[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 177 (Thursday, September 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51717-51719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19945]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2021-0075]


Notice of Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; 
Modification of Existing Information Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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[[Page 51718]]

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and comments. A Federal Register Notice with a 
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published June 24, 2021, and the comment period ended 
August 23, 2021. One comment related to the ICR was submitted into the 
docket. The comment proposed striking the existing requirement that an 
original Application should be provided in three-hole punch binders as 
part of the application process. The Build America Bureau has accepted 
this comment and removed the requirement that an original Application 
should be provided in three-hole punch binders for each loan 
application.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted directly to the OMB by 
October 18, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to the attention of the 
DOT/OST Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by email at 
[email protected] with the associated OMB Control Number 
2105-0569.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Approval No.: 2138-0013.
    Title: Letter of Interest and Application Forms for the Railroad 
Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing and Transportation 
Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act Credit Programs.
    Type of Review: Modification of existing information collection.
    Background: The RRIF credit program has its origins in Title V of 
the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, 45 
U.S.C. 821 et seq., which authorized the Federal Railroad 
Administration to provide railroads certain financial assistance. This 
Title V financing program was replaced by the RRIF program under 
section 7203 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 
1998, Public Law 105-178 (1998) (TEA 21). RRIF was subsequently amended 
by: The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 
Act: A Legacy for Users, Public Law 109-59 (2005) (SAFETEA-LU); the 
Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Division A of Public Law 110-432; 
and the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (Pub. L. 114-94) 
(2015) (FAST Act). All applicants for RRIF credit program assistance 
are required to submit a completed application. 45 U.S.C. 823(a). The 
information collection activity request for the RRIF credit program 
application was most recently approved in 2018 (OMB Control Number 
2105-0569). See 83 FR 23525 and 83 FR 35534.
    The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 
1998 was enacted as part of TEA 21. The TIFIA program was subsequently 
amended by SAFETEA-LU, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st 
Century Act (Pub. L. 112-141) (2012) (MAP-21), and the FAST Act. All 
applicants for TIFIA credit program assistance are required to submit a 
completed Letter of Interest (LOI) and application. 23 U.S.C. 
602(a)(1)(A). The existing information collection activity request for 
the TIFIA credit program letter of interest and application was most 
recently approved in 2018 (OMB Control Number 2105-0569). See 83 FR 
23525 and 83 FR 35534.
    The National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau 
(referenced hereafter as the Build America Bureau or the Bureau), 
established by the Secretary on July 20, 2016, in accordance with the 
FAST Act, was created to streamline and improve access to the 
Department's Federal credit programs, including RRIF and TIFIA. The 
Bureau was made responsible for administering the application processes 
for the TIFIA and RRIF credit programs. To streamline and conform these 
application processes, the Bureau created a single LOI form and a 
single application form that can be used by applicants of either credit 
program. Both the LOI form and the application form have been updated 
to reflect efficiencies in the application process adopted by the 
Department, provide clarifying information, and make the forms easier 
for applicants to use. Because some key statutory differences exist 
between the two programs' application processes and eligibility 
criteria, the forms have been reorganized to clearly identify where an 
item of information applies only for one of the programs and need not 
be answered by applicants of the other program. The Department seeks 
OMB approval to modify the LOI and application. The forms have also 
been reviewed to ensure that all information requested is necessary for 
the Department to properly perform its functions in administering its 
credit programs and updated to reflect the current statutory 
requirements.
    The LOI asks the applicant to describe, among other things, the 
project and its location, purpose and cost; the proposed financial 
plan, the status of environmental review, and certain information 
regarding satisfaction of other eligibility requirements under the 
applicable credit program. The application serves as the official 
request for credit and, therefore, requires the same information 
required of the LOI, plus detailed information about the applicant's 
legal and management structure, its financial health, the revenue 
stream pledged to repay the loan, and other information regarding 
satisfaction of eligibility requirements. TIFIA and RRIF credit 
assistance is awarded based on a project's satisfaction of TIFIA and 
RRIF (as applicable) eligibility requirements. The Department is 
authorized to prescribe the form and contents of the LOI and 
application. 45 U.S.C. 823 and 23 U.S.C. 601(a)(6).
    Respondents: State and local governments, transit agencies, 
government-sponsored authorities, special authorities, special 
districts, ports, private railroads, and certain other private 
entities.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: Based on the number and 
type of interested stakeholders that have contacted the Department 
about the RRIF and TIFIA programs in fiscal years (FY) 2018-2021, the 
Department estimates that it will receive, on an annual basis, eight 
(8) RRIF LOIs, twelve (12) TIFIA LOIs, eight (8) RRIF applications, and 
twelve (12) TIFIA applications.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The Department estimates that 
it will generally take applicants not fewer than twenty (20) person-
hours to assemble a single LOI (for either credit program) and not 
fewer than one hundred (100) person-hours to assemble a single 
application (for either credit program). (Person-hour estimates 
provided for a RRIF application assume that the applicant will 
initially submit an LOI, reducing the number of person-hours spent on 
the application.) Based on the anticipated annual total number of 
respondents, the total annual hour burden of this collection for RRIF 
LOIs and applications is 960 and for TIFIA LOIs and applications is 
1,440 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: This information collection will occur on 
a rolling basis as interested entities seek RRIF or TIFIA credit 
assistance.
    Public Comments Invited: The Department invites interested 
respondents to comment on a proposed information collection activity 
(summarized below) with respect to: (i) Whether the information 
collection activities are necessary for the Department to properly 
execute its functions, including whether the

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activities will have practical utility; (ii) the accuracy of the 
Department's estimates of the burden of the information collection 
activities, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used to determine the estimates; (iii) ways for the Department to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being 
collected; and (iv) ways for the Department to minimize the burden of 
information collection activities on the public by automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology (e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses). See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)(i)-(iv); 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1)(i)-(iv). The Department believes that soliciting public 
comment will promote its efforts to reduce the administrative and 
paperwork burdens associated with the collection of information 
mandated by Federal regulations. In summary, the Department reasons 
that comments received will advance three objectives: (i) Reduce 
reporting burdens; (ii) ensure that it organizes information collection 
requirements in a ``user friendly'' format to improve the use of such 
information; and (iii) accurately assess the resources expended to 
retrieve and produce information requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2021.
Morteza Farajian,
Executive Director, the Build America Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2021-19945 Filed 9-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P