[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 28 (Monday, February 13, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10441-10442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02860]



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 Rules and Regulations
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 to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 28 / Monday, February 13, 2017 / 
Rules and Regulations  

[[Page 10441]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

23 CFR Part 490

[Docket No. FHWA-2013-0053; FHWA-2013-0054]
RIN 2125-AF53; 2125-AF54


National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Pavement 
Condition for the National Highway Performance Program and Bridge 
Condition for the National Highway Performance Program; National 
Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance of the National 
Highway System, Freight Movement on the Interstate System, and 
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final regulations; delay of effective dates.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from 
the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled 
``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,'' published in the Federal Register 
on January 24, 2017, the Department delays the effective dates of the 
following regulations until March 21, 2017: National Performance 
Management Measures; Assessing Pavement Condition for the National 
Highway Performance program and Bridge Condition for the National 
Highway Performance Program, RIN 2125-AF53; and National Performance 
Management measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway 
System, Freight Movement on the Interstate System, and Congestion 
Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, RIN 2125-AF54.

DATES: Effective February 13, 2017, the effective date of the final 
rules published on January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5886 and January 18, 
2017, at 82 FR 5970, respectively, is delayed to March 21, 2017.
    The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in 
the final rule published on January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5886 is approved 
by the Director of the Federal Register as of March 21, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Richardson, Assistant 
Chief Counsel for Legislation, Regulations, and General Law, Office of 
Chief Counsel, Federal Highway Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-0761. Office hours are 
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access and Filing

    A copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs), all comments 
received, the Final Rules, and all background material may be viewed 
online at http://www.regulations.gov using the docket numbers listed 
above. A copy of this notice will be placed on each docket. Electronic 
retrieval help and guidelines are available on the Web site. It is 
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. An electronic copy of 
this document may also be downloaded from the Office of the Federal 
Register's Web site at http://www.ofr.gov and the Government Publishing 
Office's Web site at http://www.gpo.gov.

Background

    On January 20, 2017, the Assistant to the President and Chief of 
Staff issued a memorandum entitled, ``Regulatory Freeze Pending 
Review.'' This memorandum directed heads of executive departments and 
agencies to take certain steps to ensure that the President's 
appointees and designees have the opportunity to review new and pending 
regulations. It instructed agencies to temporarily postpone the 
effective dates of regulations that had been published in the Federal 
Register but were not yet effective until 60 days after the date of the 
memorandum (January 20, 2017). In accordance with that directive, the 
FHWA is delaying the effective dates of the regulations listed below as 
follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        RIN                  Title          Agency contact   Original effective date     Delayed effective date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2125-AF53..........  Assessing Pavement    Francine Shaw    February 17, 2017........  March 21, 2017.
                      Condition for the     Whitson,
                      National Highway      Office of
                      Performance Program   Infrastructure
                      and Bridge            , 202-366-8028.
                      Condition for the
                      National Highway
                      Performance Program.
2125-AF54..........  Assessing             Francine Shaw    February 17, 2017........  March 21, 2017.
                      Performance of the    Whitson,
                      National Highway      Office of
                      System, Freight       Infrastructure
                      Movement on the       , 202-366-8028.
                      Interstate System,
                      and Congestion
                      Mitigation and Air
                      Quality Improvement
                      Program.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waiver of Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), FHWA 
generally offers interested parties the opportunity to comment on 
proposed regulations and publishes rules not less than 30 days before 
their effective dates. However, the APA provides that an agency is not 
required to conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking or delay effective 
dates when the agency, for good cause, finds that the requirement is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest (5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3)). There is good cause to waive both of 
these requirements here as the President's appointees and designees 
need to delay the effective dates of these

[[Page 10442]]

regulations to have adequate time to review new or pending regulations, 
and neither the notice and comment process nor delayed effective date 
could be implemented in time to allow for this review.

List of Subjects in 23 CFR Part 490

    Bridges, Highway safety, Highways and roads, Incorporation by 
reference, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Issued on: February 7, 2017.
Walter C. Waidelich, Jr.,
Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-02860 Filed 2-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-22-P