80 FR 18796 - Notice of Availability of Proposed Interim Policy Guidance for the Capital Investment Grant Program

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 67 (April 8, 2015)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) invites public comment on interim policy guidance the agency is proposing for the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program. The proposed interim guidance has been placed in the docket and posted on the FTA Web site. If adopted, this proposed interim policy guidance will complement FTA's regulations that govern the CIG program by providing a deeper level of detail about the methods for applying the project justification and local financial commitment criteria for rating and evaluating New Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity Improvement projects, and the procedures for getting through the steps in the process required by law.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 18796-18797]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08063]



[[Page 18796]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

49 CFR Part 611

[Docket No. FTA-2015-0007]
RIN 2132-ZA03


Notice of Availability of Proposed Interim Policy Guidance for 
the Capital Investment Grant Program

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed interim policy guidance; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) invites public 
comment on interim policy guidance the agency is proposing for the 
Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program. The proposed interim guidance 
has been placed in the docket and posted on the FTA Web site. If 
adopted, this proposed interim policy guidance will complement FTA's 
regulations that govern the CIG program by providing a deeper level of 
detail about the methods for applying the project justification and 
local financial commitment criteria for rating and evaluating New 
Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity Improvement projects, and the 
procedures for getting through the steps in the process required by 
law.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 8, 2015. Any comments 
received beyond this deadline will be considered to the extent 
practicable.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to DOT docket number FTA-2015-0007 
by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
    U.S. Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name (Federal Transit 
Administration) and docket number (FTA-2015-0007) for this notice at 
the beginning of your comments. You must submit two copies of your 
comments if you submit them by mail. If you wish to receive 
confirmation FTA received your comments, you must include a self-
addressed, stamped postcard. Due to security procedures in effect since 
October 2001, mail received through the U.S. Postal Service may be 
subject to delays. Parties submitting comments may wish to consider 
using an express mail firm to ensure prompt filing of any submissions 
not filed electronically or by hand.
    All comments received will be posted, without charge and including 
any personal information provided, to http://www.regulations.gov, where 
they will be available to internet users. You may review DOT's complete 
Privacy Act Statement published in the Federal Register on April 11, 
2000, at 65 FR 19477. For access to the docket and to read background 
documents and comments received, go to http://regulations.gov at any 
time or to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Docket Management Facility, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Day, FTA Office of Planning 
and Environment, telephone (202) 366-5159 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5309(g)(5), FTA is 
obliged to publish policy guidance on the review and evaluation process 
and criteria for projects eligible for Federal funding under the CIG 
program each time the agency makes significant changes to the process 
and criteria, and in any event, at least once every two years. Also, 
FTA is obliged to invite public comment on the guidance, and to publish 
its response to comments. In brief, the policy guidance that FTA 
periodically issues for the discretionary Capital Investment Grant 
(``CIG'') program complements the FTA regulations that govern the CIG 
program, codified at 49 CFR part 611. The regulations set forth the 
process that grant applicants must follow to be considered eligible for 
discretionary funding under the CIG program, and the procedures and 
criteria FTA uses to rate and evaluate the projects eligible for that 
discretionary funding. The policy guidance provides a greater level of 
detail about the methods FTA uses to apply the criteria for both 
project justification and local financial commitment, and the 
sequential steps a sponsor must follow in developing a project.
    The interim policy guidance FTA is proposing today is available in 
its entirety on the agency's public Web site at http://www.fta.dot.gov, 
and in the docket at http://www.regulations.gov. It is approximately 
100 typewritten pages in length, arranged in three stand-alone chapters 
for each of the three types of projects eligible for CIG funds: New 
Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity Improvements. Each chapter 
provides a short introduction, a discussion of eligibility for that 
type of project, a summary of the requirements for entry into and 
getting through each step of the CIG process, information on each of 
the project evaluation criteria, and an explanation of how FTA will 
determine the overall rating for a project. Each type of project in the 
CIG program--a New Start, Small Start, or Core Capacity Improvement--is 
governed by a unique set of requirements, although there are many 
similarities amongst the three sets of requirements.
    Most importantly, the guidance proposed today addresses four 
subjects not addressed in either the regulations or previous policy 
guidance for the CIG program. These are, specifically: (1) The measures 
and breakpoints for the congestion relief criterion applicable to New 
Starts and Small Starts projects; (2) the evaluation and rating process 
for Core Capacity Improvement projects, including the measures and 
breakpoints for all the project justification and local financial 
commitment criteria applicable to those projects; (3) the prerequisites 
for entry into each phase of the CIG process for each type of project 
in the CIG program, and the requirements for completing each phase of 
that process; and (4) ways in which certain New Starts, Small Starts, 
and Core Capacity Improvement projects can qualify for ``warrants'' 
entitling them to automatic ratings on some of the evaluation criteria. 
Readers should please direct their comments to these four subjects. All 
the other material in this guidance document has been developed through 
public notice-and-comment for the regulations at 49 CFR part 611 or the 
previous policy guidance for the CIG program. The newly proposed 
requirements are clearly identified in the text of each chapter, and in 
an accompanying table, for easy reference.
    This proposed policy guidance is characterized as ``interim'' in 
that, in the near future, FTA will initiate a rulemaking to amend the 
regulations at 49 CFR part 611 to fully carry out the authorization 
statute for the CIG program, 49 U.S.C. 5309, as amended by the Moving 
Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (Pub. L. 112-141; July 6, 
2012) (``MAP-21''). The information gained through the public comment

[[Page 18797]]

process on this proposed interim policy guidance will inform the future 
rulemaking. After reviewing and responding to the comments received on 
this proposed guidance, FTA will issue a final iteration of the interim 
guidance, and then initiate the rulemaking.

Therese W. McMillan,
Acting Federal Transit Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-08063 Filed 4-7-15; 8:45 am]
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