Notice2022-27197
FY 2023 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Transit Worker and Rider Safety (TWRS) Best Practices Research Project
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 15, 2022
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Transit Administration
Abstract
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for up to $500,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2021 funds for a single cooperative agreement for a research project to help transit agencies address operator and rider assaults. The goals of this research project are to identify public safety risks for transit vehicle operators and riders, determine the most effective mitigation strategies to minimize those risks, and promote the implementation of those strategies.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 240 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 240 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76663-76668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27197]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
FY 2023 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Transit Worker and Rider
Safety (TWRS) Best Practices Research Project
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the
opportunity to apply for up to $500,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2021 funds
for a single cooperative agreement for a research project to help
transit agencies address operator and rider assaults. The goals of this
research project are to identify public safety risks for transit
vehicle operators and riders, determine the most effective mitigation
strategies to minimize those risks, and promote the implementation of
those strategies.
DATES: Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through the
<a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> ``APPLY'' function by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on February
13, 2023. The funding opportunity ID is FTA-2023-005-TRI-TWRS. Mail and
fax submissions will not be accepted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Chen, FTA Office of Research,
Demonstration, and Innovation, 202-366-0462, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bcced3c5cbd9d5cfd4c9d292dfd4d9d2fcd8d3c892dbd3ca"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a4855434d5f5349524f541459525f547a5e554e145d554c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
A. Program Description
B. Federal Award Information
C. Eligibility Information
D. Application and Submission Information
E. Application Review Information
F. Federal Award Administration Information
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
H. Other Information
A. Program Description
According to the National Transit Database (NTD), the number of
transit worker and rider assault incidents have been trending upward.
The data shows a roughly five-fold increase in transit assault
incidents reported from 2009 (319 reported incidents) to 2019 (1539
reported incidents). To address this issue and help reduce assaults on
transit systems across the nation, FTA will competitively award up to
$500,000 in Public Transportation Innovation Program funds (49 U.S.C.
5312) for a research cooperative agreement to improve the safety of
transit vehicle operators and riders. This notice of funding
opportunity (NOFO) (Federal Assistance Listing: 20.530) aligns with the
U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) strategic goals and FTA's
focus to improve and enhance the safety of America's public
transportation systems.
The Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices Research Project
will be carried out in two phases.
Phase I: Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices Report.
Phase II: Transit Worker and Rider Safety Pilot Demonstration
Project.
This notice provides funding only for Phase I. In Phase I, the
selected applicant will conduct research in the following areas: (1)
identifying key issues and trends in operator and rider assaults by
evaluating available data on operator and rider assaults from various
sources, including the NTD; (2) assessing assault data quality and
accuracy reported to the NTD; (3) documenting and assessing mitigation
strategies and solutions for the issues and trends identified; (4)
developing outreach materials and tools that can be used by the
industry to effectively implement the identified mitigation measures;
and (5) proposing a bold and innovative pilot demonstration project
that can showcase the utility of those mitigation strategies and
promote the adoption of those solutions. FTA may, at its discretion,
implement the proposed pilot demonstration project for a Phase II. The
decision will be made after the completion of Phase I of this research
project.
Because this notice provides funding only for Phase I, applicants
should submit proposals to address only Phase I. Eligibility for Phase
II is subject to the availability of future funding, the quality of the
materials developed in Phase I, and the merit of the proposed pilot
demonstration project developed in Phase I.
This research effort builds upon FTA's prior safety efforts such as
the Bus Compartment Redesign Program launched on October 8, 2020
(<a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/research-innovation/redesign-transit-bus-operator-compartment-improve-safety-operational-efficiency">https://www.transit.dot.gov/research-innovation/redesign-transit-bus-operator-compartment-improve-safety-operational-efficiency</a>), and the
request for information on Transit Worker Safety released in the
Federal Register on September 24, 2021 (<a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/news/federal-transit-administration-announces-request-information-transit-worker-safety">https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/news/federal-transit-administration-announces-request-information-transit-worker-safety</a>).
B. Federal Award Information
This Notice makes available up to $500,000 in Public Transportation
Innovation Program (49 U.S.C. 5312) funds for a single award to improve
transit vehicle operator and rider safety. Only proposals from eligible
recipients for eligible activities will be considered for funding. FTA
seeks a project that can begin implementation within three months after
award of the Cooperative Agreement. The maximum period of performance
allowed for the work covered by the award should not exceed 24 months
from the date of award. FTA will extend the period of performance if
Phase II is approved and funded. Pre-award authority is subject to FTA
approval and is only available for costs incurred after the
announcement of a project selection on FTA's website.
The project selected under this competition is for research and
development and, as such, FTA Research Circular 6100.1E (available at
<a href="https://www.fta.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/research-technical-assistance-and-training-program">https://www.fta.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/research-technical-assistance-and-training-program</a>) guidance will apply
in administering the program. The applicant whose proposal is selected
for funding will receive a cooperative agreement award with FTA to be
administered according to Circular 6100.1E. FTA will have substantial
involvement in the administration of the cooperative agreement. FTA's
role includes the right to participate in decisions to redirect and
reprioritize project activities, goals, and deliverables.
C. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants under this notice include the following:
<bullet> Providers of public transportation, including public
transportation agencies, state or local government DOTs, and Federally
recognized Native American tribes;
<bullet> Private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations,
consultants, research consortia, and industry organizations;
<bullet> State, city, or local government entities, including
multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and organizations such as
Metropolitan Planning Organizations; or
<bullet> Institutions of higher education including large research
universities, and technical and community colleges, particularly those
with Minority Serving Institution status.
On the application form, eligible applicants are encouraged to
identify one or more project partners with a substantial interest and
involvement in the project to participate in the implementation of the
project. If an application that involves such a partnership is selected
for funding, the competitive selection process will be deemed to
satisfy the requirement for a
[[Page 76664]]
competitive procurement under 49 U.S.C. 5325(a) for the named entities.
Applicants are advised that any changes to the proposed partnership
will require FTA written approval, must be consistent with the scope of
the approved project, and may necessitate a competitive procurement.
The applicant must be able to carry out the proposed agreement and
procurements, if needed, with project partners in compliance with all
applicable Federal, state, and local laws.
To be considered eligible, applicants must be able to demonstrate
the requisite legal, financial, and technical capabilities to receive
and administer Federal funds under this program.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching
The maximum Federal share of project costs under this program is
limited to 80 percent. Applicants may seek a lower Federal
contribution. The applicant must provide the non-Federal share of the
net project cost in cash or in-kind, and must document in its
application the source of the non-Federal match. Eligible sources of
non-Federal match are detailed in FTA Circular 6100.1E.
3. Eligible Projects
This notice solicits applications for a project to analyze the
available safety data from the NTD and other available datasets for
current trends and safety issues with operator and rider assaults,
including an assessment of data quality and accuracy reported to the
NTD. A critical component of this project is close collaboration across
industry stakeholders to identify and document current best practices,
mitigation strategies used and their effectiveness. This research will
inform the development of outreach materials and tools (virtual or
physical) that can be used by transit agencies to implement risk
mitigation strategies to reduce operator and rider assaults. As part of
the project, FTA requires the project team to propose a pilot
demonstration project, which FTA may approve for implementation in a
Phase II, to showcase a comprehensive risk mitigation approach that
could be implemented by transit operators to effectively reduce
operator and rider assault incidents using information and lessons
gathered from the research conducted in Phase I.
Applicants are encouraged to note the application of Safe Systems
Approach strategies as appropriate. For more information on the DOT's
Safe Systems Approach, please visit: What is a Safe System Approach?
[verbar] US Department of Transportation (<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/NRSS/SafeSystem">https://www.transportation.gov/NRSS/SafeSystem</a>).
This effort seeks to harness Federal, local, and private sector
investments to improve safety for transit workers and riders. As such,
FTA seeks applications for a project that improves the current state of
practice or builds on existing successful programs and partnership
efforts.
Software products developed under this project will be subject to
the provisions of FTA's Master Agreement, the latest version of which
is available at <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/grantee-resources/sample-fta-agreements/">https://www.transit.dot.gov/grantee-resources/sample-fta-agreements/</a> and may be disseminated to public transit agencies for
their use. Software developed under this program should be
interoperable, adaptable, and secure. Further, the applicants should
consider how the development effort could support the development or
use of open standards, specifications, or protocols if the project
involves software development.
It is FTA's intent to advance safety innovations that are of
national significance and can provide benefit to transit agencies,
cities, and communities across the United States. As such, applicants
should consider how to structure development efforts to ensure research
outputs are broadly relevant and can lead to adoption or use by other
transit agencies or transportation providers.
D. Application and Submission Information
1. Address To Request Application
Applications must be submitted electronically through <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a>.
General information for submitting applications through <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> can
be found at <a href="http://www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply">www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply</a>. A complete proposal
submission consists of two forms: the SF-424 Application for Federal
Assistance (available at <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a>) and the supplemental form for the
FY 2023 TWRS NOFO (downloaded from <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> or the FTA website at
<a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/TWRS">https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/TWRS</a>. Failure to submit the
information as requested can delay review or disqualify the
application.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission
a. Proposal Submission
A complete proposal submission consists of two forms: (1) the SF-
424 Application for Federal Assistance; and (2) the supplemental form
for the FY 2023 Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practice Research
NOFO. The supplemental form and any supporting documents must be
attached to the ``Attachments'' section of the SF-424. The application
must include responses to all sections of the SF-424 Application for
Federal Assistance and the supplemental form, unless indicated as
optional. The information on the supplemental form will be used to
determine applicant and project eligibility for the program, and to
evaluate the proposal against the selection criteria described in
Section E of this notice.
FTA will accept only one supplemental form per SF-424 submission.
Applicants may attach additional supporting information to the SF-424
submission, including but not limited to letters of support from key
stakeholders, project budgets, visual aids, excerpts from relevant
planning documents, or project narratives. Any supporting documentation
must be described and referenced by file name in the appropriate
response section of the supplemental form, or else it may not be
reviewed.
Information such as applicant name, Federal amount requested, local
match amount, and description of areas served may be requested in
varying degrees of detail on both the SF-424 and supplemental form.
Applicants must complete all fields unless stated otherwise on the
forms. If information is copied into the supplemental form from another
source, applicants should verify that pasted text is fully captured on
the supplemental form and has not been truncated by the character
limits built into the form. Applicants should use both the ``Check
Package for Errors'' and the ``Validate Form'' validation buttons on
both forms to check all required fields on the forms and ensure that
the Federal and local amounts specified are consistent.
b. Application Content
The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance and the supplemental
form will prompt applicants for the required information, including:
1. Applicant name.
2. Unique Entity ID (provided by SAM).
3. Key contact information (including name, address, email
address, and phone).
4. Congressional district(s) where the project will take place.
5. Project information (including title, an executive summary,
and type).
6. Information on areas served by the project including current
state of public transportation and state of mobility in the area
served if the application includes transit agencies as part of the
project team.
7. A detailed description of the project and how it will (a)
analyze the available datasets on operator and rider assaults for
trends and issues, (b) an assessment of assault data
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quality and accuracy reported to the NTD, (c) document and assess
mitigation strategies and solutions and their effectiveness; (d)
develop outreach materials and tools that can be used by the transit
industry to implement mitigation strategies and solutions; (e)
propose a pilot demonstration project to showcase and promote those
solutions.
8. A description of the project implementation strategy.
9. A description of the approach to data and data access,
including how the project will support the USDOT's public data
access requirements.
10. Information on any project partners, their role, and
anticipated contributions.
11. A description of the technical, legal, and financial
capacity of the applicant and partners.
12. A detailed project budget, specifying Federal and local
share.
13. A detailed project timeline.
3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)
Each applicant is required to: (1) be registered in SAM before
submitting an application; (2) provide a valid unique entity identifier
(UEI) in its application; and (3) continue to maintain an active SAM
registration with current information at all times during which the
applicant has an active Federal award or an application or plan under
consideration by FTA. FTA may not make an award until the applicant has
complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM
requirements. If an applicant has not fully complied with the
requirements by the time FTA is ready to make an award, FTA may
determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award and
use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another
applicant. These requirements do not apply if the applicant has an
exception approved by FTA or the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
under 2 CFR 25.110(c) or (d). Applicants should reference 2 CFR
200.113, for more information. SAM registration takes approximately 3-5
business days, but FTA recommends allowing ample time, up to several
weeks, for completion of all steps. For additional information on
obtaining a unique entity identifier, please visit <a href="https://www.sam.gov">https://www.sam.gov</a>.
4. Submission Dates and Times
Project proposals must be submitted electronically through
<a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 13, 2023. <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a>
attaches a time stamp to each application at the time of submission.
Proposals submitted after the deadline will only be considered under
extraordinary circumstances not under the applicant's control. Mail and
fax submissions will not be accepted.
FTA urges applicants to submit applications at least 72 hours prior
to the due date to allow time to receive the validation messages and to
correct any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.
<a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the
<a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> website. Deadlines will not be extended due to scheduled
website maintenance.
Within 48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the
applicant should receive an email message from <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> with
confirmation of successful transmission to <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a>. If a notice of
failed validation or incomplete materials is received, the applicant
must address the reason for the failed validation, as described in the
email notice, and resubmit before the submission deadline. If making a
resubmission for any reason, include all original attachments
regardless of which attachments were updated and check the box on the
supplemental form indicating this is a resubmission.
Applicants are encouraged to begin the process of registration on
the <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> site well in advance of the submission deadline.
Registration is a multi-step process, which may take several weeks to
complete before an application can be submitted. Registered applicants
may still be required to take steps to keep their registration up to
date before submissions can be made successfully: (1) registration in
SAM must be renewed annually, and (2) persons making submissions on
behalf of the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) must be
authorized in <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> by the AOR to make submission.
5. Funding Restrictions
Funds available under this NOFO cannot be used to reimburse
applicants for otherwise eligible expenses incurred prior to FTA
issuing pre-award authority for selected projects.
Refer to Section C.3., Eligible Projects, for information on
activities that are allowable. Allowable direct and indirect expenses
must be consistent with the Governmentwide Uniform Administrative
Requirements and Cost Principles (2 CFR part 200) and FTA Circular
5010.1E.
6. Other Submission Requirements
All applications must be submitted via the <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> website. FTA
does not accept applications on paper, by fax machine, email, or other
means. For information on application submission requirements, please
see Section D.1., Address to Request Application. If the applicant
encounters system problems or technical difficulties using the
<a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> website, the applicant should address those technical issues
to <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a>.
E. Application Review Information
1. Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated primarily on the responses provided in
the supplemental form. Additional information may be provided to
support the responses; however, any additional documentation must be
directly referenced on the supplemental form, including the file name
where the additional information can be found. FTA will evaluate
proposals based on the criteria described in this notice.
a. Proposal Team Subject Matter Expertise
FTA will evaluate the experience of the project team and any named
project partners in the application. Applicants should clearly
demonstrate the knowledge and expertise of the team in the subject
matter of this NOFO, specifically in the areas of transit operations,
transit safety, data analysis, the NTD and other relevant data sources,
Safe Systems Approaches, development of outreach and marketing
materials on best practices, involvement with knowledge transfer
activities and leading research demonstration projects. Applicants are
advised to submit information on any partner's qualifications and
experience as part of the application. Entities who will be involved in
the project but not named in the application will be required to be
selected through a competitive procurement.
b. Project Implementation Strategy
Proposals will be evaluated based on the extent to which the
applicant's proposed implementation plans, including all necessary
project milestones and the overall project timeline, are reasonable and
complete. FTA will consider the risks to project implementation, and
the extent to which the project implementation strategy addresses these
risks, including the capacity to implement the project within three
months after award of the Cooperative Agreement; ability to complete
the project, Phase I, within 24 months of award; and capacity to lead
Phase II of the research project if it is approved. FTA will also
consider if the project's implementation addresses how the project will
support DOT's data collection, sharing policies and meeting the data
management plan requirement (see below).
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c. Technical, Legal, and Financial Capacity
Applicants must demonstrate the financial organizational capacity
and managerial experience to successfully oversee and implement this
proposed project. Applicants with outstanding legal, technical, or
financial compliance issues from an FTA compliance review or FTA grant-
related Single Audit finding must disclose and explain how corrective
actions will mitigate negative impacts on the proposed project. FTA may
review relevant oversight assessments and records to determine whether
there are any outstanding legal, technical, or financial issues with
the applicant that would affect the outcome of the proposed project.
d. Planning and Partnerships
Applicants must identify all project partners and their specific
roles. FTA will evaluate the extent to which the project contains
strong, cohesive partnerships and the collaboration necessary to
successfully implement the proposed project. Applications should
describe how project partners plan to work collaboratively and should
show evidence of strong commitment and cooperation among project
partners through letters of support or agreements among the partners.
For proposed projects that will require formal coordination, approvals,
or permits from government agencies or project partners, the applicant
must demonstrate coordination with these organizations and their
support for the project, such as through letters of support.
e. Local Financial Commitment
Applicants must identify the source of the non-Federal cost share
and describe whether such funds are currently available for the project
or will need to be secured if the project is selected for funding. FTA
will consider the availability of the non-Federal cost share as
evidence of the applicant's financial commitment to the project.
Additional consideration may be given to those projects with a higher
non-Federal share of costs and for which non-Federal funds have already
been made available or reserved. Applicants should submit evidence of
the availability of funds for the project, for example, by including a
board resolution, letter of support from the State, a budget document
highlighting the line item or section committing funds to the proposed
project, or other documentation of the source of non-Federal funds.
2. Review and Selection Process
A technical evaluation committee will evaluate proposals based on
the published evaluation criteria. Members of the technical evaluation
committee may request additional information from applicants, if
necessary. Based on the findings of the technical evaluation committee,
FTA will determine the final selection of a single project, or none,
for final award.
Prior to making an award, FTA is required to review and consider
any information about the applicant in the Federal Awardee Performance
and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) accessible through SAM. An
applicant may review and comment on any information about itself that a
Federal awarding agency previously entered. FTA will consider any
comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in
FAPIIS, in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business
ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing
the review of risk posed by applicants as described in the Office of
Management and Budget's Uniform Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR
200.206).
F. Federal Award Administration Information
1. Federal Award Notices
FTA will announce the final project selection on the FTA website.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements
a. Pre-Award Authority
At the time the project selection is announced, FTA may extend pre-
award authority for the selected project. There is no blanket pre-award
authority before announcement. FTA will issue specific guidance to the
recipient regarding pre-award authority at the time of selection. FTA
does not consider requests for pre-award authority for competitive
funds until after projects are selected, and additional Federal
requirements must be met before costs are incurred. For more
information about FTA's policy on pre-award authority, please see the
most recent Apportionments, Allocations and Program Information Notice
at <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov">https://www.transit.dot.gov</a>.
b. Cooperative Agreement Requirements
If selected, the awardee will apply for a cooperative agreement
through FTA's Transit Award Management System (TrAMS). The successful
applicant must be prepared to submit a final statement of work and
complete the application in TrAMS within 60 days of notification of
selection. The recipient must follow the requirements of FTA Circular
6100.1E. Technical assistance regarding these requirements is available
from FTA.
c. Buy America
All capital procurements must comply with FTA's Buy America
requirements (49 U.S.C. 5323(j)), which require that all iron, steel,
and manufactured products be produced in the United States. In
addition, any award made after May 14, 2022, must comply with the Build
America, Buy America Act (BABA) (Pub. L. 117-58 Sec. Sec. 70901-52).
BABA provides that none of the funds provided under an award made
pursuant to this notice may be used for a project unless all iron,
steel, manufactured products, and construction materials are produced
in the United States. FTA's Buy America requirements are consistent
with BABA requirements for iron, steel, and manufactured products.
d. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
FTA requires that its recipients receiving planning, capital, or
operating assistance that will award prime contracts exceeding $250,000
in FTA funds in a Federal fiscal year comply with the U.S. Department
of Transportation's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program
regulations (49 CFR part 26). If an applicant also receives FTA
planning, capital, or operating assistance, it should expect to include
any funds awarded, excluding those to be used for vehicle procurements,
in setting its overall DBE goal. Note, however, that projects including
vehicle procurements remain subject to the DBE program regulations.
e. Standard Assurances
If an applicant receives an award, the applicant must assure that
it will comply with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations,
executive orders, directives, FTA circulars, and other Federal
administrative requirements in carrying out any project supported by
the FTA award. The applicant acknowledges that it will be under a
continuing obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the
agreement issued for its project with FTA. The applicant understands
that Federal laws, regulations, policies, and administrative practices
might be modified from time to time and may affect the implementation
of the project. The most recent Federal requirements will apply to the
project unless FTA issues a written determination otherwise. The
applicant must submit the most recent FTA Certifications and Assurances
before receiving an award if
[[Page 76667]]
it does not have current certifications on file.
f. Data Management Plan
FTA-funded grant recipients must comply with the DOT Public Access
Plan. FTA will assess the project's ability to consider, plan, budget
for, and implement appropriate data management in accordance with
Public Access (<a href="https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559">https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559</a>) of data and
corresponding outputs acquired or generated during the course of the
project. The proposed data management will be used as an evaluation
criterion. Such requirements will include, but are not limited to:
<bullet> providing at a minimum the data and corresponding outputs
to: (1) reproduce significant results (whether positive or negative);
(2) measure the outcomes or objectives of the project, as well as the
NOFO; and (3) add potential value to future deployments or research and
to support evidence-based policy or actions;
<bullet> developing a data management plan (<a href="https://doi.org/10.21949/1520571">https://doi.org/10.21949/1520571</a>) (pre-award and post-award), providing relevant
metadata (in a DCAT-US <a href="https://resources.data.gov/resources/dcat-us/">https://resources.data.gov/resources/dcat-us/</a>)
file, and, optionally, a discipline appropriate metadata standard
file), and data documentation (README.txt files, data dictionaries,
code books, supporting files, imputation tables, etc.);
<bullet> defaulting to open access when appropriate (exceptions
include protecting personally identifiable information (PII),
Indigenous data sovereignty (<a href="https://www.gida-global.org/care">https://www.gida-global.org/care</a>), or
confidential business information (CBI));
<bullet> protecting personal identifiable information, intellectual
property rights, and confidential business information;
<bullet> utilizing, when possible, open licenses and protecting
DOT's non-exclusive copyright to data and corresponding outputs
(<a href="https://doi.org/10.21949/1520564">https://doi.org/10.21949/1520564</a>); and
<bullet> providing source code or tools necessary to analyze or
transform the data.
Projects should implement data management best practices,
including, but not limited to: implementation of published data
specifications and standards (formal and informal); increasing data
discoverability and data sharing; posting data in a timely fashion \1\
on publicly accessible resources; and enabling interaction of systems,
interoperability, and integration of data systems. A data management
plan will be required as a deliverable within three (3) months of
project award.
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\1\ The frequency of posting data will be determined in the
post-award phase. For example, this might be near-real time,
monthly, or quarterly depending on specific data set needs.
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Definition: Data and Corresponding Outputs is defined for the
purpose of this grant, and as consistent with Federal laws (including 2
CFR 200.315, as it relates to ``intangible property'') and the DOT
Public Access Plan (<a href="https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559">https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559</a>), as the recorded
factual material commonly accepted in the scientific or technology
community as necessary to validate findings, as may be textually
represented in a publication or stored in a digital machine-readable
format for further computational analysis. This term includes, but is
not limited to, publications, data, data documentation, source code,
and computer software documentation. This definition includes at a
minimum the data required to validate or estimate performance,
outcomes, or future impacts.
g. External Communications
The recipient must communicate with the FTA Project Manager prior
to engaging in any external communications regarding the project. This
includes any work developing news or magazine stories with media
organizations, including print, video, online, or otherwise.
Additionally, the FTA project manager must be notified if project
information, including results and metrics, will be shared during a
webinar or other presentation open to the public produced either by the
recipient itself or another organization. The recipient should consult
with the FTA Project Manager at the beginning of the agreement to
discuss and plan any external communications about the project.
h. Software Provisions
Any software developed as a part of this solicitation will be
subject to provisions of the version of FTA's Master Agreement in
effect at the time of award and may be disseminated to public transit
agencies for their use.
i. FTA Funds Reimbursement
If selected, awardees must disburse funds from their cooperative
agreement using DOT's Delphi system. Drawdowns using ECHO are
prohibited. FTA staff are available to assist awardees with gaining
access and using the Delphi system.
j. Termination for Failure To Make Reasonable Progress
After providing written notice to the recipient of a project
selected for funding, FTA may withdraw its support for the selected
project (if a cooperative agreement has not yet been awarded) or
suspend or terminate all or any part of the award if, among other
reasons, the recipient has failed to make reasonable progress
implementing the project. In particular, FTA may withdraw its support
for a project or terminate an award agreement if:
a. A recipient has not completed its application for funding in
TrAMS within 60 days of the date FTA announces project selection;
b. A recipient has not begun its research project within one year
after funding was awarded in TrAMS;
c. A recipient has not delivered a project final report to FTA
within one year of completing its research project.
The Federal Government may terminate an award at any time for any
reason described in 2 CFR 200.340 or the FTA Master Agreement.
3. Reporting
Post-award reporting requirements include the electronic submission
of Federal Financial Reports and Milestone Progress Reports in FTA's
electronic grants management system. A successful applicant should
include any goals, targets, and indicators referenced in their
application in the Executive Summary of the TrAMS application.
As part of completing the annual certifications and assurances
required of FTA grant recipients, a successful applicant must report on
the suspension or debarment status of itself and its principals. If the
award recipient's active grants, cooperative agreements, and
procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceed
$10,000,000 for any time during the period of performance of an award
made pursuant to this Notice, the recipient must comply with the
Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters reporting requirements
described in Appendix XII to 2 CFR part 200.
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
For further information concerning this notice, please contact Roy
Chen, in the FTA Office of Infrastructure & Asset Innovation, by phone
at 202-366-0462, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9fedf0e6e8faf6ecf7eaf1b1fcf7faf1dffbf0ebb1f8f0e9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6715081e10020e140f120949040f02092703081349000811">[email protected]</span></a>. A TDD is
available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at 800-877-
8339. In addition, FTA will post answers to questions and requests for
clarifications, if needed, on FTA's website at <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/TWRS">https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/TWRS</a>. To ensure applicants receive
accurate information about eligibility or the program, applicants are
encouraged to contact FTA directly, rather than
[[Page 76668]]
through intermediaries or third parties, with questions. FTA staff also
may conduct briefings on the FY 2023 competitive grants selection and
award process upon request.
For issues with <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a>, please contact <a href="http://Grants.gov">Grants.gov</a> by phone at
1-800-518-4726 or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e5969095958a9791a58297848b9196cb828a93"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8dfef8fdfde2fff9cdeaffece3f9fea3eae2fb">[email protected]</span></a>.
H. Other Information
This program is not subject to Executive Order 12372,
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-27197 Filed 12-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 15, 2022.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.