82 FR 31799 - FTA Supplemental Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Apportionments, Allocations, and Program Information

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 130 (July 10, 2017)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) annually publishes one or more notices to apportion funds appropriated by law. This is the second notice which announces the remaining apportionment for programs funded with Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 contract authority.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 130 (Monday, July 10, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31799-31800]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14403]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


FTA Supplemental Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Apportionments, 
Allocations, and Program Information

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) annually publishes 
one or more notices to apportion funds appropriated by law. This is the 
second notice which announces the remaining apportionment for programs 
funded with Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 contract authority.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about this 
notice contact Kimberly Sledge, Director, Office of Transit Programs, 
at (202) 366-2053. Please contact the appropriate FTA regional office 
for any specific requests for information or technical assistance. A 
list of FTA regional offices and contact information is available on 
the FTA Web: www.transit.dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    Funding appropriated to FTA's public transportation assistance 
programs under the Further Continuing and Security Assistance 
Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 114-254) expired on April 28, 2017. 
Since that time, Congress has enacted the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2017, Public Law 115-31 on May 5, 2017 (Appropriations Act, 2017) 
that allows FTA to continue its current program funding through 
September 30, 2017.
    The Appropriations Act, 2017 gave FTA appropriated resources for 
Administrative Expenses, Formula, Competitive and Research Programs, 
Capital Investment Grants (CIG), Technical Assistance and Training 
Programs, grants to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation 
Authority, and other FTA programs totaling $12,414,502,043. The 
Appropriations Act, 2017 provides an obligation limitation of 
$9,733,706,043 of contract authority for FTA programs funded from the 
Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund, $2,680,796,000 funded 
from General Fund accounts and an additional $117,839,000 of prior year 
recovered funds for CIG.
    On January 19, 2017, FTA published an apportionments notice that 
apportioned approximately 7/12ths of the FY 2017 authorized contract 
authority among potential program recipients based on contract 
authority that was available from October 1, 2016 through April 28, 
2017 (82 FR 12). That notice also provided relevant information about 
the FY 2017 funding available and grant management and application 
procedures. A copy of that notice and accompanying tables can be found 
on the FTA Web: www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments.
    This document provides notice to stakeholders that FTA is 
apportioning the remainder of the full-year FY 2017 authorized contract 
authority through September 30, 2017--among potential

[[Page 31800]]

program recipients according to statutory formulas in 49 U.S.C. Chapter 
53. FTA has posted tables displaying the funds available to eligible 
states and urbanized areas on the FTA Web: www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments. In addition, the National Transit Database (NTD) and 
Census Data used in the funding formulas can be found at the same 
location.

II. Formula Apportionments

    FTA's full-year FY 2017 formula apportionment tables continue to 
rely on the Census data and National Transit Database (NTD) data that 
was used to calculate the FY 2017 Continuing Resolution (CR) tables. A 
detailed description of the NTD and Census data used in the 
calculations can be found in FTA's Apportionment Notice published in 
conjunction with the FY 2017 CR tables. (Federal Register Vol. 82, No. 
12, January 19, 2017).
    FTA's FY 2017 CR tribal transit formula table inadvertently omitted 
three tribes eligible for formula funding in FY 2017: The Mashantucket 
Pequot Tribal Nation, the Hualapai Indian Tribe, and the Mashpee 
Wampanoag Tribe. Apportionments for these tribes are included in FTA's 
full year tribal transit formula table.

III. Program Highlights and Grants Guidance

A. State Safety Oversight Program Certification

    Federal transit law requires States with rail transit systems 
operating within their jurisdictions to establish a State Safety 
Oversight (SSO) program that must be certified by the Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) by April 15, 2019. The FTA is prohibited by law 
from awarding any funds to any transit agency within a State that fails 
to obtain certification by the deadline. The FTA recommends that States 
submit their complete SSO program certification applications by April 
15, 2018, but no later than September 30, 2018. For more information on 
the certification requirements, please visit the FTA Web: 
www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/safety/transit-safety-oversight-tso.

B. 100 Bus Special Rule

    Section 165 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 amended 
the law governing the special provision for operating assistance under 
5307(a)(2), commonly known as the 100-bus special rule, by replacing 
the exception to the special rule established in the FAST Act with a 
new alternative method for determining the amounts that may be used for 
operating assistance. Under 5307(a)(2)(A), transit agencies that 
operate between 76 and 100 buses in maximum revenue service may use 50 
percent of the share of the UZA's apportionment attributable to them 
based on vehicle revenue hours reported to the NTD. Transit agencies 
that operate 75 or fewer buses in maximum revenue service may use 75 
percent of the share of the UZA's apportionment attributable to them 
based on vehicle revenue hours reported to the NTD. These amounts are 
published in Apportionment Table 3-A.
    The recently enacted amendment under 5307(a)(2)(B), provides an 
alternative to these amounts by allowing qualifying recipients with 
between 76 and 100 buses in maximum revenue service to receive 
operating assistance in an amount not to exceed 50 percent of the 
amount allocated to such systems through the local planning process and 
in the designated recipient's final program of projects. Likewise, 
recipients with 75 or fewer buses in maximum revenue service may now 
receive operating assistance in an amount not to exceed 75 percent of 
the amount allocated to such systems through the local planning process 
and in the designated recipient's final program of projects. However, 
in both cases, the resulting amount under this alternative may not 
exceed the maximum amount based on vehicle revenue hours by more than 
10 percent. FTA has published these amounts and related information in 
Apportionment Table 3-A.
    Agencies interested in utilizing the recently enacted alternative 
are advised that the new alternative operating assistance cap under 
5307(a)(2)(B) is only available as a percentage of the actual program 
funding allocated to their agency for projects. For example, consider 
an agency that operates 80 buses in maximum service that is permitted 
to use $100,000 for operating expenses under the original 5307(a)(2)(A) 
operating assistance cap. If this agency chooses to use the new 
5307(a)(2)(B) alternative, it may use up to $110,000 for operating 
assistance, but to do so it must have been allocated at least $220,000 
through the planning process ($220,000 allocation/50 percent = 
$110,000). The exception to this provision previously authorized at 
5307(a)(3), permitting recipients in an urbanized area to agree in 
writing on an alternative method for allocating funding available for 
operating assistance, has been repealed and no longer applies.

C. Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants Program

    Section 161 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 extends 
the period of availability of FY 2017 Fixed Guideway Capital Investment 
Grants (CIG) program funds through September 30, 2021. Please note that 
the President's Budget for FY 2018 proposes no funding for new CIG 
projects, and thus project sponsors should understand they are 
undertaking work on projects at their own risk which may not receive 
CIG funding.

Matthew J. Welbes,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 2017-14403 Filed 7-7-17; 8:45 am]
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