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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Notices
role in supporting economic vitality.
Accordingly, the significance of freight benefits for a project will be rated. The rating will be three tiered, based on the share of quantifiable benefits which are attributable project impacts to freight movement. A project for which 20% or more of the quantifiable benefits are attributable to project impacts on freight movement will be designated as having substantial freight benefits; for projects in which those benefits within a 520%
range will be designated as a project with moderate freight benefits; leaving projects for which less than 5% of the quantifiable benefits fall into this category to be designated as having incidental freight benefits.
iv. Non-Motorized Multimodal Rating Projects that expand or maintain options for non-motorized users are important to ensuring an equitable transportation system. The Department will determine, for each application, whether the project includes improvements for multimodal nonmotorized users. Accordingly, the Department anticipates awarding some INFRA funding to projects that include improvements for non-motorized multimodal users to advance the objective of Racial Equity and Barriers to Opportunity.
v. Evaluation of Large Project Requirements The following describes how the Department will evaluate the statutory Large Project requirements.
1. The project will generate national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits.
A project meets this determination if the Economic Vitality review documents national or regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits.
2. The project will be cost effective.
The Departments determination will be based on its estimate of the projects benefit-cost ratio: A project is determined to be cost effective if the Department estimates that the projects benefit-cost ratio is equal to or greater than one.
3. The project will contribute to the accomplishment of one or more of the goals described in 23 U.S.C 150.
A project meets this requirement if the Economic Vitality review documents benefits related to one of the following:
1 National Goals.It is in the interest of the United States to focus the Federal-aid highway program on the following national goals:
2 Safety.To achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.

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3 Infrastructure condition.To maintain the highway infrastructure asset system in a state of good repair.
4 Congestion reduction.To achieve a significant reduction in congestion on the National Highway System.
5 System reliability.To improve the efficiency of the surface transportation system.
6 Freight movement and economic vitality.To improve the national freight network, strengthen the ability of rural communities to access national and international trade markets, and support regional economic development.
7 Environmental sustainability.To enhance the performance of the transportation system while protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
8 Reduced project delivery delays.To reduce project costs, promote jobs and the economy, and expedite the movement of people and goods by accelerating project completion through eliminating delays in the project development and delivery process, including reducing regulatory burdens and improving agencies work practices.

4. The project is based on the results of preliminary engineering.
A project meets this requirement if the application provides evidence that at least one of the following activities has been completed at the time of application submission: Environmental assessments, topographic surveys, metes and bounds surveys, geotechnical investigations, hydrologic analysis, hydraulic analysis, utility engineering, traffic studies, financial plans, revenue estimates, hazardous materials assessments, general estimates of the types and quantities of materials, or other work needed to establish parameters for the final design.
5. With respect to related non-Federal financial commitments, one or more stable and dependable funding or financing sources are available to construct, maintain, and operate the project, and contingency amounts are available to cover unanticipated cost increases.
A project meets this requirement if the application demonstrates that financing sources are dedicated to the proposed project and are highly likely to be available within the proposed project schedule, and if it provides evidence of contingency funding in the project budget.
6. The project cannot be easily and efficiently completed without other Federal funding or financial assistance available to the project sponsor.
A project meets this requirement if the application demonstrates one or more of the following:
1 The project scope would be negatively affected if INFRA or other Federal funds were not received.

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2 The project schedule would be negatively affected if INFRA or other Federal funds were not received.
3 The project cost would materially increase if INFRA or other Federal funds were not received.

7. The project is reasonably expected to begin construction no later than 18
months after the date of obligation of funds for the project.
A project meets this requirement if the proposed project schedule and the evaluation of the project readiness evaluation team indicate that it is reasonably expected to begin construction not later than 18 months after obligation.
vi. Previous Awards The Department may consider whether the project has previously received an award from the BUILD, INFRA, or other departmental discretionary grant programs.
2. Review and Selection Process The USDOT will review all eligible applications received before the application deadline. The INFRA
process consists of a Technical Evaluation phase and Senior Review. In the Technical Evaluation phase, teams will, for each project, determine whether the project satisfies statutory requirements and rate how well it addresses the selection criteria. The Senior Review Team will consider the applications and the technical evaluations to determine which projects to advance to the Secretary for consideration. The Secretary will ultimately select the projects for award.
The selections identify the applications that best address program requirements and are most worthy of funding. A
Quality Control and Oversight Team will ensure consistency across project evaluations and appropriate documentation throughout the review and selection process.
3. Additional Information Prior to award, each selected applicant will be subject to a risk assessment as required by 2 CFR
200.206. The Department must review and consider any information about the applicant that is in the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM currently the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System FAPIIS.
An applicant may review information in FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal awarding agency previously entered.
The Department will consider comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in FAPIIS, in
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