Supporting Statement A- TTPSF FY25-26

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT A

Discretionary Grants for the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund

OMB Control No. 2125-XXXX

Introduction: This is to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve a clearance for the information collection entitled, Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF). The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides financial assistance to Federally recognized Tribal governments through the TTPSF.

• Responding to the collection is voluntary and is required to obtain or retain a benefit.

• Responders are employees of Federally recognized Tribal governments.

• The collection is a grant application and project narrative.

• The information is collected as needed.

• Information relevant to the application is detailed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and 25 CFR 170.240.

• The information will be received by FHWA.

• The purpose of the collection is to receive information relevant to evaluating applications to the TTPSF, per the NOFO.

This ICR supports the FY 2022 – 2026 DOT Strategic Plan, including the six strategic goals of:

1. Safety

2. Economic Strength & Global Competitiveness

3. Equity

4. Climate & Sustainability

5. Transformation

6. Organizational Excellence

Part A. Justification.

1. Circumstances that make collection of information necessary:

The collection of information is necessary in order to receive applications for grant funds and monitor project progress pursuant to the TTPSF discretionary grant program. The program is being implemented in accordance with 23 USC 202(e). The purpose of this program is to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on facilities in the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory. 23 USC 202(e)(1) specifically requires Tribal governments to submit an application.

The relevant sections of the US Code are attached hereto as Exhibit A.

23 USC 201(c)(6)(C) specifically requires annual reporting of Tribal Transportation Program projects but that reporting is negligible additional burden when Tribes are awarded funding from the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund.

Application Phase

To be considered to receive a TTPSF grant, an eligible applicant must submit an application to FHWA containing information as detailed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The project narratives and budget should include the information necessary for the FHWA to determine that the project satisfies eligibility requirements, as required by law.

Grant Agreement Phase

Awards from the TTPSF are administered under existing agreements for the Tribal Transportation Program. As such this information collection does not require a separate grant agreement be completed by the applicant.

Project Management Phase

The reporting requirements under this phase are necessary to ensure the proper and timely expenditure of Federal funds within the scope of the approved project. The Tribal Transportation Program reporting requirements exist even if the Tribe does not receive a grant from the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund.

2. How, by whom, and for what purpose is the information used:

The information collected will be used by FHWA and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to select grant recipients and monitor awarded projects.

3. Extent of automated information collection:

Applicants may choose to submit applications electronically via email or by physical mail. To minimize the burden on applicants, a custom form has been developed for this program that is similar to the SF-424 but excluding irrelevant fields. The form also includes fields not presented on the SF-424 which are necessary to determine eligibility as described in 23 USC 170. The form is available as a fillable PDF that can be transmitted electronically or can be printed as a paper form. A sample of the draft form is attached as appendix B.

All information submitted as part of or in support of any application shall use publicly available data or data that can be made public and methodologies that are accepted by industry practice and standards, to the furthest extent possible. If the application includes information you consider to be a trade secret or confidential commercial or financial information, the applicant should do the following: (1) Note on the front cover that the submission “Contains Confidential Business Information (CBI),” (2) mark each affected page “CBI,” and (3) highlight or otherwise denote the CBI portions. DOT protects such information from disclosure to the extent allowed under applicable law. In the event DOT receives a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the information, DOT will follow the procedures described in its FOIA regulations at 49 CFR 7.17. Only information that is ultimately determined to be confidential under that

procedure will be exempt from disclosure under FOIA.

4. Efforts to identify duplication:

The information collected from grantees is project-specific and the information is not available other than from the grantees. The information will be used to monitor projects on a quarterly basis, and to ensure on an annual basis that the project’s plan conforms to the project’s real operating environment.

5. Efforts to minimize the burden on small businesses or small entities:

Grantees are limited to Tribal governments, MPOs, and other political subdivisions of State or local governments such as cities and counties. No grantees are business organizations, small or otherwise.

6. Impact of less frequent collection of information:

Applications and reporting information are collected annually as defined by law.

7. Special circumstances:

None

8. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.8:

The 60-day notice was published to the Federal Register on May 15, 2015, at [89 FR 42571]. There were no comments received.

The 30-day notice was published to the Federal Register on July 19, 2024, at [89 FR 58874].

9. Payments or gifts to respondents:

No payment is made to respondents specifically for preparation of applications or reporting. However, formula funding provided under the Tribal Transportation Program can be used for expenses to prepare and submit grant applications to this and other grant programs and to complete reporting requirements.

Payment is made to successful grantees to accomplish the project described in their application.

10. Assurance of confidentiality:

There is no assurance of confidentiality regarding these submissions.

11. Justification for collection of sensitive information:

None of the information is of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of burden hours for information requested:

Through application solicitation and awards management, OST has calculated an annual burden associated with applications, deliverables and reports.

Form Name and Form Number	Form	Grant Activity/Process	Respondent Universe	Average Time (hours) per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Annual Dollar Cost Equivalent
Application Form	Fillable PDF (can also be printed)	Application	474 eligible applicants; About130 applications are received annually	.25	32.5	$2,470.00
Project Narrative	Narrative attachment can be developed from an optional template.	Application	474 eligible applicants; About 130 applications are received annually	2	260	$19,760.00
TOTAL				2.25	292.5	$22,230.00

The average hourly salary rate for a respondent is $47, based on an estimated median average wage of a project management specialist in the local government sector or $47.32 per Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is factored by 1.62 to account for the cost of employer-provided benefits (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, Dec. 2022) resulting in a total labor cost of $76 per hour. Estimated total annual cost to respondents: 292.5 hours x $76 per hour = $22,230.00.

13. Estimate of total annual costs to respondents:

There is no additional cost beyond that shown in items 12 and 14.

14. Estimate of cost to the Federal government:

The annual estimated cost to the Federal government is $658,600.00. This estimate is based on the burden of previous requests for grant applications. Anticipated applications and awards requirements; and an approximate salary rate of a Federal employee at GS-12, Step 5 of $51¹ per hour plus 75%² to account for benefits for a total of $89 per hour.

Application Intake

A program manager responds to questions about the information collection, provides training for applicants, and organizes applications as they are submitted. This effort is approximately 8 hours per week during the 37 week application period October 1-January 15. An estimated total of 296 hours are expended on this activity at a cost of about $26,344.

Application Review

An application review team of about 6 individuals employed by the Federal Highway Administration or the Bureau of Indian Affairs spends about half of their time for 2.5 weeks reviewing the application forms and project narratives. The estimated effort is about 300 hours at a cost of about $26,700.

Compiling Recommendations

Once applications have been reviewed the information is processed into recommended grant awards which have to be reviewed by multiple offices over a period of 3-6 months. The estimated total effort is about 128 hours at a cost of about $11,392.

Total

The total cost of these processes is approximately $64,976.

15. Explanation of program changes or adjustments:

This is the first time this collection is being submitted for OMB approval.

16. Publication of results of data collection:

FHWA plans to publish the results of the information collected for statistical use and use by grantees on the program website.

17. Approval for not displaying the expiration date of OMB approval:

There is no reason not to display the expiration date of OMB approval.

18. Exceptions to certification statement:

No exceptions are stated.

List of All Exhibits for this Request:

EXHIBIT A

LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY FROM THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW

Exhibit B

NOTICE of FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Exhibit C (APPLICATION PROCESS; 2 forms)

APPLICATION FORM

EXHIBIT D (PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PROCESS)

APPLICATION GUIDE (includes the optional project narrative template)

EXHIBIT A

Relevant Sections of US Code and Code of Federal Regulations

23 USC 202(e) 

Safety.-

(1) Funding.-Before making any distribution under subsection (b), the Secretary shall set aside not more than 4 percent of the funds made available under the tribal transportation program for each fiscal year to be allocated based on an identification and analysis of highway safety issues and opportunities on tribal land, as determined by the Secretary, on application of the Indian tribal governments for eligible projects described in section 148(a)(4).

(2) Project selection.-An Indian tribal government, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior and, as appropriate, with a State, local government, or metropolitan planning organization, shall select projects from the transportation improvement program, subject to the approval of the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior.

23 USC 201(c)(6)(C) 

Transportation Planning, Data Collection, Tribal data collection.-

In addition to the data to be collected under subparagraph (A), not later than 90 days after the last day of each fiscal year, any entity carrying out a project under the tribal transportation program under section 202 shall submit to the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior, based on obligations and expenditures under the tribal transportation program during the preceding fiscal year, the following data:

(i) The names of projects and activities carried out by the entity under the tribal transportation program during the preceding fiscal year.

(ii) A description of the projects and activities identified under clause (i).

(iii) The current status of the projects and activities identified under clause (i).

(iv) An estimate of the number of jobs created and the number of jobs retained by the projects and activities identified under clause (i).

EXHIBIT B

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

FOR THE

TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM SAFETY FUND

(attached)

EXHIBIT C

APPLICATION FORM

FOR THE

TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM SAFETY FUND

(attached)

EXHIBIT D

APPLICATION GUIDE

(INCLUDES OPTIONAL PROJECT NARRATIVE TEMPLATE)

FOR THE

TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM SAFETY FUND

(attached)

1 All hourly rates based on OPM Salary Table 2023 - DCB. SALARY TABLE 2023-DCB (opm.gov)

2 Rounded to the nearest dollar.

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