Any State, or any authority designated by one or more State(s) to carry out the preconstruction planning activities under the Maglev Deployment Program is eligible to participate in the Maglev Deployment Program.

(a) Project eligibility standards for preconstruction planning financing. (1) As required by 23 U.S.C. 322(d)(4), in order to be eligible to receive financial assistance, a Maglev project shall:

(i) Involve a segment or segments of a high-speed ground transportation corridor that exhibit Partnership Potential;

(ii) Require an amount of Federal funds for project financing that will not exceed the sum of Federal Maglev Funds, and the amounts made available by States under STP and CMAQ;

(iii) Result in an operating transportation facility that provides a revenue producing service;

(iv) Be undertaken through a public and private partnership, with at least 1/3 of Full Project Costs paid using non-Federal funds;

(v) Satisfy applicable statewide and metropolitan planning requirements;

(vi) Be approved by FRA based on an application submitted by a State or authority designated by one or more States;

(vii) To the extent that non-United States Maglev technology is used within the United States, be carried out as a technology transfer project; and

(viii) Be carried out using materials at least 70 percent of which are manufactured in the United States.

(2) FRA recognizes that applicants for preconstruction planning grants will not have detailed information with respect to some of the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, and that the purpose of a preconstruction planning grant is to develop much of this information with respect to a particular Maglev project. As required by § 268.15, an applicant will need to provide whatever information it has with respect to each of the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, together with a certification that the applicant fully intends to comply with the requirements of this paragraph (a) should its project be selected by FRA for final design, engineering and construction financing.

(b) Project eligibility standards for final design, engineering, and construction financing. FRA will select the most promising Maglev project for final design, engineering, and construction financing. To be eligible to be considered, the project must meet each of the following requirements; these requirements restate the requirements in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, but with more detail and in a different order:

(1) Purpose and significance of the project. (i) The project description shall point to a Maglev facility and daily operation the primary purpose of which is the conduct of a revenue-producing passenger transportation service between distinct points, rather than a service solely for the passengers' riding pleasure.

(ii) The project description shall incorporate scheduled operation at a top speed of not less than 240 mph.

(2) Benefits for the American economy. The project description shall include a certification as to paragraphs (b)(2) (i) and (ii) of this section and, as appropriate, a technology acquisition/transfer plan which describes the strategy for their accomplishment.

(i) Processes will be established that will enable an American-owned and -sited firm (or firms) to gain, in the course of the project, the capability to participate in the design, manufacture, and installation of the facilities and vehicles needed for a Maglev operation, if the owner of the selected version of Maglev technology is not an American-owned and -sited firm (thus meeting the technology transfer requirement of 23 U.S.C. 322).

(ii) The 70 percent U.S. content requirement content of 23 U.S.C. 322 will be carried out.

(3) Partnership potential. The project shall exhibit Partnership potential by satisfying the following:

(i) A private/public partnership must be in place that is ready, willing, and able to finance, construct, operate, and maintain the project;

(ii) The private/public partnership either owns the version of Maglev technology proposed to be implemented in the project, or has an agreement with the owner which affords full cooperation to the partnership in progressing the project, including implementation of the technology acquisition/transfer plan if applicable; and

(iii) The recipient of a preconstruction planning grant or the FRA has developed and endorsed a projection of system capital costs, demand, revenues, operating expenses, and total costs and benefits, that:

(A) Covers either the entire corridor in which the Maglev project is involved (“Corridor”), or the project considered independently;

(B) Demonstrates that private enterprise would be able to run the Corridor or the project—once built and paid for—as a completely self-sustaining entity, in which revenues will cover operating expenses and continuing investment needs; and

(C) Shows total benefits equal to or exceeding total costs.

(4) Funding Limits and Sources. The project description shall include a financing plan that demonstrates project completion with the $950 million in Federal Maglev Funds, funds remaining unobligated from the $55 million in contract authority, and the funds made available under STP and CMAQ. The project that is selected will be eligible for other forms of financial assistance provided under title 23 and TEA 21, including loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit. However, at least 1/3 of Full Project Costs must come from non-Federal Funds.

(5) Project Management. The State, the technology owner, and all other relevant project partners must include in the project description, an agreed upon—

(i) Management plan that defines the partnership, responsibilities, and procedures for accomplishing the project;

(ii) Project schedule that shows how timely implementation of the project will be accomplished, including, to the extent possible, a construction plan and schedule; and

(iii) Financial plan that shows how funds will flow, in accordance with the other requirements of this subsection.

(6) Planning/environmental process—(i) Assessment of environmental consequences of the proposed project. Recipients of preconstruction planning grants shall conduct an EA in support of the project description; and will prepare additional environmental studies for the project. The EA shall include information to support the grantee's decision to pursue the proposed project. The grantee shall develop the information and discuss the environmental consequences of the proposed technology and route in sufficient detail for the preparation of appropriate documentation by FRA to support selection of one project. This shall include: the identification of potential positive and negative environmental effects resulting from the technology (e.g. energy consumption compared to other transportation options); generic noise emissions at various distances from the centerline of the guideway; changes in electromagnetic field levels at various distances from the centerline of the guideway; and environmental screening of the proposed route (e.g., identification of land use; identification of endangered species possibly present and location of their critical habitat; identification of navigable waterways, wetlands and other sensitive water resources; and identification of the location of parks, wildlife refuges, historic and archaeological sites of National, State or local significance and other sites protected by section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act). The latter information and analysis shall be submitted four months in advance of the remainder of the project description. The above list is illustrative only. Grantees will be expected to review proposed work statements with FRA at pre-application meetings or through some other means to develop the final scope of this environmental review.

(ii) The project description must also include letters of endorsement of project implementation from all the State departments of transportation involved, and from all Metropolitan Planning Organizations for metropolitan areas that would be served by the project.

Completed application packages shall be returned to FRA by December 31, 1998. Applications shall be submitted to: Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, ATTN: Maglev Project, RDV-11, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Stop 20,Washington, DC 20590.

States, groups of States, or designated authorities that have Maglev projects are invited to submit applications in Phase I of the Maglev Deployment Program, the competition for preconstruction planning grants. The applications shall contain:

(a)(1) If submitted by a State: name, address, responsible party, telephone, fax number, and e-mail address of the State agency submitting the application; or

(2) If submitted by a designated authority: name, address, responsible party, telephone, fax number, and e-mail address of the designated authority and of the State agency or agencies on whose behalf the designated authority is submitting the application, together with letters from the State(s) evidencing all such designations;

(b) A description of the project concept, identifying its likely location, market area, length, and the transportation service that it would perform, and a preliminary estimate of the time that would be required—if funds are made available—to bring the project to the start of construction and then to the initiation of full revenue service. At its option, the applicant may include any reports already completed on the project as well as any additional descriptive material that would assist the FRA in evaluating the application;

(c) Whatever information the applicant has to demonstrate that the project meets the project eligibility standards in § 269.11(a), and the project selection criteria in § 268.17. together with a certification that the applicant fully intends to comply with the requirements in § 269.11 should its project be selected by FRA for final design, engineering and construction financing.

(d) A statement of work for the preconstruction planning activities to be accomplished under the planning grant. The statement shall describe the work to be performed, including but not necessarily limited to:

(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

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

(e) Management plan, schedule, and financial plan for accomplishing the preconstruction planning work under the planning grant;

(f) Letters supporting the application from the heads of all State departments of transportation involved, as well as from responsible officials of the Metropolitan Planning Organizations of all metropolitan areas to be served by the proposed project;

(g) A certification from the State, or from the authority designated by one or more States, that the 1/3 matching funds required for work under the planning grant are, or will be, available by the time the grants are announced. The source(s) of the matching must be shown in the financial plan under paragraph (e); and

(h) If the applicant has made a definitive choice of the particular Maglev technology proposed to be included, a description of that technology and the degree to which it has been produced and tested should be submitted. Further, if the applicant has identified organizations that would form members of the team that would implement the project, the names of those organizations and the persons representing them should also be submitted.

Except as qualified by § 268.19, the following criteria will govern FRA's selection of projects to receive funding under the Maglev Deployment Program.

(a) Purpose and significance of the project. (1) The degree to which the project description demonstrates attractiveness to travelers, as measured in passengers and passenger-miles.

(2) The extent to which implementation of the project will reduce congestion, and attendant delay costs, in other modes of transportation; will reduce emissions and/or energy consumption; or will reduce the rate of growth in needs for additional highway or airport construction. Measures for this criterion will include but not be limited to the present value of congestion reduction, pollution reduction, and/or facility cost-avoidance benefits.

(3) The degree to which the project will demonstrate the variety of operating conditions which are to be expected in the United States.

(4) The degree to which the project will augment a Maglev corridor or network that has been identified, by any State, group of States, or the FRA, as having Partnership Potential.

(b) Timely implementation. The speed with which the project can realistically be brought into full revenue service, based on the project description and on the current and projected development status of the Maglev technology selected by the applicant for the project.

(c) Benefits for the American economy. The extent to which the project is expected to create new jobs in traditional and emerging industries in the United States.

(d) Partnership potential. The degree to which the project description demonstrates Partnership Potential for the corridor in which it is involved, and/or for the project independently.

(e) Funding limits and sources. (1) The extent and proportion to which States, regions, and localities commit to financially contributing to the project, both in terms of their own locally-raised, entirely non-Federal funds, and in terms of commitments of scarce Federal resources from non-Maglev funds; and

(2) The extent and proportion to which the private sector contributes financially to the project.

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.

(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.

(b) Only one project will be selected in Phase IV of the Maglev Deployment Program and be eligible for any Federal construction funds that Congress chooses to make available. That one project must meet each and every project eligibility standard contained in § 268.11 (b). If more than one project down-selected in Phase III and funded through Phase IV meets all of these standards, then FRA will evaluate and compare the eligible projects according to the set of project selection criteria contained in § 268.17.

(c) In reviewing competing projects under the project eligibility standards and project selection criteria, the FRA will exercise particular vigilance regarding the following elements of the preconstruction planning process, although not to the exclusion of others:

(1) The credibility of the demand and revenue forecasts, cost estimates, and benefit/cost comparisons; and

(2) The credibility of the financial plan.

(d) FRA intends to make periodic reviews of the processes and products of grant recipients. Such reviews may include, at the FRA's option, reviews at key milestones in the preparation of project descriptions.