[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 211 (Tuesday, November 3, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56910-56911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26370]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA 2009-0115]


Agency Information Collection Activities: 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 invites public comments about our intention to 
request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for the 
renewal of a currently approved information collection that is 
summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We

[[Page 56911]]

are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by January 4, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number 
FHWA-2009-0115, by any of the following methods:
    Web Site: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of Transportation, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Raj Ailaney, Office of Bridge 
Technology, HIBT-1, (202) 366-6749, Fax (202) 366-3077, or e-mail 
[email protected]. For legal questions, please contact Mr. Robert 
Black, Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366-1359, 
[email protected]; Federal Highway Administration, Department of 
Transportation, Room E84-461, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 
DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment (IBRD) Program.
    Background: The Innovative Bridge Research and Deployment (IBRD) 
program was established by the passage of Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), 
Public Law 109-59 on Aug. 10, 2005. Per Section 5202(b)(1) of SAFETEA-
LU, the Secretary shall establish and carry out a program to promote, 
demonstrate, evaluate, and document the application of innovative 
designs, materials, and construction methods in the construction, 
repair, and rehabilitation of bridges and other highway structures.
    This program was funded by SAFETEA-LU, Section 5101(a)(1) at $13.1 
M for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009. Of this amount, 
$4.125 M for fiscal years 2006 through 2009 was directed to conduct 
research and deploy technologies related to high-performance concrete 
bridges. The actual amount available varied in yearly congressional 
appropriations. For fiscal year 2008, Congress rescinded the IBRD 
program. Under the current Continuing Resolution, the IBRD Program is 
authorized and continued for FY 2010.
    The IBRD activities include identification and selection of 
candidate projects from 50 State DOTs, Puerto Rico and the District of 
Columbia, which meet one or more goals of the program as established by 
the Congress. Projects may be selected that meet one or more program 
goals as follows:
    A. The development of new, cost-effective, innovative highway 
bridge applications;
    B. The development of construction techniques to increase safety 
and reduce construction time and traffic congestion;
    C. The development of engineering design criteria for innovative 
products, materials, and structural systems for use in highway bridges 
and structures;
    D. The reduction of maintenance costs and life-cycle costs of 
bridges, including costs of new construction, replacement or 
rehabilitation of deficient bridges;
    E. The development of highway bridges and structures that will 
withstand natural disasters;
    F. The documentation and wide dissemination of objective 
evaluations of the performance and benefits of these innovative 
designs, materials, and construction methods;
    G. The effective transfer of resulting information and technology; 
and
    H. The development of improved methods to detect bridge scour and 
economical bridge foundation designs that will withstand bridge scour.

Additional activities include collection of project information, 
documentation, promotion and wide dissemination of objective 
evaluations of the performance and benefits of these innovative 
designs, materials, and construction methods resulting from the project 
studies.
    Respondents: 50 State Departments of Transportation, the District 
of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
    Frequency: Annual.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 1 hour.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: It is estimated that a total 
of 100 responses will be received to give us a total annual burden of 
100 hours.
    Public Comments Invited: 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 burdens; (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. 
The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request 
for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

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

    Issued On: October 28, 2009.
Tina Campbell,
Acting Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. E9-26370 Filed 11-2-09; 8:45 am]
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