The Ferguson Group Blog

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, the TFG Blog posts a series of articles published over the previous week that discusses topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

What Impact Will the Community Broadband Act Have?

The Community Broadband Act would give cities and counties the right to build municipal broadband networks, making a broad statement for the future of connectivity, according to experts. While partisan politics may doom the measure, advocates for local control believe the effort is already a victory because of the publicity the issue has received. Read more...

What Obama’s 2016 Budget Means for States and Localities

President Barack Obama’s record $4 trillion proposed budget would provide boons to states and localities in a host of areas, from infrastructure to education. But the White House’s spending plan again includes cuts or limits to popular programs such as community development block grants. Read more...

Beyond Traffic – Planning for the Future of Transportation

On February 2, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, along with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, unveiled Beyond Traffic, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s new framework for building an intelligent transportation network and avoiding the transit nightmare the agency envisions if the current system is not modernized. Foxx said he hopes to stimulate a public conversation about the future of transportation while also warning elected officials that failing to act will have disastrous consequences. Read more...

Can a Crowdsourced Data Service Change Emergency Response?

Smart911, a new emergency data service, links phone numbers with resident contact and medical information. This capability allowed firefighters and dispatchers in Traverse City, Michigan, to locate a person’s house within the area of the traced call during a near-fatal home fire. Read more...

DOL Invests $100M in Apprenticeship Grants

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that $100 million in grants will be invested in launching innovative, high-quality apprenticeship programs across the country. These public-private partnerships will identify key goals for economic growth and align strategies to ensure skilled workers are available to fuel and sustain this growth. Many industries, especially manufacturing, are looking to apprenticeship programs as the future of job training to prepare the next generation of skilled workers. Read more...

Check out this year’s Bus and Bus Facilities Grant Winners

This week, winners of the competitive Bus and Bus Facilities “Ladders of Opportunity” Initiative grant program were officially posted on the Federal Register. The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) awarded $100 million in competitive grants to 24 recipients in 19 states to significantly improve bus service and bus facilities in urban and rural communities.

The Bus and Bus Facilities program supports the modernization and expansion of transit bus service, with the purpose of connecting disadvantaged and low-income populations with centers of education, employment, job training, healthcare and other vital services. Grant money provides financial assistance to purchase, replace, or rehabilitate buses, bus facilities, and bus-related equipment, and other eligible capital project costs.

Click here to see this year’s Bus and Bus Facilities “Ladders of Opportunity” Initiative project selections.

This year, the FTA received 446 project proposals from 282 applicants requesting a total of approximately $1.4 billion – 14 times the available funding! This highly competitive response clearly reflects tremendous demand for modern buses and bus facilities in communities across the United States. What needs does your community have?

USDA Announces Funds Supporting Local Farmers

Last week, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Vilsack awarded over $52 million to support local and regional food systems and the organic industry through five USDA grant programs.

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) awarded over $27 million in competitive grants to expand marketing through the new Farmers Market and Local Food Marketing Promotion Program (FMPP and LFPP), as well as over $1 million in matching grants through the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP).

The FMPP and LFPP grants combine local food, creative ideas and new partnerships with an emphasis on improving food access and economic growth in communities around the country. The FSMIP grant provides matching funds to assist State Agencies in exploring new market opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products, and to encourage research and innovation aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of the marketing system.

Check out USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative to learn about other funding mechanisms supporting local farmers.

U.S. DOT Awards 72 TIGER Grants

An official DOT TIGER announcement wasn’t expected until mid-September, but after several lawmakers pre-emptively announced projects in their states last week, DOT released award announcements early.

On Friday, Secretary Foxx announced $600 million in TIGER awards among 72 transportation projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia. The TIGER program is a unique opportunity within DOT that invests in high-impact projects including roads, bridges, freight and passenger rail, transit buses and streetcars, port infrastructure, and bicycle and pedestrian paths, in order to achieve critical objectives for the nation. This year, DOT funded 26 road projects, 17 transit projects, 12 regional planning projects, 7 maritime projects, 7 rail projects and 3 bike pedestrian projects.

View the full list of FY2014 TIGER award recipients here.

Does your community have a high-impact transit project that needs additional funding? If so, you should learn more about DOT’s TIGER Program by visiting http://www.dot.gov/tiger.

FEMA Expands Funding Eligibility for Flood Risk Reduction Projects

Following a review of relevant legislation, regulations and policy, FEMA has revised the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Program’s guidance concerning the types of physical flood risk reduction projects it will consider funding. FEMA’s HMA Programs include Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM) and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program. The programs aim to support mitigation against flooding and other natural disasters.

Prior to review, the 2013 HMA Unified Guidance stated that only “minor localized flood reduction projects” were eligible for funding. This definition did not include “major flood control projects” related to the construction, demolition, or repair of dams, dikes, levees, floodwalls, seawalls, groins, jetties, breakwaters and erosion projects related to beach nourishment or re-nourishment.

 

Publishing new policy on June 18, 2014, “Eligibility of Flood Risk Reduction Measures under the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Programs,” FEMA has revised the guidance allowing for the construction, demolition, or mitigation of dams, dikes, levees, floodwalls, seawalls, groins, jetties, breakwaters and erosion projects related to beach nourishment or re-nourishment under the HMGP and PDM programs. 

How does the expansion of eligible projects under HMA impact your local flood mitigation efforts?

EPA Announces Brownfields Grants Winners

On May 28, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that 171 communities will receive 264 Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup (ARC) grants totaling $67 million in EPA brownfields funding. These funds will give communities like High Point, NC and businesses like Congress Street Hill Property, LLC of Belfast, ME a chance to return economic stability to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods through the assessment and clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties. The City of High Point will use community-wide assessment funds to conduct Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments for both hazardous substances and petroleum. Congress Street Hill Property, LLC will access brownfields cleanup grant funds to remediate the Old Waldo County Jail site which has environmental concerns including inorganic contaminants, metals and PCBs.

View the full list of FY 2014 brownfield award recipients here.

Does your community have properties that require assessment or remediation? If so, you should learn more about EPA’s Brownfields Program by visiting www.epa.gov/brownfields/.

Just Announced: COPS Grants Available for FY 2014

On May 22, the United States Department of Justice announced open solicitations for a series of COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Grant Programs available for FY 2014. Applications must be submitted via the COPS Office Online Application System by June 23, 2014. Recent solicitations include:

The COPS Hiring Program (CHP), whichprovides funding to hire police officers, with additional consideration for the hiring of police officers to focus on selected community policing issues. Applicants may request funds to hire new officers, rehire recently laid-off officers, or maintain officers scheduled to be laid-off. Read more.

The COPS Community Policing Development (CPD) Program, which provides funding to advance the practice of community policing in law enforcement agencies through training and technical assistance, the development of innovative community policing strategies, demonstration projects, applied research, guidebooks, and best practices that are national in scope and responsive to the solicitation topic requirements. The COPS Office, a federal provider of innovative, customer-focused resources that address the continuing and emerging needs of those engaged in enhancing public safety through community policing, has designed the CPD solicitation to address critical topics in the law enforcement field by building on the principles of community policing. Read more.

The Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance (CRI-TA) Program, provides funding to technical assistance providers to work with law enforcement agencies to assess issues that affect police and community relationships. The COPS Office, a federal provider of innovative, customer-focused resources, has designed CRI-TA to provide a unique service to law enforcement agencies by focusing on the importance of the community perspective in state, local, territory, or tribal law enforcement issues. CRI-TA adopts a comprehensive approach that can enhance the relationship between law enforcement and the citizens they serve. Read more.

Get Your Public Comments in on Draft Second Round Promise Zone Application Guides!

In preparation for this fall’s open solicitation for the second round of Promise Zone designations, HUD has published draft guidelines for urban, rural, and tribal communities, initiating a 60-day public comment period. The public comment period will close on June 16, 2014. The final second round Promise Zone Application Guide is expected to be posted later this year.

As part of President Obama’s bold agenda, to a make our nation a magnet for jobs, equip Americans with the skills to do these jobs, give a high quality education to all children and ensure that hard work leads to a decent living, a total of 20 Promise Zone designations will be made by the end of 2016, including the five designations announced in January 2014. A minimum of five and up to fifteen designations will be made in this round.

Questions or comments pertaining to the draft application guides should be sent by email to [email protected] with ‘‘Second Round Promise Zone selections’’ in the subject line. To learn more about Promise Zones, please go to: https://www.onecpd.info/promise-zones/.

New Round of TIGER Grants Announced

Exciting News from the US Department of Transportation!  On Feb. 26, the Department released the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the next round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant Program, which is also known as “TIGER VI.” A total of $600 million is available for grants in this round of TIGER, which is a $50 million increase over the TIGER V round. The NOFA is very similar to the last round, except that there is a set-aside this time of up to $35 million for planning grants. These grants should be especially attractive for smaller communities and projects that are not far enough along in the environmental process to qualify for a TIGER construction grant. Another important change is the far longer length of time this round in which TIGER awardees will have to obligate their federal money (the shortness of which in the last round was something the Department wished to rectify).

The deadline for TIGER VI applications is April 28, 2014, at 5:00 p.m. EDT and you can download the NOFA on the TIGER website at: www.dot.gov/TIGER.

EfficientGov Webcast: Unveiling of the New GrantProfiler and GrantWriter Solutions

EfficientGov is hosting an informative 30 minute webcast on a new suite of innovative grant services designed exclusively for local governments. The webcast will be held on Thursday, October 24^th from 1:00pm to 1:30pm EST and will focus on three key grants related services including: 

GrantProfiler- This new grant profiling service includes a comprehensive demographic and economic analysis for local municipalities and connects them to federal grant opportunities for which they are most eligible so they can focus on real opportunities for funding.

GrantWriter – EfficientGov’s new GrantWriter service will match municipalities with qualified, certified and successful grant writers.

GrantFinder – GrantFinder is the most cost-effective searchable database of 2,500+ active federal, state, corporate and foundation grants available to local governments.

The Ferguson Group is excited to be a presenter during the webcast and encourages everyone to log in and learn more about these exciting new services. Sign up for the webinar here.