SEP-16 / Submitted Documents by State /

Acceptance Letter for Major Projects IFP and PMP

Texas Division

May 5, 2020

Dear Mr. Bass:

On June 25, 2019, you submitted two letters of interest (LOI) to participate in the FHWA Special Experimental Project-16 (SEP-16) program. The proposals requested that FHWA consider allowing the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to experimentally assume responsibility to prepare and approve Major Project Initial Financial Plans, Annual Financial Plan Updates, and Project Management Plans.

We responded on September 16, 2019, indicating that we were suspending the SEP-16 evaluation process until completion of an internal FHWA assessment of the Major Projects program designed to identify a range of options to improve and change the program delivery process. We have completed this assessment and our review of your proposal and are inviting you to proceed with submitting a Concept Paper. As described in the FHWA September 20, 2018, Federal Register Notice establishing SEP-16, we envision the concept paper to be a more detailed document discussing your proposal, including the laws, controls and resources the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has in place to support taking on the requested FHWA responsibilities. In addition to the Major Project elements in your SEP-16 letters of interest, we suggest you also include detail regarding your Cost Estimation and Risk Assessment (CERA) and manual which you detailed in previous requests to FHWA in 2018 prior to the SEP-16 opportunity.

While we are inviting you to submit a more detailed paper, please keep in mind that we have not yet made a decision whether your proposal is suitable for experimentation under SEP-16 or other authorities. We will consider any additional information you may provide when we make our decision. In preparation for the development of this concept paper, we are happy to meet with you or your designees to discuss the specific areas that need to be addressed in the concept paper.

If you have any questions or to schedule this discussion, please contact Marcus Wilner at marcus.wilner@dot.gov or 512-536-5904.

Sincerely yours,