49 C.F.R. § 602.11 – Pre-award authority.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, pre-award authority for the Emergency Relief Program shall be effective beginning on the first day of the incident period, subject to the appropriation of Emergency Relief Program funds.
(b) Recipients may use section 5307 or section 5311 formula funds to address an emergency, and, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, pre-award authority shall be effective beginning on the first day of the incident period of the emergency or major disaster.
(c) For expected weather events, pre-award authority for evacuations and activities to protect public transportation vehicles, equipment and facilities, shall be effective in advance of the event under the following conditions:
1. (1) The Governor of a State declares a state of emergency and requests concurrence by the Secretary of Transportation or makes a request to the President for an emergency declaration, in advance or anticipation of the impact of an incident that threatens such damage as could result in a major disaster;
2. (2) The Governor takes appropriate action under State law and directs execution of the State emergency plan;
3. (3) The activities are required in anticipation of the event; and
4. (4) Assistance for a pre-disaster emergency declaration is limited to Emergency Protective Measures and Emergency Operations.
(d) Pre-award authority shall be subject to a maximum amount determined by FTA based on estimates of immediate financial need, preliminary damage assessments, available Emergency Relief funds and other criteria to be determined in response to a particular event.
(e) Pre-award authority is not a legal or implied commitment that the subject project will be approved for FTA assistance or that FTA will obligate Federal funds. Furthermore, it is not a legal or implied commitment that all activities undertaken by the applicant will be eligible for inclusion in the project(s).
(f) Except as provided in § 602.15, all FTA statutory, procedural, and contractual requirements must be met.
(g) The recipient must take no action that prejudices the legal and administrative findings that the FTA Regional Administrator must make in order to approve a project.
(h) The Federal amount of any future FTA assistance awarded to the recipient for the project will be determined on the basis of the overall scope of activities and the prevailing statutory provisions with respect to the Federal/non-Federal match ratio at the time the funds are obligated.
(i) When FTA subsequently awards a grant for the project, the Financial Status Report in FTA's electronic grants management system must indicate the use of pre-award authority.