Section 654.1 - Demand response entitlement grants(a) Except for grants made for reduced fare service on local common carrier transportation systems in counties of the first and second class, the grants authorized under subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (3.1) of section 4 of this act shall be suspended for the fiscal years 1980-1981 and 1981-1982. In lieu of payment of such grants authorized under subparagraphs (ii) and (iii), the grants for such fiscal years shall be made directly to counties in such amount and for such purposes as is hereinafter provided:(1) For the fiscal years 1980-1981 and 1981-1982 only, grants from the State Lottery Fund shall be made directly to all counties, except counties of the first and second class. The total amount to be granted by the department for each fiscal year shall be computed by multiplying the following dollar amount fixed for a person 65 years of age or older by the total number of all such elderly persons residing in all counties other than in counties of the first and second class; for the fiscal year 1980-1981, the dollar amount of the multiplier shall be $9.50 per elderly person; and for the fiscal year 1981-1982, the dollar amount of the multiplier shall be $4.75 per elderly person. Each county entitled to receive a grant under this paragraph shall have five years from the effective date of this act to apply for and receive such grant.(2) The department, after determining the total dollar amount of the grant for each fiscal year, shall then apportion each such fiscal year amount by a fraction for each county, the numerator of which shall be the total number of persons 65 years of age or older residing within a particular county other than counties of the first and second class, and the denominator of which is the total number of persons 65 years of age or older residing in all of the counties other than counties of the first and second class. The amount thus apportioned for each county shall then be the grant entitlement for said county for each of said fiscal years, except that no county, by virtue of application of its apportionment fraction, shall receive less than a minimum of $25,000 or a maximum of $400,000 in the fiscal year 1980-1981 or less than a minimum of $12,500 or a maximum of $200,000 for the fiscal year 1981-1982. To aid the department in computing apportionment fractions, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of Aging to furnish to the department the latest statistical data then available on persons 65 years of age or older residing in such counties.(3) Counties other than counties of the first and second class may obtain their share of the fiscal year grants by filing for each fiscal year with the department an application on a form prescribed by it. The department shall require with such application a transportation plan plus such other information as the department may require to establish to the satisfaction of the department that the county plans to provide an integrated transportation system on a free or reduced rate basis for those persons 65 years of age or older residing in such county. The grants made by the department shall be utilized by the county as follows: (i) In counties where local mass transportation systems which provide shared ride public services now operate or where transportation services are established under the provisions of this section, losses resulting from providing such services shall be reimbursed from the counties' allocation using the reimbursement criteria outlined in paragraph (3.1) of section 4; and(ii) Expenditures incurred or to be incurred in the planning, developing and establishing of local transportation systems in a county for persons 65 years or older; or(iii) Expenditures incurred or to be incurred for the expansion or extension of now existing local mass transportation systems within a county for the purpose of providing transportation services for the elderly in those geographical areas of the county which are not serviced at all or are inadequately serviced by such system; or(iv) Expenditures incurred or to be incurred by the county for the planning, developing and establishing of a county transportation system and for the purchase ownership, operation and maintenance of buses, vans or other passenger-type vehicles used for transporting within the county persons 65 years of age or older; or(v) The grants made to counties for categories (ii), (iii) and (iv) may be used as matching funds to obtain State or Federal aid for the establishing, expanding or acquiring transportation systems in order to provide transportation for the elderly.(b) The department shall have the authority to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the purposes of this section. These rules and regulations shall include provisions to prevent the duplication of existing transportation services. Such regulations, in accordance with the provisions of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 177, No. 175), known as "The Administrative Code of 1929," shall not take effect until the same are submitted to the Department of Aging for comment.(c) Upon the termination of the fiscal year 1981-1982, no further grants shall be made directly to the counties under this subsection: Provided, however, That no county receiving a fiscal year grant under this subsection shall forfeit such grant or be denied subsequent fiscal year grants solely on the basis that the county has failed within either the fiscal year 1980-1981 or 1981-1982 to fully and completely implement its transit system for the elderly, it being the intent of the General Assembly to provide each county five years from the effective date of this act in which to phase in and make operational some type of transit system for the elderly. In the event that any county fails within such five years to provide some type of an operational transit system for the elderly, any unspent and unencumbered grant moneys made to the counties for the fiscal years 1980-1981 or 1981-1982 shall be returned through the Department of Transportation for deposit in the State Lottery Fund for use in the grant program provided in paragraph (3.1) of section 4 or for other senior citizens programs.1976, Feb. 11, P.L. 14, No. 10, § 4.1, added 1980, Oct. 17, P.L. 1083, No. 183, § 4, imd. effective.