1. What is the purpose of this Notice? This Notice is to notify the States of the procedures for the implementation of an $8,708,000,000 rescission of unobligated balances of Federal-aid highway funds apportioned to States. The funds will be rescinded on September 30, 2009. The rescission is required by section 10212 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Public Law (Pub. L.) 109-59, as amended by section 1302(b) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Pub. L. 109-280 and section 112 of the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110-244, as affected by title XI, subtitle D, section 1132(a) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Pub. L. 110-140.

2. Where are the initial calculations and explanations of the amounts to be rescinded? FHWA issued the initial calculations and explanations of the amounts to be rescinded in FHWA Notice 4510.711, Rescission of Unobligated Balances of Contract Authority on September 30, 2009, dated August 31, 2009.

3. What adjustments were made based on the flexibility provision contained in section 1132(b) of EISA?

   1. Pursuant to section 1132(b) of EISA, a State was allowed to make adjustments to the program-by-program distribution of the rescission amount administered under section 1132 of EISA within the State by transferring the amounts to be rescinded among the affected programs, except that in making such adjustments the State could not rescind from any such affected program more than 110 percent of the funds to be rescinded from the program as determined by the initial distribution.

   2. States that elected to make adjustments to the distribution of the rescission pursuant to section 1132(b) of EISA were required to respond no later than September 9, 2009. Table 1 shows the distribution of the rescission by program as adjusted for the flexibility provided in section 1132(b) of EISA. Table 2 shows the sub-State distribution of the amounts to be rescinded from urbanized areas with a population greater than 200,000 as adjusted for the flexibility provided in section 1132(b)of EISA.

4. What other adjustments will be made to the distribution of the rescission amount administered under section 1132 of EISA?

   1. Additional adjustments will be made to the distribution of the rescission amount administered under section 1132 of EISA based on the unobligated balances of funds on September 30, 2009, for each State, program, and urbanized area with a population greater than 200,000.

   2. Tables showing the final distribution of the rescission by program and by urbanized area with a population over 200,000, as adjusted for both the flexibility allowed pursuant to section 1132(b) of EISA and the unobligated balances of funds as of September 30, 2009, will be provided after the funds are rescinded on September 30, 2009.

5. How was the programmatic distribution determined for the rescission amount administered under section 10212 of SAFETEA-LU?

   1. Pursuant to section 10212(c)(1) of SAFETEA-LU, as amended, within each State, the rescission amount administered under section 10212 of SAFETEA-LU was distributed among the programs by the ratio that the unobligated balances of funds for each of the Appalachian Development Highway System, Safe Routes to School, and Coordinated Border Infrastructure programs available to each State on September 30, 2009, bears to the combined unobligated balances of funds for the Appalachian Development Highway System, Safe Routes to School, and Coordinated Border Infrastructure programs available to the State on September 30, 2009.

   2. The data used to determine the program-by-program distribution was the unobligated balances of funds as of 11:59 p.m. on September 25, 2009 (which due to the closing of the FMIS system is equivalent to the unobligated balances as of September 30, 2009). Table 3 shows the distribution of the amounts to be rescinded under section 10212 of SAFETEA-LU by program.

6. What is the "covered program" provision that applies to the rescission amount administered under section 10212 of SAFETEA-LU?

   1. Pursuant to section 10212(c)(2) of SAFETEA-LU, as amended, a second calculation was made for each program not apportioned under chapter 1 of title 23, U.S.C. that is also a "covered program." The term "covered program" means those programs authorized under sections 130 and 152 of title 23, U.S.C., paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 133(d) of that title, section 144 of that title, section 149 of that title, and section 1404 of SAFETEA-LU, as amended. The Safe Routes to School program was the only program that was subject to this "covered program" calculation.

   2. The alternate "covered program" calculation was computed by multiplying the State's total rescission amount administered under section 10212 of SAFETEA-LU by the ratio that the total amount apportioned to the State for Safe Routes to School for FYs 2004 through 2009 bears to the aggregate amount apportioned to the State for all programs not under chapter 1 of title 23, U.S.C., that are subject to the rescission for FYs 2004 through 2009. Table 4 shows the "covered program" calculations for the Safe Routes to School program.

   3. If the amount to be rescinded for the Safe Routes to School program calculated per paragraph 5(a), exceeds the amount calculated per paragraph 6(b), then

      1. (1)The amount calculated in paragraph 5(a) will be rescinded; and

      2. (2)Pursuant to section 10212(d)(2) of SAFETEA-LU, as amended, the State shall immediately restore to the Safe Routes to School program from the unobligated balances of programs not apportioned under chapter 1 of title 23, U.S.C., that are subject to the rescission (Appalachian Development Highway System and Coordinated Border Infrastructure programs) the amount of funds required so that the net rescission from the Safe Routes to School program does not exceed the amount calculated in paragraph 6(b). Table 4 shows the amounts that must be restored to the Safe Routes to School program. The State must indicate its plan to restore the required funds to the Safe Routes to School program in the attached Table 5 template.

7. How will the funds be rescinded from the FMIS? The funds will be rescinded from each program by the program codes for that program. Table 6 shows the program codes that are eligible for rescission for each program. The funds will be rescinded using a first-in, first-out method.

8. What actions are required?

   1. Division Administrators should ensure that this Notice is provided to State departments of transportation.

   2. Not later than the close of business on September 28, 2009, a State must indicate how the unobligated balances to be restored to the Safe Routes to School program will be split between the Appalachian Development Highway System program and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure program. If a State does not provide a response by the deadline, the unobligated balances to be restored to the Safe Routes to School program will be split proportionally between the Appalachian Development Highway System program and the Coordinated Border Infrastructure program based on the remaining unobligated balances of those programs after the rescission. Each Division Administrator should ensure that this information is submitted on the attached Table 5 to the FHWA Office of Budget (HCFB) official electronic mailbox, "FHWA, BudgetDivision."

9. What is the timeline for implementing the rescission?

   1. September 28: A State that is required to restore funds to the Safe Routes to School program based on the "covered program" calculation must provide a response via e-mail to "FHWA, BudgetDivision" by no later than close of business on September 28, 2009.

   2. September 29 – 30: The FMIS Team will withdraw funds from FMIS.

Attachment

Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6

Related Information

The tables below show the final amounts that were rescinded on September 30, 2009 pursuant to section 1132 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and section 10212 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), as amended. The final amounts incorporate all adjustments made based on unobligated balances as of September 30, 2009.

• Initial versus Final Rescission Amounts
• Final Rescission Amounts by Program
• Final Rescission Amounts by Urbanized Area
• Restoration of Funds to Safe Routes to School Program
• Net Reductions after Restoration to Safe Routes to School