 under the Recovery Act, and we believe, based on our initial analysis, that we are spending as much as $80,000 per month as an agency simply in reporting information on the Recovery Act projects and the work that they are generating here in Texas.
While managing these reporting requirements is something we have done and can do with current staff, I wanted to make sure the commission understood it's so important as we consider this that we believe it's important now to start creating staff specifically assigned to these reporting requirements alone, and partly because many people believe that as we move forward with federal reauthorization, these type of reporting requirements are going to be associated with all future federal transportation funding for the states.
I'm happy to share with you today that Texas did receive a grant ‑‑ it wasn't a TIGER grant but we did receive a grant for a ferry boat in the Corpus Christi District. The Ferry Boat Discretionary Program is a federal program that provides funding for ferry boats and ferry terminals, and under the Recovery Act, a certain amount of money was set aside to provide additional funding for that discretionary grant program. We submitted two project nominations, one for a new ferry boat for our Galveston-Port Bolivar ferry system in the Houston District, and then one for our Port Aransas ferry system in the Corpus Christi District, and a couple of weeks ago we received notice that we will be receiving $7.2 million for the purchase of a new ferry boat for our Port Aransas ferry system which will greatly improve operations and efficiency on that system. So we were proud to receive that, and Commissioner Houghton, we do get a win, and so it's an example of how you might get a little bit when sometimes it's not very hopeful that you would get anything.
We will continue to make significant progress in completing the implementation of this act as we move forward. I also wanted to share with you that on the transit side of things, I learned yesterday that the Federal Transit Administration has obligated about $40 million of our Recovery Act funding, that equates to about 80 percent of the overall program. And I think that Eric Gleason and his staff will have the remainder of the program ready for you to review and approve submittal on next month at your commission meeting. So that particular component of the Recovery Act is moving forward very, very well.
This concludes my general remarks this morning on the Recovery Act, and before I move into the description of the minute order, I'd just like to pause to see if there are any questions from the commission.
Okay, if not, then I would just like to present to you today for your consideration a minute order that will make a few technical revisions to the list of previously approved maintenance and preservation projects. As we've already talked about today, there are a couple of key issues with the Recovery Act: quick time lines and making sure your data is correct. This particular minute order will allow us to correct some technical revisions from the Minute Order 111844 that was approved last month by the commission. We had some minor changes that need to be made in the description of some projects, a few of the descriptive numbers were wrong and some of the limits that were shown in the projects were slightly different, and we want to make sure that we have complete transparency and accuracy in our data.
Also of substantive note, the Austin District had chosen not to ask for approval of additional maintenance projects last month as they considered the value of some of the projects within their district, and so this minute order does include the addition of seven additional projects in the Austin District that would be funded from the allocation you've given to them for maintenance and preservation activities, and they're in various counties, Caldwell, Hays, Llano, Travis and Williamson Counties, that are projects that are much needed to continue to preserve the system that we have in the greater Austin area.
We also are needing to remove a project that was approved last month from the Atlanta District. As the district got ready to implement that project, they determined that it was not eligible for federal funding because of the classification of roadway that it was on, and therefore, we will not be able to do that project with these federal funds, but we'll have to use state funds to do that under our normal program.
And in the Beaumont District, as they got ready to implement one of their projects, determined that through the efforts of our maintenance sections they were able to keep the road that they were asking to have a project on in good shape and they don't feel like it would be a wise investment to put the project that they had in there underway, so they're going to delete that project in its entirety.
So with that brief description, I would recommend your consideration and approval of this minute order that is before you this morning.
MS. DELISI: Are there any questions?
MR. HOUGHTON: So moved.
MR. HOLMES: Second.
MS. DELISI: All in favor?
(A chorus of ayes.)
MS. DELISI: The motion passes.
MR. BARTON: Thank you.
MR. SAENZ: Thank you, John.
Commissioners, moving on to agenda item 5(c) so we can complete 5, and this also deals with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dealing with the high-speed rail program. Phil Russell will present.
MR. RUSSELL: Good morning, commissioners, Mr. Saenz and Roger. For the record, I'm Phil Russell, assistant executive director over Innovative Project Development.
In some aspects, item 5(c) is really a companion minute order to Mr. Barton's 5(b), but it is focused just on rail, and there are some unique features to it, and if you'll permit me, I'll go through some of the relevant elements.
Again, commissioners, this is part of the stimulus package and it specifically provided $8 billion for high-speed intercity passenger rail, and again to be administered by the Secretary of Transportation. The minute order before you, should you approve it, would provide for a candidate list of high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects for submission to the Federal Highway Administration.
Commissioners, as you may recall, we had a workshop in June, and again, to hit some of the high points, the FRA promulgated, kind of sketched out their process for developing this program on June 17, so we had a real need for speed, we had to scramble a little bit in trying to put together this program and be able to submit it on time. The way they have put it together, they have four different categories, funding categories. They call them tracks, I call them categories.
Track 1 are projects that are shovel ready, ready to go, they're independent, utility, high-speed rail projects. Track 2 are those projects that might be a little further behind but specifically it looks at corridor-wide that they in themselves may have a number of individual projects that had been prioritized within that overall corridor. Track 1 and 2 would be funded with the $8 billion of the stimulus money that the Obama Administration has put together for the program.
Tracks 3 and 4 a little bit different, they would be funded with a smaller amount of money in the area of about $90 or $100 million, and that money comes from previous appropriations in '08 and '09. Track 3 is for planning, again, projects that are just being initiated. States may have a need to start doing some preliminary work, some early on planning work for developing the rail line. Track 4 is for intercity passenger rail and capital grants for those sorts of projects.
Now, the challenge again has been trying to put together a cohesive program in a relatively short period of time. The Transportation Programming Division, with Jim Randall, Wayne Dennis and Jennifer Moczygemba, have really done a great job in working, they've collaborated with the FRA, metropolitan planning organizations, transit authorities, rail districts and the Class 1 railroads in trying to develop the list that's before you.
Now, a couple of things that are, I think, really considerably different from the previous stimulus programs that John has briefed you on, first off, because the program is new, unique and probably a little complex, FRA has a two-stage submittal process ‑‑ and again, I mentioned this to you in your workshop in June ‑‑ but the process requires a pre-application submittal which we did on July 10. From that July 10 pre-application submittal, FRA will be looking at the projects, they'll get a sense for the universe of projects that might be out there, and also, it will enable them to give us some feedback on those individual projects, whether they're appropriately put in this track or that track, perhaps they're not ripe and they may suggest that we wait till another program call.
So we're anticipating getting that feedback probably next week, next Friday, and at that time, based on that feedback, we'll finalize the list of projects and the submittals will be due on August 24 for Tracks 1, 3 and 4 and on October 2 for Track 2.So they've got a staggered submittal process, but those first three tracks, Tracks 1, 3 and 4, will be due on August 24.
Now, a couple of things that you should be aware of, first off, Track 1 and 2, again, will be funded with the $8 billion. One hundred percent of those funds will be available, very similar to the program that Mr. Barton has managed. Tracks 3 and 4 will require a 50 percent local match and that's something we'll be working with all of the groups that have initiated these projects, because I think as Mr. Saenz and I