Annual Report on Funding Recommendations Fiscal Year 2000 Report Number FTA-TBP10-99-01 Report of the Secretary of Transportation to the United States Congress Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5309(o)(1) 1999 Prepared by: Federal Transit Administration Available from: Federal Transit Administration Office of Policy Development, TBP-10 400 7th Street, SW, Room 9310 Washington, DC 20590 http://www.fta.dot.gov Foreword This report is prepared annually for submission to the United States Congress by the Secretary of Transportation. Title 49, United States Code, Section 5309(o)(1) requires the Secretary of Transportation to submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, a report that includes a proposal on the allocation of amounts to be made available to finance grants and loans for capital projects for new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing fixed guideway systems ("new starts") among applicants for those amounts. In addition to those committees, this report is also formally submitted to the Appropriations Committees of both the House and Senate. It is also provided to transit operators, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), State departments of transportation, and made generally available to the public at large. This report is a companion document to the President’s annual budget request to Congress. It details the Administration’s recommendations for allocating new starts capital investment funding for Federal Fiscal Year 2000. The report is organized into two sections: the main body of the report, which details the specific funding recommendations by project and provides background information on both the projects and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) program and processes; and a series of appendices that provide more detailed information on the background, status and evaluation of each proposed project. Appendix B briefly describes each proposed project that is undergoing early development and alternatives analysis. Upon request, this report will be made available in alternative formats. It is also available via the Internet at the FTA site on the World Wide Web. Introduction This report provides the U.S. Department of Transportation's recommendations to Congress for allocation of funds to be made available under 49 U.S.C. §5309 for construction of new fixed guideway systems and extensions (major capital investments or "new starts") for Fiscal Year 2000. Section 5309(o)(1) requires an annual report to Congress "that includes a proposal on the allocation of amounts to be made available to finance grants and loans for capital projects for new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing fixed guideway systems among applicants for those amounts." The Annual Report on New Starts is a collateral document to the President's annual budget submission to Congress. It is meant to be a constructive element in the administration of the Federal transit assistance program, enriching the information exchange between the Executive and Legislative branches at the beginning of an appropriations cycle for the next Fiscal Year. The President's budget for FY 2000 proposes that $980.40 million be made available for the §5309 major capital investment program. After setting aside a percentage of these funds for oversight activities as specified in §5327, and for ferry capital projects in Alaska or Hawaii as required by §5309(m)(5)(A), $962.725 million is available for project grants. This report recommends funding for 25 projects in FY 2000; of these, 14 have existing Federal funding commitments in the form of Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGA), seven are expected to be ready to negotiate FFGAs by the end of FY 2000, and four are nearing the final stages of preliminary engineering. Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) On June 9, 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Public Law 105- 178, which reauthorizes Federal surface transportation programs through 2003, was enacted. For new starts, TEA-21 leaves prior Federal law and policy largely intact, including the basic project justification criteria and the multiple-measure method of project evaluation. However, a number of significant changes were introduced to the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts Program. Among the provisions of TEA-21 affecting FTA’s new starts program was language revising §5309(e) to codify many of the principles of FTA's New Starts Policy, which was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 1996 (61 FR 67093) and amended on November 12, 1997 (62 FR 60756). Aspects of the new starts policy which are now written as law, but which remain the same as past policy and practice, include the following: • Proposed new starts projects must be based on the results of alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering. • FTA must approve entry into preliminary engineering. • FTA must find that proposed projects are "justified," based on a "comprehensive review" of several criteria (cost-effectiveness, operating efficiencies, mobility improvements, and environmental benefits) which remain unchanged; a variety of additional considerations that must be taken into account (including congestion relief, air quality, energy consumption, the mobility of transportation dependent persons, economic development, and transit supportive land use policies and patterns) are also unchanged. • FTA must find that projects are supported by an acceptable degree of local financial commitment; the basis for making this finding (stable and dependable financing sources to construct, maintain, and operate the project) is not changed, and the considerations which are to be taken into account are also largely unchanged. • Projects are to be funded using Full Funding Grant Agreements (FFGAs), which specify the project to be constructed and the maximum amount of Federal funds which will be made available for the project. • The criteria do not apply to projects which require less than $25 million in §5309 funds, or which are completely funded with flexible Title 23 (highway program) funds. • FTA's recommendations to Congress regarding projects must be presented in an Annual Report produced in concert with the President's annual budget. In addition to these, however, TEA-21 introduced a number of important changes to the way FTA manages and implements the new starts program. Among the most significant changes are the following: • Integration of the Major Investment Study (MIS) concepts into the joint planning and environmental regulations issued by FTA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (23 CFR Part 450 and 23 CFR Part 771), elimination of the MIS as a separate requirement, and streamlining of the environmental process. • A requirement for FTA to establish overall project ratings of "highly recommended," "recommended," or "not recommended." • A requirement for FTA approval before a project can advance from preliminary engineering to final design (in addition to the existing requirement for approval to initiate preliminary engineering). • A requirement for FTA to publish regulations on the manner in which proposed projects will be evaluated and rated. Other important changes include: • The addition of several statutory "considerations" to the project evaluation process, including the cost of sprawl, infrastructure cost savings due to compact land use, population density and current transit ridership in a corridor, and the technical capacity of the grantee to undertake the project. • A provision expressly prohibiting FTA from considering the dollar value of mobility improvements. • The elimination of the exemptions from the project evaluation process for proposed projects that require less than one-third of the project funding from 49 USC §5309 or are part of a State Improvement Plan for air quality. The exemption remains for projects requiring less than $25 million in 49 USC §5309 funding. (Projects for which FFGAs are already in place are not subject to re-evaluation.) • For evaluating local financial commitment, the consideration of local funding beyond the required non-Federal share has been incorporated into statute. • A second annual report to Congress, in addition to the existing "report on funding levels and allocations of funds," is now required. This new "Supplemental Report on New Starts," due each August, will include updated ratings for projects that have completed the alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering stages of development since the date of the last Annual Report on New Starts. • A provision limiting the amount of funds made available every year for proposed projects in alternatives analysis or preliminary engineering to 8 percent of total new starts funding for that year. • A requirement for an annual review of FTA’s project evaluation and rating process and procedures by the General Accounting Office. Implementation of TEA-21 The majority of the changes to the new starts program noted above will be implemented through the rulemaking process. Under 49 USC §5309(e)(5), as added by TEA-21, FTA is required to publish "regulations on the manner in which [FTA] will evaluate and rate" proposed new starts projects. This rule will define the summary project ratings of "recommended," "highly recommended," and "not recommended," as required by TEA-21, implement the revisions to the multiple measures for project justification, describe how FTA will use the summary ratings to approve