[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 226 (Monday, November 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67782-67785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25868]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2021-0022]


Development of Guidance for Electric Vehicle Charging 
Infrastructure Deployment

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

ACTION: Notice; request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests in 
the deployment of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure as one 
of many important ways to confront the climate crisis. Through a 
National Electric Vehicle Formula Program (EV Charging Program), the 
law provides funding to States to strategically deploy EV charging 
infrastructure and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate 
data collection, access, and reliability. The law also establishes a 
discretionary grant program for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure 
(Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program) to strategically deploy 
publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane, 
and natural gas fueling infrastructure along designated alternative 
fuel corridors or in certain other locations that are accessible to all 
drivers of such vehicles. The law directs DOT, in coordination or 
consultation with the Department of Energy (DOE), to develop guidance 
for both programs. Through this notice, FHWA invites public comments to 
inform the development of the guidance. FHWA is especially interested 
in comments suggesting ways that the guidance could promote equity in 
the deployment of EV charging infrastructure under these programs.

DATES: Comments would be most useful if they are received on or before 
January 28, 2022 to allow for their consideration during development of 
the EV Charging Program guidance. FHWA will consider comments received 
after the due date to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that you do not duplicate your docket submissions, 
please submit comments by only one of the following means:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the 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: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The 
telephone number is (202) 366-9329;
     Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket 
number at the beginning of your comments. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kerry Rodgers, Office of the Chief 
Counsel, (202) 366-1376, or via email at [email protected]. FHWA is 
located at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. 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 this Notice, all comments received on this Notice, and 
all background material may be viewed online at http://www.regulations.gov using the docket number listed above. Electronic 
retrieval help and guidelines are also available at http://www.regulations.gov. An electronic copy of this document also may be 
downloaded from the Office of the Federal Register's website at 
www.FederalRegister.gov and the Government Publishing Office's website 
at www.GovInfo.gov.

Confidential Business Information

    Confidential Business Information (CBI) is commercial or financial 
information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by 
its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), 
CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to 
this RFI contain commercial or financial information that is 
customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and 
that is relevant or responsive to this RFI, it is important that you 
clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 CFR 
190.343, you may ask FHWA to give confidential treatment to information 
you give to the Agency by taking the following steps: (1) Mark each 
page of the original document submission containing CBI as 
``Confidential''; (2) send FHWA, along with the original document, a 
second copy of the original document with the CBI deleted; and (3) 
explain why the information you are submitting is CBI. Unless you are 
notified otherwise, FHWA will treat such marked submissions as 
confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public 
docket of this RFI. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Kerry 
Rodgers, FHWA Office of the Chief Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590. Any comment submissions that FHWA receives that 
are not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public 
docket for this matter.

Background

    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, enacted as the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58 (Nov. 15, 2021), 
includes important new programs to address climate change by reducing 
carbon emissions. Among these programs is a national EV Charging 
Program to provide funding that FHWA shall distribute among the States 
to strategically deploy EV charging infrastructure and to establish an 
interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access, and 
reliability. Funds must be used for: (1) The acquisition and 
installation of EV charging infrastructure to serve as a catalyst for 
the deployment of such infrastructure and to connect it to a network to 
facilitate data collection, access, and reliability; (2) proper 
operation and maintenance of EV charging infrastructure; and (3) data 
sharing about EV charging infrastructure to ensure the long-term 
success of investments made under the program. The Federal share 
payable for projects funded under the EV Charging Program is 80 
percent. EV Charging Program funds may be used to contract with a 
private entity for acquisition and installation of publicly accessible 
EV charging infrastructure, and the private entity may pay the non-
Federal share of the project cost. However, funds must be used for 
projects directly related to vehicle charging and only for EV charging 
infrastructure that is open to the general public or to authorized 
commercial motor vehicle operators from more than one company. Further, 
any EV charging infrastructure acquired or installed with program funds 
must be located along a designated alternative fuel corridor, unless a 
State determines, and the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) 
certifies, that the designated alternative fuel corridors in the State 
are fully built out. In that case, the State could use the funds for EV 
charging infrastructure on any public road or in other publicly 
accessible locations.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also requires that a State, by a 
deadline to be set by DOT, provide a plan to DOT describing how the 
State intends to use the funds it receives under the EV Charging 
Program for each fiscal year in which funds are made available. No 
later than 120 days after the deadline for submittal of the State 
plans, DOT is required to issue a publicly available report on its 
website summarizing each State plan submitted and assessing how the 
State plans to make progress towards the establishment of a national EV 
charging infrastructure network. If a State fails to submit the 
required plan, or if DOT determines that a State has not taken action 
to carry out its plan, DOT may, as applicable, withhold or

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withdraw funds made available under the EV Charging Program for the 
fiscal year after providing notice to and consulting with the State and 
providing an opportunity for the State to address any concerns and 
implement its plan or to appeal DOT's decision to withhold or withdraw 
funds. In such situations, DOT may award such funds on a competitive 
basis to local jurisdictions within the State for use on projects that 
meet the EV Charging Program's eligibility requirements. If DOT 
determines that such withheld or withdrawn funds cannot be fully 
awarded to local jurisdictions within the State, DOT is required to 
distribute any remaining funds among other States that have not had 
funds withheld or withdrawn under the program as the law provides.
    Another new program is the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure 
Program, a competitive grant program to strategically deploy publicly 
accessible EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane, and 
natural gas fueling infrastructure (eligible fueling infrastructure) 
along designated alternative fuel corridors or in certain other 
locations that are accessible to all drivers of such vehicles. Through 
this program for corridor and community charging, the Secretary will 
award grants to eligible entities that include States or political 
subdivisions, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, 
special purpose districts or public authorities with a transportation 
function, Indian tribes, U.S. territories, authorities or agencies 
owned by one or more of these eligible entities, or groups of eligible 
entities. Eligible entities must use grants to contract with a private 
entity for acquisition and installation of publicly accessible EV 
charging infrastructure or eligible fueling infrastructure that is 
directly related to vehicle charging or fueling. Publicly accessible EV 
charging infrastructure or eligible fueling infrastructure installed 
with grants under this program must be located along a designated 
alternative fuel corridor, except in the case of the community grants 
described below.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires that the Secretary 
reserve 50 percent of the amounts made available each fiscal year to 
carry out the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program to provide 
community grants to eligible entities. Eligible entities include those 
previously described and State or local authorities that own publicly 
accessible transportation facilities. The Secretary may award community 
grants for projects that are expected to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions and to expand or fill gaps in access to publicly accessible 
EV charging infrastructure or eligible fueling infrastructure, 
including certain development phase activities and the acquisition or 
installation of such infrastructure that is directly related to vehicle 
charging or fueling, including any related construction or 
reconstruction and the acquisition of real property directly related to 
the project. Projects that receive community grants may be located on 
any public road or in other publicly accessible locations such as 
parking facilities at public buildings, public schools, and public 
parks, or in publicly accessible parking facilities owned or managed by 
a private entity.
    The law requires the Secretary, in awarding community grants, to 
give priority to projects that expand access to EV charging and 
eligible fueling infrastructure in rural areas, low- and moderate-
income neighborhoods, and communities with a low ratio of private 
parking spaces to households or a high ratio of multi-unit dwellings to 
single family homes. The Secretary also must consider the extent to 
which a project contributes to geographic diversity among eligible 
entities, including a balance between urban and rural communities, and 
meets current or anticipated market demands for charging or fueling 
infrastructure.
    The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out with a grant 
under the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program shall not exceed 
80 percent of the total project cost. Projects carried out under the 
program are treated as projects on a Federal-aid highway and are 
subject to certain other requirements.

Development of Guidance

    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law directs DOT, in coordination with 
DOE and within 90 days of the law's enactment, to develop guidance for 
States and localities to strategically deploy EV charging 
infrastructure through the EV Charging Program, based on the 
consideration of nine factors. The law also directs DOT, during the 
redesignation of alternative fuel corridors under 23 U.S.C. 151, to 
issue a report that summarizes best practices and provides guidance, 
developed through consultation with DOE, for project development of EV 
charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane, and natural gas fueling 
infrastructure at the State, Tribal, and local levels to allow for the 
predictable deployment of that infrastructure. The guidance we develop 
also may be relevant to EV charging infrastructure that receives 
funding from other Federal funding sources.

Request for Comments and Information

    As we begin to develop the guidance for the EV Charging Program and 
for project development of EV charging infrastructure, and we prepare 
to implement the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program, FHWA 
requests comments and information from the public. In particular, FHWA 
requests comments to inform its development of the statutorily required 
EV Charging Program guidance. Please indicate in your written comments 
the number(s) of the considerations(s) you are commenting on and 
provide specific examples or information to illustrate your comments 
where possible. The statutory considerations for the EV Charging 
Program are:
    1. The distance between publicly available EV charging 
infrastructure;
    2. Connections to the electric grid, including electric 
distribution upgrades; vehicle-to-grid integration, including smart 
charge management or other protocols that can minimize impacts to the 
grid; alignment with electric distribution interconnection processes, 
and plans for the use of renewable energy sources to power charging and 
energy storage;
    3. The proximity of existing off-highway travel centers, fuel 
retailers, and small businesses to EV charging infrastructure acquired 
or funded under the Program;
    4. The need for publicly available EV charging infrastructure in 
rural corridors and underserved or disadvantaged communities;
    5. The long-term operation and maintenance of publicly available EV 
charging infrastructure to avoid stranded assets and protect the 
investment of public funds in that infrastructure;
    6. Existing private, national, State, local, Tribal, and 
territorial government EV charging infrastructure programs and 
incentives;
    7. Fostering enhanced, coordinated, public-private or private 
investment in EV charging infrastructure;
    8. Meeting current and anticipated market demands for EV charging 
infrastructure, including with regard to power levels and charging 
speed, and minimizing the time to charge current and anticipated 
vehicles; and
    9. Any other factors, as determined by the Secretary.
    In connection with question 9, please describe any other factors 
that you suggest that we consider in developing the EV Charging Program 
guidance.

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    FHWA also requests comments to inform the implementation of the 
Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Program to provide discretionary 
grants for corridor and community charging. Specifically:
    10. Please provide examples of best practices relating to project 
development of EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, propane, and 
natural gas fueling infrastructure at the State, Tribal, and local 
levels.
    11. What topics do you suggest that we address in guidance on 
project development of EV charging infrastructure and hydrogen, 
propane, and natural gas fueling infrastructure at the State, Tribal, 
and local levels to allow for the predictable deployment of that 
infrastructure?
    12. Please provide any suggestions to inform the administration of 
competitive grants under the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure 
Program for corridor and community charging.
    Authority: Public Law 117-58; 49 CFR 1.81.

    Signed in Washington, DC.
Stephanie Pollack,
Deputy Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-25868 Filed 11-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P