FINAL.FY2019.SCASDP.NOFO.AMENDMENT1A.01-15-2021.pdf

Order 2021-1-4 Served: January 19, 2021

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation on the 19th day of January, 2021

In the Matter of Grant Applications

SMALL COMMUNITY AIR SERVICE

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

under 49 U.S.C. § 41743

Docket DOT-OST-2020-0231

ORDER AMENDING ORDER 2020-11-5

SOLICITING SMALL COMMUNITY GRANT APPLICATIONS

By Order 2020-11-5, issued November 24, 2020, in this Docket, the Department invited applications from communities and/or consortia of communities interested in obtaining a Federal grant under the Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP), to address air service and airfare issues in their communities. The Department noted that it had up to $13 million available for these Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 grant awards, and set a deadline for submission of applications of 4:00 PM EST on January 26, 2021.1

On December 27, 2020, the President signed into law the The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-260). The law includes a new appropriation of up to $5 million for SCASDP, and requires the Department “to give priority to communities or consortia of communities that have had air carrier service reduced or suspended as a result of the coronavirus pandemic” for this funding and for funding for fiscal years 2019, 2020, and 2021. It also requires that the Department publish procedures to allocate this funding no later than 60 days after enactment of the law, and award the funds to grantees as soon as practicable.2

The Department is amending Order 2020-11-5 to incorporate the relevant changes set forth in Pub. L. No. 116-260, and to set a new due date for applications filed in this proceeding.

1 Details of the Small Community Program, its enabling legislation, and its application and selection processes can be found in Order 2020-11-5.

2 See Pub. L. No. 116-260, Division M, “Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act, 2021,” Title IV, Section 4.

Specifically, we are making the following changes to Order 2020-11-5:

1. The total funding for FY 2019 grant awards is changed from “up to $13 million” to “up to $18 million” in the following places where the total funding available is stated: page 1, paragraph 1; and page 3, full paragraph 4, first sentence.

2. A new footnote 3 is added to page 3, full paragraph 4, at the end of the first sentence, to read as follows:

“These monies are sourced as follows: $10 million in FY 2019 funding (Pub. L. No. 116- 6), up to $5 million in Coronavirus Response and Relief funding (Pub. L. No. 116-260), and up to $4 million in FY 2020 funding (Pub. L. No. 116-94). The exact amount available in this proceeding, not to exceed $18 million, is dependent on the Department’s final allocation of a portion of the Coronavirus Response and Relief funds among various programs.”

3. Former footnotes 3 through 18 are renumbered as footnotes 4 through 19.

4. The second sentence of the first full paragraph on page 3 is amended to read as follows:

“Appropriations are provided for this program for award selection in FY 2019 pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (Pub. L. No. 116-6), the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Pub. L. No. 116-94), and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-260).”

5. A new Priority Selection Criterion is added on page 10 as the third full paragraph, to read as follows:

“The assistance will be used to help restore scheduled passenger air service that has been reduced or suspended as a result of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. No.

116-260) requires the Department “to give priority to communities or consortia of communities that have had air carrier service reduced or suspended as a result of the coronavirus pandemic” when evaluating SCASDP grant applications. In addition to ongoing air service that was reduced or suspended, the Department interprets “suspended” to include new service that an air carrier intended and proposed to operate at an airport, but which never began due to the effects of the pandemic. Applicants relying on the new priority selection criterion should identify the specific markets where such a reduction or suspension of service has occurred, and provide evidence or data to support a finding by the Department that these air service impacts can be attributed to coronavirus pandemic-related factors. In assessing such applications, the Department may, among other things, use data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) operated departures and seats from Department collected T100 Service Segment data to establish the extent that services have been reduced or suspended by comparing year over year data by month for pre- and post-COVID periods or historically proposed and published air carrier schedules. Evidence could include, among other things, a letter from an airline’s planning department confirming current or past service intentions, public announcements of new but unrealized air service, and/or business documents between an airport and an airline. If an applicant claims that air carrier schedules were loaded but later withdrawn, a date reference for such loaded schedules, including week, month, and year would assist the Department. The Department will use the most current and complete data practicable at the time of evaluation.”

6. The first sentence of the following paragraph on page 10 is amended to read as follows:

“The assistance will be used to help restore scheduled passenger air service that has been terminated as a result of other causes.”

7. The due date for applications for grant awards is changed from January 26, 2021 to

March 1, 2021 in the following places: page 1, paragraph 2; page 8, full paragraph 3;

page 17, Ordering paragraph 1; Appendix C; and the final page of the Order (Confidential Commercial Information), paragraph 3. The due date to report technical filing issues is changed from January 27, 2021 to March 2, 2021 in Appendix A, page 4, full paragraph 2.

8. The maximum number of pages that an application may contain is increased from 20 to

21, and this change is made in the following places where the page limit for applications is stated: page 1, paragraph 2; page 6, full paragraph 3 (bullet 5); page 6, full paragraph 4 (lines 1 and 2); and Appendix C. This change will allow applicants extra space as to include, where relevant, information related to the new priority selection criterion.

All other terms and conditions of Order 2020-11-5 shall remain in full force and effect.

This Order is issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR § 1.25a(b).

ACCORDINGLY,

1. Order 2020-11-5 is amended as described above;

2. Applications for funding under the Small Community Air Service Development Program shall be submitted via www.grants.gov as an attachment to the SF424 by 4:00 PM EST, March 1, 2021; and

3. This Order will be posted on www.grants.gov and on www.regulations.gov, and served on the United States Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities, the National Governors Association, the National Association of State Aviation Officials, County Executives of http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.regulations.gov/

America, the American Association of Airport Executives, and the Airports Council International-North America.

By:

JOEL SZABAT

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available online at www.regulations.gov