Action
Notice of availability of funds; Solicitation of grant applications.
Summary
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of funds in fiscal year (FY) 2001 for the Over-the-Road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Pub. L. 105-178. The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's over-the-road bus accessibility final rule, published in a Federal Register Notice on September 24, 1998. The OTRB Accessibility Program calls for national solicitation of applications, with grantees to be selected on a competitive basis. FTA's FY 2001 Appropriation Act makes Federal funds available to intercity fixed-route providers and other OTRB providers at up to 90 percent of the project cost. A total of $24.3 million is available for the program over the life of TEA-21. The guaranteed level of funding available for intercity fixed-route service was $2 million in FYs 1999 and 2000, and is $3 million in FY 2001, and $5.25million in FYs 2002 and 2003, for a total of $17.5 million. The guaranteed level of funding for other over-the- road bus services, including charter and tour bus, is $1.7 million per year from FYs 2000 and 2003, for a total of $6.8 million. For FY 2001, $3 million was appropriated for intercity fixed-route service providers and $1.7 million was appropriated for other over-the- road service providers. After applying the .22 percent reduction for the government-wide rescission required by the FY 2001 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, Pub.L. 106-554, the amount available for the OTRB Accessibility Program has been reduced to $4,689,660. Of this amount, $2,993,400 is available to providers of intercity fixed- route service, and $1,696,260 is available to other providers of over- the-road bus services, including local fixed-route service, commuter service, and charter and tour service. This announcement describes application procedures for the OTRB Accessibility Program and the procedures FTA will use to determine which projects it will fund. It includes all of the information needed to apply for an OTRB Accessibility Program grant. This announcement is available on the Internet on the FTA website at: [http://www.fta.gov/library/legal/federal register/2001/index.htm]. FTA will announce final selections on the website and in the Federal Register.