2020 TTPSF APPLICATION INFO and SELECTION CRITERIA GUIDE.pdf

TTP Safety Fund Application Information 2020 TTPSF Web Page

TRIBAL TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM SAFETY FUNDS (TTPSF)

DISCRETIONARY GRANTS FOR FY2020

APPLICATION INFORMATION

The application form, project narrative, and supporting documentation for each project must be submitted by the deadline. The project narrative should include the information described below. Applications that do not include these items may be incomplete and may not be considered in the evaluation and selection process.

FHWA may use contact information provided in the application to contact parties for additional information about an application.

A complete application consists of both the Application Form and a Project Narrative.

1. Application Form

During the application period, the application form can be found at https://highways.dot.gov/federal-lands/programs-tribal/safety/funds

Once complete, the application form may be submitted through the same web page.

FHWA prefers that the application form, project narrative, and supporting documentation are uploaded in the same submittal. Alternatively, the project narrative and supporting documentation may be sent by email to TTPSF@dot.gov after submitting the application form. Please ensure that email communication identifies the application ID number that is provided by the online system when the application form is submitted.

2. Project Narrative For funding to develop a new Tribal Transportation Safety Plan, a completed application form can serve as your project narrative.

For all other projects, the project narrative must respond to the application requirements outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) such that FHWA may assess all applicable criteria.

Documentation supporting the statements made in the project narrative may also be provided but should be limited to relevant information. The project narrative must summarize any information that can be found in the supporting documentation. Supporting documentation must be submitted electronically in PDF or DOC format. It is recommended that applicants provide an index of all submitted supporting documentation and use file names that are easily deciphered.

FHWA recommends that applicants generally adhere to the following basic project narrative outline.

PROJECT NARRATIVE OUTLINE

Table of Contents

I. Applicant Information:

1) Tribe Name: This should match the application form. Only federally recognized tribes identified on the list of “Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs” (published at 77 FR 47868) are eligible to apply for TTPSF.

2) Descriptive Title of Applicant’s Project: This should match on the description provided in the application form and be a very short project description that readily identifies the project or is commonly used to describe the project.

3) Funding Category: Document which of the three funding categories is expected to be used to evaluate this project. The NOFO identifies the categories as: (1) safety plans; (2) data assessment, improvement, and analysis activities; and (3) infrastructure improvement and other eligible activities as listed in 23 U.S.C. 148(a)(4).

II. Project Abstract: Describe project work that is to be completed under this particular request, the project purpose and safety benefit to the Tribe, and whether this is a complete project or part of a larger project with prior investment. It is important that your project abstract succinctly describes how this specific request for TTPSF funds will be used to complete your project. (Maximum: 5 Sentences)

III. Project Description

1) Provide a brief description of the project location:

a) Length of project: (Miles)

b) Project limits: (Narrative description, including the project termini and the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI) route and section number. If this request is for an activity, indicate that it is tribal wide.)

2) Provide a brief description of the proposed work:

Describe the scope of work that is to be completed with this funding request. This description should include answers to questions such as:

Is this a complete project or part of a larger phased project?

What is the intended outcome?

What are the safety needs and how does this project address them?

What are the strategic goals or priorities of the strategic safety planning document that are addressed by this project?

Only include work that is eligible for TTPSF funding. See the NOFO for TTPSF selection and eligibility criterion.

Appropriate supporting documentation should be referenced in this narrative and copies of the documentation provided with the application.

3) Amount of TTPSF Funds Requested and Cost Estimate:

Provide a cost estimate that is reflective of the total cost of the proposed work by line item. Each line item in the cost breakdown must be associated with a task, deliverable, or outcome that contributes to the completed funding request. A cost estimate for a Safety Plan can be a lump sum.

If the applicant is willing to accept partial funding of the request, that should be explicitly stated. If partial funding is acceptable, the applicant should identify the individual components of the project that could be accomplished with partial funding. If only partial funding is available, this information will aid in the development of funding recommendations and provide the applicant the opportunity to fully complete individual components of the funding request.

4) Project Schedule:

The anticipated project schedule is required. The schedule should show how the work will be advanced if funded. The schedule should also state the anticipated project completion date. This should directly reference each line item in the cost estimate. Applications should only be submitted for projects or phases of projects that are ready to advance when funding is available. The project schedule should identify if the funds will be obligated within one year of the date the funds are made available.

IV. Coordination with Other Entities

1) Previous Federal funds contributed to this project:

Indicate the type of Federal funds, that this project has previously received, the Federal fiscal year, and the current status of any work associated with these funds.

2) Commitment of Other Funds:

Indicate the amounts and sources of any private or other public funding being provided as part of this project. Only indicate those amounts of funding that are firm and documented commitments from the entity controlling the funds.

3) Project Administration:

Indicate whether the project is being administered by the Tribal Government, a division of the FHWA Office of Federal Lands Highway, or another entity.

V. Evaluation Criteria The NOFO describes the application review and selection process. As described in the NOFO, projects will be selected based on the selection criteria, departmental selection criteria, commitment of other resources, and an evaluation of the applicant’s capacity to deliver the project. The project narrative should clearly identify how the project addresses these items. A summary response to each selection criteria should also be provided in the application form.

1) Project Selection Criterion A project narrative should describe how the proposal meets the Selection Criteria from the NOFO Section E subsection 1 (Criteria). The application form will also prompt for a summarized response to the selection criteria. The project narrative should expand on these summarized responses. A selection criteria guide is provided at the end of this document.

2) Departmental Selection Criteria After considering other project selection criteria, the departmental selection criteria may be considered. The project narrative should describe how the proposal meets the Departmental Selection Criteria from the NOFO Section E.

3) Status of Prior TTPSF Awards Describe the status of projects funded by TTPSF awards in prior years. For completed projects provide an evaluation of the project’s success in improving transportation safety.

VI. Supporting Documentation.

Include with the Project Narrative an index listing all supporting documentation.

1) Letter from Facility owner All applications involving infrastructure improvement on roadways must be accompanied by letter from the facility owner acknowledging awareness of the project. Facilities owned by a Tribe or BIA are exempt from this requirement.

2) Other Attachments If the applicant desires to submit supporting documentation, such as maps, pictures, inventory data sheets, supporting data, etc., those items should be uploaded with the application form. Alternatively, attachments may be submitted after the application form by email to TTPSF@dot.gov. Please ensure that email communication identifies the application ID number that is provided when the application form is submitted online. Supporting documentation should also be identified by the Tribe and Project Title so that it is easily identified as part of your application. Supporting documentation should further illustrate the information provided in the project narrative. Supporting documents are not likely to be reviewed if they are not summarized and referenced in the project narrative.

SELECTION CRITERIA GUIDE

Applicants should carefully review the official selection criteria in Section E of the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The project narrative should thoroughly address the selection criteria and that information should be summarized when responding to questions in the application form. A project must meet highly qualified (HQ) standards for all criteria to be ranked as highly qualified. A project must meet either qualified (Q) or HQ standards for all criteria to be ranked as qualified. If a project meets the standards for not qualified (NQ) for any of the selection criteria, the project will be ranked not qualified. Below is a guide describing how the selection criteria will be evaluated.

Category: SAFETY PLANS Selection Criteria Description Rating Guide

What is the age and status of existing transportation safety plans?

(Or, is this application for funding to develop the Tribe’s first transportation safety plan?)

HQ: Requests (up to $12,500) to develop a new transportation safety plan or requests (up to $7,500) to update existing Tribal transportation safety plans that are at least 3 years old.

Q: N/A NQ: Projects that do not meet the eligibility requirements; request to update a transportation safety plan that is less than 3 years old. Describe how funding will be used in the development of a Tribal

Transportation Safety Plan.

Category: DATA ASSESSMENT, IMPROVEMENT, AND ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES Selection Criteria Description Rating Guide

What strategic safety planning document(s) identify this project?

Please provide a page number or describe where this project is identified in the supporting strategic document(s).

For this category, the supporting strategic safety planning document must be a transportation safety plan developed by a Tribe or a state’s strategic highway safety plan.

Describe how the safety planning document(s) from the previous question was developed using the best available data and a comprehensive approach (with participation from all safety stakeholders including those representing emergency medical services, enforcement, education, and engineering)?

HQ: Requests that are in a current State SHSP or a Tribe’s transportation safety plan that is developed using the best available data and a comprehensive approach, coordinating with multiple safety stakeholders to address transportation safety needs, and is not more than 5 years old;

Q: Requests that are in the most recent State SHSP or a Tribe’s transportation safety plan that is developed using the best available data and comprehensive approach (the supporting document is more than 5 years old);

NQ: The application did not provide documentation that would demonstrate that the requested Data Assessment, Improvement, and Analysis Activity is supported by a State SHSP or Tribe’s safety plan that uses the best available data and a comprehensive approach.

Summarize any data that clearly demonstrates the need for the project.

For traffic records assessments and improvements:

an estimate of the data to be collected (such as approximate number of crashes per year) and a description of any process currently used to collect that data. Also describe how the data will be used.

For Road Safety Audits (RSA):

Site specific data should be submitted which demonstrates an incident history or propensity on the specific roadway to be analyzed.

For Systemic Safety Studies:

Data should be provided which demonstrates an incident history associated with the risk factor to be studied.

HQ: Provided data clearly demonstrates the need for this activity.

Q: Some data that demonstrates the need for the activity.

NQ: Applicant did not demonstrate that the activity is in a safety plan.

Category:

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT

AND OTHER ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES AS LISTED IN 23 U.S.C. 148(A)(4)

Criteria Description Rating Guide

Summarize any data that clearly demonstrates the need for the project.

Summarizing the best available data that demonstrates a history or risk of transportation incidents which are expected to be reduced by the proposed activity.

Average daily traffic volumes, pedestrian volumes, traffic citation statistics, public surveys, and sign inventories are examples of alternative safety data sources which could be used to supplement relevant incident history.

HQ: Data included in the application that directly supports the project. This should be site specific data that describes the crash history and directly demonstrates the safety need.

Q: Some data included in the application that demonstrates risks and supports the project; This data could be an area‐wide incident history (such as the results of a systemic safety study) or an explanation that an incident history is not available along with some supporting data from an alternative safety data.

NQ: No data provided in the application to support the request.

What strategic safety planning document(s) identify this project?

Please provide a page number or describe where this project is identified in the supporting strategic safety planning document(s).

For the infrastructure improvement category, the strategic safety planning document may be a current state Strategic Highway Safety Plan, a Tribe’s transportation safety plan, Road Safety Audit, impact assessment, or other safety engineering study.

Describe how the safety planning document(s) from the previous question was developed using the best available data and a comprehensive approach (with participation from all safety stakeholders including those representing emergency medical services, enforcement, education, and engineering)?

HQ: Project is identified in a current State SHSP or Tribe’s transportation safety plan that uses the best available data and a comprehensive approach, coordinating with multiple safety stakeholders to address transportation safety needs, and is less than 5 years old or road safety audit, or impact assessment, or other safety engineering study;

Q: Project is identified in a current State SHSP or a Tribe’s transportation safety plan that is data‐driven and uses a comprehensive approach (the supporting document is more than 5 years old);

NQ: The application did not provide documentation that demonstrates that the requested Data Assessment, Improvement, and Analysis Activity is supported by a State SHSP or Tribe’s safety plan that uses the best available data and a comprehensive approach.

What entity owns the facility(s)?

HQ: Project located on a BIA or Tribal facility; The intersection of a Tribal/BIA route with a facility of another ownership will be considered HQ for this criterion.

Q: Facility not owned by a Tribe or BIA

NQ: N/A

Route number(s) from the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory (NTTFI)

Required for infrastructure improvement projects. Routes must be both official and existing (not proposed roads) to be eligible.

Prior TTPSF Awards HQ: Tribe has not received funding for a TTPSF transportation safety construction project in more than 5 years;

Q: Tribe has received funding for a TTPSF transportation safety construction project within the past 5 years.

NQ: N/A