Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Standards Development for Bus Exportable Power Systems (BEPS) Publication: Federal Register Agency: Federal Transit Administration Byline: Nuria I. Fernandez Date: 12 April 2022 Subjects: American Government , Buses

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21692-21697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07742]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Standards 
Development for Bus Exportable Power Systems (BEPS)

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of funding opportunity.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the 
opportunity to apply for a total of $1,000,000 of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 
Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program funds for 
projects that develop interoperable standards for Bus Exportable Power 
Systems (BEPS). BEPS enable public transportation agencies, 
communities, and States to access resilient and flexible power options 
through bus fleet vehicles during major power disruptions. Communities 
and States often need options for generating power immediately after 
natural disasters. BEPS technologies developed under previous FTA 
research grants may have the ability to address this type of challenge 
by transforming hybrid electric and fuel cell buses into mobile power 
generators. The goal of this program is to develop national 
interoperable BEPS standards--working with FTA, industry stakeholders 
and technical partners--so that different manufacturers' systems can 
use the same technology base and applications for BEPS solutions. One 
or more projects will be competitively selected based on the criteria 
outlined in this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

DATES: Complete proposals must be submitted electronically through the 
GRANTS.GOV ``APPLY'' function by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 13, 
2022.
    Prospective applicants should initiate the process by registering 
on the

[[Page 21693]]

GRANTS.GOV website promptly to ensure completion of the application 
process before the submission deadline. Instructions for applying can 
be found on FTA's website at http://www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply and 
in the ``FIND'' module of GRANTS.GOV. The funding opportunity ID is 
FTA-2022-005-TRI-SDBEPS. Mail and fax submissions will not be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Raj Wagley, FTA Office of Research, 
Demonstration, and Innovation, 202-366-5386, raj.wagley@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

A. Program Description
B. Federal Award Information
C. Eligibility Information
D. Application and Submission Information
E. Application Review Information
F. Federal Award Administration Information
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
H. Other Information

A. Program Description

    Under FTA's Technical Assistance and Workforce Development Program 
(49 U.S.C. 5314), FTA may make grants, or enter into contracts or 
cooperative agreements, for the development of voluntary and consensus-
based standards and best practices for the public transportation 
industry. This NOFO (Federal Assistance Listing: 20.531) was developed 
under this authority. As requested by the Report of the Appropriations 
Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (H. Rpt. 116-452, Jul. 
16, 2020) accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. 
L. 116-260), FTA will competitively fund a total of not less than 
$1,000,000 in one or more cooperative agreements to develop 
interoperable national standards for Bus Exportable Power Systems 
(BEPS) by collaborating with industry stakeholders and technical 
partners. These standards must facilitate public transportation 
agencies, communities, and States' use of resilient and flexible power 
options after natural disasters or any major power disruption.
    Expected components of this BEPS interoperable standards 
development project include, but are not limited to: Completion of an 
industry literature review on BEPS assessing system parameters, 
specifications, past results and recommendations; technology scans, 
surveys or case studies with transit agencies with experience utilizing 
BEPS; standards development; demonstration of a plug-and-play BEPS 
system that includes minimum specifications and parameters for 
interoperability; and a guide to implementing a BEPS system using these 
standards. Applicants must describe how they will work with transit 
industry stakeholders, industry working groups and transit standard 
development organizations--including emergency management agencies--in 
developing guidance and standards that promotes nationwide adoption of 
BEPS.
    This standards development program will build upon prior FTA 
investment in projects such as FTA Report 0146--BEPS System Use 
Strategy: Investigating the Use of Transit Buses as Emergency 
Generators (https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/research-innovation/147716/bus-exportable-power-supply-system-use-strategy-investigating-use-transit-buses-emergency-generators.pdf).
    FTA will competitively award one or more cooperative agreements to 
selected eligible applicants to advance the development of BEPS 
standards for hybrid electric and fuel cell transit buses, as described 
in this notice.

B. Federal Award Information

    This notice makes available not less than $1,000,000 for 
cooperative agreements as authorized under FTA's Technical Assistance 
and Workforce Development Program (49 U.S.C. 5314) to support the 
development of voluntary and consensus-based standards and best 
practices by the public transportation industry. The House 
Appropriations Committee Report (H. Rpt. 116-452) accompanying the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260) requested FTA 
to use $1,000,000 of available funds for competitive awards to develop 
interoperable BEPS standards and provide guidance for hybrid, electric, 
and fuel cell transit bus manufacturers and public transit agencies 
that advances widespread design and use of BEPS systems in communities 
and States during emergencies and natural disasters.
    FTA may cap the amount a single recipient may receive as part of 
the selection process. Due to funding limitations, applicants that are 
selected for funding may receive less than the amount originally 
requested. Only proposals from eligible recipients for eligible 
activities will be considered for funding.
    Pre-award authority is subject to FTA approval and is only 
available for costs incurred after the announcement of project 
selections on FTA's website.
    Projects under this competition are for standards development 
efforts and, as such, FTA Circular 6100.1E (available at https://www.fta.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/fta-circulars/research-technical-assistance-and-training-program) guidance will apply in 
administering the program.
    An applicant whose proposal is selected for funding will receive a 
cooperative agreement with FTA, to be administered according to 
Circular 6100.1E, and as set forth in 31 U.S.C. 6305. FTA will have 
substantial involvement in the administration of the cooperative 
agreement. FTA's role will include the right to participate in 
decisions to redirect and reprioritize project activities, goals, and 
deliverables.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants under this notice include the following:
     Providers of public transportation, including public 
transportation agencies, State or local government DOTs, and federally 
recognized Indian tribes;
     Private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, or 
consultants;
     State, city, or local government entities, including 
multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and organizations such as 
Metropolitan Planning Organizations;
     Other organizations, including research consortia, not-
for-profit industry organizations, and institutions of higher 
education, including large research universities, particularly those 
with Minority Serving Institution status; or
     Standard Development Organizations (SDOs).
    On the application form, eligible applicants are encouraged to 
identify one or more project partners with a substantial interest and 
involvement in the project activities or objectives to participate in 
the implementation of the project.
    If an application that involves such a partnership is selected for 
funding, the competitive selection process will be deemed to satisfy 
the requirement for a competitive procurement under 49 U.S.C. 5325(a) 
for the named entities. Applicants are advised that any changes to the 
proposed partnership after the award will require FTA written approval 
and must be consistent with the scope of the approved project. Post-
award changes usually will be subject to ordinary procurement 
standards.
    The applicant must be able to carry out the proposed agreement and 
procurements, if needed, with project partners in compliance with all 
applicable Federal, State, and local laws. To be considered eligible, 
applicants must be able to demonstrate the requisite legal, financial, 
and

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technical capabilities to receive and administer Federal funds under 
this program.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

    The eligible Federal share for this program is 100 percent. No non-
Federal cost sharing is required; however, proposers may offer a non-
Federal share of costs. For guidance related to cost sharing, please 
see FTA Circular 6100.1E.

3. Eligible Projects

    This notice solicits applications to develop interoperable national 
standards for BEPS systems that allow transit agencies, communities and 
States to use hybrid electric, or fuel cell transit buses as mobile 
power generators to power facilities such as hospitals or other 
facilities in emergency and disaster situations. A critical component 
for these projects is collaboration across Federal, State, and local 
governments, public utilities, and the private sector. Thus, FTA seeks 
applications for projects that enhance the current state of bus 
exportable power systems or build on existing successful projects and 
partnership efforts on BEPS.
    Eligible activities include all activities leading to development 
of interoperable national BEPS standards and the development of a 
guidebook to implement such standards, including, but not limited to, 
system design and demonstration of portable units; industry survey and 
data collection on existing BEPS systems; system specifications and 
standards development; innovations for providing more effective and 
efficient BEPS systems using public-private partnerships with non-
traditional transportation providers; stakeholder collaboration 
convenings; literature reviews or case studies on BEPS systems; surveys 
on BEPS systems in other industries that could be applicable to public 
transit BEPS systems; data collection and analytics; establishing 
various use cases for BEPS deployment needs; defining system 
requirements; modeling and simulation; development, validation and 
verification of the specification; and development of industry 
guidelines and a guidebook for BEPS solutions that can be shared with 
the transit industry, including hybrid, electric, and fuel cell transit 
bus manufacturers.
    Standards or guidelines developed will be disseminated to public 
transit agencies and battery electric bus manufacturers for their use. 
Standards or guidelines developed under this program must facilitate 
interoperable, adaptable, secure, and seamlessly integrated BEPS 
solutions for facilities, such as hospitals, emergency management 
systems, etc. that need power in emergency and disaster situations. 
Further, the project team should consider how the development effort 
could support the development or use of additional standards, 
specifications, or protocols related to successful deployment of BEPS 
solutions as appropriate.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address To Request Application

    Applications must be accessed and submitted electronically through 
GRANTS.GOV. General information for submitting applications through 
GRANTS.GOV can be found at www.transit.dot.gov/howtoapply. A complete 
proposal submission consists of two forms and their supporting 
attachments. The Forms are (1) an SF-424 ``Application for Federal 
Assistance'' and (2) the supplemental form for the FY 2021 Standards 
Development--BEPS NOFO. Both forms are downloadable from GRANTS.GOV or 
the FTA website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/BEPS.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

a. Proposal Submission
    A complete proposal submission consists of the two forms and their 
supporting documents. The attachments shall provide a detailed project 
approach and proposed scope of work. A successful applicant must submit 
a final full application into FTA's TrAMS system within 45 days of 
award.
    The supplemental form and supporting documents must be added to the 
``Attachments'' section of the SF-424. The application must include 
responses to all sections of the SF-424 Application for Federal 
Assistance and the supplemental form, unless indicated as optional. The 
information on the supplemental form will be used to determine 
applicant and project eligibility for the program, and to evaluate the 
proposal against the selection criteria described in Section E of this 
notice.
    FTA will accept only one supplemental form per SF-424 submission. 
Applicants may attach additional supporting information to the SF-424 
submission, including but not limited to a detailed project approach, 
the project background, a proposed scope of work and major tasks, a 
proposed timeline, proposed project budgets, technical information and 
approach, visual aids, excerpts from relevant planning documents, 
letters of support, or project narratives. Any supporting documentation 
must be described and referenced by file name in the appropriate 
response section of the supplemental form, or it may not be reviewed.
    Information such as applicant name, Federal amount requested, and 
local match amount (if match is being proposed), may be requested on 
both the SF-424 and supplemental
    form. Applicants must fill in all fields unless stated otherwise on 
the forms. If information is copied into the supplemental form from 
another source, applicants should verify that pasted text is fully 
captured on the supplemental form and has not been truncated by the 
character limits built into the form. Applicants should use both the 
``Check Package for Errors'' and the ``Validate Form'' validation 
buttons on both forms to check all required fields on the forms and 
ensure that the Federal and local amounts specified are consistent.
b. Application Content
    The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance and the supplemental 
form will prompt applicants for the required information, including:
    1. Applicant name.
    2. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in SAM.gov. The Federal 
government will stop using the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) 
number to identify entities starting April 4, 2022.
    3. Key contact information (including name, address, email address, 
and phone).
    4. Congressional district(s) where project will take place.
    5. Project information (including title, and an executive summary).
    6. Project description (including attachments if necessary) and how 
it will (a) collect and analyze industry data and specifications for 
the development of interoperable BEPS standards; (b) demonstrate a plug 
and play BEPS solution; (c) develop interoperable BEPS standards; (d) 
collaborate with diverse stakeholders in the development of BEPS 
standards; and (e) approach to developing a guidebook and 
implementation guide to deploy BEPS solutions in communities during 
emergencies and disasters situations.
    7. Information on any project partners, their role, and anticipated 
contributions.
    8. A description of the technical, legal, and financial capacity of 
the applicant, its key personnel, and any partners.

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    9. A detailed project budget, specifying Federal and local share 
when applicable.
    10. A detailed project timeline.
    Applicants may also attach additional supporting information and 
other materials or information relevant to BEPS standards development 
such as letters of support from key stakeholders.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

    Each applicant is required to: (1) Be registered in SAM before 
submitting an application; (2) provide a valid unique entity identifier 
in its application; and (3) continue to maintain an active SAM 
registration with current information at all times during which the 
applicant has an active Federal award or an application or plan under 
consideration by FTA. FTA may not make an award until the applicant has 
complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM 
requirements. If an applicant has not fully complied with the 
requirements by the time FTA is ready to make an award, FTA may 
determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive an award and 
use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another 
applicant. These requirements do not apply if the applicant has an 
exception approved by FTA or the U.S. Office of Management and Budget 
under 2 CFR 25.110(c) or (d). SAM registration takes approximately 3-5 
business days, but FTA recommends allowing ample time, up to several 
weeks, for completion of all steps. For additional information on 
obtaining a unique entity identifier, please visit https://www.sam.gov.

4. Submission Dates and Times

    Project proposals must be submitted electronically through 
GRANTS.GOV by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 13, 2022. GRANTS.GOV 
attaches a time stamp to each application at the time of submission. 
Proposals submitted after the deadline will only be considered under 
extraordinary circumstances not under the applicant's control. Mail and 
fax submissions will not be accepted.
    FTA urges applicants to submit applications at least 72 hours prior 
to the due date to allow time to receive the validation messages and to 
correct any problems that may have caused a rejection notification. 
GRANTS.GOV scheduled maintenance and outage times are announced on the 
GRANTS.GOV website. Deadlines will not be extended due to scheduled 
website maintenance.
    Within 48 hours after submitting an electronic application, the 
applicant should receive an email message from GRANTS.GOV with 
confirmation of successful transmission to GRANTS.GOV. If a notice of 
failed validation or incomplete materials is received, the applicant 
must address the reason for the failed validation, as described in the 
email notice, and resubmit before the submission deadline. If making a 
resubmission for any reason, include all original attachments 
regardless of which attachments were updated and check the box on the 
supplemental form indicating this is a resubmission.
    Applicants are encouraged to begin the process of registration on 
the GRANTS.GOV site well in advance of the submission deadline. 
Registration is a multi-step process, which may take several weeks to 
complete before an application can be submitted. Registered applicants 
may still be required to take steps to keep their registration up to 
date before submissions can be made successfully: (1) Registration in 
SAM is renewed annually, and (2) persons making submissions on behalf 
of the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) must be authorized 
in GRANTS.GOV by the AOR to make submission.

5. Funding Restrictions

    Funds available under this NOFO cannot be used to reimburse 
applicants for otherwise eligible expenses incurred prior to FTA 
issuing pre-award authority for selected projects.
    Refer to Section C.3., Eligible Projects, for information on 
activities that are allowable. Allowable direct and indirect expenses 
must be consistent with the Governmentwide Uniform Administrative 
Requirements and Cost Principles (2 CFR part 200) and FTA Circular 
5010.1E.

6. Other Submission Requirements

    Applicants are encouraged to identify scaled funding options in 
case funding is not available to fund a project at the full requested 
amount. If an applicant indicates that a project is scalable, the 
applicant must provide an appropriate minimum funding amount that will 
fund an eligible project that achieves the objectives of the program 
and meets all relevant program requirements. The applicant must provide 
a clear explanation of how the project budget would be affected by a 
reduced award. FTA may award a lesser amount regardless of whether a 
scalable option is provided.
    All applications must be submitted via the GRANTS.GOV website. FTA 
does not accept applications on paper, by fax machine, email, or other 
means. For information on application submission requirements, please 
see Section D.1., Address to Request Application.

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

    Projects will be evaluated on the responses provided in the 
supplemental form and the attached project summary. Additional 
information may be provided to support the responses; however, any 
additional documentation must be directly referenced on the 
supplemental form, including the file name where the additional 
information can be found. FTA will evaluate proposals based on the 
criteria described in this notice.
a. Key Personnel Experience and Organizational Capacity
    Application should note the individuals who will be involved in the 
project and how the applicant will ensure they will have enough time to 
devote to the project. Additionally, applicant should discuss 
successful completion of similar or relevant projects--case studies, 
references, etc.
b. Proposer and Proposal Team Subject Matter Expertise
    Application should clearly demonstrate applicant knowledge in 
exportable power systems, battery electric public transit buses, 
transit industry (including facilities and operations), standards 
development, emergency management and electric system interoperability.
c. Knowledge of Standards, Standards Development
    Application should provide evidence of applicant's experience 
developing and disseminating industry standards, particularly for the 
public transit industry. The proposal should detail the applicant's 
knowledge of general transit industry standards, general experience and 
knowledge of the transit standards development -including awareness of 
potential barriers or challenges to standard application and technology 
adoption.
d. Knowledge of Public Transit and Emergency Management Context and 
Needs
    Applicants should provide evidence of knowledge of the public 
transit industry and the contexts, challenges, and resources of transit 
providers across the country. Applicants should also clearly 
demonstrate understanding of emergency management needs and critical 
facilities with which BEPS must have interoperability.

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e. Project Approach
    Projects will be evaluated on overall project approach including 
proposed workplan tasks, schedule, and interim deliverables. In 
assessing whether the proposed implementation plans are reasonable and 
complete, FTA will review the proposed project work plan, including all 
necessary project milestones and the overall project timeline. Funds 
must be obligated in a cooperative agreement no later than September 
30, 2022. Applicants must demonstrate their ability to enter into the 
cooperative agreement by that date and begin project activities shortly 
thereafter.
f. Technical, Legal, and Financial Capacity
    The applicant must demonstrate the financial and organizational 
capacity and managerial experience to successfully oversee and 
implement this project. FTA may review relevant oversight assessments 
and records to determine whether there are any outstanding legal, 
technical, or financial issues with the applicant that would affect the 
outcome of the proposed project. Applicants with outstanding legal, 
technical, or financial compliance issues from an FTA compliance review 
or Federal Transit grant-related Single Audit finding must explain how 
corrective actions will mitigate negative impacts on the proposed 
project.
    For applications that include named project partners, FTA will also 
consider the technical, legal, and financial capacity of the proposed 
partners.

2. Review and Selection Process

    A technical evaluation committee will evaluate proposals based on 
the published evaluation criteria. Members of the technical evaluation 
committee may request additional information from applicants, if 
necessary. Based on the review of the technical evaluation committee, 
the FTA Administrator will determine the final selection of projects 
for program funding. In making selections, FTA may consider geographic 
diversity, and the applicant's receipt of other competitive awards. FTA 
may also consider capping the amount a single applicant may receive.

3. Performance and Integrity

    Prior to making an award, FTA is required to review and consider 
any information about the applicant that is in the FAPIIS accessible 
through SAM. An applicant may review and comment on any information 
about itself that a Federal awarding agency previously entered. FTA 
will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to the other 
information in the designated integrity and performance system, in 
making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and 
record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review 
of risk posed by applicants as described in the Office of Management 
and Budget's Uniform Requirements for Federal Awards ( 2 CFR 200.205).

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

    FTA will announce the final project selections on the FTA website. 
Due to funding limitations of $1,000,000 in total, applicants that are 
selected for funding may receive less than the amount originally 
requested. In those cases, applicants must be able to demonstrate that 
the proposed projects are still viable and can be completed with the 
amount awarded.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

a. Pre-Award Authority
    At the time the project selections are announced, FTA may extend 
pre-award authority for the selected projects. There is no blanket pre-
award authority for these projects before announcement. FTA will issue 
specific guidance to recipients regarding pre-award authority at the 
time of selection. FTA does not provide pre-award authority for 
competitive funds until projects are selected, and even then, there are 
Federal requirements that must be met before costs are incurred. For 
more information about FTA's policy on pre-award authority, please see 
the most recent Apportionments, Allocations and Program Information 
Notice at https://www.transit.dot.gov.
b. Cooperative Agreement Requirements
    If selected, awardees will apply for a cooperative agreement 
through FTA's Transit Award Management System (TrAMS). Successful 
applicants must be prepared to submit a complete statement of work and 
application in TrAMS within 45 days of notification of award in order 
to obligate funds no later than September 30, 2022. All recipients must 
follow the requirements of FTA Circular 6100.1E. Technical assistance 
regarding these requirements is available from FTA.
c. Buy America
    FTA requires that all capital procurements meet FTA's Buy America 
requirements (49 U.S.C. 5323(j) and 49 CFR part 661), which require 
that all iron, steel, and manufactured goods be produced in the United 
States, and set minimum domestic content and final assembly 
requirements for rolling stock.
d. Standard Assurances
    If an applicant receives an award, the applicant must assure that 
it will comply with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations, 
executive orders, directives, FTA circulars, and other Federal 
administrative requirements in carrying out any project supported by 
the FTA award. The applicant acknowledges that it will be under a 
continuing obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the 
agreement issued for its project with FTA. The applicant understands 
that Federal laws, regulations, policies, and administrative practices 
might be modified from time to time and may affect the implementation 
of the project. The most recent Federal requirements will apply to the 
project unless FTA issues a written determination otherwise. The 
applicant must submit the most recent FTA Certifications and Assurances 
before receiving an award if it does not have current certifications on 
file.
e. Data Access and Data Sharing
    Recipients, including a recipient that is an institution of higher 
education, will be subject to the restriction on publishing subject 
data contained in Section 18(b) of the latest version of FTA's master 
agreement. The latest version of FTA's master agreement is version 29, 
effective February 7, 2022, available at: https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2022-02/FTA-Master-Agreement-v29-2022-02-07.pdf. A recipient must receive written approval from FTA prior to 
publishing or presenting subject data in any form. FTA must approve the 
BEPS and any other standards or guidelines developed under this NOFO 
before that information can be published. A recipient should consult 
with its FTA Project Manager prior to accepting an award to discuss any 
plan for external communications about the project.
    FTA seeks to improve public transportation for America's 
communities by sharing digital data or source code collected or 
developed through its research with the public. This allows research 
organizations, transit agencies, and other stakeholders to learn from 
and expand upon the insights developed from FTA-funded research. Any 
standards, guidance, tools, or software developed as a part of this 
solicitation will be evaluated by FTA for the potential to be shared 
for

[[Page 21697]]

use by public transportation agencies and others.

3. Reporting

    Post-award reporting requirements include the electronic submission 
of Federal Financial Reports and Milestone Progress Reports in FTA's 
electronic grants management system.
    Applicants should include any goals, targets, and indicators 
referenced in their application in the Executive Summary of the TrAMS 
application.
    As part of completing the annual certifications and assurances 
required of FTA grant recipients, a successful applicant must report on 
the suspension or debarment status of itself and its principals. If the 
award recipient's active grants, cooperative agreements, and 
procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies exceeds 
$10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of 
an award made pursuant to this Notice, the recipient must comply with 
the Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters reporting requirements 
described in Appendix XII to 2 CFR part 200.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

    For further information concerning this notice, please contact Raj 
Wagley, in the FTA Office of Infrastructure, Safety and Asset 
Innovation, by phone at 202-366-5386, or by email at 
raj.wagley@dot.gov. A TDD is available for individuals who are deaf or 
hard of hearing at 800-877-8339. In addition, FTA will post answers to 
questions and requests for clarifications on FTA's website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/BEPS. To ensure applicants receive 
accurate information about eligibility or the program, applicants are 
encouraged to contact FTA directly, rather than through intermediaries 
or third parties, with questions. FTA staff may also conduct briefings 
on the competitive grants selection and award process upon request.
    For issues with GRANTS.GOV, please contact GRANTS.GOV by phone at 
1-800-518-4726 or by email at support@grants.gov.

H. Other Information

    This program is not subject to Executive Order 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

Nuria I. Fernandez,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-07742 Filed 4-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P