[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 76 (Friday, April 20, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20007-20008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7561]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2007-27950]


Notice of Request for Extension of Currently Approved Information 
Collection

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 renew an information collection. We published a Federal Register 
Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information 
collection on February 13, 2007. We are required to publish this notice 
in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by May 21, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, within 30 days, to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory 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-2007-27950.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Bini, 202-366-6799, or Cynthia 
Hatley, 202-493-0426, Office of Federal Lands Highway, Federal Highway 
Administration, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Federal Lands Highway Program.
    OMB Control #: 2125-0598.
    Background: Title 23 U.S.C. 204 requires the Secretary of 
Transportation and the Secretary of each appropriate Federal land 
management agency to develop, to the extent appropriate, safety, 
bridge, pavement, and congestion management systems for roads funded 
under the Federal Lands Highway Program (FLHP). A management system is 
a process for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data to provide a 
strategic approach to transportation planning, program development, and 
project selection. Its purposes are to improve transportation system 
performance and safety, and to develop alternative strategies for 
enhancing mobility of people and goods. This data collection clearance 
addresses the management systems for the National Park Service (NPS) 
and the Park Roads and Parkways (PRP) Program; Bureau of Indian Affairs 
(BIA) and the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) Program; Fish and Wildlife 
Service (FWS) and the Refuge Roads (RR) Program; and Forest Service 
(FS) and the Forest Highway (FH) Program.
    Outputs from the management systems are important tools for the 
development of transportation plans and transportation improvement 
programs, and in making project selection decisions consistent with 23 
U.S.C. 204. Further, management system outputs also provide important 
information to the FHWA for their stewardship and oversight roles for 
the Park Roads and Parkways, Indian Reservation Roads, Refuge Roads, 
and Forest Highway Programs. The data collection required to implement 
these management systems supports the DOT Strategic Objectives of 
Safety, Mobility, Environmental Stewardship, and Organizational 
Excellence. The proposed data collection also directly supports the 
FHWA's Vital Few Initiative of Safety, Congestion Mitigation, and 
Environmental Stewardship and Streamlining that represent the three 
most important strategic planning and performance goals for the agency.
    The National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and Forest Service are continuing to implement the 
required management systems and the associated information collections. 
Completion of this phase-in of the management systems is expected to 
occur during the time period covered by this information collection, 
and the average annual burden estimates are based on expected increases 
in the overall burden over that time period. The management systems 
vary in complexity among the four agencies and reflect differences in 
the characteristics of the transportation systems involved such as 
size, ownership, and eligibility for inclusion in the program. These 
variations result in differences among the agencies in the expected 
number of respondents to the information collection, and in the 
anticipated time necessary to respond to the information collection.
    Typical information that might be collected for the management 
systems includes:
     Traffic information including volumes, speeds, and vehicle 
classification;
     Pavement features such as number of lanes, length, width, 
surface type, functional classification, and shoulder information; and 
pavement condition information such as roughness, distress, rutting, 
and surface friction;
     Bridge features such as deck width, under/over-clearance, 
details of structural elements such as girders, joints, railings, 
bearings, abutments, and piers; and information on the condition of the 
bridge elements sufficient to describe the nature, extent, and severity 
of deterioration;
     Safety information such as crash records, crash rates, and 
an inventory of safety appurtenances such as signs and guardrails; or
     Congestion measures such as roadway level of service or 
travel delay.
    Respondents to the information collection might be collecting and 
submitting information in one or more of these categories for the 
portion of their transportation system that is covered under the FLHP. 
For example, this might include the collection and submission of 
information for State or county-owned roads that are Forest Highways, 
or Indian Reservation Roads

[[Page 20008]]

owned by Indian Tribal Governments. Typically, the respondents would 
collect information each year for the portion of their system. Burden 
estimates have been developed using this assumption combined with an 
estimate of the time needed to collect and provide the information.
    Respondents: The estimated average annual number of respondents for 
the management systems for each of the agencies addressed by this 
information collection is: The NPS management systems consist of 75 
respondents. The breakdown is 35 States and 40 Metropolitan Planning 
Organizations (MPOs), regional transportation planning agencies, 
counties, local or tribal governments.
    The BIA management system consists of 85 respondents. The breakdown 
is 35 States and 50 MPOs, regional transportation planning agencies, 
counties, local or tribal governments. The FWS management system 
consists of 75 respondents. The breakdown is 35 States and 40 MPOs, 
regional transportation planning agencies, counties, local or tribal 
governments. The FS management system consists of 85 respondents. The 
breakdown is 35 States and 50 MPOs, regional transportation planning 
agencies, counties, local or tribal governments.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Estimated Average Annual Burden per Response:
    NPS management systems--Approximately 40 hours per respondent.
    BIA management systems--Approximately 60 hours per respondent.
    FWS management systems--Approximately 20 hours per respondent.
    FS management systems--Approximately 60 hours per respondent.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Total estimated average annual 
burden is 14,700 hours.

    Issued on: April 17, 2007.
James R. Kabel,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
 [FR Doc. E7-7561 Filed 4-19-07; 8:45 am]
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