The Department has also revised two of the eight criteria for awarding credit assistance and is requiring applicants for funding in fiscal year 2010 to submit (or re-submit) "letters of interest" that are responsive to such criteria.

• Suspension of "Open Application" system
  By notice published in the Federal Register last week, the Department announced that it has suspended the "open application" system for TIFIA credit assistance. (Please see a copy of the notice which can also be found at 74 Fed. Reg. 63497.)
  Because "demand for credit assistance currently exceeds budgetary resources," according to the notice, it is "no longer feasible" for the Department to review, as it has since 2002, applications on a "first come, first serve" basis. Effective immediately, the Department will instead solicit applications on a periodic basis and establish, for a given solicitation, a group of projects that will compete with each other for an allocation of TIFIA's capacity.
  It is not yet clear how frequently the Department will make "periodic" solicitations, whether projects within a given group will be ranked on a "curve", or whether unsuccessful applicants will be permitted to re-apply for consideration in response to future solicitations.
• Pilot program for "Self-Subsidy"
  In the same notice, the Department also proposed a "pilot program" under which project sponsors may fund the subsidy costs of TIFIA credit assistance—notably, loan loss reserves required by the Federal Credit Reform Act—for the account of the Department. Subsidy costs are normally borne by the TIFIA program itself, however as TIFIA budget authority becomes increasingly scarce and uncertain, the pilot program will enable the Department to extend low-interest loans and lines of credit beyond what the TIFIA program's budget authority can support.
  In addition, although the Department's notice does not explicitly say so, it appears that the open application process will not be suspended with respect to projects that use the pilot program. It is unclear, however, what factors (beyond an applicant's ability to pay) the Department might use to determine eligibility to participate in the pilot program.
• Revised selection criteria
  The Department also revised two of the eight statutory selection criteria for TIFIA credit assistance. In particular, the Department will now determine the extent to which a project is "nationally or regionally significant"—the first criterion—by taking into account the project's promotion of "livability," "economic competitiveness," and "safety."  Similarly, the Department will now determine whether a project "helps maintain or protect the environment"—the second criterion—by taking into account the project's "sustainability" and "state of good repair."
  The Department's definitions of "livability," "economic competitiveness," "safety," "sustainability," and "state of good repair" appear in the table below.

• Letter of interest deadline
  According to the Department's notice, an applicant wishing to apply for TIFIA assistance for a project in fiscal year 2010 (which ends September 30, 2010) must file a letter of interest with the Department which addresses the revised selection criteria by December 31, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. E.S.T. (even if a letter of interest for the project has already been submitted). In addition, letters of interest must conform to a new template published by the Department on the TIFIA office website.

Further information can be found on the TIFIA website.