| OCR Text |
Show Administrative Plan Amendments - There are cases where TCRPC staff may administratively amend the plan based on local request. The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission's general policy shall be that the Commission, as the MPO, approves projects and priorities, including allocation of funds to program categories and Urban STP funds. Project details such as minor changes in project costs, scope, termini or technical descriptions and funding source changes may be approved by staff administratively using discretion and judgment as appropriate to delivery of the program of projects. Staff, at its discretion, may still elect to follow a full plan amendment process as appropriate on a case by case basis, and may consult with the Executive Director, state and federal officials, the CARTS Committee Chair, representatives of local jurisdictions, the Commission Chair or the Executive Committee of the Commission for guidance on specific discretionary decisions. The following listing of examples is intended to indicate places where staff's discretion to approve amendments is specifically granted. This listing is not comprehensive in that it may not be possible to always determine in advance the particular circumstance for any given project. A consultation process may be appropriate to determine how to apply this guidance in any given situation. However, an administrative amendment by staff is expressly permitted in the following cases. 1. Projects that are subject to MDOT's selection authority and identified with Commission priorities on the Illustrative List of Unfunded Projects (Appendix D) may be moved administratively into the plan upon selection by MDOT. Examples of these project types include the Enhancement, Safety, Local Bridge and Small Urban STP programs. 2. Projects may be postponed within the plan provided that financial constraint is maintained. In such cases, if additional balances are the outcome, the STP Subcommittee will be convened at the earliest convenience to consider any projects that may be ready for advancement. 3. Implementing agencies may swap one preserve project for another, thereby allowing a project to move forward, provided that the federal share of cost is not changed and provided that the one moved forward is already in the approved plan. 4. Changes in project termini, provided that there is no change of scope and any associated federal cost increase does not exceed 120 percent. 5. Project cost changes greater than 120 percent of the total project cost may be approved administratively where there are compelling reasons to do so to advance a project and the decision has no direct effect on other agencies' projects or funds. 6. Changes in source of funding where there is no impact on another agency's projects or funds. 7. Changes in total project cost that reflect increased local or non-federal share for the convenience of, and at the request of the local agency, including matching ratios or non-federal eligible costs. 1-14 |
