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Federal-aid Programs and Special Funding

 
MEMORANDUM
Subject: Action: Canceled: Ferry Boat Program (FBP) FY2016 Full Year Distribution of Funds
[CFDA No. 20.205]
Date: November 30, 2016
From: /s/ Original signed by: Gregory Murrill
Acting Director, Office of Program Administration
Reply to Attn. of: HIPA-10
To: Division Administrators

Section 1112 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) authorizes funds for the formula based FBP program for the construction of ferry boat and ferry terminal facilities in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 129(c) and 23 U.S.C. 147, as amended. The FBP funds are made available for eligible projects through the State or territory using the data contained in the most recent Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) National Census of Ferry Operators (NCFO) database. States with at least one eligible entity that meets FBP requirements will receive at least $100,000 for each fiscal year, per 23 U.S.C. 147(f).

The Federal Highway Administrator has approved the distribution of FBP funds for FY 2016 based on the 2014 NCFO database. Please notify your State DOT that they may now request allocation of these funds for projects ready to be authorized.

The obligation authority for authorized funds is limited to 94.9% for FY 2016. Under the provisions of Section 1102(f) of the FAST Act, Redistribution of Certain Authorized Funds, only the amount of funds for which obligation limitation is provided will be made available and the remaining funds will be distributed to the States. As a result, $75,920,000 in FBP funds is available in FY 2016.

The attached table (Attachment 1) shows the distribution of funds by State and ferry service. The funds may only be used for eligible projects in the amount identified and may only be used on publicly owned terminals or boats. The available funding will be posted at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/specialfunding/fbp/.

The listed ferry services operate either publicly owned vessels, or utilize publicly owned terminal facilities. These publicly owned vessels or terminals are determined to be eligible for the FBP program funds based on the 2014 NCFO database and on follow up reviews by divisions and State DOTs. When requesting an allocation of funds, divisions must confirm that they have reviewed the ferry service and have determined that the operator and the route meet eligibility requirements in 23 U.S.C. 147 and 129(c), and described in the implementing guidance. Divisions should contact this office if they determine that a ferry service is not eligible for the program. The funds identified for such services will be redistributed to the remaining eligible services based on the statutory formula. Program guidance can be found at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/fastact/.

If a ferry operates between more than one State, the ferry service may elect to transfer funds to the appropriate State to implement an eligible project on the ferry system. States and ferry services should coordinate when selecting the projects. In these cases, the allocation request should include the State to which the funds are to be allocated or transferred. Funds may not be transferred among operators.

The maximum Federal share for a project in any State or Puerto Rico under this program is 80%. The maximum share in U.S. Territories is 100%. The sliding scale Federal share does not apply to this program. Other matching flexibilities such as donations and "soft match" may be considered. Guidance can be found at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/federal-aidessentials/catmod.cfm?id=13.

When a project is ready to be obligated and the division has confirmed that the ferry service and project are eligible, please submit an allocation request to this office to make the funds available in FMIS. The request should identify the operator and the purpose for which the funds will be used and include confirmation that the ferry operation is eligible.

These funds are available to eligible entities for three fiscal years following the fiscal year in which the funds were initially made available for allocation. FBP funds from FY 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 that remain unobligated on September 30, 2019 will be withdrawn and redistributed in FY 2020 to eligible entities from which no funds were withdrawn.

FBP funds are subject to the annual August Redistribution of Obligation Limitation.

If there are any questions and for allocation of funds, please contact Joseph Taylor at Joseph.Taylor@dot.gov or (410)779-7146.

Attachment

cc:
HIPA-1 (Murrill) HIPA-10 (Kleskovic; Bartz; Taylor) HIF (Lawndy)
HIPA Official Mailbox
Division Administrators
HPLS (Arnade) HPLS (Steinhoff)

Updated: 11/08/2019
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000