriately capitalized up front and uses asset management approaches 
that optimize its long-term cost structure; and (iv) the extent to 
which a

[[Page 24789]]

sustainable source of revenue is available for long-term operations and 
maintenance of the project.
    2. Economic Competitiveness: Contributing to the economic 
competitiveness of the United States over the medium- to long-term by 
improving the national transportation system while creating and 
preserving jobs. DOT will assess whether the project will (i) Improve 
long-term efficiency, reliability or cost-competitiveness in the 
movement of workers or goods, with a particular focus on projects that 
have a significant effect on reducing the costs of transporting export 
cargoes; (ii) increase the economic productivity of land, capital or 
labor at or between specific locations, particularly in Economically 
Distressed Areas; or (iii) result in job creation and practicable 
opportunities, particularly for low-income workers or for people in 
Economically Distressed Areas, and practicable opportunities for small 
businesses and disadvantaged business enterprises, including veteran-
owned small businesses and service disabled veteran-owned small 
businesses.\2\
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    \2\ The Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic 
Advisers, (CEA), issued a memorandum in May 2009 on ``Estimates of 
Job Creation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 
2009.'' That memorandum provides a simple rule for estimating job-
years created by government spending, which is that $92,000 of 
government spending creates one job-year (or 10,870 job-years per 
billion dollars of spending). More recently, in September 2011, 
based on further analysis both of actual job-creation experience 
from transportation projects under the Recovery Act and on further 
macroeconomic analysis, the CEA determined that a job-year is 
created by every $76,923 in transportation infrastructure spending 
(or 13,000 job-years per billion dollars of transportation 
infrastructure spending). This figure can now be used in place of 
the earlier $92,000/job-year estimate. Applicants can use this 
estimate as an appropriate indicator of direct, indirect and induced 
job-years created by TIGER Discretionary Grant spending, but are 
encouraged to supplement or modify this estimate to the extent they 
can demonstrate that such modifications are justified. However, 
since this guidance makes job creation purely a function of the 
level of expenditure, applicants should also demonstrate how quickly 
jobs will be created under the proposed project. Projects that 
generate a given number of jobs more quickly will have a more 
favorable impact on economic recovery. A quarter-by-quarter 
projection of the number of direct job-hours expected to be created 
by the project is useful in assessing the impacts of a project on 
economic recovery. Furthermore, applicants should be aware that 
certain types of expenditures are less likely to align well with the 
Job Creation & Near-Term Economic Activity criterion. These types of 
expenditures include, among other things, engineering or design work 
and purchasing existing facilities or right-of-way.
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    3. Livability: Increasing transportation choices and access to 
transportation services for people in communities across the United 
States. DOT will consider whether the project furthers the six 
livability principles developed by DOT with the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) as part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.\3\ DOT 
will give particular consideration to the first principle, which 
prioritizes the creation of affordable and convenient transportation 
choices,\4\ particularly for economically disadvantaged populations, 
non-drivers, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. Further, 
DOT will prioritize projects developed in coordination with land-use 
planning and economic development decisions, including through programs 
like TIGER II Planning Grants, the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development's Regional Planning Grants, or the Environmental Protection 
Agency's Brownfield Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program as well as 
technical assistance programs focused on livability or economic 
development planning.
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    \3\ The six livability principles are listed fully at https://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot8009.htm.
    \4\ In full, this principle reads: ``Provide more transportation 
choices. Develop safe, reliable and economical transportation 
choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our 
nations' dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions and promote public health.''
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    4. Environmental Sustainability: Improving energy efficiency, 
reducing dependence on oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and 
benefitting the environment. DOT will assess the project's ability to 
(i) Reduce energy use, air or water pollution; (ii) avoid adverse 
environmental impacts to air or water quality, wetlands, and endangered 
species; or (iii) provide environmental benefits, such as brownfield 
redevelopment, wetlands creation or improved habitat connectivity. 
Applicants are encouraged to provide quantitative information that 
demonstrates the existence of substantial existing transportation-
related costs related to energy consumption and adverse environmental 
effects and evidence of the extent to which the project will reduce or 
mitigate those costs.
    5. Safety: Improving the safety of U.S. transportation facilities 
and systems. DOT will assess the project's ability to reduce the 
number, rate, and consequences of surface transportation-related 
crashes, serious injuries, and fatalities among drivers and/or non-
drivers in the United States or in the affected metropolitan area or 
region, and/or the project's contribution to the elimination of 
highway/rail grade crossings, the protection of pipelines, or the 
prevention of unintended releases of hazardous materials.
    6. Project Readiness: For projects that receive funding in this 
round of TIGER, DOT is required to obligate funds to those projects by 
September 30, 2014, or the funding will expire. Priority will be given 
to projects that can meet all local, State, and federal requirements by 
June 30, 2014. This is a shorter period of time for obligation of funds 
than the comparable period for any prior round of TIGER, and is 
therefore a primary concern to DOT that will be treated as such during 
the evaluation and selection process. DOT will assess whether a project 
is ready to proceed rapidly upon receipt of a TIGER Discretionary Grant 
(see Additional Information on Project Readiness Guidelines located at 
www.dot.gov/TIGER for further details), as evidenced by:
    (a) Technical Feasibility: The technical feasibility of the project 
should be demonstrated by engineering and design studies and 
activities; the development of design criteria and/or a basis of 
design; the basis for the cost estimate presented in the TIGER 
application, including the identification of contingency levels 
appropriate to its level of design; and any scope, schedule, and budget 
risk-mitigation measures. Applicants must include a detailed statement 
of work that focuses on the technical and engineering aspects of the 
project and describes in detail the project to be constructed.
    (b) Financial Feasibility: The viability and completeness of the 
project's financing package (assuming the availability of the requested 
TIGER Discretionary Grant funds), including evidence of stable and 
reliable capital and (as appropriate) operating fund commitments 
including specific sources of funds sufficient to cover estimated 
costs; the availability of contingency reserves should planned capital 
or operating revenue sources not materialize; evidence of the financial 
condition of the project sponsor; and evidence of the grant recipient's 
ability to manage grants. Applicants must include a detailed project 
budget in this section of their application containing a detailed 
breakdown of how the funds will be spent that provides estimates--both 
dollar amount and percentage of cost--of how much each activity would 
cost e.g. preparation, grading, asphalt, etc. If the project will be 
completed in individual segments or phases, a budget for each 
individual segment or phase must be included. Budget spending 
categories must be broken down between TIGER, other federal, and non-
federal sources and should identify how

[[Page 24790]]

each funding source will share in each activity.
    (c) Project Schedule: You must include a detailed project schedule 
that includes all major project milestones such as start and completion 
of environmental reviews and approvals, design, right-of-way 
acquisition, approval of PS&E, procurement, and construction in this 
section of their application with sufficient information detail to 
demonstrate that:
    (i) All necessary pre-construction activities will be complete to 
allow for any potential grant funding awarded to be obligated no later 
than June 30, 2014, to give DOT reasonable assurance that the TIGER 
Discretionary Grant funds will likely to be obligated sufficiently in 
advance of the September 30, 2014, statutory deadline, and that any 
unexpected delays will not put TIGER Discretionary Grant funds at risk 
of expiring before they are obligated;
    (ii) The project can begin construction quickly upon receipt of a 
TIGER Discretionary Grant, and that the grant funds will be spent 
steadily and expeditiously once construction starts; \5\ and
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    \5\ The schedule should show how many direct, on-project jobs 
are expected to be created or sustained during each calendar quarter 
after the project is underway.
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    (iii) Any applicant that is applying for a TIGER Discretionary 
Grant and does not own all of the property or right-of-way required to 
complete the project should provide evidence that the property and/or 
right-of-way acquisition can and will be completed expeditiously.
    (d) Assessment of Project Risks and Mitigation Strategies: You 
should identify the material risks to the project and the strategies 
that the lead applicant and any project partners have undertaken or 
will undertake in order to mitigate those risks. In past rounds of 
TIGER Discretionary Grants, certain projects have been affected by 
procurement delays, environmental uncertainties, and increases in real 
estate acquisition costs. You must assess the greatest risks to your 
projects and identify how those risks will be mitigated by the project 
parties.
    Applicants, to the extent they are unfamiliar with the federal 
transportation program, should contact DOT's field offices for 
information on what steps are pre-requisite to the obligation of 
federal funds in order to ensure that their project schedule is 
reasonable and that there are no risks of delays in satisfying federal 
requirements. Contacts for the Federal Highway Administration Division 
offices--which are located in all 50 States, Washington, DC, and Puerto 
Rico--can be found at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/about/field.cfm. Contacts 
for the ten Federal Transit Administration regional offices can be 
found at https://www.fta.dot.gov/12926.html.

B. Secondary Selection Criteria

    1. Innovation: Use of innovative strategies to pursue the long-term 
outcomes outlined above. DOT will assess the extent to which the 
project uses innovative technology (such as, intelligent transportation 
systems, dynamic pricing, value capture, rail wayside or on-board 
energy recovery, smart cards, active traffic management, or radio 
frequency identification) to pursue one or more of the long-term 
outcomes outlined above and/or to significantly enhance the operational 
performance of the transportation system. DOT will also assess the 
extent to which the project incorporates innovations in transportation 
funding and finance, leverages both existing and new sources of funding 
through both traditional and innovative means, and demonstrates how the 
TIGER grant would serve to complete the project's financing package and 
allow for expedited project completion. Further, DOT will consider the 
extent to which the project utilizes innovative practices in 
contracting, project delivery, congestion management, safety 
management, asset management, or long-term operations and maintenance. 
Projects integrating creative uses of technology to improve capacity or 
performance as part of an overall project to construct or replace 
traditional transportation facilities have been competitive in previous 
rounds, and DOT expects projects which intelligently use technology and 
other innovations to continue to be competitive.
    2. Partnership: Demonstrating strong collaboration among a broad 
range of participants, integration of transportation with other public 
service efforts, and/or projects that are the product of a robust 
planning process.
    (a) Jurisdictional & Stakeholder Collaboration: Projects that 
involve multiple partners in project development and funding, such as 
State and local governments, other public entities, and/or private or 
nonprofit entities. DOT will also assess the extent to which the 
project application demonstrates collaboration among neighboring or 
regional jurisdictions to achieve national, regional or metropolitan 
benefits. Multiple States or jurisdictions may submit a joint 
application and must identify a lead applicant as the primary point of 
contact. Joint applications must include a description of the roles and 
responsibilities of each project party and must be signed by, or 
include letters of support from, each project party.
    (b) Disciplinary Integration: Projects supported, financially or 
otherwise, by non-transportation public agencies that are pursuing 
similar and/or related objectives. For example, DOT will consider 
transportation projects that are coordinated with economic development, 
housing, water infrastructure and land use plans and policies, 
particularly those that employ evidence-based, cross-sector strategies 
to revitalize targeted areas and foster private capital investment in 
disinvested communities; similarly, DOT will consider transportation 
projects that encourage energy efficiency or improve the environment 
and are supported by relevant public agencies with energy or 
environmental missions. Projects that grow out of a robust planning 
process--such as those conducted with DOT's various planning programs 
and initiatives, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 
Regional Planning Grants and Choice Neighborhood Planning Grants, or 
the Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfield Area-Wide Planning 
Pilot Program as well as technical assistance programs focused on 
livability or economic development planning--will also be given 
priority.

C. Additional Guidance on Evaluation

1. Project Costs and Benefits
    Applicants for TIGER Discretionary Grants are generally required to 
identify, quantify, and compare expected benefits and costs, subject to 
the following qualifications: \6\
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    \6\ DOT has a responsibility under Executive Order 12893, 
Principles for Federal Infrastructure Investments, 59 FR 4233, to 
base infrastructure investments on systematic analysis of expected 
benefits and costs, including both quantitative and qualitative 
measures.
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    Applicants will be expected to prepare an analysis of benefits and 
costs. However, DOT understands that the detail of analysis that should 
be expected (for items such as surveys, travel demand forecasts, market 
forecasts, and statistical analyses) is less for smaller projects than 
for larger projects. The level of sophistication of the benefit-cost 
analysis (BCA) should be commensurate to the size of the overall 
project and the amount of grant funds requested in the application. In 
other words, larger projects should have more/better data elements than 
smaller

[[Page 24791]]

projects. However, even small projects should provide subjective 
estimates of benefits and should still quantify costs, and applicants 
should provide whatever evidence they have available to lend credence 
to their subjective estimates. Estimates of benefits should be 
presented in monetary terms whenever possible. If a monetary estimate 
is not possible, then at least a quantitative estimate (in physical, 
non-monetary terms, such as crash rates, ridership estimates, emissions 
levels, etc.) should be provided.
    The lack of a useful analysis of expected project benefits and 
costs may be the basis for not selecting a project for award of a TIGER 
Discretionary Grant. If it is clear to DOT that the total benefits of a 
project are not reasonably likely to justify the project's costs, DOT 
will not award a TIGER Discretionary Grant to the project.
    Detailed guidance for the preparation of benefit-cost analyses is 
provided in Guide to Preparing Benefit-Cost Analyses for TIGER Grants 
(at www.dot.gov/TIGER). Benefits should be presented, whenever 
possible, in a tabular form showing benefits and costs in each year for 
the useful life of the project. Benefits and costs should both be 
discounted to the year 2013, and present discounted values of both the 
stream of benefits and the stream of costs should be calculated. If the 
project has multiple parts, each of which has independent utility, the 
benefits and costs of each part should be estimated and presented 
separately. The results of the benefit-cost analysis should be 
summarized in the Project Narrative section of the application itself, 
but the details may be presented in an attachment to the application if 
the full analysis cannot be included within the page limit for the 
project narrative.
    Based on feedback over the last four rounds of TIGER, DOT 
recognizes that the benefit-cost analysis can be particularly 
burdensome on Tribal governments. Therefore, consistent with the 
preceding paragraph, the Department is providing flexibility to Tribal 
governments for the purposes of this Notice. At their discretion, 
Tribal applicants may elect to provide raw data to support the need for 
a project (such as crash rates, ridership estimates, and the number of 
people who will benefit from the project). These data will then be used 
to allow DOT economists to make the best estimates they can develop 
(given the data provided) of benefits and costs. Examples of BCAs by 
successful Tribal applicants are also available online.
2. Other Environmental Reviews and Approvals
    (a) National Environmental Policy Act: An application for a TIGER 
Discretionary Grant must detail whether the project will significantly 
impact the natural, social and/or economic environment. The application 
should demonstrate receipt (or reasonably anticipated receipt) of all 
environmental approvals and permits necessary for the project to 
proceed to construction on the timeline specified in the project 
schedule and necessary to meet the statutory obligation deadline, 
including satisfaction of all federal, State, and local requirements 
and completion of the National Environmental Policy Act (``NEPA'') 
process. You should submit the information listed below with your 
application:
    (i) Information about the NEPA status of the project. If the NEPA 
process is completed, an applicant must indicate the date of, and 
provide a Web site link or other reference to, the final Categorical 
Exclusion, Finding of No Significant Impact or Record of Decision. If 
the NEPA process is underway but not complete, the application must 
detail the type of NEPA review underway, where the project is in the 
process, and indicate the anticipated date of completion. You must 
provide a Web site link or other reference to copies of any NEPA 
documents prepared.
    (ii) Information on reviews by other agencies. An application for a 
TIGER Discretionary Grant must indicate whether the proposed project 
requires reviews or approval actions by other agencies, indicate the 
status of such actions, and provide detailed information about the 
status of those reviews or approvals and/or demonstrate compliance with 
any other applicable other federal, State, or local requirements.
    (iii) Environmental studies or other documents--preferably by way 
of a Web site link--that describe in detail known project impacts, and 
possible mitigation for those impacts.
    (iv) A description of discussions with the appropriate DOT modal 
administration field office regarding compliance with NEPA and other 
applicable environmental reviews and approvals.
    (b) Legislative Approvals: Receipt of all necessary legislative 
approvals (for example, legislative authority to charge user fees or 
set toll rates), and evidence of support from State and local elected 
officials. Support from all relevant State and local officials is not 
required; however, you should demonstrate that there are no significant 
legislative barriers to timely completion, and that the project is 
broadly supported.
    (c) State and Local Planning: The planning requirements of the 
operating administration administering the TIGER project will apply.\7\ 
Where required by an operating administration, you should demonstrate 
that a project that is required to be included in the relevant State, 
metropolitan, and local planning documents, has been or will be 
included. If the project is not included in the relevant planning 
documents at the time the application is submitted, you should submit a 
certification from the appropriate planning agency that actions are 
underway to include the project in the relevant planning document. DOT 
reserves the right to revoke any award of TIGER Discretionary Grant 
funds and to award such funds to another project to the extent either 
that awarded funds cannot be timely expended and/or that construction 
does not begin in accordance with the anticipated project schedule. DOT 
will consider on a case-by-case basis how much time after selection for 
award of a TIGER Discretionary Grant each project has before funds must 
be obligated (consistent with law) and construction started through an 
executed grant agreement between the selected applicant and the modal 
administration administering the grant. This deadline will be specified 
for each TIGER Discretionary Grant in the project-specific grant 
agreements signed by the grant recipients and will be based on critical 
path items identified by

[[Page 24792]]

applicants in response to items (i) through (iv) above.
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    \7\ All regionally significant projects requiring an action by 
the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) must be in the metropolitan transportation 
plan, transportation improvement program (TIP) and Statewide 
transportation improvement program (STIP). Further, in air quality 
non-attainment and maintenance areas, all regionally significant 
projects, regardless of the funding source, must be included in the 
conforming metropolitan transportation plan and TIP. To the extent a 
project is required to be on a metropolitan transportation plan, 
TIP, and/or STIP, it will not receive a TIGER Discretionary Grant 
until it is included in such plans. Projects not currently included 
in these plans can be amended in to the plans by the State and 
metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Projects that are not 
required to be in long range transportation plans, STIPs, and TIPs 
will not need to be included in such plans in order to receive a 
TIGER Discretionary Grant. Freight and passenger rail projects are 
not required to be on the State Rail Plans called for in the 
Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, consistent 
with the exemption for high speed and intercity passenger rail 
projects under the Recovery Act. However, applicants seeking funding 
for freight and passenger rail projects are encouraged to 
demonstrate that they have done sufficient planning to ensure that 
projects fit into a prioritized list of capital needs and are 
consistent with long-range goals.
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III. Evaluation of Applications and Eligibility

A. Evaluation Process

    TIGER Discretionary Grant applications will be evaluated in 
accordance with the evaluation process discussed below.
    DOT will establish application evaluation teams to review each 
application that is received by DOT prior to the Application Deadline. 
These evaluation teams will be organized and led by the Office of the 
Secretary of Transportation and will include members from each of the 
relevant modal administrations in DOT with the most experience and/or 
expertise in the relevant project areas (the ``Relevant Modal 
Administrations'') and, in some cases, staff from other federal 
agencies with relevant expertise, including freight, resiliency, 
livability, environmental review, and permitting. The evaluation teams 
will be responsible for evaluating all of the projects and making 
recommendations to the Secretary.
    DOT will not assign specific numerical scores to projects based on 
the selection criteria outlined above in Section II (Selection Criteria 
and Guidance on Application of Selection Criteria). Rather, ratings of 
``highly recommended,'' ``recommended,'' ``acceptable,'' or ``not 
recommended'' will be assigned to projects. DOT will award TIGER 
Discretionary Grants to projects that are well-aligned with one or more 
of the selection criteria. In addition, DOT will consider whether a 
project has a negative effect on any of the selection criteria, and any 
such negative effect may reduce the likelihood that the project will 
receive a TIGER Discretionary Grant. To the extent the initial 
evaluation process does not sufficiently differentiate among highly 
rated projects, DOT will use a similar rating process to re-assess the 
projects and identify those that should be most highly rated.
    DOT will give more weight to the Primary Selection Criteria than to 
the two Secondary Selection Criteria. DOT does not consider any of the 
first five Primary Selection Criteria, which are the DOT Strategic 
Goals, to be more important than the others. DOT reserves the right to 
select projects that will lead to the best overall promotion of these 
goals, which may result in variance in the numbers of projects well-
aligned with each goal. Failure to demonstrate the sixth primary 
selection criterion, Project Readiness, will make it less likely that 
your otherwise well-performing application will be selected.
    Upon completion of this rating process DOT will analyze the 
preliminary list and determine whether the ratings are consistent with 
the distributional requirements of the FY 2013 Appropriations Act, 
including an equitable geographic distribution of grant funds, an 
appropriate balance in addressing the needs of urban and rural areas, 
and investment in a variety of transportation modes. If necessary, DOT 
will adjust the list of recommended projects to satisfy the statutory 
distributional requirements while remaining as consistent as possible 
with the ratings. The Secretary of Transportation will make the final 
project selections.

B. Evaluation of Eligibility

    To be selected for a TIGER Discretionary Grant, a project must be 
an Eligible Project, the applicant must be an Eligible Applicant, and 
all other threshold eligibility requirements must be met, including 
commitment of matching funds. DOT may consider one or more components 
of a large project to be an Eligible Project, but only to the extent 
that the components have independent utility, meaning the components 
themselves, not the project of which they are a part, are Eligible 
Projects and satisfy the selection criteria identified above in Section 
II (Selection Criteria and Guidance on Application of Selection 
Criteria). For these projects, the benefits described in an application 
must be related to the components of the project for which funding is 
requested, not the full project of which they are a part. DOT will not 
fund individual phases of a project if the benefits of completing only 
these phases would not align well with the selection criteria specified 
in this Notice because the overall project would still be incomplete.

IV. Grant Administration

    DOT expects that each TIGER Discretionary Grant will be 
administered by one of the Relevant Modal Administrations, pursuant to 
a grant agreement between the TIGER Discretionary Grant recipient and 
the Relevant Modal Administration. Service Outcome Agreements, 
Stakeholder Agreements, Buy America compliance, and other requirements 
such as those required for DOT's other highway, transit, rail, and 
maritime port grant programs will be incorporated into the TIGER grant 
agreements, where appropriate. Under the TIGER Discretionary Grant 
program, the Secretary delegates such responsibilities to the 
appropriate operating administration. Applicable federal laws, rules 
and regulations of the Relevant Modal Administration administering the 
project will apply to projects that receive TIGER Discretionary Grants.

V. Projects in Rural Areas

    The FY 2013 Appropriations Act directs that not less than $120 
million of the funds provided for TIGER Discretionary Grants are to be 
used for projects in rural areas. For purposes of this notice, DOT is 
defining ``rural area'' as any area not in an Urbanized Area, as such 
term is defined by the Census Bureau,\8\ and will consider a project to 
be in a rural area if all or the majority of a project (determined by 
geographic location(s) where majority of project money is to be spent) 
is located in a rural area. Therefore, if all or the majority of a 
project is located in a rural area, such a project is eligible to apply 
for less than $10 million, but at least $1 million in TIGER 
Discretionary Grant funds, and up to 100% of the project's costs may be 
paid for with federal funds. To the extent more than a de minimis 
portion of a project is located in an Urbanized Area, you should 
identify the estimated percentage of project costs that will be spent 
in Urbanized Areas and the estimated percentage that will be spent in 
rural areas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ For Census 2010, the Census Bureau defined an Urbanized Area 
(UA) as an area that consists of densely settled territory that 
contains 50,000 or more people. Updated lists of UAs are available 
on the Census Bureau Web site. Urban Clusters (UCs) will be 
considered rural areas for purposes of the TIGER Discretionary Grant 
program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Applications

A. Submitting Applications

    Applicants must submit a complete application package through 
Grants.gov by the Application Deadline, which is June 3, 2013, at 5:00 
p.m. EDT. Grants.gov ``Apply'' function will open on April 29, 2013, 
allowing applicants to submit applications. You are encouraged to 
submit applications in advance of the Application Deadline, but 
applications will not be evaluated, and selections for awards will not 
be made, until after the Application Deadline.
    Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov. To apply for 
funding through Grants.gov, you must be properly registered. Complete 
instructions on how to register and submit applications can be found at 
www.grants.gov. Please be aware that the registration process usually 
takes 2-4 weeks and must be completed before an application can be 
submitted. If

[[Page 24793]]

interested parties experience difficulties at any point during the 
registration or application process, please call the Grants.gov 
Customer Support Hotline at 1-800-518-4726, Monday-Friday from 7:00 
a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT. Additional information on applying through 
Grants.gov is available in Information about Applying for Federal 
Grants through Grants.gov at www.dot.gov/TIGER.

B. Contents of Applications

    You must include all of the information requested below in your 
application. DOT reserves the right to ask any applicant to supplement 
data in its application, but expects applications to be complete upon 
submission. To the extent practical, you should provide data and 
evidence of project merits in a form that is publicly available or 
verifiable.
1. Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance
    Please see www07.grants.gov/assets/SF424Instructions.pdf for 
instructions on how to complete the SF 424, which is part of the 
standard Grants.gov submission. Additional clarifying guidance and FAQs 
to assist you in completing the SF 424 will be available at 
www.dot.gov/TIGER by April 29, 2013, when the ``Apply'' function within 
Grants.gov opens to accept applications under this notice.
2. Project Narrative (Attachment to SF-424)
    The project narrative must respond to the application requirements 
outlined below. DOT recommends that the project narrative be prepared 
with standard formatting preferences (.i.e., a single-spaced document, 
using a standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman, with 1-inch 
margins).
    Your application must include information required for DOT to 
assess each of the criteria specified in Section II (Selection Criteria 
and Guidance on Application of Selection Criteria). You must 
demonstrate the responsiveness of a project to any pertinent selection 
criteria with the most relevant information that you can provide, 
regardless of whether such information has been specifically requested, 
or identified, in this notice. You should provide concrete evidence of 
the feasibility of achieving project milestones, and of financial 
capacity and commitment in order to support project readiness. DOT will 
consider for the extent to which a TIGER Discretionary Grant will help 
to complete an overall funding package, so you should clearly 
demonstrate the extent to which the project cannot be readily and 
efficiently completed without a TIGER Discretionary Grant, and the 
extent to which other sources of federal, State, or local funding may 
or may not be readily available for the project. Any such information 
shall be considered part of the application, not supplemental, for 
purposes of the application size limits identified below in Part C 
(Length of Applications). Information provided pursuant to this 
paragraph must be quantified, to the extent possible, to describe the 
project's benefits to the Nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. 
Information provided pursuant to this paragraph should include 
projections for both the build and no-build scenarios for the project 
for a point in time at least 20 years beyond the project's completion 
date or the lifespan of the project, whichever is closer to the 
present.
    All applications should include a detailed description of the 
proposed project and geospatial data for the project, including a map 
of the project's location and its connections to existing 
transportation infrastructure. Applications should also include a 
description of how the project addresses the needs of an urban and/or 
rural area. Applications should clearly describe the transportation 
challenges that the project aims to address, and how the project will 
address these challenges. Descriptions should include relevant data, 
such as passenger or freight volumes, congestion levels, infrastructure 
condition, and safety experience.
    DOT recommends that the project narrative adhere to the following 
basic outline, and in addition to a detailed Statement of work, 
detailed project schedule, and detailed project budget, you should 
include a table of contents, maps, and graphics that make the 
information easier to review:
    I. Project Description (including information on the expected users 
of the project, a description of the transportation challenges that the 
project aims to address, and how the project will address these 
challenges);
    II. Project Parties (information about the grant recipient and 
other project parties);
    III. Grant Funds and Sources/Uses of Project Funds (information 
about the amount of grant funding requested, availability/commitment of 
funds sources and uses of all project funds, total project costs, 
percentage of project costs that would be paid for with TIGER 
Discretionary Grant funds, and the identity and percentage shares of 
all parties providing funds for the project, including any other 
pending or past federal funding requests for the project as well as 
federal funds already provided under other programs and required match 
for those funds);
    IV. Selection Criteria (information about how the project aligns 
with each of the primary and secondary selection criteria and a 
description of the results of the benefit-cost analysis):

a. Long-Term Outcomes
    i. State of Good Repair
    ii. Economic Competitiveness
    iii. Livability
    iv. Sustainability
    v. Safety
    vi. Project Readiness
b. Innovation
c. Partnership
d. Results of Benefit-Cost Analysis

    V. Planning Approvals, NEPA and other environmental reviews/
approvals, (including information about permitting, legislative 
approvals, State and local planning, and project partnership and 
implementation agreements); and
    VI. Federal Wage Rate Certification (an application must include a 
certification, signed by the applicant, stating that it will comply 
with the requirements of subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, 
United States Code (federal wage rate requirements), as required by the 
FY 2013 Continuing Appropriations Act).
    The purpose of this recommended format is to ensure that 
applications clearly address the program requirements and make critical 
information readily apparent.

C. Length of Applications

    The project narrative may not exceed 30 pages in length. 
Documentation supporting the assertions made in the narrative portion 
may also be provided, but should be limited to relevant information. If 
possible, Web site links to supporting documentation (including a more 
detailed discussion of the benefit-cost analysis) should be provided 
rather than copies of these materials. Spreadsheets supporting the 
benefit-cost analysis should be original Excel spreadsheets, not PDFs 
of those spreadsheets. At your discretion, relevant materials provided 
previously to a Relevant Modal Administration in support of an 
application to a different DOT discretionary program (for example, New 
Starts or TIFIA) may be referenced and described as unchanged. To the 
extent referenced, this information need not be resubmitted for the 
TIGER Discretionary Grant application (although provision of a Web site 
link would facilitate DOT's consideration of the information). DOT

[[Page 24794]]

recommends use of appropriately descriptive file names (e.g., ``Project 
Narrative,'' ``Maps,'' ``Memoranda of Understanding and Letters of 
Support,'' etc.) for all attachments. Cover pages, tables of contents, 
and the federal wage rate certification do not count towards the 30-
page limit for the narrative portion of the application. Otherwise, the 
only substantive portions of the application that should exceed the 30-
page limit are any supporting documents (including a more detailed 
discussion of the benefit-cost analysis) provided to support assertions 
or conclusions made in the 30-page narrative section.

D. Contact Information

    Contact information for a direct employee of the lead applicant 
organization is required as part of the SF-424. DOT will use this 
information to inform parties of DOT's decision regarding the selection 
of projects, as well as to contact parties in the event that DOT needs 
additional information about an application. Contact information for a 
contractor, agent, or consultant of the lead applicant organization is 
insufficient for DOT's purposes.

E. Protection of Confidential Business Information

    All information submitted as part of or in support of any 
application shall use publicly available data or data that can be made 
public and methodologies that are accepted by industry practice and 
standards, to the extent possible. If the application includes 
information you consider to be a trade secret or confidential 
commercial or financial information, you should do the following: (1) 
Note on the front cover that the submission ``Contains Confidential 
Business Information (CBI);'' (2) mark each affected page ``CBI;'' and 
(3) highlight or otherwise denote the CBI portions. DOT protects such 
information from disclosure to the extent allowed under applicable law. 
In the event DOT receives a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request 
for the information, DOT will follow the procedures described in its 
FOIA regulations at 49 CFR 7.17. Only information that is ultimately 
determined to be confidential under that procedure will be exempt from 
disclosure under FOIA.

VII. Performance Measurement

    Each applicant selected for TIGER Discretionary Grant funding will 
be required to work with DOT on the development and implementation of a 
plan to collect information and report on the project's performance 
with respect to the relevant long-term outcomes that are expected to be 
achieved through construction of the project. Each recipient of a TIGER 
Discretionary Grant will, in accordance with its grant agreement, 
report on specified performance indicators for its project. Performance 
indicators will be negotiated for each project, and will consider the 
individual project's stated goals as well as resource constraints of 
applicants. Performance indicators will not include formal goals or 
targets, but will include baseline measures as well as post-project 
outputs for an agreed upon timeline, and will inform the TIGER 
Discretionary Grant program in working towards best practices, 
programmatic performance measures, and future decision making 
guidelines.

VIII. Questions and Clarifications

    For further information concerning this notice please contact the 
TIGER Discretionary Grant program staff via email at 
TIGERGrants@dot.gov, or call Howard Hill at 202-366-0301. A TDD is 
available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at 202-366-
3993. DOT will regularly post answers to these questions and other 
important clarifications on DOT's Web site at www.dot.gov/TIGER.

    Issued on: April 22, 2013.
Ray LaHood,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-09889 Filed 4-25-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P