Word version of this memo (112 kb)

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration

MEMORANDUM

The purpose of this memo is to request applications for the 2010 Interstate Maintenance Discretionary (IMD) program for funds available for discretionary selections by the Secretary.  The division offices are requested to notify their respective States concerning this announcement and collect applications and submit them to this office as outlined below.

Title 23 U.S.C. section 118(c)(1), as amended by section 1111(a) of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, Public Law 109-59) and extended by the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2010, (Public Law 111-147), authorizes the IMD program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 at the same level as FY 2009, $100,000,000.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111-117), appropriated obligation limitation and included a list of designated projects.  Applications for these projects were requested under a separate memorandum dated January 29, 2010.  The designated projects account for $87,503,000.  Because there will be approximately $10 Million available for award considering obligation limitation and previous years available funds, at this time we are requesting applications for projects for the IMD program.  Attachment 1 is the template for the application to be submitted for the non-designated projects.  Please note that States may still submit applications for the designated projects although the due date has passed.

Due to the limited available funds, each State will be permitted to submit only one project for our consideration.  Awards are anticipated to be in amounts of no more than $1,000,000 per project.  Priority will be given to projects that will be under construction in fiscal year 2011 or sooner.  The candidate projects must meet the eligibility criteria for the IMD program, and will be evaluated on the selection criteria established for the IMD program.  These criteria are listed in Attachment 2.  Priority will be given to projects with a total cost exceeding $10,000,000 on any high volume route in an urban area or a high truck-volume route in a rural area on Interstate routes eligible under title 23 U.S.C. section 118(c).

Note that the State must be eligible to submit an application for the program as well.  To be eligible, in accordance with title 23 U.S.C. section 118(c)(2)(a), the State must demonstrate that it will obligate in FY2010 all of its Interstate Maintenance apportionments (FMIS program code L010 or L01E) other than an amount that, by itself, is insufficient to pay the Federal share of an eligible project.  Also, the administrative policy that the State must not have transferred or plan to transfer any NHS or Interstate maintenance funds to other programs in FY 2010 will be continued but will only apply as of the date of this memo.  Only transfers authorized prior to this memo may be considered acceptable.

The applications must be submitted electronically in MS Word format (see Attachment 2).

Project applications must be received in Headquarters no later than July 9, 2010 to be considered.  Late applications may not be considered for discretionary selections.  When submitting the State’s project application, the division office shall transmit them via email to Tony DeSimone (Anthony.DeSimone@dot.gov) of my staff.  Your email transmittal should include:

1. a statement from the division office that the State’s submittal has been reviewed by the division office and that it meets the submission and eligibility requirements and that the State will obligate all of its available apportionment of IM funds;
2. the State transportation department’s submission email or letter to the FHWA division office; and
3. each MS Word application as an attachment.

Information on the IMD program is included as Attachment 2 to this memorandum.  This contains background information on the program including detailed eligibility and selection criteria, as well as the submission requirements.  This solicitation memorandum will also be posted on our FHWA website at www.fhwa.dot.gov/discretionary.

At the AASHTO Spring Business meeting in May, the Administrator rolled out a list of innovation initiatives as part of Every Day Counts.  This new solicitation for FY 2010 is a great opportunity to encourage your State to use the appropriate innovations promoted in this program, including Accelerating Innovation and Technology Deployment and Shortening Project Delivery initiatives.

If there are any questions, please contact Mr. DeSimone (317-226-5307) of my staff.  Thank you for your prompt attention.

Attachments

• FY 2010 Project Application
• Program Information