Requirements for the SPR Work Program

— Title 23, Section 420.111 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires that the proposed use of FHWA Planning and Research funds be documented by

RTI

in a work program “acceptable to the FHWA.” Work must be approved by FHWA before SPR funds can be obligated.

Separate Work Programs for Planning and Research

— RTI prepares an SPR

Subpart B

Part (research) annual work program, including quarterly updates, separate from the SPR

Subpart A

Part (planning) work program prepared by TPP. The

Subpart B

Part work program includes information on TxDOT

RTI’s

research and implementation programs.

Purpose of the Work Program

— The annual Work Program gives a Program overview and relates financial data for the current state fiscal year (September 1- August 31). The fiscal data details how funds are obligated, how much federal and state funding each project receives, as well as what sum total amounts the universities receive. The FHWA approves project templates, which are summaries of each individual project. The template includes fiscal data, project start and end date,

project title,

whether the project has been modified, the university name,

the researcher,

and the Project Manager. The projects are separated into functional areas, pooled funds, and administrative. Once the Work Program is complete, the document is certified

and executed

by the Director

of RTI

. Once the Director approves the Work Program, it is then submitted to FHWA

for review and approval

.

Modifications to the Work Program

— Once the annual Work Program has been approved by FHWA, any modifications shall be administered and prior approval must be obtained in accordance with provisions found in 23 CFR 420 and 2 CFR 200, to include but not limited to, the following: 1.) budget and programmatic changes, including additional federal funds

needed

to complete the project; 2.) allowable cost which requires prior approval; 3.) changes to the principal investigator also known as Project Supervisor; 4.) change to scope of effort or objectives of the project or program; 5.) disengagement from the project for more than three months or 25 percent reduction in time; 6.) transfer of funds budgeted for participant support costs, as defined in 2 CFR 200.75, to other categories of expense; 7.) the sub-awarding transferring, or contracting out of any work under Federal award; 8.) expenses more than 90 calendar days pre-award cost (see also 2 CFR 200.458 Pre-award costs); 9.) a one-time extension of the period of performance by up to 12 months unless one or more of the conditions

apply as

outlined in paragraphs of 200 CFR 200.308 (d)(2)(i) through (iii) which are; (i) the terms and conditions of the Federal award prohibit the extension, (ii) the extension requires additional Federal funds, (iii) the extension involves any change in the approved objectives or scope of the project, and 10.) incurrence of special or unusual costs as provided in 2 CFR 200.407.