financial accountability process for fhwa & fta planning funds

FINANCIAL

ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS

FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING

FUNDS

IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

FINANCIAL

ACCOUNTABILITY

PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA

PLANNING FUNDS

Iowa Department of Transportation

2023

NOTE: Every Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Regional Planning Association (RPA)

in Iowa receives Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

financial assistance. As a result, each MPO and RPA is responsible for specific activities and meeting

certain requirements in relation to planning, including the development of key transportation

planning products and programming federal transportation funds in an established process that is

consistent with state and federal regulations and guidelines. It is the joint responsibility of the

Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT), FHWA, and FTA to ensure that the federal

transportation program and federal funds are administered by each MPO and RPA in compliance

with applicable requirements and standards.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

Introduction

Federal funds are authorized and appropriated to the United States Department of Transportation (U.S.

DOT) once a transportation funding bill is approved by Congress and the President. These federal funds

are distributed to the various agencies within the U.S. DOT, including the Federal Transit Administration

(FTA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) before they then apportion the funding to the State

DOTs to be used for transportation planning. The State DOT agencies, in turn, allocate transportation

planning funds to various metropolitan and regional planning organizations.

A primary example of a transportation program funded by the U.S. DOT with funds authorized by

Congress is the Metropolitan Planning (PL) program, which includes transportation planning funds for

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO).

Authorized funds refer to the amount of money anticipated to be available to award or grant to States,

MPOs, and transit operators when Congress enacts legislation to establish or continue the existing

operation of a federal program. Congress generally reauthorizes federal surface transportation

programs over multiple years. The current reauthorization signed into law on November 15, 2021, is the

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” (BIL).

Appropriations are short-term laws that allocate funding to the authorized programs annually. Each

year, Congress decides on the federal budget through an appropriation process, and these appropriated

funds are the funds approved by Congress for programs and agencies. Using a formula provided in law,

these appropriated program funds are distributed among States and metropolitan areas. This is referred

to as apportionment.

Planning Funds Sources

Federal authorizations require planning funds be made available from the highway and transit

appropriations to State DOTs and MPOs to administer and carry out planning activities. Federal planning

funds are first apportioned to State DOTs, and then the State DOTs allocate planning funds to the MPOs

within the State, using an agreed upon formula.

FHWA PL funds are apportioned to States based on a ratio of urbanized-area population in individual

States to the total nationwide urbanized-area population. State DOTs then distribute this funding to the

MPOs in their State based on a formula, agreed to by the MPOs, and approved by their FHWA Division

Office.

For Iowa MPOs, the agreed upon formula is that FHWA PL funds are distributed based

on each MPO’s share of the total statewide urbanized area population from the most

recent decennial census.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

FTA 5305d (Metropolitan Planning Program (MPP)) funds are apportioned to States by a statutory

formula that is based on the most recent decennial Census data available, and the State’s UZA

population as compared to the UZA population of all States. These funds, in turn, are sub-allocated by

states to MPOs by a formula (developed by the State in cooperation with the MPOs and approved by

FTA) that considers each population, regional planning needs, and a minimum distribution.

For Iowa MPOs, the agreed upon formula is that FTA 5305d funds are distributed one-

third equally among all MPOs, one-third based on each MPO’s share of the total

statewide urbanized area population from the most recent decennial census, and one-

third based on each MPO’s share of the total statewide urbanized area population from

the prior decennial census.

FTA 5305e (State Planning and Research Program (SPRP) funds are apportioned to states under a

formula that includes each state’s urbanized area population in proportion to the total urbanized area

population for the nation, as well as other factors. Additionally, FTA 5311 funds are apportioned to

States based on a formula that includes land area, population, revenue vehicle miles, and low-income

individuals in rural areas. A portion of the state’s FTA 5311 funds is combined with the 5305e funds and,

in turn, are sub-allocated by the state to regional planning affiliations (RPA) by a formula that considers

a minimum distribution, population, and regional planning needs.

For Iowa RPAs, the agreed upon formula is that the combined FTA 5305e and 5311

funds are distributed one-half equally among all RPAs, one-quarter based on each RPA’s

share of the total statewide non-urbanized population from the most recent decennial

census, and one-quarter based on the ratio of the number of counties in each RPA out

of the statewide total counties.

FHWA State Planning and Research (SPR) funds are provided by a 2% set aside of the sums apportioned

to the State’s national highway performance program, surface transportation block grant program,

highway safety improvement program, congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program, and

national highway freight program.

For Iowa RPAs, the agreed upon formula is that FHWA SPR funds are distributed on a 1:1

match of each RPA’s FTA 5305d/5311 funding allocation, after such is determined.

The distribution formulas for these funds are historically revisited after each Census to ensure that the

new Census population figures are being used and that any new metropolitan or regional planning

organizations are a part of the calculation. Changes to, or reaffirmation of, the distribution formulas

must be done in cooperation with the metropolitan and regional planning agencies and approved by the

FHWA and FTA.

It is the Iowa DOT’s responsibility to ensure the expenditures of these federal planning funds are used in

accordance with all applicable federal requirements and are used to conduct transportation planning

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

and programming in Iowa’s nine MPOs and 18 RPAs. This document outlines accountability actions to be

undertaken by Iowa DOT divisions and bureaus, and provides a systematic approach to ensure that the

federal funds are administered by the Iowa DOT, MPOs, and RPAs in compliance with applicable

requirements and standards.

Additionally, the Iowa DOT provides federal funding targets to the MPOs and RPAs every year to address

the State and local transportation needs within their planning areas. These funding targets include

Surface Transportation Block Grant and Transportation Alternative funds and are established based on

an agreed-upon formula. MPOs and RPAs conduct the required planning and programming activities as a

condition of receiving these funds.

Planning Requirements

Transportation planning is conducted at multiple levels in Iowa, including statewide planning conducted

by the Iowa DOT, metropolitan planning conducted by MPOs in the state’s nine urban areas over 50,000

in population, and regional transportation planning conducted by the state’s 18 RPAs in the state’s

nonmetropolitan areas. The state and MPOs follow federal requirements for the transportation

planning process.

In Iowa, 18 RPAs were created after the passage of the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation

Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and have been designated to enhance statewide non-metropolitan area

transportation planning, coordinating, and programming responsibilities by advising the State on the

needs of nonmetropolitan areas of the State. While Iowa DOT maintains primary responsibility for

representing the needs of nonmetropolitan areas of the State, the RPAs help carry out the

transportation planning process in nonmetropolitan areas of the state and follow similar federal

requirements as the State and MPOs.

Federal transportation funds are provided to the MPOs and RPAs to perform transportation planning

and programming responsibilities. The Iowa DOT allocates federal funding to MPOs and RPAs each year

to carry out planning and programming activities and other components of a comprehensive regional

transportation planning process. MPOs and RPAs are responsible for the creation, maintenance, and

update of the following five planning documents as part of the planning process. These responsibilities

must be met to continue to receive funding for planning activities and to maintain regional planning and

programming authority.

• Transportation Planning Work Programs (TPWP) must be completed annually for each MPO and

RPA to receive federal planning funds.

• Public Participation Plans (PPP) must be developed and implemented for all planning and

programming activities occurring in the MPOs and RPAs and must be updated every five years

prior to an agency’s LRTP update.

• Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTP) must be updated every five years for each MPO and

RPA.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

• Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs) covering a four-year period must be completed

annually by each MPO and RPA.

• Passenger Transportation Plans (PTP) must be updated every five years for each MPO and RPA.

Transportation Planning Funding Targets

Transportation planning funding targets for agency work programs are determined annually for a State

Fiscal Year (SFY) (July 1 – June 30) and are based on the previous Federal Fiscal Year’s (FFY) (October 1 –

September 30) appropriations and apportionments. For example, new planning funding targets for SFY

2023 are based on FFY 2022 federal funding apportionments.

Once appropriations are complete, FHWA and FTA apportion the funding to the States. The FHWA

apportionments are usually received without much delay. For FTA, the receipt of apportionments can

be delayed by a month or two. The Systems Planning Bureau enters the apportionments into the agreed

upon formulas noted earlier and sends the planning funding targets to the MPOs and RPAs.

In some years, Congress does not complete appropriations for a full FFY at the start of that year. There

can be multiple short-term extensions, which only provides funding certainty for the length of each

extension. Should an extension not be approved, a shutdown can occur (e.g., 2019). If the State does

not have the full FFY apportionments in the calendar year, draft planning targets will be issued to the

MPOs and RPAs for budgeting purposes. When planning funding targets are issued as draft, MPOs and

RPAs are informed of the planning target methodology, cautioned that the funding targets are subject to

change, and receive a follow-up notification with final targets once they are determined. If there was no

change from draft to final targets, MPOs and RPAs are notified to confirm that the initial draft planning

funding targets should be considered final.

Once apportionment dollars for the State are known, they are entered into an Excel spreadsheet that

calculates MPO and RPA planning funding targets according to the agreed upon formulas for each

funding source.

Carryover Funding

In addition to calculating new planning funding targets, carryover funding from unspent or unbudgeted

planning targets is tracked for each agency by funding source and grant in a separate spreadsheet.

These carryover funding targets are provided individually to each MPO and RPA every year along with

new planning funding targets.

Carryover is defined as any unspent funding that has been targeted to the MPO or RPA in a previous SFY

or any unbudgeted funding that is not included in the MPO’s or RPA’s current SFY TPWP budget.

Unbudgeted funding is available to the MPO or RPA to be amended into its budget at any time if there is

a justified need. Unspent funding from the prior SFY is typically available to the planning agency as a

carryover target in the development of their next TPWP cycle. However, an agency would not need to

wait for the next TPWP cycle to utilize carryover funding if there are anticipated needs in the current

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

fiscal year. Unspent funding from the prior SFY is also available to the planning agency to be amended

into its budget following close-out of the prior SFY if there is a justified need.

When developing the TPWP budget, MPOs and RPAs are required to budget carryover funding targets

before budgeting new planning funding targets. This is to ensure that older funding that was unspent or

unbudgeted in a prior SFY is utilized before newer funding. The Iowa DOT has implemented internal

steps to reduce the number of active grants and has also implemented a carryover policy should an

MPO or RPA accrue a large amount of carryover funding. Internal steps include discussing the necessity

of any potential STBG transfers as a planning funding source when a substantial carryover balance exists

with an MPO or RPA and evaluating and amending planning agreements early in the SFY to ensure older

funding is utilized prior to newer funding. Internal changes combined with a carryover policy helps the

Iowa DOT mange any carryover balances that become problematic for an MPO or RPA.

With the distribution of annual planning funding targets every year, each MPO and RPA will be provided

with its five-year average annual expenditures and carryover balance, and informed whether SPR and/or

STBG funds will be constrained due to their available carryover balance. If an MPO or RPA has a

carryover funding balance totaling more than this average, the following carryover policy is applied:

• For Iowa RPAs, the RPA will receive its FTA allocation of 5305e and/or 5311 funding. The

RPA will not receive an SPR allocation or be allowed to transfer STBG funds for planning

unless it can substantiate anticipated budget needs tied to significant expenditures (e.g.,

LRTP update, equipment purchases, consultant services, etc.).

• For Iowa MPOs, the MPO will receive its FHWA PL allocation and FTA 5305d allocation.

The MPO will not be allowed to transfer STBG funds for planning unless it can

substantiate anticipated budget needs tied to significant expenditures (e.g., LRTP

update, equipment purchases, consultant services, etc.).

The MPO and RPA will be provided an opportunity to respond and substantiate any anticipated

significant expenditures during the upcoming contract year that would require the SPR and/or STBG

funding transfer. The Iowa DOT will consider these needs and provide a response to the agency prior to

distributing final targets.

Transportation Planning Work Program

The TPWP is an MPO’s or RPA’s statement of proposed work that covers one years’ worth of activities

and estimates costs for eligible activities to be undertaken with Federal planning and research funds.

The purpose of an MPO or RPA work program is to identify how federal funding resources will be spent,

what activities will be undertaken, who will perform the work, and what are the expected products of

the activities. This document is the MPOs and RPAs “plan for planning” and functions much like an

annual budget for planning staff at the MPO or RPA.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

As noted above, the TPWP is funded from a variety of funding sources; for example, FHWA PL, FHWA

SPR, FTA 5305d/e, and in some cases by other funding sources such as FTA 5311 and FHWA Surface

Transportation Block Grant.

The MPOs and RPAs prepare the TPWP in cooperation with the State and public transportation agencies.

FHWA and FTA approve both the use of Federal funding and that the MPO or RPA meets the

requirements regarding the work program. The Iowa DOT, although not an approver, certifies that the

MPO or RPA has completed the administrative requirements for the TPWP. Together, these two actions

validate that the planning process is proposed in accordance with transportation regulations.

• A guidance document for agency TPWPs is updated and sent to MPOs and RPAs in January of

each year. The guidelines cover content that is referenced in 2 CFR § 450.308 and FTA Circular

8100.1D.

• Draft TPWPs must be submitted to the Iowa DOT no later than April 1 of each year. The Iowa

DOT will review the TPWPs and provide comments back to the MPOs and RPAs by May 1. The

final TPWPs are due by June 1. These work programs provide the basis for the annual planning

agreements.

• The District Transportation Planners are responsible for their corresponding MPOs and RPAs to

meet the submittal deadlines for both the draft and final TPWP. They assure that each MPO or

RPA TPWP includes activities necessary to meet federal and state transportation planning

requirements and is of an appropriate level of detail to adequately document the use of federal

planning funding.

• The Systems Planning Bureau is also responsible for TPWP review and certifying the nine MPO

and 18 RPA work programs. With the MPOs and RPAs being a sub-grantee of the Iowa DOT, the

Iowa DOT must certify the MPO and RPA work programs prior to submitting for joint FHWA/FTA

approval.

• The Systems Planning Bureau develops and submits the federal Consolidated Planning Grant

(CPG) for MPO and RPA transportation planning funding. FTA is the designated lead agency for

administering the CPG.

Planning Agreement

A yearly transportation planning joint participation agreement (agreement) to implement intermodal

planning is signed between the Iowa DOT and individual MPOs and RPAs, which accounts for distribution

of federal planning funds and expected planning work activities as described in their TPWP.

• The Systems Planning Bureau drafts the agreement after an MPO or RPA approves the SFY

TPWP and then sends the agreement to the MPOs and RPAs for their review and execution.

• The agreement covers the state fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).

• Part 1 of the agreement notes:

o federal transportation planning regulations provide for the establishment of a

metropolitan planning organization within each metropolitan area to serve as a forum

for local officials to carry out certain intermodal transportation planning and

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

programming responsibilities within each metropolitan area, or notes the Iowa DOT has

elected to share certain intermodal transportation planning and programming

responsibilities with nonmetropolitan local officials acting through regional planning

affiliations;

o the MPO or RPA has adopted a TPWP for the current SFY, which has been reviewed and

certified by the Iowa DOT, and that the TPWP be funded with various (listed) planning

funding sources.

• Part 2 provides policies, procedures, and conditions the MPO, RPA, and Iowa DOT are subject to

following, such as role of the agency, policy direction, report disclaimer, ownership of data,

subcontracting, financial accountability, payment requests, etc.

• The agreement must be fully executed by the MPO or RPA and Iowa DOT prior to July 1 of each

SFY.

• The Systems Planning Bureau uploads copies of the executed agreements to the Iowa DOT’s

internal financial system, where the Finance Bureau can access them. The Finance Bureau is

responsible for managing the cash flow for federal planning grants.

• Based on final TPWPs describing the work to be performed and the execution of the agreement,

MPOs and RPAs are authorized to perform those work activities with federal funding once

FHWA/FTA approval and authorization to proceed is obtained.

Reimbursement Requests and Progress Reports

MPOs and RPAs submit reimbursement requests and progress reports for the federal share of eligible

costs incurred on the activities performed on a monthly or quarterly basis. Requests and reports must

be submitted within 30 days after the end of the month or quarter in which activities occurred and

describe in detail the planning activities (outlined in the MPO and RPA TPWPs) that were performed

during that month or quarter. All costs to be reimbursed shall be supported by properly executed

payrolls, time records, invoices, vouchers, warrants, contracts, and any other support evidencing that

their costs were specifically incurred and paid.

Transportation planning is a shared responsibility between the MPOs and RPAs, Iowa DOT, and federal

partnering agencies. For this reason, there is a requirement that planning funding will be “matched” at

the local level. Typically, 80% of the transportation planning costs are funded by Federal sources with a

20% non-Federal share that may come from State or local funds.

• Reimbursement requests and progress reports are generated and sent to the District

Transportation Planners through the Reimbursement Request for Transportation Planning

(RTTP) online system.

• The District Transportation Planners review all MPO and RPA planning fund reimbursement

requests and progress reports to assure they are filled out accurately, are consistent with the

activities listed in their current TPWP, are consistent with completed activities, and provide an

adequate level of detail to justify reimbursement of funding; with input received from the

Systems Planning Bureau.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

• The activities performed by MPOs and RPAs must be described in sufficient detail to justify

payment to the MPOs and RPAs for transportation planning work conducted. Iowa DOT does not

accept duplicate descriptions for work activities from a previous request and report in which

progression of work should have occurred. If the DTPs find the detail to be inaccurate or not

acceptable, the District Transportation Planners will contact the MPO or RPA for clarification.

• For MPOs and RPAs that do not have an indirect cost allocation rate proposal or indirect cost

allocation plan, related supplemental information must be submitted to the District

Transportation Planner and Systems Planning Bureau that itemizes and supports any indirect

costs charged for that month or quarter.

• Approval of the MPOs and RPAs reimbursement request and progress reports are the

responsibility of the District Transportation Planners; with final review of direct and indirect

costs conducted by the Systems Planning Bureau.

• Not later than 15 business days after the date of receipt by a State of a request for

reimbursement of expenditures made by an MPO or RPA for carrying out the transportation

planning process, the State shall reimburse the MPO or RPA for those expenditures.

• After the final review of direct and indirect costs, activities performed, and any other

supplemental information, the Systems Planning Bureau prepares a supplier invoice in Iowa

DOT’s internal financial system.

• The payment invoice, with the MPO or RPA reimbursement request claim attached, is then

submitted to the Finance Bureau for federal planning grant financial information review and

payment. The Finance Bureau is responsible for making payments to MPOs and RPAs, for

drawing down funds from the federal planning grants, and assuring that negative balances do

not occur

• If the Finance Bureau has any questions regarding the financial information of the invoice

compared to the federal planning grants, they will contact Systems Planning Bureau. If all

financial information is accurate, Finance Bureau makes a request to draw down the planning

grant funds from FTA’s ECHO system on Friday morning. Finance Bureau receives the requested

funding on the next business day (Monday) and then transfers the funds electronically to the

State Treasurer’s Office on Tuesday. The State Treasurer’s Office makes the payment by check

or Electronic Funds Transfer to an MPO or RPA on Wednesday.

• At fiscal year-end, all MPO and RPA reimbursement claims for the fiscal year activities (work

performed on or before June 30) must be submitted by August 1 to allow the Iowa DOT to

process the invoice and payment as that fiscal year business.

• Any unspent funding from the fiscal year end will be available as carryover to the planning

agency. Carryover funding targets will be provided to each MPO and RPA, along with their new

planning funding targets, for the development of their next TPWP.

Cost Allocation Plan

The indirect costs of MPOs and RPAs are allowable if supported by a cost allocation plan and indirect

cost proposal prepared, submitted (if required), and approved by the cognizant or oversight agency in

accordance with the OMB requirements applicable to the planning agency.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

• If an MPO and RPA will charge indirect costs to the federal transportation planning funds, they

must submit an approved indirect cost allocation rate proposal and/or indirect cost allocation

plan to the Finance Bureau (Audits).

• MPOs and RPAs must also include a certificate of indirect cost proposal/indirect costs as a part

of their TPWP that certifies all costs included in their proposal are allowable in accordance with

the requirements of the Federal awards to which they apply and do not include any costs which

are unallowable with 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E, Cost Principles.

• Finance Bureau (Audits) will conduct a review of an agency’s indirect cost proposal and

allocation plan methodology to ensure that the standards prescribed by 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart

E, Cost Principles were met, and that proper and appropriate measures were undertaken as the

MPOs and RPAs developed their cost allocation plans.

• Iowa DOT’s acceptance of the indirect cost proposal and allocation plan methodology proposed

by agency is not intended for use as a cognizant approval and the Iowa DOT does not claim

cognizant responsibility.

• In accordance with 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart C Section 2.a, “Unless different arrangements are

agreed to by the agencies concerned, the Federal agency with the largest dollar value of awards

with an organization will be designated as the cognizant agency for the negotiation and approval

of the indirect cost rates.”

Agency Financial Audit

When an MPO and RPA develop an indirect cost proposal in accordance with the requirements of 2 CFR

Part 200, they must maintain the proposal and related documentation to support those costs for a

minimum of 3 years after the date of issuance for audit. The MPOs and RPAs are responsible for

arranging their required independent audit.

• Annually, MPOs and RPAs are required to prepare financial statements and schedule of

expenditures to obtain an audit.

• A single audit is required for MPOs or RPAs that expend $750,000 or more in federal funds. They

are also required to have their independent auditor provide an opinion on the allowability of

direct costs and the organization’s cost allocation methodology per 2 CFR 200 Subpart F, “Audit

Requirements”.

• MPOs and RPAs must annually submit the audit report to the Iowa Office of Auditor of State.

• MPOs and RPAs must provide a written notification to the Iowa DOT that an audit was

conducted and note if there were any findings.

• At the completion of the audit, the MPO or RPA must prepare a plan to address each audit

finding (if any) included in the current year auditor’s reports and follow through with the plan.

• The Finance Bureau (Audits) performs a review of an MPOs and RPAs independent audit to

ensure A-133 reporting requirements have been followed.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

Planning Activities Assessment

Pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 134(k) and 49 U.S.C. 5303(k), the FHWA and the FTA must jointly certify the

metropolitan transportation planning process in Transportation Management Areas (TMAs) at least

every four years.

The Certification Review process is only one of several methods used to assess the quality of a regional

metropolitan transportation planning process, compliance with applicable statutes and regulations, and

the level and type of technical assistance needed to enhance the effectiveness of the planning process.

Other stewardship, oversight, and interactions with varying degrees of formality provide both

FHWA/FTA an opportunity to comment on the planning process.

In general, the reviews consist of three primary activities: a site visit, a review of planning products (in

advance of and during the site visit), and preparation of a Certification Review Report that summarizes

the review and offers findings. The reviews focus on compliance with Federal law and regulations,

challenges, successes, and experiences of the cooperative relationship between the MPO(s), the State

DOT(s), and public transportation operator(s) in the conduct of the metropolitan transportation

planning process. The review process is individually tailored to focus on topics of significance in each

metropolitan planning area.

FHWA and FTA also jointly conduct a planning review of the transportation planning process for MPOs

(urbanized area over 50,000 in population) at least every five years to determine if the process meets

the federal planning requirements. The scope of the federal review of an MPOs planning process is

comprehensive, covering the transportation planning process for the entire area and all agencies

involved, and consisting of the three primary activities that is undertaken in a TMA review.

The Systems Planning Bureau conducts a planning review of each RPA every six years. This assessment

will ensure that federal transportation planning funds are being expended appropriately in an

established process that is consistent with state and federal regulations and guidelines. It is the joint

responsibility of the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT), FHWA, and FTA to ensure that the

federal transportation program and federal funds are administered by each RPA in compliance with

applicable state and federal laws.

Generally, oversight of agency compliance with state and federal guidelines is largely accomplished

throughout each year as agencies perform activities related to the transportation planning process and

develop definitive planning products. The transportation planning review process for each RPA consists

of a review of planning products in advance of the planning review, a review and discussion of planning

review questionnaire responses, a Title VI questionnaire and review, and a report that offers

commendations and recommendations.

The primary goals of the RPA planning review are as follows:

• Gain a better understanding of the transportation planning process being conducted within the

RPA;

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCESS FOR FHWA & FTA PLANNING FUNDS

• Outline/clarify areas for potential improvement of the region’s transportation planning and

programming process;

• Discuss how transportation planning funds are being used to support the development of the

key transportation planning products, including the transportation planning work program,

public participation plan, transportation improvement program, long range transportation plan,

and passenger transportation plan;

• Ensure that the planning process is continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive, and operates

in a manner consistent with federal guidelines;

• Provide an opportunity for discussion of how the region’s transportation planning process is

working or not working; and

• Strengthen the planning partnership between the RPA, Iowa DOT, FHWA, and FTA, including

determining the need for additional guidance, assistance, and training to improve the overall

RPA transportation planning process.

The Iowa DOT, three years after the review, will follow up and inquire about the report’s

recommendations to see how changes and/or progress are being addressed.

PLANNING FUNDS FLOW CHART

PLANNING FUNDS AVAILABILTY

1. Federal funds are authorized to the U.S. DOT.

2. Federal funds are appropriated to various programs and agencies within the U.S. DOT, including the

FTA and FHWA.

3. Using a formula provided in law, appropriated program funds are apportioned among State DOTs

and metropolitan areas annually.

4. Systems Planning enters the apportionments into formulas and distributes new and carryover

planning funding targets to the MPOs/RPAs.

TPWP DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

1. A guidance document for agency TPWPs is updated and sent to MPOs and RPAs annually.

2. Using the planning funding targets, MPOs/RPAs develop and approve an annual TPWP.

3. Systems Planning Bureau develops and submits the federal CPG for MPO/RPA transportation

planning funding.

4. An annual transportation planning joint participation agreement to implement intermodal planning

is executed.

5. MPOs and RPAs begin to perform transportation planning work activities listed within their TPWP.

REIMBURSEMENT PROCESSING

1. MPOs/RPAs submit reimbursement claims for the federal share of eligible costs incurred on a

monthly or quarterly basis to the DTPs.

2. The DTPs review reimbursement request claims for accuracy, consistency, and adequate detail.

3. If the DTPs find the detail to be less than accurate or not acceptable, the DTPs will contact the

MPO/RPA for more detail and explanation.

4. After a final review, Systems Planning prepares a supplier invoice in Workday.

REIMBURSEMENT PAYMENT

1. Finance Bureau reviews the financial information of the supplier invoice for accuracy.

2. Finance Bureau makes a request to draw down the planning grant funds from FTA’s ECHO system

on Friday.

3. Finance Bureau receives the requested funding on Monday.

4. Finance Bureau transfers the funds electronically to the State Treasurer’s Office on Tuesday.

5. State Treasurer’s Office makes the payment by check or EFT to an MPO/RPA on Wednesday. *

*Any unspent funding from the fiscal year end will be available as carryover to the planning agency, along with their new planning

funding targets, for the development of their next TPWP.