49 CFR 80.13 – Threshold criteria
(a) To be eligible to receive Federal credit assistance under this part, a project shall meet the following five threshold criteria:
Terms Used In 49 CFR 80.13
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
(1) The project shall be consistent with the State transportation plan, if located in a metropolitan area shall be included in that area’s metropolitan transportation plan, and shall appear in an approved State transportation improvement program before the DOT and the project sponsor execute a term sheet or credit agreement that results in the obligation of funds;
(2) The State, local servicer, or other entity undertaking the project shall submit a project application to the Secretary of Transportation;
(3) A project shall have eligible project costs that are reasonably anticipated to equal or exceed the lesser of $100 million or 50 percent of the amount of Federal-aid highway funds apportioned for the most recently completed fiscal year to the State in which the project is located (in the case of a project principally involving the installation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), eligible project costs shall be reasonably anticipated to equal or exceed $30 million);
(4) Project financing shall be repayable, in whole or in part, from tolls, user fees or other dedicated revenue sources; and
(5) In the case of a project that is undertaken by an entity that is not a State or local government or an agency or instrumentality of a State or local government, the project that the entity is undertaking shall be included in the State transportation plan and an approved State Transportation Improvement Program as provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
(b) With respect to paragraph (a)(3) of this section, for a project located in more than one State, the minimum cost threshold size shall be the lesser of $100 million or 50 percent of the amount of Federal-aid highway funds apportioned for the most recently completed fiscal year to the participating State that receives the least amount of such funds.
(c) With respect to paragraph (a)(4) of this section, the Secretary may accept general obligation pledges or general corporate promissory pledges and will determine the acceptability of other pledges and forms of collateral as dedicated revenue sources on a case-by-case basis. The Secretary shall not accept a pledge of Federal funds, regardless of source, as security for the TIFIA credit instrument.