Action
Notice.
Summary
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded under Fiscal Year 2002 appropriations for the Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) Program, authorized by Section 3037 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). A total of $125 million was available for the JARC Program in FY 2002, the guaranteed funding level under TEA-21. In the Congressional conference committee report language accompanying the appropriations bill, $109.3 million was designated for projects in specific areas. However, the General Accounting Office, in a December 2001 report to Congress, concluded that FTA could only select and fund projects through a national competition as specified in the JARC legislation. Accordingly, FTA required all applicants for FY 2002 JARC funding, including those designated in Congressional report language, to submit a project proposal application to be evaluated, scored, and ranked against all others. Subsequently, however, in the FY 2003 Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 4775), signed into law on August 2, 2002, Congress authorized and instructed FTA to fund all projects designated in the report language upon receipt of an application. A number of applications for projects in congressionally-designated areas were submitted in FY 2002 and FTA has obligated $13 million for those projects. The list of congressionally-designated areas was included in FTA's 2002 Annual Apportionment Notice, published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2002. That notice can be found at: http:// www.fta.dot.gov/library/legal/federalregister/2002/fr1202a.pdf. Because FTA solicited applications for both 2002 and 2003 funding, we will be prepared to announce projects selected for FY 2003 funds as soon as these funds become available. Local agencies and authorities and private non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for JARC Program funds. Local agencies and authorities include states, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, public transit agencies and tribal organizations. A Job Access project is one that provides new or expanded transportation service designed to fill gaps that exist for welfare recipients and other low-income individuals to and from jobs and other employment- related services. A Reverse Commute project facilitates the provision of new or expanded public mass transportation services for the general public from urban, suburban, and rural areas to suburban work sites. Capital and operating costs for such projects are eligible.