[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25864-25865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12034]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

49 CFR Part 611

[Docket No. 99-5474]
RIN 2132-AA63


Major Capital Investment Projects

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: On April 7, 1999, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 
published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) describing the 
procedures that FTA proposes to use to evaluate and rate candidate 
projects for capital investment grants and loans for new fixed guideway 
systems and extensions to existing systems (``new starts'') (64 FR 
17062-71). The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) 
requires FTA to issue regulations covering the evaluation and rating of 
such projects. The docket for this NPRM is open for public comment 
until July 6, 1999; FTA invites public comment, and included a number 
of questions in the NPRM soliciting specific comment. In order to 
encourage public comment, FTA intends to host three workshops on the 
NPRM. This notice announces the dates, times, locations and procedures 
for those workshops.

DATES: The three workshops are scheduled as follows:
    1. May 24, 1999, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (local time); Toronto, 
Ontario.
    2. June 3, 1999, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (local time); San 
Francisco, CA.
    3. June 8, 1999, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (local time); Washington, 
DC.

ADDRESSES: The Toronto, Ontario workshop will be held in the Essex 
Ballroom at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West, 
Toronto, Ontario, MSH 2M9, in conjunction with the 1999 APTA Commuter 
Rail/Rapid Transit Conference. The San Francisco, CA workshop will be 
held at: Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth Street, 
Oakland, California (adjacent to the Lake Merritt BART station). The 
Washington, DC workshop will be held at: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, room 3200-3204, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 
20590. Written material submitted at the workshops will be placed in 
the rulemaking docket. Interpreters and alternative-format information 
are available upon request; requests should be made by May 17 for any 
of the workshops.


[[Page 25865]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Day, Office of Policy 
Development, FTA, (202) 366-4060.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 7, 1999, FTA issued a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to carry out the requirements of Section 
3009(e)(5) of TEA-21 (64 FR 17062-71). This statute directs FTA to 
issue regulations that define the process that FTA will use to evaluate 
candidate new starts under the criteria contained in 49 U.S.C. 5309. 
When issued, the Final Rule will set forth the approach FTA will use to 
evaluate candidate projects in terms of their justification and local 
financial commitment, as required under 49 U.S.C. 5309(e). Consistent 
with 49 U.S.C. 5309(e)(6), as amended by Section 3009(e) of TEA-21, 
these procedures will also be used to approve candidate projects for 
entry into preliminary engineering and final design. These procedures 
will also be used to evaluate projects in order to make recommendations 
for funding in the annual report to Congress required by 49 U.S.C. 
5309(o)(1).

Notice of Meeting and Meeting Procedures

    FTA believes that the public will benefit from an opportunity for 
dialog concerning the NPRM on evaluation of major capital investment 
projects, or new starts. Therefore, FTA is holding three public 
workshops, as follows: May 24, 1999; Toronto, Ontario, in conjunction 
with the 1999 APTA Commuter Rail/Rapid Transit Conference; June 3, 
1999; San Francisco, CA; June 8, 1999; Washington, DC. Information 
gathered at the workshops will be included in the rulemaking docket and 
evaluated in conjunction with the development of the Final Rule. This 
notice establishes the general procedures set forth below to facilitate 
the workshops.
    The workshops are intended to solicit public views and information 
on the proposed rule. Therefore, they will be conducted in an informal 
and nonadversarial manner.
    The San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC workshops will last 3\1/2\ 
hours, beginning at 9:00 a.m.; the Toronto, Ontario workshop will last 
3 hours, beginning at 2:00 p.m. The format will consist of an overview 
of the NPRM, including relevant background information, by FTA 
officials. A general question-and-answer session will follow.
    Seating will be limited by available room size and will be made 
available on a first-come, first-served basis, with some seats reserved 
as necessary for speakers, interpreters and persons requiring their 
services, and others requiring specific accommodations. For those who 
cannot attend, a tape recording, transcript, or other record of the 
workshops will be available in the rulemaking docket after the 
workshops.
    We will try to accommodate all attendees who wish to speak during 
the question-and-answer period. Speakers will be accommodated on a 
first-come, first-served basis; however, FTA reserves the right to 
exclude some speakers or limit their time in order to provide equal 
opportunity to all who wish to speak.
    All statements and materials received at the workshop will become 
part of the rulemaking docket.

    Issued: May 7, 1999.
Gordon J. Linton,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-12034 Filed 5-12-99; 8:45 am]
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