PKG00258766-instructions.docx

Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Program – 2020 NOFO Date Posted: Tuesday, March 3, 2020 Date Closed: Monday May 4, 2020 Opportunity ID: FTA-2020-011-TPE-HOPE Grant Program: https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/notices

Federal Register Notice: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/03/2020-04250/fiscal-year-2020-competitive-funding-opportunity-helping-obtain-prosperity-for-everyone-hope

March 3, 2020. Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): Solicitation of Project Proposals for the Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Program was established in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, for $8.5 million to provide funds to eligible applicants that are in areas of persistent poverty. Synopses and full announcement are posted on Grants.gov site as opportunity FTA-2020-011-TPE-HOPE. Proposals must be submitted electronically through GRANTS.GOV website by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on May 4, 2020.

Summary: The FTA may award grants to eligible recipients for planning, engineering, or development of technical or financing plans for projects eligible under Chapter 53 of Title 49 United States Code and located in areas of persistent poverty. In FY 2020, FTA is encouraging applicants to propose projects that may introduce innovative technologies or practices in support of FTA’s Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) initiative and, consistent with the R.O.U.T.E.S. Initiative, that address the challenges faced by rural areas of persistent poverty.

Eligible Applicants: The HOPE Program provides funds to eligible applicants defined as eligible recipients or sub-recipients under 49 U.S.C. 5307, 49 U.S.C. 5310 or 49 U.S.C. 5311 that are in areas of persistent poverty. Applicants are encouraged to work with non-profits or other entities of their choosing to develop an eligible project. An eligible project for the Notice of Funding Opportunity is defined as either a planning study, including a planning and environmental linkages study that advances the environmental analysis and review process as part of the metropolitan planning process, engineering study, technical study, or financing plan. The proposed projects must be in counties with 20% or more of the population living in poverty over the 30 years preceding the date of enactment of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, or December 20, 2019, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial census and the most recent Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, or any census tract with a poverty rate of at least 20% as measured by the 2013-2017, 5-year data series available from the American Community Survey (ACS) of the Census Bureau.

Link and Instructions for attaching the supplemental form to the SF-424: All applicants must complete the attached supplemental form and attach it to their submission in Grants.gov.

Dates: An applicant must submit a proposal electronically by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on May 4, 2020. Any agency intending to apply should initiate the process of registering on the GRANTS.GOV site immediately to ensure completion of registration before the submission deadline.

For Further Information Contact: For information on this RFP for the HOPE Program, contact Charles Goodman, Office of Planning and Environment, 202-366-1944 e-mail: Charles.Goodman@dot.gov or consult our FAQs at https://www.transit.dot.gov/ FTA plans to hold two webinars on this funding opportunity in late March and early April. The webinar will provide an overview of the program, described eligible applicants and projects, and provided an opportunity for attendees to obtain answers to questions. Details on the time and date of the webinar as well as call in instructions will be available on the HOPE Program page.