ARRA
Frequently Asked Questions
What guidance is online regarding procurements of construction projects that utilize ARRA funds? If the recipient wishes to inform the prospective bidder that the project is ARRA funded and wishes to give advanced notice regarding the reporting requirements, does the FTA have guidance regarding clauses in the general solicitation packet?
The reporting requirements are addressed on FTA's ARRA homepage - Note that the reporting obligations are the responsibility of the recipient (grantee), not the contractor, so recipients should use appropriate notification language in their RFP/IFBs. (Posted: January 2010)
If the intent of ARRA is to preserve and create American jobs, then why does the Buy America provision apply only to spending on physical inputs but NOT to spending on services, project management, project implementation and subcontracted services? Specifically -- if a public transit project receives ARRA funds, are vendors permitted to provide Services, Project Management, Project Implementation and Subcontracted services via foreign sources/companies? Does that not directly violate the intent of the ARRA funding?
Statutorily, Congress applies Buy America requirements only to procurements of manufactured products and not to procurements of services. Recipients of ARRA funds; however, are encouraged to use domestic contractors. (Posted: May, 2010)
I just started a position with the State of California DOT and I was hoping there was a simplified version of how an Agency asks for and receives ARRA funding for Mass Transit. Yes I could look at FTA Circular 4220, buy isn't there a condensed version of the process that can be sent to me?
The FTA Circular you cite, 4220.1F, is one that applies to grantee procurements (third party contracts), not to the process of applying for grants. If you are interested in the process of applying for FTA grant funds, including ARRA, you should contact your regional FTA Office for assistance. The Region X Office web page is here.
There are contact numbers on the web page. There is also an ARRA web page at FTA Headquarters that discusses various ARRA program requirements (Posted: February, 2011).
Do the Third Party Procurement Guidelines apply to procurements funded by ARRA grants?
The FTA Procurement Circular 4220.1F does apply to ARRA grants.
The FTA ARRA web page also contains information that is specific to ARRA requirements (Posted: June, 2011).