80 FR 38801 - Pilot Program for Expedited Project Delivery

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 129 (July 7, 2015)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces establishment of the Pilot Program for Expedited Project Delivery (Pilot Program) authorized by Section 20008 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141, July 6, 2012, and solicits expressions of interest to participate. The Pilot Program is aimed at increasing innovation, improving efficiency and timeliness of project implementation, and encouraging new revenue streams for new fixed guideway projects and core capacity improvement projects. FTA plans to use the lessons learned from the Pilot Program to assist other project sponsors to develop more effective approaches to project planning, project development, finance, design, and construction. Additionally, FTA anticipates that the Pilot Program will help to identify impediments in current laws, regulations, and practices to the greater use of innovative project development and delivery methods or innovative financing arrangements. Participants selected for the Pilot Program may receive enhanced technical assistance and expedited FTA reviews to speed up planning, development, and delivery of eligible Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program projects and ultimately receive Full Funding Grant Agreements under that program. Should legislation be enacted for the Pilot Program that would allow projects to proceed outside of the normal CIG program processes and criteria, participants also may be able to receive a Full Funding Grant Agreement under the terms of that legislation. Lastly, participants selected for the Pilot Program also may benefit from technical assistance provided by the Department of Transportation's Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC). This announcement is available on the FTA's Web site at: www.fta.dot.gov.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38801-38802]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-16515]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Pilot Program for Expedited Project Delivery

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Request for Expressions of Interest to Participate.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces 
establishment of the Pilot Program for Expedited Project Delivery 
(Pilot Program) authorized by Section 20008 of the Moving Ahead for 
Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141, July 6, 
2012, and solicits expressions of interest to participate. The Pilot 
Program is aimed at increasing innovation, improving efficiency and 
timeliness of project implementation, and encouraging new revenue 
streams for new fixed guideway projects and core capacity improvement 
projects. FTA plans to use the lessons learned from the Pilot Program 
to assist other project sponsors to develop more effective approaches 
to project planning, project development, finance, design, and 
construction. Additionally, FTA anticipates that the Pilot Program will 
help to identify impediments in current laws, regulations, and 
practices to the greater use of innovative project development and 
delivery methods or innovative financing arrangements.
    Participants selected for the Pilot Program may receive enhanced 
technical assistance and expedited FTA reviews to speed up planning, 
development, and delivery of eligible Capital Investment Grant (CIG) 
program projects and ultimately receive Full Funding Grant Agreements 
under that program. Should legislation be enacted for the Pilot Program 
that would allow projects to proceed outside of the normal CIG program 
processes and criteria, participants also may be able to receive a Full 
Funding Grant Agreement under the terms of that legislation. Lastly, 
participants selected for the Pilot Program also may benefit from 
technical assistance provided by the Department of Transportation's 
Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC). This 
announcement is available on the FTA's Web site at: www.fta.dot.gov.

DATES: Expressions of interest to become one of the three selected 
participants in the Pilot Program for Expedited Project Delivery must 
be submitted to FTA by mail, email or facsimile by August 1, 2015. Mail 
submission must be addressed to the Office of Planning and Environment, 
Federal Transit Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room E45-
119, Washington, DC 20590 and postmarked no later than August 1, 2015. 
Email submissions must be sent to [email protected] 
by 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 1, 2015. Facsimile submissions must be 
submitted to the attention of Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program 
at 202-493-2478 by 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 1, 2015. If there are 
insufficient candidate projects that are able to meet the requirements 
of the Pilot Program, FTA may conduct additional application rounds in 
the future.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Jackson, FTA Office of Planning 
and Environment, telephone (202) 366-8520 or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background

    Each year FTA, together with its transit industry partners, invests 
billions of dollars in capital projects designed to improve public 
transportation by reinvesting in existing assets to expand capacity or 
by increasing the extent and quality of public transportation service 
by making new investments. These projects take considerable time to 
plan, develop, design, approve and deploy. While it is important for 
FTA to ensure that it selects only well-conceived projects for funding 
and that they are implemented in the most efficient and effective 
manner, too long a process delays the delivery of the intended benefits 
to the riding public.

2. Pilot Program

    Section 20008(b) of MAP-21 establishes a Pilot Program for new 
fixed guideway or core capacity projects as defined under the Section 
5309 Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program that demonstrate innovative 
project development and delivery methods or innovative financing 
arrangements. Section 20008(b) specifies that FTA must select three 
eligible projects for the Pilot Program: (1) at least one project must 
request greater than $100 million in Section 5309 CIG funds; (2) at 
least one project must request less than $100 million in CIG funds; and 
(3) a project that requests any amount of CIG funds. Section 20008(b) 
requires that the CIG share of the total cost of selected projects must 
not exceed 50 percent. It also specifies that projects already in 
receipt of an FFGA are not eligible.
    Section 20008(b) requires that project sponsors applying to 
participate must submit: (1) information identifying the proposed 
eligible project; (2) a schedule and finance plan for the construction 
and operation of the project; (3) an analysis of the efficiencies of 
the proposed project development and delivery methods or innovative 
financing arrangements for the project; and (4) a certification that 
the project sponsor's existing public transportation system is in a 
state of good repair. FTA may not award a full funding grant agreement 
until after the project sponsor has completed necessary planning 
activities and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, 
and the recipient has demonstrated the necessary legal, technical, and 
financial capacity to successfully complete the project.
    The law requires participants in the program to develop a Before 
and After Study Report that describes and analyzes the impacts of the 
project on public transportation services and ridership, describes and 
analyzes the consistency of predicted and actual benefits and costs of 
the innovative project development and delivery or innovative 
financing, and identifies reasons for any differences between the 
predicted and actual outcomes. The law requires the project sponsor 
submit the Before and After Study Report to FTA not later than nine 
months after the initiation of revenue service of the project.
    FTA recently issued Proposed CIG Interim Policy Guidance to fully 
implement the changes made by MAP-21 to the program, and expects to 
finalize this guidance shortly, thereby facilitating the implementation 
of this Pilot Program. At present, there is no separate funding for the 
Pilot Program. Instead, the projects in the Pilot Program must compete 
for CIG funding. In addition, the provisions of Section 20008(b) also 
do not provide for any exemption from the requirements of the CIG 
program, including the rating and evaluation of projects under the 
project

[[Page 38802]]

justification and local financial commitment criteria specified in law. 
In the absence of such an exemption, projects selected for the Pilot 
Program must meet the requirements of Section 5309 to be eligible for 
funding. If in the future, legislation is enacted that exempts projects 
in the Pilot Program from procedural and/or project evaluation 
requirements of the CIG program, participants in the Pilot Program 
could be eligible to receive a Full Funding Grant Agreement under the 
terms of the exemption.
    FTA believes there may be alternative approaches sponsors could 
propose to expedite the delivery of CIG projects. Accordingly, FTA is 
soliciting expressions of interest to participate in the Pilot Program. 
Specifically, CIG project sponsors who are considering becoming a 
candidate for CIG funding by requesting entry into the Project 
Development phase or who are already in the Project Development or 
Engineering phases of the CIG process may request to be selected for 
the Pilot Program. Selected projects may: (1) receive enhanced 
technical assistance on aspects of developing and delivering CIG 
projects; and/or (2) be allowed alternative, expedited ways of 
proceeding through the steps required by law in the CIG project 
development process.
    For example, the Department of Transportation has established the 
Build America Transportation Investment Center to provide technical 
assistance on innovative financing approaches, and participants 
selected for the Pilot Program may receive assistance from the Center. 
With respect to expediting ways projects selected for the Pilot Program 
may proceed through steps in the CIG process, FTA may be able to better 
tailor the requirements for Project Management Oversight to the scope 
of the project, its delivery method, and/or the characteristics of the 
project sponsor.
    Project sponsors submitting information to FTA for consideration 
for the Pilot Program are invited to propose alternative ways that FTA 
might satisfy the requirements established by law for CIG projects. For 
example, FTA expects that it will be necessary to establish the cost, 
scope, and schedule for CIG projects to a reasonable level of 
confidence, which is now accomplished in a number of ways, such as risk 
assessments and other oversight reviews, at several steps in the 
process. However, there may be ways to achieve the same goals in a 
manner which may take less time and effort. Project sponsors submitting 
expressions of interest to the Pilot Program also may suggest alternate 
approaches to any other aspect of the CIG evaluation process that the 
sponsor believes will save time and effort, while still assuring 
compliance with the CIG program requirements outlined in law. FTA is 
particularly interested in receiving expressions of interest from 
project sponsors who are considering pursuing Value Capture techniques 
as part of their innovative project financing arrangements. FTA would 
like to explore what Value Capture mechanisms might be used, and how 
FTA could facilitate such arrangements.

3. Expression of Interest Submission Process

    Project sponsors must submit the required information by mail, 
email or facsimile by August 1, 2015, as specified in the DATES section 
of this Notice above. FTA reserves the right to request additional 
clarifying information from any and all project sponsors before making 
a selection to participate in the Pilot Program.
    Project sponsors wishing to participate in the Pilot Program must 
submit an expression of interest to FTA no longer than 20 pages in 
length including any supporting documentation. While there is no 
specific format that must be followed for the expression of interest, 
the narrative provided by the project sponsor to FTA should include the 
following information:
    a. A description of the proposed project that provides sufficient 
information to demonstrate its eligibility for the CIG program;
    b. The proposed project schedule and an outline of the proposed 
financing plan for the project, including the amount of CIG funding 
sought;
    c. The proposed innovative project development and delivery method 
or innovative financing technique for the proposed project and an 
explanation of the efficiencies intended to be achieved by the proposed 
methods or techniques;
    d. How the project sponsor intends to analyze the efficiencies of 
the proposed project development or delivery methods or innovative 
financing arrangements, in order to complete the Before and After Study 
required by Section 20008(b);
    e. Evidence in support of the required certification that the 
project sponsor's existing public transportation system is in a state 
of good repair, including an explanation of how the sponsor expects to 
reach that conclusion;
    f. Documentation that the project has completed the steps required 
by the Metropolitan Planning process to be included in the Metropolitan 
Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program, or a 
schedule demonstrating the project will complete the process in the 
foreseeable future;
    g. Documentation that the project has completed the NEPA process or 
a schedule demonstrating the project will complete the NEPA process in 
the foreseeable future.

4. Candidate Project Evaluation and Selection

    FTA will evaluate the proposals to determine which proposed 
projects best meet the intent of Section 20008(b). FTA will select 
three projects from the submitted expressions of interest to be part of 
the Pilot Program: one seeking less than $100 million in CIG funds, one 
seeking more than $100 million in CIG funds, and one additional 
project. Before awarding a Full Funding Grant Agreement, planning and 
NEPA requirements must be completed, and FTA will evaluate the legal, 
technical, and financial capacity of the project sponsor to ensure that 
the project will be carried out successfully. Unless legislation is 
enacted that provides for an exemption from the other requirements of 
Section 5309 CIG program in the future, projects in the Pilot Program 
will be subject to the procedural and evaluation and rating 
requirements of the CIG program. FTA may announce final selections on 
its Web site and in the Federal Register.

Therese W. McMillan,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2015-16515 Filed 7-6-15; 8:45 am]
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