FTA Requests Comments on Proposed CIG Guidance Changes

It’s your classic example of “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Somewhat ironically, the entity involved here is the Department of Transportation (DOT). More exactly, DOT’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA). FTA issued a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on some initial guidance proposals to implement changes to the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program as necessitated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Comments on the proposals may be sent by April 14 to Regulations.gov by referring to DOT docket number FTA-2021-0010.

FTA last issued its CIG Final Interim Policy Guidance in June 2016. It now is proposing three initial changes to that guidance based on changes stemming from IIJA changes to the program. The changes generally cover three topics: (1) eligibility as a Core Capacity project; (2) how FTA will determine that a CIG project sponsor has demonstrated progress on meeting Transit Asset Management targets; and (3) how bundles of CIG projects can enter the Project Development phase of the program.

The responses to these initial proposed changes will further impact the overall CIG guidance down the line. After FTA reviews the responses, it will issue a final notice and incorporate the changes into the existing CIG policy guidance. Later, FTA intends to propose a more comprehensive update of the policy guidance for notice and comment, incorporating feedback the agency received in response to a request for information it published in July 2021. The three initial topics covered in the current request for comments “are intended to assist FTA in managing the CIG program in the near term while the more comprehensive CIG policy guidance changes are developed and proposed,” the agency added.

We encourage those with an interest in FTA’s CIG program to review the proposed changes and comment on them. FTA has a long road (or more appropriately, a long set of tracks) ahead of it going forward.

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