(a) Application.--An eligible applicant that wishes to receive financial assistance under this chapter shall submit a written application to the department on a form developed by the department, which shall include the following:

(b) Approval and award.--Upon determining that an applicant has complied with this chapter, applicable rules and regulations and any other requirement with respect to the financial assistance requested, the department may award financial assistance to the applicant. If the department awards financial assistance to the applicant, the department and the applicant shall enter into a financial assistance agreement setting forth the terms and conditions governing the use of the financial assistance and the timing of payment of the funds. The department shall develop guidelines for the application for and awarding of financial assistance under this chapter and shall forward them to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

(c) Restriction on use of funds.--Unless the department grants the award recipient a waiver allowing the funds to be used for a different purpose, financial assistance under this chapter shall be used only for activities set forth under the financial assistance agreement. The department's regulations shall describe circumstances under which it will consider waiver requests and shall set forth all information to be included in a waiver request. The waiver request shall include a plan of corrective action to demonstrate that the award recipient does not have an ongoing need to use financial assistance funds for activities other than those for which funds were originally awarded. The duration of the waiver may not exceed the duration of the plan of corrective action. The department shall monitor implementation of the plan of corrective action. If the plan of corrective action is not implemented by the local transportation organization, the department shall rescind the waiver approval.