[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 17, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 7388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-3208]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

49 CFR Part 611

[Docket No. FTA-2006-25737]
RIN 2132-AA81


Major Capital Investment Projects

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: This action withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 
concerning major capital investment projects published in the Federal 
Register on August 3, 2007 (72 FR 43328). FTA has determined that 
withdrawal of the NPRM is warranted due to an intervening statutory 
change.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Van Wyk, Office of Chief 
Counsel, Federal Transit Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 
East Building, Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4011 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 10, 2005, President Bush signed the Safe, Accountable, 
Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy for Users 
(SAFETEA-LU). Section 3011 of SAFETEA-LU made a number of changes to 49 
U.S.C. 5309, which authorizes the Federal Transit Administration's 
(FTA) capital investment grant program. SAFETEA-LU also required that 
FTA issue regulations establishing an evaluation and rating process for 
the new Small Starts program. To effectuate the statutory changes and 
comply with the rulemaking requirement, FTA published an advance notice 
of proposed rulemaking on January 30, 2006 and a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPRM) on August 3, 2007. On June 6, 2008, the SAFETEA-LU 
Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (122 Stat. 1572) was signed into law, 
amending 49 U.S.C. 5309 to require that FTA ``give comparable, but not 
necessarily equal, numerical weight to each project justification 
criteria in calculating the overall project rating'' for both New Start 
and Small Start projects. The revisions to the statute require such a 
fundamental change in how FTA weighs the several project justification 
criteria that a new approach to rulemaking for the New Starts and Small 
Starts program is required. Thus, FTA is publishing this notice to 
withdraw the NPRM it issued on August 3, 2007.
    FTA received numerous written comments in response to the NPRM. The 
majority of commenters opposed the NPRM, with overwhelmingly negative 
comment on a number of specific proposals. The following concerns 
emerged as the most widely held: A regulatory requirement that a 
project be rated medium on cost-effectiveness in order to obtain a 
funding recommendation; cost-effectiveness weighted fifty percent of 
the overall project justification rating; modification of the 
definition of ``fixed guideway'' to include High Occupancy Toll (HOT) 
lanes under certain conditions; consideration given to congestion 
reduction in evaluating projects; inclusion of weights for evaluation 
criteria in the regulatory text rather than in policy guidance; the 
level of simplification for the new Small Starts program; the 
combination of the evaluation measures for economic development and 
land use and the weight given to the combined measure; the prohibition 
on segmenting a New Starts project into several Small Starts projects; 
and the proposal for the Very Small Starts category of projects.
    Today's issue of the Federal Register contains another withdrawal 
notice by which FTA is also withdrawing the NPRM it issued for the 
Contractor Performance Incentives for the Capital Investment Program on 
February 19, 2008 (73 FR 9075).

The Withdrawal

    In consideration of the foregoing, the NPRM for FTA Docket No. FTA-
2006-25737, as published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2007 (72 
FR 43328) is hereby withdrawn.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 10th day of February, 2009.
Matthew J. Welbes,
Acting Deputy Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E9-3208 Filed 2-13-09; 8:45 am]
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