30-Day Notice 2019 TIGER-BUILD 2105-0563

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 40 / Thursday, February 28, 2019 / Notices
Capital Investment Grant funding
program. Capital Metro will comply
with all relevant FTA requirements
related to planning and project
development to help analyze and screen
alternatives in preparation for the NEPA
process.

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Early Scoping
Early Scoping is an optional early step
in the NEPA process that precedes
formal scoping, which begins when FTA
publishes a notice of intent to prepare
an environmental impact statement
(EIS). FTA encourages the use of early
scoping for major planning activities
that may receive FTA funding to start
the NEPA process during earlier project
planning phases. Early scoping is
intended to generate public and agency
review and comments on the scope of a
planning effort within a defined
transportation corridor, which helps the
agency to determine which alignment
variations should receive more focused
development to streamline the NEPA
process. Early scoping can serve not
only to streamline the NEPA process,
but also to firmly link transportation
planning and NEPA, ensuring that the
public and interested agencies are given
the opportunity to review and provide
comments on the results of planning
activities that can then be used to
inform the NEPA process.
Project Connect Long-Term Vision Plan
Over the last 30 months, Capital
Metro has been conducting the Project
Connect System Plan per general
guidelines of the Federal Planning and
Environmental Linkages (PEL) process.
Capital Metro intends to formalize the
PEL process with the initiation of early
scoping for the Orange Line HCT
Corridor, so that the results of the PEL
may be considered during the formal
NEPA environmental review process.
Under this PEL process, Capital Metro
will analyze alternatives that could be
considered in an EIS, if warranted. The
alternatives analysis will document the
project’s purpose and need, analyze a
range of reasonable, feasible, and
prudent alternatives, and identify a
locally preferred alternative (LPA) in
accordance with the Council on
Environmental Quality’s and FTA’s
regulations and guidance for
implementing NEPA (40 CFR 1501.2
through 1501.8 and 23 CFR 771.111,
respectively), which encourages Federal
agencies to initiate NEPA early in their
planning processes.
Early scoping allows the scoping
process to begin as soon as there is
enough information to describe the
proposal so that the public and relevant
agencies can participate effectively. This

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notice opens early scoping and invites
public and agency involvement with
ongoing planning activities and studies
for the Orange Line HCT Corridor,
including review of the (a) purpose and
need, (b) the proposed alternatives, and
(c) the potential environmental,
transportation, and community impacts
and benefits to consider during the
NEPA process.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed
Project
Capital Metro invites comments on
the following preliminary statement of
the project’s purpose and need: The
purpose of the project is to build a
north-south transit corridor that
provides faster, more reliable travel to,
from, and within Central Austin and the
surrounding region. The purpose is in
response to the following needs in the
corridor:
• Growth affecting all travel modes
and travel times;
• limited ability to increase roadway
width;
• the need to provide better transit
options linking affordable housing and
jobs;
• the need to connect activity centers
and manage future growth with better
transit;
• create a central corridor for a better
regional transit system; and
• ensure inter-operability between the
Orange Line and future corridors.
Potential Alternatives
During the early scoping process, all
reasonable alternatives under
consideration will be evaluated in terms
of their transportation impacts, capital
and operating costs, social, economic,
and environmental impacts, and
technical consideration. Capital Metro
will continue to analyze alternative
transit modes, alignment, and design
options for HCT in the Orange Line
Corridor. Capital Metro will seek to
identify a broad range of alternatives,
consistent with the project’s purpose
and need. The alternatives will include
a No Build Alternative, as well as the
following proposed alternatives:
• Baseline Alternative (MetroRapid 801
with transit speed and reliability
improvements)
• Dedicated Pathways Bus Rapid
Transit (BRT)
• Dedicated Pathways Light Rail Transit
(LRT)
• Dedicated Pathways Autonomous
Rapid Transit (ART)
At the end of the early scoping
process, FTA and Capital Metro
anticipate identifying a preferred mode
and alignment as the LPA for further

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evaluation during the formal NEPA
process. If an EIS is warranted, FTA will
publish a Notice of Intent in the Federal
Register and the public and interested
agencies will have the opportunity to
participate in a review and comment
period on the scope of the EIS.
Robert C. Patrick,
Regional Administrator, FTA Region VI.
[FR Doc. 2019–03479 Filed 2–27–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–57–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. DOT–OST–2015–0221]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: Reinstatement of a
Previously Approved Collection of
Information
Office of the Secretary of
Transportation (OST), U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

The Department of
Transportation (DOT) invites public
comments on our intention to request
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval to renew an
information collection (OMB Control
Number 2105–0563) in accordance with
the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. The collection is
necessary for administration of the
BUILD Transportation Discretionary
Grants Program. BUILD Transportation
grants support surface transportation
infrastructure projects that have a
significant local or regional impact. A
60-day Federal Register notice was
published on December 28, 2018 (83 FR
67484). Since the publication of the 60day Federal Register notice, no
comments were received to the Docket
(DOT–OST–2015–0221) and therefore
no review of comments was required, so
none was performed by the Department.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted by: April 1, 2019.
ADDRESSES: To ensure that you do not
duplicate your docket submissions,
please submit them by only one of the
following means:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
http://www.regulations.gov and follow
the online instructions for submitting
comments.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590–0001.
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 40 / Thursday, February 28, 2019 / Notices

• Hand Delivery: West Building
Ground Floor, Room W–12–140 1200
New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. The telephone number
is 202–366–9329.
Instructions: To ensure proper
docketing of your comment, please
include the agency name and docket
number [DOT–OST–2015–0221] at the
beginning of your comments. All
comments received will be posted
without change to http://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Howard Hill, Office of the Under
Secretary for Transportation Policy, at
202–366–0301 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB
Control Number: 2105–0563.
Title: National Infrastructure
Investments or ‘‘BUILD Transportation
Discretionary Grants’’.
Form Numbers: None.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Background: The Better Utilizing
Investments to Leverage Development or
‘‘BUILD Transportation Discretionary
Grants’’ program was created as part of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009. Through the
Recovery Act and nine appropriations
acts, Congress provided DOT with
funding for ten rounds of competitive
grants totaling nearly $5.6 billion for
capital and planning investments in
surface transportation infrastructure.
DOT published a notice in the Federal
Register on April 27, 2018 announcing
the availability of $1.5 billion for the
latest round of BUILD Transportation
Discretionary Grants (83 FR 18651–01).
BUILD recipients provide information to
the Government so that the Government
may monitor the financial conditions
and construction progress of BUILDsupported projects and the effectiveness
of those projects using performance
measurement metrics negotiated
between the recipients and the
Government.
This notice seeks comments on the
existing information collection, which
collects information from grantees that
is necessary for grant applications and
the reporting requirements agreed to by
recipients of TIGER and BUILD
Transportation Discretionary Grants.
The reporting requirements for the
program is as follows:
In order to be considered to receive a
BUILD grant, a project sponsor must
submit an application to DOT
containing a project narrative, as
detailed in the Notice of Funding
Opportunity. The project narrative

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should include the information
necessary for the Department to
determine that the project satisfies
eligibility requirements as warranted by
law. This request renews the existing
clearance to cover applications solicited
for future National Infrastructure
Investments appropriations, solicited in
a manner similar to the solicitation for
TIGER and BUILD applications.
Following the announcement of a
funding award, the recipient and DOT
will negotiate and sign a grant
agreement. In the grant agreement, the
recipient must describe the project that
DOT agreed to fund, which is typically
the project that was described in the
TIGER/BUILD application or a reducedscope version of that project. The grant
agreement must also include a detailed
breakdown of the project schedule and
a budget listing all major activities that
will be completed as part of the project.
During the project management stage,
grantees will submit reports on the
financial condition of the project and
the project’s progress. Grantees will
submit progress and monitoring reports
to the Government on a quarterly basis,
beginning on the 20th of the first month
of the calendar-year quarter following
the execution of a grant agreement, and
on the 20th of the first month of each
calendar-year quarter thereafter until
completion of the project. The report
will include an executive summary and
sections to show: Project activities;
outstanding issues; project schedule;
project cost; project funding status; and
project quality, along with an SF–425
Federal Financial Report.
This information will be used to
monitor grantees’ use of Federal funds,
ensuring accountability and financial
transparency in the TIGER/BUILD
program.
Grantees will also submit reports on
project performance using certain
performance measures that the grantee
and the Government select through
negotiations. The Grantees will submit a
Pre-project Report that will consist of
current baseline data for each of the
performance measures specified in the
grant agreement. The Pre-project Report
will include a detailed description of
data sources, assumptions, variability,
and the estimated level of precision for
each measure. The Grantees will submit
annual interim Project Performance
Measurement Reports to the
Government for each of the performance
measures. Grantees will submit reports
for three years. The Grantees will
submit a Project Outcomes Report after
the project is completed that will
consist of a narrative discussion
detailing project successes and/or the

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influence of external factors on project
expectations.
This information collected will be
used to analyze project performance.
The Department’s estimated burden
for this information collection is the
following:
Expected Number of Respondents:
850 applications.
Frequency: Quarterly, and Yearly.
Estimated Average Burden per
Response: 100 hours for each
Application, 1 hour for each Grant
Agreement, 6.5 hours for each request
for Quarterly Progress and Monitoring
Report; 6 hours for each Quarterly
Performance Measurement Report.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
106,325 hours.
The following is detailed information
and instructions regarding the specific
reporting requirements for each report
identified above:
Application
In order to be considered to receive a
BUILD Transportation Discretionary
Grant, prospective grantees must submit
an application to DOT containing a
project narrative, as detailed in the
Notice of Funding Opportunity, with
the following timing and frequency
requirements:
Æ Frequency: Typically, annually, as
funding is appropriated by Congress.
Æ Application covers: Project
narrative and information necessary for
the Department to determine that the
project satisfies eligibility requirements.
Æ Start: At the opening date of the
Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Æ End: At the closing date of the
Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Grant Agreement
BUILD Transportation Discretionary
Grant program grantees will negotiate
and sign a grant agreement with DOT,
with the following timing and frequency
requirements:
Æ Frequency: One time.
Æ Grant agreement covers: Detailed
project scope, schedule, and budget, and
terms of agreement between DOT and
the grantee.
Æ Start: After funding announcements
have been made by DOT.
Æ End: At the end of the obligation
period, as set by Congress, typically two
or three years after funding has been
appropriated.
Project Progress and Monitoring Report
BUILD Transportation Discretionary
Grant program grantees will submit a
Project Progress and Monitoring Report
to the Government with the following
timing and frequency requirements:
Æ Frequency: Quarterly.

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 40 / Thursday, February 28, 2019 / Notices
Æ Report covers: Previous quarter.
Æ Start: Upon award of grant.
Æ End: Once construction is
complete.
Grantees use the following structure
when preparing this report:
The following list enumerates the
required sections in the quarterly
progress reports. At the discretion of the
USDOT, modifications or additions can
be made to produce a quarterly
reporting format that will most
effectively serve both the Recipient and
the USDOT. Some projects will have a
more extensive quarterly status than
others. For smaller projects, the USDOT
may determine that the content of the
quarterly reports will be streamlined
and project status meetings will be held
on a less-frequent basis. The first
quarterly progress report should include
a detailed description, and where
appropriate, drawings, of the items
funded.
(a) Project Overall Status. This section
provides an overall status of the
project’s scope, schedule and budget.
The Recipient shall note and explain
any deviations from the scope of work
described in Attachment A, the
schedule described in Attachment B, or
the budget described in Attachment C.
(b) Project Significant Activities and
Issues. This section provides highlights
of key activities, accomplishments, and
issues occurring on the project during
the previous quarter. Activities and
deliverables to be reported on should
include meetings, audits and other
reviews, design packages submitted,
advertisements, awards, construction
submittals, construction completion
milestones, submittals related to any
applicable Recovery Act requirements,
media or Congressional inquiries, value
engineering/constructability reviews,
and other items of significance.
(c) Action Items/Outstanding Issues.
This section should draw attention to,
and track the progress of, highly
significant or sensitive issues requiring
action and direction in order to resolve.
In general, issues and administrative
requirements that could have a
significant or adverse impact to the
project’s scope, budget, schedule,
quality, safety, and/or compliance with
Federal requirements should be
included. Status, responsible person(s),
and due dates should be included for
each action item/outstanding issue.
Action items requiring action or
direction should be included in the
quarterly status meeting agenda. The
action items/outstanding issues may be
dropped from this section upon full
implementation of the remedial action,
and upon no further monitoring
anticipated.

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(d) Project Scope Overview. The
purpose of this section is to provide a
further update regarding the project
scope. If the original scope contained in
the grant agreement is still accurate, this
section can simply state that the scope
is unchanged.
(e) Project Schedule. An updated
master program schedule reflecting the
current status of the program activities
should be included in this section. A
Gantt (bar) type chart is probably the
most appropriate for quarterly reporting
purposes, with the ultimate format to be
agreed upon between the Recipient and
the USDOT. It is imperative that the
master program schedule be integrated,
i.e., the individual contract milestones
tied to each other, such that any delays
occurring in one activity will be
reflected throughout the entire program
schedule, with a realistic completion
date being reported. Narratives, tables,
and/or graphs should accompany the
updated master program schedule,
basically detailing the current schedule
status, delays and potential exposures,
and recovery efforts. The following
information should also be included:
• Current overall project completion
percentage vs. latest plan percentage.
• Completion percentages vs. latest
plan percentages for major activities
such as right-of-way, major or critical
design contracts, major or critical
construction contracts, and significant
force accounts or task orders. A
schedule status description should also
be included for each of these major or
critical elements.
• Any delays or potential exposures
to milestone and final completion dates.
The delays and exposures should be
quantified, and overall schedule
impacts assessed. The reasons for the
delays and exposures should be
explained, and initiatives being
analyzed or implemented in order to
recover the schedule should be detailed.
(f) Project Cost. An updated cost
spreadsheet reflecting the current
forecasted cost vs. the latest approved
budget vs. the baseline budget should be
included in this section. One way to
track project cost is to show: (1)
Baseline Budget, (2) Latest Approved
Budget, (3) Current Forecasted Cost
Estimate, (4) Expenditures or
Commitments to Date, and (5) Variance
between Current Forecasted Cost and
Latest Approved Budget. Line items
should include all significant cost
centers, such as prior costs, right-ofway, preliminary engineering,
environmental mitigation, general
engineering consultant, section design
contracts, construction administration,
utilities, construction packages, force
accounts/task orders, wrap-up

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insurance, construction contingencies,
management contingencies, and other
contingencies. The line items can be
broken-up in enough detail such that
specific areas of cost change can be
sufficiently tracked and future
improvements made to the overall cost
estimating methodology. A Program
Total line should be included at the
bottom of the spreadsheet. Narratives,
tables, and/or graphs should accompany
the updated cost spreadsheet, basically
detailing the current cost status, reasons
for cost deviations, impacts of cost
overruns, and efforts to mitigate cost
overruns. The following information
should be provided:
• Reasons for each line item deviation
from the approved budget, impacts
resulting from the deviations, and
initiatives being analyzed or
implemented in order to recover any
cost overruns.
• Transfer of costs to and from
contingency line items, and reasons
supporting the transfers.
• Speculative cost changes that
potentially may develop in the future, a
quantified dollar range for each
potential cost change, and the current
status of the speculative change. Also, a
comparison analysis to the available
contingency amounts should be
included, showing that reasonable and
sufficient amounts of contingency
remain to keep the project within the
latest approved budget.
• Detailed cost breakdown of the
general engineering consultant (GEC)
services (if applicable), including such
line items as contract amounts, task
orders issued (amounts), balance
remaining for tasks, and accrued
(billable) costs.
• Federal obligations and/or
disbursements for the project, compared
to planned obligations and
disbursements.
(g) Federal Financial Report (SF–425).
The Federal Financial Report (SF–425)
is a financial reporting form used
throughout the Federal Government
Grant system. Recipients shall complete
this form and attach it to each quarterly
Project Progress and Monitoring Report.
The form is available at http://
www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/
omb/assets/grants_forms/SF-425.pdf.
(h) Certifications. A certification that
the Recipient is in compliance with 2
CFR 200.303 (Internal Controls) and 2
CFR part 200, subpart F (Audit
Requirements).
Performance Measurement Reports
BUILD Transportation Discretionary
Grant program grantees will submit
Performance Measure Reports on the
performance (or projected performance)

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of the project using the performance
measures that the grantee and the
Government selected through
negotiations with the following timing
and frequency requirements:
Æ Frequency: Quarterly.
Æ Report covers: Previous year.
Æ Start: Once, upon award of grant;
Annual, for three years after
construction completes; once, no later
than four years after construction
completes.
Æ End: At the end of agreed upon
performance measurement period.
Grantees should use the following
structure when preparing this report:
1. Performance Measure Data
Collection. The Recipient shall collect
the data necessary to report on each
performance measure that is identified
in the grant agreement. Grantees may
select performance measures from the
list available at https://
www.transportation.gov/
administrations/office-policy/tigerperformance-measurement-guidanceappendix, according to the type of
project.
2. Pre-project Performance
Measurement Report. The Recipient
shall submit to DOT, on or before the
Pre-project Report Date that is stated in
the grant agreement, a Pre-project
Performance Measurement Report that
contains:
(1) Baseline data for each performance
measure that is identified in the grant

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agreement, accurate as of the Pre-project
Measurement Date; and
(2) a detailed description of the data
sources, assumptions, variability, and
estimated levels of precision for each
measure.
3. Interim Performance Measurement
Reports. After project completion, the
Recipient shall submit to DOT on or
before each of the periodic reporting
dates specified in the Performance
Measurement Table in the grant
agreement, an Interim Performance
Measurement Report containing data for
each performance measure that is
identified in that table, accurate as of
the final date of the measurement period
specified in that table. If an external
factor significantly affects the value of a
performance measure during a
measurement period, then in the Interim
Performance Measurement Report the
Recipient shall identify that external
factor and discuss its influence on the
performance measure.
4. Project Outcomes Report. The
Recipient shall submit to DOT, on or
before the Project Outcomes Report Date
that is stated in the grant agreement, a
Project Outcomes Report that contains:
(1) A narrative discussion detailing
project successes and the influence of
external factors on project expectations;
(2) all baseline and interim
performance measurement data that the
Recipient reported in the Pre-project

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Performance Measurement Report and
the Interim Performance Measurement
Reports; and
(3) an ex post examination of project
effectiveness relative to the baseline
data that the Recipient reported in the
Pre-project Performance Measurement
Report.
Public Comments Invited: You are
asked to comment on any aspect of this
information collection, including (a)
whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for OST’s
performance; (b) the accuracy of the
estimated burden; (c) ways for OST to
enhance the quality, utility and clarity
of the information collection; and (d)
ways that the burden could be
minimized without reducing the quality
of the collected information. The agency
will summarize and/or include your
comments in the request for OMB’s
clearance of this information collection.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended;
and 49 CFR 1:48.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February, 22,
2019.
John Augustine,
Director, Office of Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation.
[FR Doc. 2019–03511 Filed 2–27–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P

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