1. DEFINITION OF
TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the list of all federally funded transportation projects in the Housatonic Valley Region. The projects included on this list are scheduled to receive federal transportation funds within the next five years.

The TIP for the Region is part of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) maintained by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (Conn DOT). For easy access to the portion of the TIP pertaining to just this region, contact David Hannon at the phone and email below.

Approval of the TIP by the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) is required before any federal funds can be expended on any transportation project in the Housatonic Valley Region.

This project review and approval role has been bestowed upon HVCEO since 1975 by federal regulations. However, HVCEO cannot act within a policy vacuum. Its own regional policies must be set forth in a Regional Transportation Plan.

The regulations specifically provide regional agencies in Connecticut like HVCEO with the opportunity to cooperate with Conn DOT on decisions regarding how federal transportation funds are spent. The approval of both agencies, Conn DOT and HVCEO, is required for projects to be funded.

The goal of course is not to quarrel, but to cooperate, such that projects moving forward already have the endorsement of both parties. To move forward, any project must be on the TIP.

HVCEO is a state authorized association of ten municipal governments in the Greater Danbury - New Milford Area, including Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield and Sherman. Web site sections About HVCEO and also HVCEO Services may be of interest in getting to know us.

The public has the right to state what they do and do not want in the TIP. Local elected officials will be interested in this input. Public meetings at which to express your views are also held. Contact us to receive a copy of the TIP.

Questions regarding the HVCEO TIP or any of the projects listed in the TIP may be directed to: David Hannon, HVCEO Deputy Director, Old Town Hall, Routes 25 & 133, Brookfield, CT 06804, Phone: (203) 775-6256, Fax: (203) 740-9167, email: dhannon@hvceo.org

The minimum public comment period is thirty days for the TIP and major amendments. The date and time for a public input meeting on the TIP will be advertised in the News Times at least 15 days before the meeting.

If the final RTP or TIP either differs significantly from the ones which were first made available for public comment, or if they raise new material issues which interested parties could not reasonably have foreseen, an additional opportunity for public comment on the revised TIP will be made available.

When written or oral comments are received on the draft RTP or TIP as a result of the public involvement process, a summary, analysis, and report on the disposition of comments shall be made part of the final TIP.

2. DEFINITION OF
STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) is a five year financial document that lists all projects expected to be funded in those five years with federal participation. It is a compilation of the regional TIP's.

Conn DOT's Office of Policy develops this document in cooperation with the state's eleven metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and in consultation with the state's four rural regional planning organizations (RPOs).

The STIP is developed in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and all regulations issued pursuant thereto.

According to these regulations, a STIP: 1. must be developed once every two years; 2. must cover a minimum of three years; 3. must list projects in priority order by year; 4. must be financially constrained by year; 5. must include a financial plan that demonstrates which projects can be implemented using current and anticipated revenue sources; and 6. must include all significant projects that could affect air quality.

Also, it must 7. come from conforming state and regional long range plans; 8. must be found in conformity with the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for air quality; and 9. individual project entries must contain the following information: a) project description, including sufficient detail to identify the project phase and, in non-attainment or maintenance areas, sufficient description to permit air quality analysis according to the U.S. EPA conformity regulation. c) Specific project budget, including total cost, Federal share and source by year, other funding shares and sources and c) identification of the Americans With Disabilities Act implementation project elements.

The STIP is multimodal and includes investments in various modes such as transit, highway, and bicycle facilities. The STIP is the means of implementing the goals and objectives identified in long range regional and state transportation plans.

Only those projects for which construction and operating funds can reasonably be expected to be available are included. Without TIP/STIP inclusion, a project is ineligible for federal funding. On rare occasions, HVCEO has vetoed a project on the draft TIP.

3. REQUIREMENT FOR
FISCAL CONSTRAINT
Federal regulations require that every regional TIP and state's STIP be “fiscally constrained,” meaning that program costs for a given year cannot exceed program revenues for the same year.

However, since most of the federal funding authorizations are made for statewide programs, individual regions are dependent on Conn DOT to provide estimates of the amount of federal funds available statewide, and for assuring that a sufficient portion of those funds are allocated to each region to cover the cost of each region’s programmed projects.

As s spending plan, the TIP is based on reasonable projections of available statewide resources. As program and schedule changes are made to HVCEO’s TIP, the total expected federal authorizations will be reallocated by Conn DOT to reflect total statewide and regional program needs and available financial resources.

4. STATE AND LOCAL FUNDS ON THE TIP
State resources are sufficiently available to match federal dollars.

Limited projects included in the STIP, such as the Enhancement Program, require a local match to federal funds. This is provided by the municipality in which the job takes place.

Local funding sources may include bonding, state LOCIP grants or other sources.

5. MODEL TIP LEGAL NOTICE
Model TIP legal notice wording updated to July 2005 is as shown below:

LEGAL NOTICE
A listing of proposed federally funded transportation improvement projects, known as the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the Housatonic Valley Region (Region) has been presented to the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT DOT). The Region includes the 10 municipalities of Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield and Sherman.

The HVCEO, acting as the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for transportation planning in the Region, has been requested by CT DOT to endorse the federally funded projects contained in the TIP. The projects cannot proceed to implementation without this endorsement.

HVCEO will meet on (month and day and year) at 12:30 P.M. at Brookfield Town Hall, 100 Pocono Road, Brookfield, CT to consider endorsement of the TIP. The proposed TIP is available for public review and comment which can be submitted in writing prior to HVCEO's meeting or in person at the meeting.

The proposed Statewide TIP (STIP) is also available for review at the HVCEO office, can be forwarded to citizens by mail, and can be addressed at the (month and day and year) HVCEO meeting.

Also note that the Housatonic Area Regional Transit District (HART) relies on HVCEO's TIP public participation activities to satisfy separate requirements under the Program of Projects (POP) rule. This notice of public involvement activities and time established for public review and comment on the TIP will also satisfy the POP requirements of the Urbanized Area Formula Program. This includes assistance for the operation of public transit services operated HART.

To receive a copy of the proposed TIP or STIP, to ask questions, or to obtain meeting location directions, contact David Hannon at the HVCEO office, Old Town Hall, Routes 25 & 133, Brookfield, CT, 06804, 203-775-6256, dhannon@hvceo.org. All persons interested in transportation issues are encouraged to participate.