Federal Labor Relations Authority 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces final environmental actions taken by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for projects in the Cities of Seattle, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood, WA; New Orleans, LA; Tacoma, WA; and Fort Lauderdale, FL. The purpose of this notice is to announce publicly the environmental decisions by FTA on the subject projects and to activate the limitation on any claims that may challenge these final environmental actions.

In response to a Buy America waiver request from the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), a subsidiary of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) hereby waives its Buy America requirements for the movable point frog component of one track turnout that LIRR needs for Stage 1.1 of its Jamaica Station Capacity Improvements Project, Phase I (JCI-Phase 1 Project). The turnout itself, however, is subject to FTA's Buy America requirements and, accordingly, the turnout must be manufactured in the United States. This Buy America waiver does not apply to track turnout components for Stages 2.0.1, 2.0.2, 2.0.3, and any other stages of LIRR's JCI- Phase I Project, or for LIRR's State of Good Repair Program, as LIRR has withdrawn such waiver requests through correspondence dated February 9, 2015, February 13, 2015, and June 25, 2015. Moreover, this Buy America waiver does not apply to track turnout components needed for the Northeast Corridor Congestion Relief Project at Harold Interlocking, for which the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted a Buy America waiver on May 15, 2015, as FRA funds are being used for that project.

Pursuant to Section 20008 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141, FTA published a Notice for Expressions of Interest (EI) for proposals for the Pilot Program for Expedited Project Delivery on July 7, 2015. Due to a technical issue with the electronic mail address that has been resolved, FTA is extending the application submission deadline announced in the EI to September 8, 2015.

In response to the City of Kansas City, Missouri's request for a Buy America waiver for a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) HVAC system, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) hereby waives its Buy America requirements for the VRF HVAC system to be installed at the Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF) associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Project. This waiver is limited to a single procurement for the VRF HVAC system for the VMF, an FTA-funded project.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Grant program funds in support of the Discretionary Passenger Ferry Grant program. This grant opportunity will be funded using approximately $20 million in FY 2015 Urbanized Area Formula Grants program funds authorized by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141, July 6, 2012. Although MAP-21 authorized the program at $30 million, the current extension only authorized funds through May 31, 2015, which is approximately $20 million. This notice solicits proposals to compete for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 funding that is currently available under the Ferry program and may include additional funds made available, subsequent to publication of this notice. The Passenger Ferry Grant program (Ferry program), authorized by 49 U.S.C. 5307 (h), is a competitive program for which FTA established criteria for rating and ranking applications. Given the limited resources available for this program, FTA is limiting this discretionary opportunity to capital projects. These funds constitute a core investment in the enhancement and revitalization of public ferry systems in the Nation's urbanized areas. This notice also includes priorities established by FTA for these discretionary funds, criteria FTA will use to identify meritorious projects for funding, and the process to apply for funding. This announcement is available on the FTA Web site at: https:// www.fta.dot.gov. The FTA may announce final selections on the Web site and in the Federal Register. Additionally, a synopsis of this funding opportunity will be posted in the FIND module of the government-wide electronic grants (GRANTS.GOV) Web site at https://www.grants.gov.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received a request for a waiver to permit the purchase of a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) HVAC system that is non-compliant with Buy America requirements using FTA funding. The request is from the City of Kansas City, Missouri (Kansas City) for its Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF) associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Project. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A), FTA is providing notice of the waiver request and seeks public comment before deciding whether to grant the request. If granted, the waiver would apply only to the FTA- funded procurement of a VRF HVAC system by Kansas City.

Pursuant to the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (``FLRA'') is issuing a regulation governing procedures for collecting debts owed to the federal government by present and former FLRA employees. The regulation sets forth the procedures that the FLRA will follow in collecting debts owed to the United States arising from activities under FLRA jurisdiction. These procedures include collection of debts through administrative offset and salary offset. These regulations supersede the FLRA's debt- collection procedures applied under FLRA Internal Regulation 2790, dated December 29, 1986.