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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: September 17, 2013 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 5-h <br /> SUBJECT: Supplemental Agreement with NCDOT to Extend an Existing Congestion <br /> Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Grant <br /> DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Bret Martin, Transportation Planner, 245- <br /> 1. Original Locally Administered Project 2582 <br /> Agreement Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning <br /> 2. Original Supplemental Agreement Supervisor, 245-2579 <br /> Craig Benedict, Planning Director, 245- <br /> 2592 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a Supplemental Agreement with the North Carolina Department of <br /> Transportation (NCDOT) amending Orange County's existing Locally Administered Project <br /> Agreement for Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Project C-4932B to extend the use of <br /> Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant funding for the existing Hillsborough Circulator <br /> transit service through November 2015. <br /> BACKGROUND: In May 2009, the BOCC approved a resolution endorsing a CMAQ grant <br /> agreement with the NCDOT (Attachment 1) that included three (3) years of operating assistance for <br /> an intra-Hillsborough transit route. In June 2010, staff submitted a revised application to reflect <br /> changes in the implementation and funding schedule for the service, and NCDOT and Orange <br /> County entered into a supplemental agreement (Attachment 2) in October 2010 to execute those <br /> changes. <br /> The supplemental agreement provided for NCDOT to reimburse the County at 100% for eligible <br /> operating costs incurred for the first $198,000 starting in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2011 and for <br /> reimbursement of 66% of eligible operating costs incurred after the first $198,000 was exhausted. <br /> The CMAQ grant was authorized by NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to be <br /> available to support the service in November 2010 and to last for a maximum duration of three (3) <br /> consecutive years until November 2013. However, the project was not physically implemented by <br /> Orange Public Transportation until June 2011, leaving two (2) years and five (5) months of eligible <br /> time left to use the grant. <br /> In June 2013, the FHWA released new guidance allowing active CMAQ grants funding transit <br /> operating assistance projects that have not fully exhausted their three-year eligibility as of September <br /> 30, 2012, to be extended for a duration not to exceed five (5) years for the total life of the grant's <br /> authorization. As such, the new guidance allows the active CMAQ grant for the Hillsborough <br /> Circulator service to be extended beyond November 2013 until November 2015. Per this new <br />