[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 136 (Friday, July 14, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43826-43827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-17757]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Highway Administration
[FRA Docket No. FRA-1998-4759]
Financial Assistance To Eliminate Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing
Hazards on Designated High-Speed Rail Corridors
AGENCIES: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of modified and new applications for the
designation of additional high-speed corridors.
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SUMMARY: On December 11, 1998, pursuant to the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the FRA and FHWA published a notice
in the Federal Register (at 63 FR 68499-68501) soliciting applications
from States for the designation of up to three additional high-speed
rail corridors. Applications were received on behalf of three corridors
by the March 11, 1999 deadline, namely, from the States of Maine and
New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: (1) Boston,
Massachusetts and Portland, Maine; and from the State of Ohio: (2)
Chicago, Illinois and Cleveland, Ohio (via Toledo, Ohio); and (3)
Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio (via Columbus and Dayton).
Since receiving these applications, the FRA has been reviewing them
carefully and seeking supplemental information from the States in order
to assure that the statutory considerations pertaining to designation
are properly addressed.
Circumstances have altered with respect to certain of the pending
applications since their receipt by the FRA.
In collaboration with the prior applicant States for the Boston-
Portland route, the State of Vermont has requested an expansion of the
proposed designation for Northern New England, to include a route from
Boston through Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, New Hampshire, thence
to Montpelier and Burlington, Vermont, and potentially to St. Albans,
Vermont and Montreal, P.Q., Canada.
The Midwestern States and Amtrak have continued to develop their
plans for the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative (MRRI), of which the
Chicago-Cleveland corridor would form an integral part. In recognition
of the MRRI's progress and in response to the State of Ohio's request
that Chicago-Cleveland be considered as an extension of the existing
designated Chicago Hub Network, the FRA has elected to evaluate that
route as an extension, rather than as an independent corridor. Since
there are now two pending applications (Boston-Portland and Cleveland-
Cincinnati) for three potential designations, the FRA can entertain
additional applications with the certainty that at least one
opportunity exists for a new designation.
Accordingly, in this notice, the FRA is (1) soliciting additional
applications from States for designation of a high-speed rail corridor,
and is (2) allowing applicant States additional time to modify (and
include additional States in) their pending applications.
The FRA and the FHWA are jointly administering this program.
DATES: Signed, written comments on this notice must be received by the
FRA on or before August 4, 2000. Completed applications for an
additional corridor designation, or for modification of pending
applications for designation submitted under the predecessor notice, at
63 FR 68499, must be received by the FRA on or before August 14, 2000.
ADDRESSES: The public is invited to submit written comments on this
notice. Written comments should refer to the docket number appearing at
the top of this notice and be submitted to the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT
Dockets, Room PL-401, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590. All comments received will be available for
examination at the above address. Docket hours at the Nassif Building
are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding Federal
holidays. Those desiring notification of receipt of comments must
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard.
Applications for corridor designation and requests for
modifications of pending applications should be submitted to: The
Honorable Jolene M. Molitoris, Administrator, Federal Railroad
Administration, ATTN: HSR Designations, RDV-11, Mail Stop 20, 1120
Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20590.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Neil E. Moyer, Chief, Program
Development Division, Office of Railroad Development, (telephone: 202-
493-6365; E-mail address: [email protected]), or Mr. Gareth
Rosenau, Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue,
NW., Mailstop 10, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-493-6054; E-mail
address: [email protected]).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
Internet users can access all comments received by the U.S. DOT
Dockets, Room PL-401, by using the universal resource locator (URL):
http://dms.dot.gov. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each
year. Please follow the instructions online for more information and
help.
An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded using a modem
and suitable communication software from the Government Printing
Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 512-1661. Internet
users may reach the Federal Register's home page at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and the Government Printing Office's database at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara.
Background
Purpose
The purpose of this notice is to afford States the opportunity (1)
to submit applications for additional corridor designations under the
23 U.S.C. 104(d)(2) program to eliminate highway-railroad grade
crossing hazards in designated high-speed rail corridors (Section
104(d)(2) Program), and (2) to submit requests to modify pending
applications submitted under the previous notice at 63 FR 68499. The
public is invited to submit comments on this notice.
Rules for Application Submissions
Applications for the designation of new high-speed rail corridors
under the Section 104(d)(2) Program, and requests
[[Page 43827]]
for modification of pending applications, shall be submitted to the
address cited in this notice, and electronically in either WordPerfect
or MS Word format. Electronic versions are to be submitted either on 3-
1/2 inch floppy disks, Zip disks, or compact disks (CDs) to the address
above, or by electronic mail to [email protected]. Applications
shall be submitted by the dates indicated in this notice, and shall
comply with the requirements specified in this notice.
Past Designations of High-Speed Rail Corridors
As previously noted, the Secretary is authorized to designate
eleven high-speed rail corridors under the Section 104(d)(2) Program.
To date the DOT has designated the following eight corridors:
(1) California Corridor (San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles and
San Diego);
(2) Pacific Northwest Corridor (Eugene, OR via Portland, OR and
Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC);
(3) Chicago Hub Corridor, extending from Chicago to St. Louis,
Detroit, Cincinnati, and Minneapolis/St. Paul via Milwaukee;
(4) Florida Corridor (Miami--Orlando--Tampa);
(5) Southeast Corridor (Washington, DC--Richmond, VA (with an
extension to Newport News, VA)--Raleigh, NC (with an extension to
Columbia, SC, Savannah, GA, and Jacksonville, FL)--Greensboro, NC--
Charlotte, NC (with an extension to Atlanta and Macon, GA).
(6) Gulf Coast Corridor, between Houston, TX, New Orleans, LA, and
Mobile, AL; also New Orleans and Birmingham, AL;
(7) Keystone Corridor, between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA,
over the route of the former Pennsylvania Railroad; and
(8) Empire State Corridor, between New York City, Albany, and
Buffalo, NY, over the route of the former New York Central Railroad.
Of the designations to date, (1) through (5), above, were
originally made in 1992 under Section 1010 of the Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. Designations (6) through (8)
were specified by the Congress in TEA-21 and implemented by the
Secretary of Transportation in the predecessor notice at 63 FR 68499.
Applications From States for Additional Corridor Designation(s)
Any State, either singly or in conjunction with other States, may
request the FRA to designate a corridor under the Section 104(d)(2)
Program. As previously noted, applications for designation must be
received by the FRA by August 14, 2000.
Section 104(d)(2) requires that the Secretary consider the
following:
(1) Whether the proposed corridor includes rail lines where
railroad speeds of 90 miles or more per hour are occurring or can
reasonably be expected to occur in the future, as specifically mandated
by Section 104(d)(2);
(2) The projected ridership associated with the proposed corridor;
(3) The percentage of the corridor over which trains will be able
to operate at maximum cruise speed, taking into account such factors as
topography and other traffic on the line;
(4) The projected benefits to nonriders, such as congestion relief
on other modes of transportation servicing the corridor (including
congestion in heavily traveled air passenger corridors);
(5) The amount of State and local financial support that can
reasonably be anticipated for the improvement of the line and related
facilities; and
(6) The cooperation of the owner of the right-of-way that can
reasonably be expected in the operation of the high-speed rail
passenger service in the corridor.
Applications from States for designation of high-speed rail
corridors, and for modifications of pending applications for
designation, will need to explicitly address, in as full and specific a
manner as possible, each of the six criteria listed above.
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 U.S.C. 20103; section 1103(c),
Public Law 105-178, 112 Stat. 107, 122 (1998).
Issued in Washington, D.C. on July 5, 2000.
Mark E. Yachmetz,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Development, Federal Railroad
Administration.
Frederick G. Wright, Jr.,
Program Manager, Safety Core Business Unit, Federal Highway
Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-17757 Filed 7-13-00; 8:45 am]
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