PUBLIC LAW 109–59—AUG. 10, 2005
119 STAT. 1577
‘‘(ii) existing grant commitments; ‘‘(iii) the degree to which financing sources are dedicated to the proposed purposes; ‘‘(iv) any debt obligation that exists, or is proposed by the recipient, for the proposed project or other public transportation purpose; and ‘‘(v) the extent to which the project has a local financial commitment that exceeds the required nonFederal share of the cost of the project. ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION OF FISCAL CAPACITY OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—If the Secretary gives priority to financing projects under this subsection that include more than the non-Federal share required under subsection (h), the Secretary shall give equal consideration to differences in the fiscal capacity of State and local governments. ‘‘(5) PROJECT ADVANCEMENT AND RATINGS.— ‘‘(A) PROJECT ADVANCEMENT.—A proposed project under this subsection shall not advance from alternatives analysis to preliminary engineering or from preliminary engineering to final design and construction unless the Secretary determines that the project meets the requirements of this section and there is a reasonable likelihood that the project will continue to meet such requirements. ‘‘(B) RATINGS.—In making a determination under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall evaluate and rate the project on a 5-point scale (high, medium-high, medium, medium-low, or low) based on the results of the alternatives analysis, the project justification criteria, and the degree of local financial commitment, as required under this subsection. In rating the projects, the Secretary shall provide, in addition to the overall project rating, individual ratings for each of the criteria established by regulation. ‘‘(6) POLICY GUIDANCE.— ‘‘(A) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish policy guidance regarding the new fixed guideway capital project review and evaluation process and criteria— ‘‘(i) not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of the Federal Public Transportation Act of 2005; and ‘‘(ii) each time significant changes are made by the Secretary to the process and criteria, but not less frequently than once every 2 years. ‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMENT AND RESPONSE.—The Secretary shall— ‘‘(i) invite public comment to the policy guidance published under subparagraph (A); and ‘‘(ii) publish a response to the comments received under clause (i). ‘‘(e) CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS LESS THAN $75,000,000.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— ‘‘(A) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided by subparagraph (B), a new fixed guideway capital project shall be subject to the requirements of this subsection if the Federal assistance provided or to be provided under this section for the project is less than $75,000,000 and the total estimated net capital cost of the project is less than $250,000,000.
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