GAO Reports on Competitive TIGER Surface Transportation Grants
The Government Accountability Office has issued a report to Congressional requestors, reviewing the Department of Transportation's criteria and process of evaluating applications and awarding Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for surface transportation. GAO determines that such competitive grant programs could benefit from an increased focus on performance and better documentation of key decisions.
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(In February 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act appropriated $1.5 billion for discretionary grants for capital investments in surface transportation projects of national and regional significance, including highways, transit, rail, ports, and others. The act required DOT to develop criteria to award TIGER grants using competitive approach1 and to achieve an equitable geographic distribution of funds.)
51 Projects Recommended by TIGER Review Team Were Accepted by DOT Sec
DOT's criteria to evaluate TIGER applications included improving the state of repair of critical infrastructure, reducing fatalities and injuries, and increasing economic competitiveness by improving the efficient movement of workers or goods. Using these criteria, ten Evaluation Teams assessed over 1,450 applications and assigned ratings such as "highly recommended" and "recommended," and advanced those that best met the criteria for further review. A Control and Calibration Team also selectively reviewed and advanced applications. Together the teams advanced 166 applications for further review by the TIGER Review Team.
After the TIGER Review Team assessed the readiness of projects, confirmed the accuracy of information provided, ensured that TIGER awardees met Recovery Act requirements, etc., the team developed a memo with its final list of 51 projects2 it recommended to the Secretary of Transportation for award, all of which were accepted.
DOT Did Not Document Review Team's Final Funding Decisions & Rationale
GAO notes that while DOT thoroughly documented the Evaluation Teams’ assessments and the Review Team’s memo described the strengths of projects recommended for award, it did not document the Review Team’s final decisions and its rationale for when it selected to award recommended projects over highly recommended ones. Internal documentation of the Review Team’s deliberations was limited to draft minutes from the team’s initial assessments of projects. These draft minutes, which were not complete and never finalized or approved, reflect questions Review Team members raised about the strengths and weaknesses of various applications.
Highly Recommended Projects Not Picked So Grants Get Equal Geo Distribution
DOT officials told GAO that some highly recommended projects were not selected in order to achieve an equitable geographic distribution of award funds. Because no internal documentation from Review Team meetings exists in which final decisions to recommend or reject projects for award were made, DOT cannot definitively demonstrate the basis for its award selections.
GAO states that developing internal documentation of agency activities is a key part of accountability for decisions, and DOT guidance states that officials should explain how discretionary grant projects were selected when projects with the highest priority in a technical review are not funded. GAO recommends that DOT document decisions in its review of applications and, in consultation with Congress, develop and implement a strategy to disclose information about its decisions.
Disclosing Info on Selections Will Help Congress Assess Competitive Funding
GAO reports that, as with most other programs, DOT did not publish the reasons for the Review Team’s decisions or why some applications were selected and others were rejected. GAO found no requirements for federal programs to externally communicate the reasons for their selection decisions.
DOT has proposed a new $2 billion discretionary grant program in fiscal year 2012 modeled after TIGER, which gives DOT and Congress the opportunity to consider how to balance the goals of merit-based selection of projects with geographic distribution of funds.
1TIGER's competitive approach to funding projects across many modes of transportation, including ports and freight projects that rarely compete for federal transportation funds departs from the formula-based approach regularly used for surface transportation, where funds are largely returned to their state of origin and states have considerable flexibility in selecting projects for these funds.
2Of the 51 projects recommended to the Secretary, 26 were highly recommended by the Evaluation Teams, and 25 were recommended by the Control and Calibration Team.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 10/22/10 news, 10102211, for BP summary of TIGER II transport grants for port, marine highway, and intermodal rail projects.)