Transit Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Projects
JUSTIFICATION STATEMENT
1. Circumstances that make the collection necessary.
The Secretary of Transportation is authorized by 49 U.S.C. 5312(a) to undertake, or make grants or contracts (including agreements with departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States Government) for research, development, and demonstration projects related to urban mass transportation that the Secretary decides will help improve mass transportation service or help mass transportation service meet the total urban transportation needs at a minimum cost. The Secretary may request and receive appropriate information from any source.
The information requested is necessary to award, conduct, and monitor research and
development projects, disburse federal funds, evaluate project progress and results, and
determine the most effective means of sharing those results with a variety of customers in the
public and private sectors.
2. How, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used.
This information is fundamental to prudent technical and financial management of the grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements and interagency agreements implementing the various sections of Title 49, under which the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) obligates and disburses approximately $90 million of federal funds annually. During the award process, FTA’s technical and legal staff use this information to ensure that proposed projects and recipients meet eligibility requirements. After award, information is needed to ensure that the projects are being properly implemented, are achieving intended results on a timely basis, remain within approved budgets, and yield technical information of value to the federal government, the transit community and academia.
Specifically, during the award process, the information submitted as part of the project application is used by the program manager for each individual project to determine: (1) compatibility with FTA strategic goals and performance goals in support of policy objectives and priorities of the current Administration; (2) importance of the proposal to the current fiscal year's program activity; (3) potential for impact on the state of the art from the viewpoint of improving safety, security, service, operations or cost-effectiveness; (4) technical feasibility and potential for successful introduction into use by the transit industry; (5) background, experience, and demonstrated capabilities of applicants; (6) local commitment to the project; (7) participation by other public and private sector partners, where appropriate; and (8) other pertinent matters, such as questions of environmental and labor impact and displacement of persons by proposed construction, if any.
Describe whether collection of information involves information technology and any consideration of using information technology to reduce the burden.
Grantees who regularly do business with FTA are already able to submit application
information from a computer workstation using the electronic grant-making and
management system known as TEAM. That system relies upon electronic signatures,
with personal identification numbers. Grantees generally use computers to prepare
technical and financial reports, and it has increasingly become the practice for them to
submit these reports in electronic form. FTA receives technical reports in electronic form to
facilitate their posting on the FTA Web Site (www.fta.dot.gov). It is possible for a
recipient to supply current information by updating prior versions of an electronic file,
and there is no technical or legal obstacle to this method.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why similar information
already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in
Item 2.
FTA transit research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects are quite specific and unlikely to be funded by any other sponsor, minimizing the likelihood of duplication. If recipients submit information to one FTA office, copies of that information generally suffice for purposes of other FTA offices. The information need not be regenerated or resubmitted.
The information requested is unique to each individual project, and information supplied for other projects or other purposes would not be relevant or pertinent. FTA staff is responsive to suggestions that available information, instead of newly generated information, be used for project administration purposes.
5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.
Small businesses or other small entities may keep their project applications and reports as brief as they deem fit, as long as they respond to the requirements set forth in the project work statement, sufficiently document their accomplishment of required tasks, and provide all of the legally required certifications and assurances.
6. Describe consequences to federal program or policy activities if the information were not collected or collected less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.
It would be unreasonably risky for FTA to award projects without verifying the eligibility of projects and recipients for specific program funds. Information must be responsive to the individual project, and is collected only in connection with applications for or reports about each project. If not collected, FTA could not make the necessary determinations that projects and recipients are eligible for funds, would be ignorant of whether or not progress was being made in conducting the projects, and would not have access to the information resulting from the projects even though it is produced with taxpayer funds.
Any delay or curtailment in reporting frequencies would greatly hamper the ability of FTA's program managers to monitor project activities effectively. Experience has shown that noncompliance with progress reporting requirements results in loss of pertinent information by grantees and jeopardizes their ability to document and certify how funding was utilized.
There are no technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden provided all essential information reaches the FTA program manager and legal staff.
7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.6.
The collection is consistent with 5 CFR 1320.6.
8. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views.
Agency staff meets frequently with constituents groups to discuss projects, programs and priorities. There have been no complaints regarding burdensome application procedures or too frequent progress and financial reporting.
A 60-day Federal Register Notice was published on June 20, 2006 (pages 35479 and 35480), soliciting comments prior to submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). No comments were received. A 30-day Federal Register Notice will be published on
September 12, 2006.
9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
No payment or gift is made to respondents, all of whom are the actual or prospective
contractors and grantees, beyond reimbursement of the federal share of project costs as
documented in the grant, cooperative agreement or contract.
10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided respondents.
Applications are reviewed by project managers. In rare cases, unsolicited proposals from private companies are also reviewed by the Office of Procurement. Any proprietary information contained in applications or proposals is protected during the project application review, award and administration processes. Once an award is made, information generated by the project is in the public domain unless exceptional arrangements have been negotiated for intellectual property involved in the project.
11. Additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.
No sensitive information is required.
12. Estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information and annualized cost to respondents.
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Requirement |
Number of Respondents |
Frequency of Response |
Burden per Submission |
Annual Hour Burden |
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(annual submissions) |
(labor-hours) |
(labor-hours) |
Application Stage |
100 |
1 |
80 |
8,000 |
Authorizing Resolution |
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Opinion of Counsel |
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Standard Assurances |
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Project Description |
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Project Budget |
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Project Justification |
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Project Management Stage |
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Quarterly Progress Report |
200 |
4 |
2 |
1,600 |
Financial Status Report |
200 |
4 |
2 |
1,600 |
Property Records/Biennial Certification |
80 |
1 |
0.50 |
40 |
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Total Hour Burden |
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11,240 |
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Estimated hourly cost of preparing information collected |
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$30 per hour |
Estimated annualized cost to respondents for hour burdens |
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$337,200 |
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The figures below are representative of such an application meeting all of the criteria for funding under 49 U.S.C. Section 5312. Most applications are simple and straightforward. It is estimated that it takes 80 labor-hours to develop and submit an application to FTA for review. Since FTA receives approximately100 applications per year, and since the average hourly salary of those engaged in preparation of such application is estimated to be $30, cost to respondents is calculated as follows:
80 labor hours x 100 applications = 8,000 hours x $30 = $240,000
The total cost per application is $240,000/100 = $2,4 00.
For project management activities, the following estimates are provided.
Quarterly Progress Reports: Staff time for preparation of these progress reports is estimated at 2 hours at an average cost of $60 per report. There are 800 reports submitted annually (800 reports x 2 hours = 1,600 hours) and the cost is estimated at $48,000 (800 reports x $60).
Financial Status Report: Estimated staff time spent to prepare Financial Status Reports is 2 hours or $60 per report. There are 800 such reports submitted annually (800 reports x 2 hours = 1,600) and the cost is estimated at of $48,000 (800 reports x $60).
Property Records/Biennial Certification: There are approximately 80 of reports annually and it is estimated that ½ hour is required for preparation of each (80 reports x ½ hour = 40 hours) and the cost is estimated at $1,200 (40 hours x $30).
The total annual cost to a typical project recipient for project management is thus $97,200, or an average of about $486 per project per year.
The grand total annual cost to the applicants and grantees is estimated at $337,200
($240,000 + $97,200).
13. Estimate of total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information (not including the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14).
The information collected and reviewed is required in the course of normal business and there is no additional cost beyond that shown in Items 12 and 14.
14. Estimates of annualized cost to the federal government.
Experience indicates that it takes approximately 4 labor-hours to review typical project applications or proposals. This assumes that the application is complete, noncontroversial, and fundable. Although aspects of each application may be reviewed by many different members of the FTA staff, from secretaries to the Administrator, it is estimated that the average level is GS-13/5, or $42 per hour, or 4 labor-hours x $42 per hour = $148 per application. Since FTA receives approximately 100 applications each year, the cost to the federal government is 100 applications x $168 per application = $16,800.
Based on recent experience and ongoing budget constraints, FTA awards only approximately 50 new projects per year.
The cost to the federal government to manage new and previously approved projects is estimated as follows:
Quarterly Progress Reports: Review of a typical progress report should be completed within an hour by a GS-13. There are about 200 active projects requiring 4 reports per year; therefore, 200 x 4 x $42 = $33,600 per year.
Financial Status Reports: Review of a typical Financial Status Report takes less than 1/2 hour by a GS-13 with an hourly wage of $42. Since there are approximately 200 projects requiring four reports per year, the cost is 200 x 4 x 0.5 x $42 = $16,800 annually.
Vouchers and Requests for Payment: Review of a typical voucher or request for payment requires about one hour of work collectively by an accounting technicians, administrative assistant and program manager. Assuming a composite average grade of GS-11/5, at an hourly rate of $30, and assuming monthly disbursements, the cost is 200 x 12 x $30 = $72,000 annually.
Property Records/Biennial Certification: The cost to the federal government is minimal. Very little property or equipment is purchased with these project funds. In most cases, a letter stating that no property or equipment was purchased is submitted to FTA by the grantee at the completion of the project. Since all of these letters are received, reviewed, and filed, it is estimated that the 80 letters required by project managers consume less than 15 minutes of the time of a GS-13. Therefore, the cost is 80 x .25 x $42 or about $840 annually.
In summary, the total annual cost to the federal government for reviewing these reports, requests for funds and applications is about $140,040 per year ($16,800 + $33,600 + $16,800 + $72,000 + $840).
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of OMB Form 83-I.
The burden hours for this information collection request have not changed.
16. Plans for tabulation and publication for collections of information whose results will
be published.
Research results reported will be published, typically in the form of individual project
reports.
17. If seeking approval not to display the expiration date for OMB approval, explain the reasons.
There is no reason not to display the expiration date of OMB approval.
18. Explain any exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I.
No exceptions are stated.
B. Collections of information employing statistical methods.
None of the information collected will be put to statistical use.
Attachments to Justification Statement
60-Day Federal Register Notice
49 U.S.C. 5312(a) Research, Development, Demonstration
and Training Projects
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Transit research, development, demonstration, and training projects |
| Author | Henry Nejako |
| Last Modified By | marions |
| File Modified | 2006-09-08 |
| File Created | 2006-09-08 |