[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 106 (Thursday, June 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35436-35437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12883]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2016-0040]


Notice and Request for Comment on Benefit-Cost Analysis Guidance 
for Rail Projects

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Section 11313(b) of the Fixing America's Surface 
Transportation (FAST) Act, Public Law 114-94 (December 4, 2015), 
requires the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to ``enhance the 
usefulness of assessments of benefits and costs for intercity passenger 
rail and freight rail projects.'' As directed by Section 11313, FRA is 
issuing benefit-cost analysis (BCA) guidance (BCA Guidance) to fulfill 
these requirements and is requesting comments on the BCA Guidance. The 
BCA Guidance is available at https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0940.

DATES: Written Comments: Written comments on the BCA Guidance must be 
received by August 1, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments related to Docket Number FRA-2016-0040 
may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Online: Comments should be filed at the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal, http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the

[[Page 35437]]

online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the 
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Lawrence, Office of Railroad 
Policy and Development, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-1376.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 11313(b) of the FAST Act provides 
that, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the FAST 
Act, the Secretary must enhance the usefulness of assessments of 
benefits and costs for intercity passenger rail and freight rail 
projects by: (1) Providing ongoing guidance and training on developing 
benefit and cost information for rail projects; (2) providing more 
direct and consistent requirements for assessing benefits and costs 
across transportation funding programs, including the appropriate use 
of discount rates; (3) requiring applicants to clearly communicate the 
methodology used to calculate the project benefits and costs; and (4) 
ensuring that applicants receive clear and consistent guidance on 
values to apply for key assumptions used to estimate potential project 
benefits and costs.
    The BCA Guidance addresses the four requirements specified in the 
FAST Act and is intended to provide a consistent approach for 
completing a BCA for intercity passenger rail and freight rail project 
proposals.
    In addition to serving as a valuable tool for defining and 
narrowing investment alternatives, BCAs are also increasingly a 
prerequisite to receive financial assistance under Federal investment 
programs, including those that DOT administers. For example, the two 
competitive railroad infrastructure improvement grant programs 
authorized in the FAST Act specifically require the Secretary to 
consider BCA as a project selection criterion (Section 11301, 
Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements; and Section 
11302, Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair). Moreover, 
two grant programs administered by the Office of the Secretary that 
contain rail project eligibilities--the Transportation Investment 
Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program and the Fostering 
Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term 
Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) program--either require 
or request (depending on the size and other characteristics of the 
project) a BCA as part of the grant application process.
    FRA drafted the BCA Guidance to be consistent with the DOT BCA 
guidance, which covers a wide range of surface transportation projects 
(e.g., highways, transit, rail, and ports) under the TIGER and FASTLANE 
grant programs. The FRA BCA Guidance is intended to provide greater 
granularity and specificity to benefit and cost issues associated with 
intercity passenger rail and freight rail projects.
    The BCA Guidance is effective upon the publication of this notice. 
However, project sponsors and potential applicants for FRA financial 
assistance programs should refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity 
(NOFO) announcement for further instruction regarding the applicability 
of the BCA Guidance to a particular application or funding program. Due 
to the timing of the publication of this notice, the BCA Guidance does 
not apply to applications to the Railroad Safety Infrastructure 
Improvement Grant program, for which a NOFO was published in the 
Federal Register on April 29, 2016, with applications due to FRA by 
June 14, 2016.
    As noted, written comments on the BCA Guidance must be received by 
August 1, 2016. FRA will consider such comments when making potential 
future revisions to the BCA Guidance. However, FRA will not publically 
respond to comments received nor will FRA address every comment in 
potential future revisions to the BCA Guidance.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 26, 2016.
Sarah E. Feinberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-12883 Filed 6-1-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P