November RAMP Mtg Information: Grants

November's RAMP meeting was a full house to hear more about the grant applications for improvements along the I-5 corridor adjacent to JBLM.  This included a $5.7M grant through the Office of Economic Adjustment and a $34M grant through the TIGER III grant process.

(details after the jump)

RAMP Looks at Legislative Actions

Today, the RAMP met a Legislative Panel composed of Rep. Connie Ladenburg, Rep. Katrina Asay, Rep. Hans Zeiger and Sen. Jim Kastama for an overview of the legislative actions in the just completed 2011 Legislative Session.

In addition, Pierce County's Director of Government Relations, presented a report on the Washington State Transportation Budget for 2011-2013. 

Available as handouts was a Thurston Regional Planning Council grant application for JBLM/I-5 Congestion Relief Action Plan.

Additionally, Pierce County Councilmembers Rick Talbert and Stan Flemming and Tacoma Councilmember Jake Fey presented brief reports on their impressions and expectations from participation in the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber's 26th annual Washington-to-Washington, D.C. Conference.

Grants for Goods Movement

Today, FHWA announced it was soliciting applications for grant programs totaling an estimated $430 million nationwide. In previous years, some funding for these grant programs was designated by Congress and the remainder was discretionary and awarded through a competitive process. In the FY11 budget passed in April, Congress directed that all funds were discretionary.

WSDOT must submit all applications to FHWA by the close of business on June 3rd.  APPLICATIONS DUE TO WSDOT BY MAY 20!

The FHWA administers discretionary programs through its various offices. These discretionary programs represent special funding categories where FHWA solicits for candidates and selects projects for funding based on applications received. Each program has its own eligibility and selection criteria that are established by law, by regulation, or administratively. Descriptions for each program, along with selection criteria, are available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/discretionary

FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez identified the following goal for the 2011 Discretionary Program: “FHWA’s goal is to get these funds put to work as quickly as possible, providing needed transportation improvements and supporting economic growth. To that end, they are advancing these programs on an accelerated timeframe.”

Please send a copy of ALL project applications to your MPO and WSDOT (hlpgrants@wsdot.wa.gov) by the end of the day Friday, May 20th. MPOs will review the projects for consistency with the statewide and metropolitan planning requirements.

In addition, MPOs will prioritize the Public Lands Highways and Transportation, Community and System Preservation projects for their region and submit to WSDOT (taxs@wsdot.wa.gov) by the end of the day Wednesday, May 25th.

The details and applications for each of the programs are posted at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/discretionary  The nine programs for which Washington is eligible and approximate amounts of funding available Nationwide (including any carryover funding from previous years) are as follows:

• Ferry Boat Program - $42,479,303
• Highways for Life Program - $22,622,895
• Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment Program - $4,163,000
• Interstate Maintenance Program - $93,202,918
• National Scenic Byways Program - $40,542,344
• Public Lands Highway Program - $94,588,680
• Rail Highway Crossing Elimination in High Speed Rail Corridors - $33,313,210
• Transportation, Community and System Preservation Program - $57,085,000
• Truck Parking Pilot Program - $7,300,000

Final prioritization for PLHD, TCSP, Ferry Boat and Rail Highway Crossing programs will be by a team with representatives from Association of Washington Cities, Washington State Association of Counties and WSDOT.