§268.11. Project eligibility standards. — Inbound Citations

The FRA will evaluate the applications for their completeness and responsiveness to the requirements listed in § 268.15. In addition, applicants are advised that the Maglev Deployment Program contains a number of project eligibility standards (minimum threshold standards) and project evaluation criteria that will guide the FRA's review of the project descriptions produced under the Planning Grants. The FRA's implementation of these standards and criteria appears in § 268.11 and § 268.17, respectively. Although subject to revision, the information in § 268.11 and § 268.17 should assist the States in completing their applications in the competition for planning grants, since the project descriptions will need to respond to the standards and criteria. In evaluating the applications for planning grants, FRA will consider how consistent the applicant's project is to the standards and criteria, and the application's likelihood of leading to a project that meets all the standards and criteria.

(1) Preconstruction planning work as is needed to develop a Maglev project, and project description that will satisfy the project eligibility standards in § 268.11(b), and the project selection criteria in § 268.17; and

(a) Upon completion of Phase III of the Maglev Deployment Program, FRA will down-select one or more projects to complete additional environmental studies, investment grade revenue forecasts, and other studies and analyses necessary prior to initiation of construction. Final design and engineering work will also be initiated for the down-selected project(s). To be down-selected a project must appear to meet the project eligibility standards contained in § 268.11 (b), rate highly in the project selection criteria specified in § 268.17, be judged by FRA to have a good chance of being constructed with the Federal funds authorized for this program, and be successfully operated by a public/private partnership.

As used in this part—

(2) Preparation of EAs, as described in § 268.11(b)(6)(i);