HP Grant Funding Conference QA.pdf

1 3/22/2024

FMCSA High Priority Grant Funding Conference Q&A

The following questions were submitted to FMCSA by attendees during the FY2024 High Priority NOFO Funding Conference on March 12, 2024.

Topic 1: Application Process

1. What is the page limit for narrative sections and for HP application packages more generally?

Application narrative packages are limited to 35 total pages. This requirement is per application, not per project. Application package page limits and other requirements are outlined in the Application and Submission Information Section of the FY 2024 HP grant NOFOs. Every prospective applicant should thoroughly read and understand the NOFO prior to applying, especially since the current guidance includes changes from previous years.

NOTE: While you may include supplemental attachments with your application, you must include all required information in your application’s project and budget narrative. You should also indicate in the narrative when a supplemental attachment should be referenced for more detail.

2. If there's four projects, could that be covered by one problem statement or is it usually one problem statement for each project?

You must have separate narrative sections for each project. There may be overlap in narrative content, to the extent necessary, but they must be included separately and consecutively for each project.

The application package must include the following sections in consecutive order for each proposed project:

• Introduction;

• Problem Statement;

• Performance Objective;

• Performance Activity Plan;

• Performance Measurement Plan;

• Monitoring and Timeline/Milestone Plan; and

• Budget Narrative.

NOTE: Application narrative packages are limited to 35 total pages. This requirement is per application, not per project. Please plan your narrative sections accordingly, and make use

2 3/22/2024 of attachments to the extent necessary, but with the understanding that attachments do not take the place of meeting narrative section requirements and must be referenced in narrative section text. If attachments are not referenced in your narrative sections, they will not be considered during the review of your application.

3. On the 424A, did you say to break it out by project?

Each project needs its own column in the 424A. Further, costs have to be broken out by line item, and must be representative of costs as defined in your budget narrative(s).

4. Is an EIN all that’s needed to create an account in SAM and Grants.gov?

Visit https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration for detailed information and to complete your registration.

You can use this SAM.gov registration checklist to help prepare.

Topic 2: Applicant Eligibility

1. Who is eligible to apply for an HP grant? Can drivers apply?

Each NOFO outlines the eligibility requirements, including some requirements that apply to specific priority areas.

Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible for discretionary grant funding, which means drivers are most likely not considered eligible to apply.

FMCSA encourages all prospective applicants to thoroughly review and understand all NOFO requirements, including those pertaining to eligibility, prior to applying.

2. If you are applying under the HP-CMV opportunity, do you have to have a PP/TLD?

No. That requirement is specific to HP-ITD deployed projects.

3. Who is eligible to apply for the HP-CMV grant Human Trafficking priority?

The Human Trafficking sub-priority falls under the general Enforcement and Compliance with Safety Regulations Priority. These priorities are restricted to State and Local Enforcement Agencies. Please note the CMV inspection requirement.

Although the Human Trafficking enforcement priority has restricted eligibility, please check to see if your project meets the Public Awareness and Education requirements. FMCSA will consider public awareness and education projects that focus on human trafficking.

4. If an organization has an active HP-CMV grant, are they eligible to apply for funding?

Being a prior-year award recipient, in and of itself, will not preclude prospective FY 2024 HP applicants from funding consideration. However, negative prior performance (e.g., non-https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration https://www.fsd.gov/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=82f480491b4dfd142fe5ed7ae54bcb0c

3 3/22/2024 conformance, monitoring issues), will impact the prospective applicant’s risk score, and therefore overall likelihood of receiving funding.

5. If you were previously awarded for HP-CMV in FY23 and you want to reapply, does it need to be a new project, or can you enhance and continue that same project in FY24?

All applications must be new applications. As to whether you can enhance or continue the same project, it depends. To the extent that you can make the argument that your project fits into the four corners of the current FY NOFO, you could make a case for it.

However, it is important to understand that just because a project type received funding in prior years does not necessarily mean that it will receive funding this cycle. The converse can be true as well; just because a project type did not receive funding in prior years does not necessarily mean that it will not receive funding this cycle.

The reasons for this vary, but the degree to which your project aligns with NOFO priorities, whether NOFO requirements are addressed, and how competitive the cycle in question winds up being all factor into the likelihood of a similar project receiving subsequent funding.

Topic 3: Project Eligibility Details for HP-CMV

1. Would safety and fleet management products, such as monitors and HD cameras, be eligible under the Traffic Enforcement in High-Crash Areas?

Are county agencies allowed to apply for CMV pickup trucks and/or SUVs in this grant cycle?

If there’s a law that traffic enforcement is struggling to enforce, would an innovation in the form of a new ADAS technology be desirable?

FMCSA cannot weigh the individual merits of any given proposal at this stage. We encourage you to thoroughly read the NOFO under which you are applying. Unless otherwise precluded by the NOFO, or Uniform Guidance cost principles, the allowance for any given expense depends on its necessity and reasonableness in relation to the project and corresponding activities proposed.

2. For PRISM, does "immobilize" mean place out of service, or does it mean physically prevent it from moving?

PRISM provides States a safety mechanism to identify and immobilize motor carriers with serious safety deficiencies and hold them accountable through registration and law enforcement sanctions. Within the scope of PRISM, FMCSA defines a “motor carrier with serious safety deficiencies” as a motor carrier that FMCSA has prohibited from operating by issuing a Federal Out-of-Service (OOS) Order. The PRISM program requires motor carriers to correct their safety deficiencies to continue operating or face progressively stringent sanctions.

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States that fully participate in the PRISM program have an observable reduction in crashes and fatalities compared to States that do not fully participate.

It’s also restricted to those entities that have the ability and authority to do that.

Topic 4: Project Eligibility Details for HP-ITD

1. Would purchasing a simulator to incorporate into the CDL training program we have available at a community college be eligible for HP-ITD?

FMCSA cannot weigh the individual merits of any given proposal at this stage. We encourage you to thoroughly read the NOFO under which you are applying. Unless otherwise precluded by the NOFO, or Uniform Guidance cost principles, the allowance for any given expense depends on its necessity and reasonableness in relation to the project and corresponding activities proposed.

For topics pertaining to CDL, we also invite you to explore the following additional discretionary grant programs (NOTE: please thoroughly read any NOFO of interest to assess your eligibility and whether your project[s] are a good fit):

• CMV-OST – Funding Opportunity Number: FM-DTG-24-001

• CDLPI – Funding Opportunity Number: FM-CDL-24-002

2. Regarding FMCSA IT Modernization Efforts, can you please expand on what types of FMCSA modernization efforts are covered?

These are projects that are related to the FMCSA and State system interface in the context of IT modernization initiatives. They involve various aspects, from planning and design to development, testing, and compliance, which requires strategic phases of conceptualization, design, creation, and validation of novel interfaces between FMCSA and State systems. Within these undertakings are efforts to integrate harmonious technologies into the new application interface, facilitating the sustained State access to FMCSA's safety and credential data derived from the FMCSA data lake. These initiatives involve the enhancement of the State-FMCSA network protocol and application credentials, adaptation of CVIEW or equivalent software to ensure seamless application interaction, and information integrity.

3. Do you know where we can find the new IT requirements?

FMCSA is currently working on the new requirements for the FMCSA IT modernization efforts.

These requirements will be made available soon. Once available, States will be notified by the FMCSA ITD Program Manager.

4. What does “Electronic Inspection” entail?

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This includes projects that implement technologies associated with the deployment of electronic inspection capabilities of CMVs, including CMV driver authentication, and sharing that inspection data with FMCSA’s SafeSpect system.

If you have technologies/innovation to support electronic inspections, including the Level VIII Inspection concept that FMCSA is currently researching through an operational test, we’ll welcome that type of application.