1. (a) Purpose. The Federal Transit Act, codified at 49 U.S.C. §5303, authorizes the secretary of the United States Department of Transportation to make grants to MPOs to support the development of transportation plans and programs. The secretary is required to allocate planning funds to the states, who must further suballocate them to MPOs.
2. (b) Eligible recipients. Section 5303 funds are available only to MPOs. Other entities may participate in the program through contracts with MPOs.

3. (c) Department role. The department acts as the designated recipient for Section 5303 metropolitan planning grants. As the administering agency the department will:

   1. (1) develop application materials and disseminate information to MPOs;

   2. (2) allocate the available program funds using the latest census data for population for the urbanized area served by the MPO, so that:

      1. (A) all MPOs will receive funds based on the ratio of each MPO's population to the total population of all MPOs;
      2. (B) any MPO that would otherwise receive less than $20,000 will have its share adjusted upward to $20,000, except that the minimum funding amount for Texarkana will be $12,999; and
      3. (C) the balance of FTA Section 5303 funds will be redistributed to the remaining MPOs based on the ratio of each MPO's population to the total population of all MPOs;
   3. (3) prepare the state's funding application and submit that material to the FTA for approval;
   4. (4) execute contracts with MPOs;
   5. (5) prepare requests for federal reimbursement and process payment requests from MPOs;
   6. (6) monitor and evaluate the progress of annual work programs, including compliance with federal regulations; and
   7. (7) provide technical assistance as necessary.
4. (d) Local share requirements. Section 5303 grants require a 20% match as the local share. FTA program funds cannot be used as the local share. Eligible match sources include local or state programs or unrestricted federal funds. In-kind services, volunteer services, and donations are eligible as local share if the value is documented.

Source Note:The provisions of this §31.21 adopted to be effective August 14, 1989, 14 TexReg 3704; amended to be effective July 20, 1992, 17 TexReg 4891; amended to be effective February 15, 2001, 26 TexReg 1365.