Topic 1: Webinar Recordings

1. Where are the webinar recordings posted?

They are available at: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/grantswebinars.

Topic 2: CDLPI/CMVOST Eligibility

1. Can an applicant who was awarded in FY22 for the CMVOST be eligible to apply for funding in FY23?

Yes, an applicant may apply every year that they meet the eligibility requirements found in the annual Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

2. It appears non-profit organizations are not eligible for the CMVOST program. Can you please confirm? Unless they are approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.

A non-profit must meet either of the requirements to be eligible.  Please review the NOFO. FY 2022 NOFO eligibility was limited to educational institutions accredited by the U.S. Department of Education, or a non-accredited institution approved by the U.S. Department of Labor as an eligible training provider who accepts Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grants, approved by the State Approving Agencies (SAA), and the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) to accept VA benefits.

3. If we are a higher education institution, are we eligible to apply if we are not a minority institution?

Yes, any higher education institution is eligible to apply for CDLPI. We were just pointing out that minority institutions are also eligible.

Topic 3: Application & Submission Information

1. Regarding Period of Performance - Can an application be submitted requesting a shorter period of performance, or does it have to be for the full period noted in the NOFO? Just thinking of the reporting periods occurring after a project is completed.

Under past NOFO’s and FMCSA past practices, you can submit an application for a shorter period of performance than what statute allows, which is currently year of award, plus four additional fiscal years for CDLPI. Although in the most recent years, FMCSA has made all of the project awards for the period available under statute. Nothing prevents you from finishing your project prior to the period of performance end date.

2. Which NOFO will ask for proposals to address the gender gap with CDL drivers? To get more women in the industry?

Please read each NOFO to make the determination as to which Discretionary Grant Program supports the scope and purpose of the proposal you would like to be considered for funding. It’s recommended that you subscribe, via grants.gov to all FMCSA Discretionary Grant programs to review each NOFO when they are posted.

Topic 4: Application Review Information

1. Do applicants need to provide past performance references? Or will FMCSA only review past performance if the applicant has held prior awards w/ FMCSA solely?

FMCSA’s NOFOs discusses past performance evaluations. If we use last year’s NOFO as an example, the evaluations are based upon FMCSA’s experience in the past performance of the entity. Risk assessments are also conducted, which was mentioned during the “How to Apply” webinar. A risk assessment is a more global look at the risk of each applicant.

Topic 5: NOFO Match Requirement

1. In last year’s NOFO for CMVOST, there was no match requirement. Will the match be back for this upcoming FY23 NOFO?

As we mentioned earlier, it can change each fiscal year. Please review the NOFO each year to determine the match requirements. Match requirements are found in Section C of the NOFO.

Topic 6: NOFO Notifications

1. How do we subscribe to NOFO notifications?

Go to https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/manage-subscriptions.html. Subscribe to NOFO’s by either known CFDA numbers (financial assistance catalog numbers); by Agency or Department, e.g., FMCSA or U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Once the annual NOFO is published, you can subscribe to that specific fiscal year’s NOFO to receive notifications if there’s any changes, updates, or anything affecting that NOFO.

You can access in grants.gov previous year NOFOs as well. On the left-hand side there’s a selection option to search open, archive, forecast or closed.  If you want to see previous years, unclick the forecast and open, and select archive and closed.

Topic 7: Discretionary Grant Example

1. Can you give an example of what a discretionary grant might be? So, it would be specific to the NOFO?

FMCSA’s Discretionary Grant programs NOFOs’ provide an applicant an opportunity for many different types of projects. The scope of the project plan proposal must be within the scope of one of FMCSA’s discretionary programs. Discretionary grants mean we have discretion to make awards based upon the merit of each application as it supports the scope and purpose provided in the statute and described in the NOFO’s.

The FY2022 CDLPI Annual Report provides a high-level summary of the types of projects awarded, which can be found at this link: https://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/downloadfile.axd/2022-CDLPI-Annual-Report.pdf.