Please contact the Region 10 office, 206-220-7954, if you require an alternative format of the following documents.

ATTACHMENTS - required forms and manuals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Legal Requirements
Civil Rights
TEAM-Web Grant Processing Online Computer System
DUNS Number
Annual Certifications and Assurances (C & As) and Master Agreement
ECHO-Web Electronic Clearinghouse Operation Online Computer System
Grant Application
Environmental Review
Procurement
Grant Approval Timeline
Program Guidance Circulars

INTRODUCTION 

Welcome, new grant applicants. You have probably just received your first Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant allocation. You have probably already contacted someone at the Regional Office. We now need to begin the process of establishing your organization as a recipient of FTA funds. As a new recipient organization, there are several steps that need to be completed before FTA can award a grant to your organization. You will also need to contact various people at the FTA regional office over the course of this process that has different areas of responsibility.

As a new recipient, your first point of contact will be:

Amy Changchien, Director of Planning and Program Development
Federal Transit Administration 
915 2nd Avenue, Suite 3142
Seattle, WA 98174-1002
Phone: (206) 220-4464
Fax: (206) 220-7959
amy.changchien@dot.gov

NEW GRANT APPLICANT PROCEDURES

Congratulations! Your agency has been allocated FTA Section 5309 Bus & Bus Facilities program funds or High Priority earmark funds. The Notice of Award is published annually in the Federal Register.

FTA - Federal Register Publications

This document summarizes the forms and processes that you need to complete in order to access your FTA funds. Detailed below are the documents that FTA needs to establish your organization as an eligible grantee, and for you to access the FTA computer system (Transportation Electronic Award Management System or TEAM) for applying for grants and drawing down awarded funds. Information is also provided regarding required planning and environmental documentation that must be included in a grant application, as well as various links to the grant management section of the FTA Web site.

FTA - Applying for and Managing Grants

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

These FTA Section 5309 program funds can be used for planning, design, and construction, as specified in the Congressional earmark description. The federal/non-federal match ratio is 80:20. The period of funding availability for Section 5309 program funds is three years. For example, FY2009 Section 5309 program funds must be obligated (i.e., approved in a grant) by September 30, 2011; otherwise, they will lapse.

For High Priority earmark funds, please contact Amy Changchien of FTA Region 10 Office (contact information, above). 

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In order to process your grant, FTA requires the forms and letters described below.  These documents are needed to establish your agency as an eligible grantee, and for you to access the FTA TEAM-Web computer system for applying for grants and the Electronic Clearing House Operations (ECHO) system for drawing down awarded funds.

1. Legal – One-Time Files for Applicants  

Please provide a letter from your attorney covering the points below.

For particular agencies or special purpose units of government, copy of your statutory authority providing for their formation and stating what are your authorized powers.

Letter from the attorney stating that the division, unit of government or local government has the authority to apply for and receive Federal funds.

For applicants operated by councils or boards, a letter from their attorney stating whether council or board resolutions are needed to apply for and accept Federal grants.

Attachment A. For applicants that require council or board authorization to apply for and accept Federal grants, a copy of the council or board resolution authorizing a delegated representative to apply for and accept the Federal grant must be submitted. A sample resolution is provided for your use. [WORD] 

Please send these one-time files to the attention of:

Theodore (Ted) Uyeno
Legal Counsel
Federal Transit Administration, Region 10
915 Second Avenue, Suite 3142
Seattle, WA 98174-1002
Phone: (206) 220-7958
Fax: (206) 220-7959
ted.uyeno@dot.gov

2. Civil Rights

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Specifically, Title VI provides that:

[n]o person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

As such, all recipients of FTA funds are required to have a Title VI program on file with FTA (except Tribal Transit recipients).  This Program shall be attached in TEAM and updated every 3 years.

Attachment Q. General Civil Rights Requirements for all FTA Recipients [WORD]

Attachment S. Title VI and Title VI-Dependent Guidelines for FTA Recipients  FTA Circular 4702.1A [WORD]

Christopher MacNeith
Civil Rights Officer
Federal Transit Administration, Region 10
Phone:  (206) 220-4462
Fax: (206) 220-7959
christopher.macneith@dot.gov  

3. FTA TEAM Computer System 

The TEAM system is used to apply for grants and to enter the required annual financial and narrative reports. This means that people in your agency who will perform these tasks will need access to TEAM. FTA also awards grants through TEAM, so the agency official(s) who would normally sign grant applications needs to have a PIN (personal identification number), which he or she will use to submit grant applications and/or execute grant contracts. The agency attorney and general manager will also need access to TEAM and PIN numbers for the annual Certifications & Assurances.

TEAM may be accessed on the Web at http://ftateamweb.fta.dot.gov/. You must have Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher. It helps to have high-speed Internet access. FTA provides regular training on how to use the system via telephone conference call.  This takes about two hours and is helpful. FTA will send you information about the TEAM training opportunities after you have submitted your user request forms.  FTA has entered your proposal in TEAM for you and we are available to walk through the application process with you at your request.

In order to establish user accounts in TEAM, please use the following:

Attachment E is the “Request for Addition to Vendor File Award (TEAM)” form [XLS], which is used to request a vendor number for your agency.  FTA has completed this form for all Tribes and Villages.

Attachment F is the “TEAM User Request Form & Instructions” form [PDF].  This form must be filled out to set up an account for each person who will be using TEAM.

4. DUNS Number

Attachment D. DUNS stands for "Data Universal Numbering System." It is a unique nine-digit numbering system that is used to identify a business. As part of the selection criteria and process, your agency was required to have a DUNS number. FTA has input this number into our TEAM system under your recipiet profile. Please verify this information in TEAM. If you need additional information on DUNS numbers, please visit: http://ftateamweb.fta.dot.gov/teamweb/duns_info.html.

5. Annual Certifications and Assurances and Master Agreement 

Execution of the C&A is electronic through the TEAM system. The basic process is to check the boxes that apply to the funding sources you will be applying for in the current federal fiscal year and have the designated personnel PIN the C&A in TEAM. There are two PINNING actions needed to execute the C&A: in TEAM they are displayed as the Official’s Name and the Attorney’s Name.  The "Offical" MUST PIN before or on the same day as the Attorney.  If the Attorney PINs before the Official we will not accept the C&A and you will need to PIN the signatures again.

To PIN the C&A in the TEAM system:

Have your Official log into TEAM with their unique user name and password. This official will have been provided with a PIN Number, and the authority to use it.
Click Recipients to open the Query Recipients screen.
Enter your recipient ID, or all or part of your recipient name.
Click Submit Query to locate your record.
From the left menu, click View/Modify Recipient. This opens the Recipient record for editing.
Click on the third tab in the window, entitled "Certs & Assurances." Review each of the certifications under each category. The text is viewable under the yellow "Text" icon on the right.
For each category, you must check either Applicable or N/A.
In order to sign off on your selections, please have the Official enter their PIN number in the box at the bottom, and click the green CERTIFY button.
Once the Official has entered their PIN, he/she must exit TEAM  and the Attorney must log on – following steps 1-6 above,  with the Attorney’s  individual user name and password and enter the Attorney PIN and again click on the CERTIFY button to complete the process.
If the Official has the rights to PIN as both Official and Attorney, once he/she enters the PIN, the process is completed.

Attachment B. Annual Certs and Assurances form. [PDF]

Attachment C. The Master Agreement [PDF] is published annually in the federal register. The agreement contains the standard conditions for administering grants with the FTA.

6. FTA Electronic Clearing House Operation (ECHO) Computer System  

ECHO is the FTA’s web-based application that is used after a grant has been awarded to draw down funds for reimbursement of expenses.  If you have any questions regarding the ECHO-Web system, please contact:

Deborah Ensor, Administrative Program Assistant
Federal Transit Administration 
915 2nd Avenue, Suite 3142
Seattle, WA 98174-1002
Phone: (206) 220-7950
Fax: (206) 220-7959
deborah.ensor@dot.gov

7. Grant Application

Recipient information
Project description
Project budget
Project milestone/schedule
Fleet Status
Documentation of environmental review approval by FTA, if applicable

Please verify the information FTA has entered in TEAM regarding your application.  If you have any questions regarding your grant application in TEAM, please contact:

Amy Changchien, Director of Planning and Program Development
Federal Transit Administration
915 2nd Avenue, Suite 3142
Seattle, WA 98174-1002
Phone: (206) 220-4464
Fax: (206) 220-7959
amy.changchien@dot.gov

8. Environment    

FTA must consider the environmental impacts of your project under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  You will need to provide environmental analysis and review documentation for any project involving construction.

Attachment N is the Documented Categorical Exclusion (DCE) Checklist [WORD] that FTA Region 10 has prepared for your use as a screening tool for the level of environmental analysis.

Attachment O is the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Screening Checklist [WORD], which is also included if the project might have impacts to the endangered species.

For more information about NEPA requirements for your specific project, please contact:

Federal Transit Administration, Region 10
915 Second Avenue, Suite 3142
Seattle, WA 98174-1002
fta.tro10mail@dot.gov
Phone: (206) 220-7954
Fax: (206) 220-7959

9. Procurement 

In order for grantees to be reimbursed for project costs incurred as a result of procurement of equipment, professional services or construction, the grantee must comply with the procurement requirements set forth by the FTA. 

Attachment P is a list of FTA Procurement Requirements and Sources of Information. [WORD]

If you need any information, please contact:

Elaine Wine, Director of Operations and Program Management
Federal Transit Administration, Region 10
915 Second Avenue, Suite 3142
Seattle, WA 98174-1002
Phone: (206) 220-4463
Fax: (206) 220-7959
elaine.wine@dot.gov

10. Timeline for Grant Approval  

You grant application has been drafted by FTA staff and entered into TEAM.  FTA will walk you through the process to verify the information and prepare for the submittal process.  You will be notified by the grant processor to submit the application FTA determines that you have completed all the required documentation.  The person(s) designated as the “PIN to Submit” authority will submit the grant. Once the application has been officially submitted, grant approval generally takes about 36 days.  For more information, please contact Amy Changchien.  (See above for Amy’s contact information.)

11. Program Guidance Circulars  

For the complete program guidance document for FTA programs, please use the following links on the FTA Web site:

Capital Program: Grant Application Instructions, FTA Circular 9300.1B [HTML]
For Grants Management Requirements, please refer to FTA Circular 5010.1D  [HTML]

For further information about FTA regulations and guidance, please go to FTA’s website,http://www.fta.dot.gov/.  It contains a lot of useful information, including links to the applicable regulations, Federal Registers, and FTA circulars (program guidance).

If you have any questions about any information described in this letter, please don’t hesitate to contact Amy Changchien concerning Grant Management at 206-220-4464 or by email at amy.changchien@dot.gov. 

Click here to go to the ATTACHMENTS page.