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 NOTICE: Proposed rulemaking by Department of Labor and solicitation of Public Comments by October 15.
A major way FTA helps communities support public transportation is by issuing grants to eligible recipients for planning, vehicle purchases, facility construction, operations, and other purposes. FTA administers this financial assistance according to authorization, SAFETEA-LU, which was signed into law in August 2005.
SAFETEA-LU authorizes specific dollar amounts for each program. Each year Congress provides an annual appropriation which funds the programs specified in SAFETEA-LU. Upon receiving this appropriation, FTA apportions and allocates these funds according to formulas and earmarks. These FTA apportionments are published annually in the Federal Register.
FTA programs are typically identified by a name and/or a section number (of Title 49 of the United States Code) – for example, the "Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities" or "Section 5310" grant program. Each year Congress appropriates funds for each program and FTA awards grants to eligible recipients to meet the goals of that program.
Generally, FTA funds are available to designated recipients that must be public bodies (i.e. states, cities, towns, regional governments, transit authorities, etc.) with the legal authority to receive and dispense federal funds. The recipients of these grants are responsible for managing their projects in accordance with federal requirements. FTA conducts oversight reviews to ensure that these requirements are met.
In addition to FTA's grant programs, there are other methods for funding public transportation; these are detailed in the Transit Finance section.
NOTICE: Proposed rulemaking by Department of Labor and solicitation of Public Comments.
The Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards, proposed revisions to existing procedures for processing grant applications under the Federal transit law to ensure timely certifications in a predictable manner, and remain consistent with the transit law's statutory objectives. The announcement was made in the Federal Register Notice on September 14, 2007. DOL invites written comments on the proposed guidelines and revisions by October 15, 2007.
Link to the DOL Federal Register Notice: [HTML] [PDF]
Link to Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS)
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