[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 137 (Tuesday, July 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40776-40777]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11366]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2006-25366]


Notice of Request To Approve a Revision of a Currently Approved 
Information Collection: Highway Safety Improvement Program

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA has forwarded the information collection request 
described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
to approve a revision of a currently approved information collection. 
We published a Federal Register Notice with a 60-day public comment 
period on this information collection on May 4, 2006. We are required 
to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by August 17, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments within 30 days to the Office of 
Information andRegulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 
17th Street, NW.,Washington, DC, 20503, Attention DOT Desk Officer. You 
are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, 
including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the 
FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways 
for the FHWA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized, 
including the use of electronic technology, without reducing the 
quality of the collected information. All comments should include the 
Docket number FHWA-2006-25366.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Kenneth Epstein,202-366-2157, 
Office of Safety, Federal Highway Administration, Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office 
hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Highway Safety Improvement Program.
    OMB Control No: 2125-0025.
    Background: The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) amended 
Section 148 of Title 23 U.S.C. to establish a new ``core'' Highway 
Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) that provides funds to State 
Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to improve conditions at hazardous 
highway locations and hazardous railway-highway grade crossings on all 
public roads, including those maintained by Federal, State and local 
agencies. The existing provisions of Title 23 U.S.C. 130, Railway-
Highway Crossings Program, and 152, Hazard Elimination Program, as well 
as implementing regulations in 23 CFR part 924, remain in effect. 
Included in these combined provisions are requirements for State DOTs 
to annually produce and submit to FHWA by August 31, three reports 
related to the conduct and effectiveness of their HSIPs, that are to 
include information on: (a) Progress being made to implement HSIP 
projects and the effectiveness of these projects in reducing traffic 
crashes, injuries and fatalities [Sections 148(g) and 152(g)]; (b) 
progress being made to implement the Railway-Highway Crossings Program 
and the effectiveness of the projects in that program [Sections 130(g) 
and 148(g)], which will be used by FHWA to

[[Page 40777]]

produce and submit biennial reports to Congress required on April 1, 
beginning April 1, 2006; and, (c) description of at least 5 percent of 
the State's highway locations exhibiting the most severe safety needs, 
including an estimate of the potential remedies, their costs, and 
impediments to their implementation other than cost for each of the 
locations listed (i.e., the ``5 percent report'') [Section 
148(c)(1)(D)]. To be able to produce these reports, State DOTs must 
have crash data and analysis systems capable of identifying and 
determining the relative severity of hazardous highway locations on all 
public roads, and determining the ``before'' and ``after'' crash 
experiences at HSIP project locations. This information provides FHWA 
with a means for monitoring the effectiveness of these programs and may 
be used by Congress for determining the future HSIP program structure 
and funding levels. Per SAFETEA-LU, State DOTs have a great deal of 
flexibility in the methodology they use to rank the relative severity 
of their public road locations in terms of fatalities and serious 
injuries. The list of 5 percent of these locations exhibiting the most 
severe safety needs will result from the ranking methodology used, and 
may include roadway segments and/or intersections. For example, a State 
may compare its roadway locations against statewide average rates of 
fatalities and serious injuries per 100 million vehicle miles traveled 
for similar type facilities and determine that those segments whose 
rates exceed the statewide rates are the locations with the ``most 
severe'' safety needs, and then at least 5 percent of those locations 
would be included in the required annual report.
    Respondents: 51 State Transportation Departments, including the 
District of Columbia.
    Frequency: This report must be submitted annually.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 500 hours (This is an 
increase of 300 burden hours from the current OMB approved 200 burden 
hours. The new report will take an additional 300 hours plus the 200 
hours for the existing two reports).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 25,500 hours (51 states at an 
average of 500 hours each).
    Electronic Access: Internet users may access all comments received 
by the U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, by using the universal resource 
locator (URL): http://dms.dot.gov, 24 hours each day, 365 days each 
year. Please follow the instructions online for more information and 
help.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: July 13, 2006.
James R. Kabel,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
 [FR Doc. E6-11366 Filed 7-17-06; 8:45 am]
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