Implementation Guidelines - Federal Transit Administration - U.S. ...

5307, 5309, 5311, or 23 U.S.C. 103(e)(4)
comply with this part. The regulation
(§655.82(c)) also requires that each state
certify compliance on behalf of its
subrecipients of these funding programs. In
order to provide the certification, the state
must ensure that each subrecipient is in
compliance with Part 655 and Part 40. If a
subrecipient is not in compliance with the
regulations, the state may suspend its
funding.
FTA does not specify what actions must
be taken by states to ensure subrecipient
compliance, but they are encouraged to
develop an oversight program that provides
a reasonable level of confidence that their
subrecipients are complying before they
certify compliance. Successful oversight
activities include policy review, ongoing
training, technical assistance and
compliance checklists. The Best Practices
manual provides additional information and
examples of monitoring forms and
checklists for state DOTs (Section 4.2 and
Appendix C).
Policy reviews are informative, and
several states evaluate their subrecipient’s
policies to make certain that every system
has a policy in place and that its contents
comply. These states have found the
reviews useful because they often reveal the
nature and extent of a subrecipient’s
compliance problems.
Information sharing and training are also
effective oversight activities. Most states
have provided some level of training for
their subrecipients. A few states have
supplemented their initial training by
providing refresher courses to inform
subrecipients of regulatory changes, new
interpretations, and ways to avoid common
mistakes. Several states have also
developed resource libraries that are
available to subrecipients and have
disseminated information through
newsletters, alerts, emails, and faxes.
Some states have developed monitoring
programs that require subrecipients to
complete comprehensive checklists and
provide documentation showing how they
complied with each regulatory requirement.
A review of the checklists enables the state
to identify problems and require the
subrecipients to take corrective actions.
Other states have included abbreviated
testing program checklists in their ongoing
regulatory compliance review process.
Regardless of the methods used, each
state should be committed to the program
and should take their oversight
responsibilities seriously. Oversight
programs that successfully identify problem
areas and initiate corrective actions will
enhance the integrity of each subrecipient’s
testing program, minimize compliance
issues, avoid potential legal conflicts, and
improve the overall effectiveness of the
program.
Chapter 12. Program Monitoring 12-6 August 2002