The Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Program is providing eligible transportation service companies with resources to help to maintain payroll, hire back employees who may have been laid off, and cover applicable overhead and operational expenses.
THE DEADLINE FOR APPLYING FOR A CERTS GRANT WAS JULY 19, 2021
THE CERTS PORTAL IS NOW CLOSED TO NEW APPLICATIONS
Established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Program was created to support transportation service providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including motorcoach, school bus, passenger vessel, and pilot vessel companies.
Under the program, Treasury will provide up to $2 billion in grants to eligible companies that certify they have experienced an annual revenue loss of 25 percent or more as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19. CERTS grant funds are primarily to cover payroll costs, but may also be used to cover the acquisition of services, equipment, including PPE and protection measures from COVID-19 for workers and customers; continued operations and maintenance of existing equipment and facilities; rent, leases, insurance, and interest on regular debt service.
Program Information
- CERTS Program Guidelines *Updated* (08/12/2021)
- CERTS Frequently Asked Questions *Updated*(09/23/2021)
- Information on the ID.me identity service
- Information for companies applying from U.S. Territories
- IRS information on the tax treatment of CERTS grants
- Form of Standard CERTS Grant Agreement for All Approved Grantees
- CERTS Employee Recall and Rehire Information
- List of CERTS Participants with Amounts Provided
APPLICANT INFORMATION: TREASURY’S REVIEW AND APPROVAL PROCESS
Treasury is reviewing all CERTS grant applications submitted by the July 19, 2021 deadline. While Treasury is reviewing an application, the status code for the application in the CERTS portal will be “Application Signed and Submitted – Under Review.”
If Treasury has questions or requires clarification about an application, Treasury will contact the applicant with instructions for providing additional information or documents. In such cases, the status code for the application in the CERTS portal will be “Action Needed.”
Treasury will notify applicants when their application is approved (or if it must be rejected as ineligible for CERTS). However, an approved applicant’s grant amount may not be known until Treasury completes a quantitative analysis of the applicant pool to allocate CERTS funding across the four eligible industries and then to apply the grant sizing formula to each approved applicant. Therefore, the status code for approved applications in the CERTS portal will initially be “Application Approved – Grant Amount Pending.” Treasury will also post on this website the industry allocation methodology and the grant sizing formula.
Once an approved applicant’s grant amount is calculated, Treasury will send the approved applicant a Grant Agreement to sign electronically. The status code for the application will then be changed to “Grant Agreement Available for Signature.”
After the approved applicant electronically signs and returns the Grant Agreement, the status code in the CERTS portal will be “Grant Agreement Signed by Applicant.”
In the final step, Treasury will counter sign the Grant Agreement and initiate a grant payment to the approved applicant. The status code in the CERTS portal will then be “Grant Agreement Signed by Treasury – Payment Initiated.”
Approved applicants should expect to receive an electronic grant payment in their bank account two to three business days after they return their signed Grant Agreement.