jimp's blog

The Federal Transit Administration recently rejected the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District's application for $70 million in Recovery Act funding to build a rail connection between Oakland International Airport and the current BART system.

Why is this news? Just because the Associated Press reports on it now all the major news organizations pick it up? Too bad they don't read the reports on the Economic Recovery Grants Center. We reported all that information, along with a direct link to the OMB memo instituting the change, back on Dec. 23, 2009. What good does it do to report on an important change to ARRA oversight just three days before the next reporting deadline?

Recipients of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards can begin submitting their quarterly reports today at FederalReporting.gov. Recipients have until Oct. 10 to submit the reports. Recipients can submit reports via one of three methods — online Web form, Excel spreadsheet upload or XML file upload. Information on contracts will be available to the public Oct. 15 at Recovery.gov, while information on grants and cooperative agreements will be available Oct. 30.

In today's edition, Brad Heath at USA Today looks at where Recovery Act funds for road rehabilitation and repair are going and reports that "half of the nation's worst roads are in counties that will only get about 20% of the stimulus money allocated by state and federal officials for street repairs." Heath reports that according to John Barton, the head of engineering at the Texas Department of Transportation, "the problem is a byproduct of a stimulus package designed to spend as fast as possible to revive the economy. Many roads are in such bad shape that repairs would take too long and cost too much to qualify for funds."

A Federal Highway Administration spokesperson, Cathy St. Denis, is quoted in the article saying that "it's improper to compare stimulus funding to rough roads. Objective reviews show that Recovery Act dollars are going to the communities that need it most." And even U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has offered his opinion on the USA Today piece, arguing in his blog today that "this biased report has missed the boat completely. We are getting money quickly out the door to areas of the country that need it most and for roads and bridges in the worst shape." So, what's the real story? The Economic Recovery Grants Center would love to hear your thoughts in this debate.

The Wall Street Journal's Numbers Guy has an interesting article in today's edition taking a look at the difficulties Recovery Act grantees are having in coming up with a number to represent the jobs created or saved as a result of stimulus funding. We at the Economic Recovery Grants Center are interested in hearing your thoughts and concerns regarding the Recovery Act's job counting requirements, particularly with the first reporting period just weeks away. Please use our "Ask the Editor" button to let us know your concerns and how you are dealing with the job reporting requirement.

For those of you interested in the estimated $453 million the Energy Department will have available for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant competitive grants, be on the lookout for an upcoming funding opportunity announcement. The agency anticipates awarding funds in two topic areas: the Retrofit Ramp-Up Program and the General Innovation Fund for Ineligible Entities. Right now, however, the agency is looking for some feedback on its plans. This is not a notice of funding availability; the agency is only looking for information from states, cities, counties, U.S. territories, Indian tribes and other interested parties on the assistance to be offered under the planned opportunity. If you want to offer your comments, you need to do so quickly. The agency is only accepting comments until Sept. 28, and only via e-mail.

Applicants who have already applied for Broadband Mapping funds under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s State Broadband Data and Development Grant program have until next Tuesday, Sept. 15, to submit revised budget plans that represent a two-year period of performance instead of the five-year period originally anticipated.

The agency, earlier today, announced that it “has determined that it will at this time fund mapping and data collection efforts for two years and will assess lessons learned, determine best practices and investigate opportunities for improved data collection prior to obligating funds for subsequent years.”

NTIA, in making the announcement, said applicants were not required to submit new budget plans, but advised that it would allow applicants to submit new budget plans to reflect any revisions that may be necessary for the first two years of the award period.

The period of performance for Broadband Planning Grants remains unchanged.

Healthcare providers and local health departments will want to get in touch with their state health departments now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has distributed $40 million in Recovery Act funds to help prevent healthcare-associated infections. The funds are to be used to to create or expand state-based HAI prevention collaboration efforts, enhance state abilities to monitor and track HAIs, and build within health departments a workforce trained in HAI prevention.

As the Economic Recovery Grants Center reported recently, demand for the first round of grant funding to develop broadband Internet service in rural and remote areas has greatly exceeded the funding level provided by the Recovery Act. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Services, which are jointly administering the new program, announced that 2,200 applications requesting a combined $28 billion were submitted in the first competition.

The Web site created by the federal government to support reporting activities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is up and running. Starting Aug. 17, recipients of Recovery Act funds have been encouraged to register at the site in anticipation of the first reporting period -- which begins Oct. 10.

Currently, the site's service desk is available for user support from 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday to support registration. Once the first reporting period opens, the service desk will be available 24 hours a day through Oct. 10.

Each individual who will be submitting or reviewing reports on behalf of an agency or grant recipient must register as a user. The process, the site warns, may take two business days or more so early registration is being advised.