[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 136 (Monday, July 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37088-37089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-17727]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[FTA Docket No. FTA-2001-10120]


Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for approval. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day 
comment period soliciting comments was published on April 20, 2001.

DATES: Comments must be submitted before August 15, 2001. A comment to 
OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sylvia L. Marion, Office of 
Administration, Office of Management Planning, (202) 366-6680.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   Title: 49 CFR part 611 Major Capital 
Investment Projects
    Abstract: On June 9, 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 
21st Century (TEA-21) (Pub. L. 105-178) was enacted. Section 3009(e)(5) 
of TEA-21 requires FTA to issue regulations on the manner in which 
candidate projects for capital investment grants and loans for new 
fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing systems (``new 
starts'') will be evaluated and rated for purposes of the FTA Capital 
Investment Grants and Loans program for new starts under 49 U.S.C. 
Section 5309.
    The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for this regulation was 
issued on April 7, 1999, (64 FR 17062). The docket was open for public 
comment through July 6, 1999, though late-filed comments were accepted 
through July 19, 1999. Comments were received from a total of 41 
individuals and organizations. During the comment period, FTA held 
three additional public outreach workshops to solicit comments on the 
proposed rule: one in Toronto, Ontario, on May 24, 1999, in conjunction 
with the 1999 American Public Transit Association's Commuter Rail/Rapid 
Transit Conference; one in Oakland, California, on June 3, 1999; and 
one in in Washington, DC, on June 8, 1999. Notes from these workshops 
have been placed in the docket for this rule (Docket No. FTA-99-5474-
48).
    The Final Rule was issued on December 7, 2000, (65 FR 76864) noting 
that a separate burden analysis would be published for public comment 
and that FTA would seek a control number from the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) authorizing FTA to collect the required information. 
This notice serves that purpose. It is important to note that while the 
new starts project evaluation and rating regulation is new, the 
requirements for project evaluation and data collection for the new 
starts program are not. FTA's requirement to evaluate proposed new 
starts against a prescribed set of statutory criteria is longstanding. 
The Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 
1987 (STURAA) established in law a set of criteria that proposed 
projects had to meet in order to be eligible for federal funding. The 
requirement for summary project ratings has been in place since 1998.
    In general, the information used by FTA for new starts project 
evaluation and rating purposes should arise as a part of the normal 
planning process. Prior to this Rule, FTA collected project evaluation 
information from project sponsors under a Paperwork Reduction Act 
request (OMB No. 2132-0529) approved under the joint FTA/FHWA planning 
regulations. However, as the project evaluation criteria have expanded 
under TEA-21, it has become apparent that some information required

[[Page 37089]]

under this Rule may be beyond the scope of ordinary planning 
activities. Further, while FTA has long required the reporting of 
information for project evaluations, there has never been a regulatory 
requirement until TEA-21. Finally, this Rule adds a new requirement for 
before-and-after data collection for purposes of Government Performance 
and Results Act reporting as a condition of obtaining a Full Funding 
Grant Agreement (FFGA). Therefore, FTA is submitting a separate 
Paperwork Reduction Act request.
    It is also important to note that since this is a new regulatory 
requirement, the burden estimates include all data collection efforts 
required by this Rule, regardless of whether or not the same data would 
have been required under the previous, policy statement-driven process. 
Thus, the total burden estimate includes items that would have been 
required whether this regulation had been issued or not. These 
estimates were also provided in the preamble to the Final Rule dated 
December 7, 2000.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 47,200 hours.

ADDRESSES: All written comments must refer to the docket number that 
appears at the top of this document and be submitted to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
725--17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: FTA Desk 
Officer.
    Comments Are Invited On: Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the collected information to be collected; and ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Issued: July 11, 2001.
Dorrie Y. Aldrich,
Associate Administrator for Administration.
[FR Doc. 01-17727 Filed 7-13-01; 8:45 am]
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