Opportunity Information: Apply for FTA 2012 002 TPM FECM
Apply for FTA 2012 002 TPM FECM
- The DOT/Federal Transit Administration in the transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program Request for Interest in the Fuel and Electric Propulsion as Capital Maintenance Provision" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.500 Federal TransitCapital Investment Grants.
- This funding opportunity was created on Feb 7, 2012 and posted on Jan 25, 2012.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 29, 2012. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $100,000,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 300 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- Eligible applicants are current designated recipients of FTA Section 5307 funding, including State Departments of Transportation for Urbanized Areas under 200,000 in population. Designated Recipients are eligible to apply for authorization to use this provision on behalf of all FTA Section 5307 funding recipients within their Urbanized Area (UZA). For large urbanized areas with more than one designated recipient, FTA asks that a consolidated response be submitted by one of the designated recipients. For areas under 200,000, the State is the designated recipient and as such, is eligible to respond to the grants.gov posting. A designated recipient that is selected to use this provision may distribute all or some of its funding cap to other FTA funding recipients within the UZA in accordance with the local metropolitan planning process. In cases where there are multiple designated recipients in a single UZA, the distribution will be based on the total amount requested for the UZA. In order to manage these requests, FTA requests that a single designated recipient submit a consolidated request for the UZA.
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Opportunity Summary:
This opportunity comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and it relates to the Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. It is a "request for interest" rather than a typical competitive grant where new money is awarded on top of existing allocations. The key idea is that, because of authority provided in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-055) and reflected in FTA's FY 2012 Notice of Apportionments (published January 11, 2012), FTA temporarily allowed certain operating-related energy costs to be treated as a capital maintenance expense within Section 5307 grants made during FY 2012. Specifically, fuel used in vehicle operations and utility costs associated with electrically propelled vehicles (electric traction power, charging electricity, and similar propulsion-related utility expenses) could be "capitalized" as maintenance for the purposes of reimbursement.
The practical benefit of classifying these costs as capital maintenance is the federal share. Under Section 5307, capital items are generally eligible at an 80 percent federal / 20 percent local matching ratio. By contrast, when fuel is funded as an operating expense, the federal share is typically limited to 50 percent, and operating assistance eligibility is also restricted (for example, it is generally available for urbanized areas under 200,000 in population and under certain special conditions). This provision therefore offered a potentially better match rate (80/20) for eligible fuel and electric propulsion utility costs, but only for grants made in FY 2012 and only within a strict overall national cap.
Total federal obligations allowed under this special capital maintenance treatment were capped at $100,000,000 nationwide. Because the amount was limited, FTA required interested recipients to respond to the announcement and request a dollar amount they wanted to apply toward these capitalized fuel or propulsion costs, taken from their existing annual Section 5307 apportionment. In other words, the provision did not add funding; it allowed a different use of formula funds already allocated to the urbanized area. Requests were to reflect the maximum amount the recipient anticipated needing, assuming full FY 2012 funding availability, and the requests could cover FY 2012 grants that used FY 2012 funds and/or prior-year carryover funds, as long as the grant was made during FY 2012.
FTA planned to distribute authority for this provision by assigning "dollar caps" for each interested urbanized area. The cap for a given urbanized area would be based on a fixed percentage applied to that area’s Section 5307 formula apportionment, not exceeding the amount the area requested. FTA noted that if every Section 5307 urbanized area recipient participated, each could expect to use no more than about 2.2 percent of its annual formula apportionment for these capitalized fuel/propulsion costs. Once the caps were set and published (FTA stated it would publish the distribution in a Federal Register notice), FTA did not plan to reallocate unused caps later, so recipients needed to request carefully and be prepared to follow through.
Eligibility was limited to designated recipients of Section 5307 funds for each urbanized area, including State Departments of Transportation for areas under 200,000 in population (where the State is typically the designated recipient). The designated recipient could apply on behalf of all Section 5307 recipients within the urbanized area. For large urbanized areas with more than one designated recipient, FTA asked that a single consolidated response be submitted by one of the designated recipients to cover the whole UZA, to simplify administration and ensure the cap was set based on the total request for the area. If selected, the designated recipient could suballocate some or all of the cap to other direct recipients within the UZA, but that distribution had to follow federal metropolitan planning requirements and involve coordination among the designated recipient(s), the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and other relevant direct recipients. Funds suballocated to direct recipients would then be included in those recipients’ FTA grants.
The notice also emphasized compliance and timing requirements. Any procurement supported by these Section 5307 funds still had to comply with all applicable federal procurement requirements and clauses. Recipients approved to use this provision had to obligate the funds no later than September 30, 2012. After obligation, the funds would remain available until expended, and payment requests could be made for the applicant’s current fiscal year plus one additional year (as described in the notice). FTA encouraged prospective participants to be ready to use grants.gov and to monitor it for the related solicitation steps, and also suggested signing up for email updates through the FTA Section 5307 program webpage.
Administrative details from the posting include: Funding Opportunity Number FTA-2012-002-TPM-FECM; agency DOT/FTA; activity category Transportation; instrument type Grant; estimated total funding and award ceiling of $100,000,000 (reflecting the nationwide cap on this special use); expected awards listed as 300; CFDA number 20.500 (as shown in the posting); posted January 25, 2012; original closing date February 15, 2012, later extended to February 29, 2012; and an archive date of March 30, 2012. Questions were directed to Adam Schildge, Program Manager, at (202) 366-0778, or to the local FTA Regional Office, with TDD available through 1-800-877-8339.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - FTA Section 5307 FY 2012 Capitalized Fuel/Electric Propulsion Costs (Request for Interest)
1) What is this opportunity?
This is a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Request for Interest tied to the Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. It is not a typical competitive grant that adds new money. Instead, it temporarily allowed certain operating-related energy costs to be treated as a capital maintenance expense within Section 5307 grants made during FY 2012.
2) Which agency is offering this opportunity?
The opportunity is from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
3) Is this a competitive grant with new funding?
No. The notice describes a request for interest related to how existing Section 5307 formula funds could be used. It did not add funding on top of an urbanized area's apportionment; it allowed a different eligible use of formula funds already allocated.
4) What costs could be treated as capital maintenance under this FY 2012 provision?
The notice states that the following operating-related energy costs could be "capitalized" as maintenance for reimbursement purposes in FY 2012 Section 5307 grants:
- Fuel used in vehicle operations
- Utility costs associated with electrically propelled vehicles (for example, electric traction power, charging electricity, and similar propulsion-related utility expenses)
5) Why would a recipient want to classify these costs as capital maintenance?
The practical benefit described is the federal share (match rate). Under Section 5307, capital items are generally eligible at an 80% federal / 20% local match. When fuel is funded as an operating expense, the federal share is typically limited to 50%, and operating assistance eligibility is also restricted.
6) Does this provision change operating assistance eligibility rules?
The notice explains that operating assistance has restrictions (for example, it is generally available for urbanized areas under 200,000 in population and under certain special conditions). The FY 2012 provision described a way to treat certain energy costs as capital maintenance for reimbursement purposes within FY 2012 grants, rather than changing the general operating assistance rules.
7) Was there a nationwide limit on how much could be used this way?
Yes. Total federal obligations allowed under this special capital maintenance treatment were capped at $100,000,000 nationwide.
8) If the cap was nationwide, how did FTA decide how much each urbanized area could use?
FTA planned to assign "dollar caps" to each interested urbanized area. The cap for a given urbanized area would be based on a fixed percentage applied to that area's Section 5307 formula apportionment, and it would not exceed the amount the area requested.
9) How much could an urbanized area expect to use, approximately?
FTA noted that if every Section 5307 urbanized area recipient participated, each could expect to use no more than about 2.2% of its annual formula apportionment for these capitalized fuel and propulsion-related utility costs.
10) Did recipients have to apply for new funds to participate?
No. Interested recipients were required to respond to the announcement and request a dollar amount they wanted to apply toward these capitalized costs, taken from their existing annual Section 5307 apportionment (including eligible carryover funds as described).
11) What was the recipient asked to submit in response to the request for interest?
The notice indicates that interested recipients needed to request the maximum amount they anticipated needing, assuming full FY 2012 funding availability, because FTA would use the request to set the urbanized area's cap (subject to the percentage-based methodology and the national limit).
12) Could the request cover grants using prior-year carryover funds?
Yes. The notice states requests could cover FY 2012 grants that used FY 2012 funds and/or prior-year carryover funds, as long as the grant was made during FY 2012.
13) Who was eligible to respond and participate?
Eligibility was limited to designated recipients of Section 5307 funds for each urbanized area. For areas under 200,000 in population, the State Department of Transportation is typically the designated recipient, and was included as eligible.
14) Can the designated recipient apply on behalf of others in the urbanized area?
Yes. The notice states the designated recipient could apply on behalf of all Section 5307 recipients within the urbanized area.
15) What if a large urbanized area has more than one designated recipient?
FTA asked that a single consolidated response be submitted by one of the designated recipients to cover the whole urbanized area, to simplify administration and ensure the cap was set based on the total request for the area.
16) If an urbanized area receives a cap, can that authority be shared with other recipients?
Yes. If selected, the designated recipient could suballocate some or all of the cap to other direct recipients within the urbanized area. The notice emphasizes that this distribution must follow federal metropolitan planning requirements and involve coordination among the designated recipient(s), the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and other relevant direct recipients.
17) How would suballocated funds be reflected in grants?
The notice states that funds suballocated to direct recipients would then be included in those recipients' FTA grants.
18) Would FTA reallocate unused caps to other areas later?
No. The notice states that once the caps were set and published, FTA did not plan to reallocate unused caps later. Recipients therefore needed to request carefully and be prepared to follow through.
19) How would recipients learn their final cap amount?
FTA stated it would publish the distribution (the caps) in a Federal Register notice.
20) What compliance requirements applied to procurements funded under this approach?
The notice emphasizes that any procurement supported by Section 5307 funds still had to comply with all applicable federal procurement requirements and clauses.
21) What was the deadline to obligate funds under this provision?
Recipients approved to use this provision had to obligate the funds no later than September 30, 2012.
22) After obligation, how long would the funds remain available?
The notice states that after obligation, the funds would remain available until expended.
23) Were there limits on when payment requests could be made?
Yes. The notice states payment requests could be made for the applicant's current fiscal year plus one additional year (as described in the notice).
24) What was the Funding Opportunity Number?
The posting lists Funding Opportunity Number FTA-2012-002-TPM-FECM.
25) What CFDA number was shown in the posting?
The posting shows CFDA number 20.500.
26) What was the estimated total funding and award ceiling shown?
The posting listed an estimated total funding and an award ceiling of $100,000,000, reflecting the nationwide cap on this special use of Section 5307 funds.
27) How many expected awards were listed?
The posting listed expected awards as 300.
28) When was the opportunity posted and when did it close?
The posting date was January 25, 2012. The original closing date was February 15, 2012, later extended to February 29, 2012. The archive date was March 30, 2012.
29) What system did FTA encourage recipients to use for the solicitation steps?
FTA encouraged prospective participants to be ready to use grants.gov and to monitor it for related solicitation steps.
30) Where could recipients sign up for updates?
The notice suggested signing up for email updates through the FTA Section 5307 program webpage.
31) Who was the point of contact for questions?
Questions were directed to Adam Schildge, Program Manager, at (202) 366-0778, or to the local FTA Regional Office.
32) Was a TDD number provided?
Yes. TDD was available through 1-800-877-8339.
33) What is the activity category and instrument type listed?
The posting lists the activity category as Transportation and the instrument type as Grant.
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