SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative Grant Program: A total of $30 million was initially made available by FTA for the VTCLI program and additional funds were subsequently added, for a total of $34.6 million allocated to the selected projects. In total, 63 applicants requested $52.9 million. Project proposals were evaluated based on the criteria detailed in the July 27, 2011 Notice of Funding Availability. The projects selected and shown in Table 1 will provide mobility choices to veterans, military families and other community members, increasing their awareness of and access to existing community transportation options and enabling them to remain active in their communities. Funds must be used for eligible purposes defined under 49 U.S.C. 5309(b)(3) and 5302(a)(1), and consistent with the competitive announcement of availability of funds and the applicant's proposal. In selecting projects for this program, FTA ensured that an equitable share of the available funds is allocated to projects that are not in urbanized areas.

Project Implementation: So that funds can be obligated expeditiously, grantees selected for competitive discretionary funding should work with their FTA regional office to finalize the grant application in FTA's Transportation Electronic Award Management system (TEAM) for the projects identified in the attached table. In cases where the allocation amount is less than the proposer's requested amount, grantees should work with the regional office to reduce scope or scale the project such that a complete phase or project is accomplished. A discretionary project identification number has been assigned to each project for tracking purposes and must be used in the TEAM application. No projects under the VTCLI have been extended pre-award authority. Additionally, although several projects contained related training, mobility management or infrastructure initiatives, FTA funds may only be used for eligible purposes defined under 49 U.S.C. 5309(b)(3) and 5302(a)(1), as described in FTA Circular 9030.1C, and further limited by the July 27, 2011 Federal Register Notice of Funding Availability. For any VTCLI projects that include lease of space please refer to FTA's guidance on Capital Leases found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/​grants/​12865.html and in Chapter IV, subparagraph 3.j(2) of FTA Circular 5010.1D. Any projects which proposed to use applicant labor to accomplish capital design and engineering tasks, please refer to FTA's guidance on Force Account labor found in Chapter IV, paragraph 4.d of FTA Circular 5010.1D. Sources of any in-kind match proposed should be discussed with the FTA region to ensure eligibility. All capital procurements undertaken with VTCLI funds must comply with FTA's Third Party Procurement Guidelines found at http://www.fta.dot.gov/​legislation_​law/​12349_​8641.html. Any further questions on procurement guidelines should be discussed with the FTA regional office. Post-award reporting requirements include submission of the Financial Federal Report and Milestone reports in TEAM as appropriate (see FTA Circular 5010.1D). FTA will hold an informational webinar for grantees in the near future to discuss the goals and expectations of the VTCLI and address technical aspects of applying for funds. Details about the time and date of the webinar will be posted at http://www.fta.dot.gov/​veterans.

The grantee must comply with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other Federal administrative requirements in carrying out the project supported by the FTA grant. By statute the funds allocated in this announcement must be obligated in a grant by September 30, 2014, but since project readiness was a factor in selection, applicants are expected to apply promptly in order to begin implementing the project within twelve months.

Appendix

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