[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 125 (Friday, June 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42424-42427]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13939]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2023-0063]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Approval of Information 
Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), DOT.

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments 
on our intention to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approval for an information collection in accordance with the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The collection is 
necessary for administration of the Multimodal Project Discretionary 
Grants (MPDG). This includes three funding opportunities: the 
``National Infrastructure Project Assistance grants program (Mega),'' 
the ``Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highways Projects 
grants program (INFRA)'', and the ``Rural Surface Transportation Grant 
program (Rural)''. The MPDG provides Federal financial assistance for 
surface transportation infrastructure projects--including highway and 
bridge, intercity passenger rail, railway-highway grade and separation, 
wildlife crossing, public transportation, marine highway, and freight 
and multimodal projects, or groups of such projects, of national or 
regional significance, as well as to projects to improve and expand the 
surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by August 29, 2023.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that you do not duplicate your docket submissions, 
please submit them 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 Ave. SE, West Building Ground Floor 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W-12-140 
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    Instructions: To ensure proper docketing of your comment, please 
include the agency name and docket number [DOT-OST-2023-0063] 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: For further information regarding this 
notice, please contact the Office of the Secretary via email at 
[email protected], or call Paul Baumer at (202) 366-1092. A TDD is 
available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing at 202-366-
3993.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: New Collection. OMB number will be issued 
after the collection is approved.
    Title: Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG).
    Form Numbers: None.
    Type of Review: New Information Collection Request (ICR).
    Background: The Office of the Secretary (``OST'') within the 
Department of Transportation (DOT) provides financial assistance for 
surface transportation infrastructure projects--including to highway 
and bridge, intercity passenger rail, railway-highway grade and 
separation, wildlife crossing, public transportation, marine highway, 
and freight and multimodal projects, or groups of such projects, of 
national or regional significance, as well as to projects to improve 
and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas. 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 
2021) (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL) provided funds to the 
Department across three programs to invest in projects of national or 
regional significance--the National Infrastructure Project Assistance 
grants program, found under 49 U.S.C. 6701 (``Mega''), the Nationally 
Significant Multimodal Freight and Highways Projects grants program, 
found at 23 U.S.C. 117 (Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or 
``INFRA''), and the Rural Surface Transportation Grant program, found 
at 23 U.S.C. 173 (``Rural''). To help streamline the process for 
applicants, the Department has combined the applications for the Mega, 
INFRA, and Rural programs into the MPDG common application.

[[Page 42425]]

    The Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highways Projects 
grants program (``INFRA'') (23 U.S.C. 117) was established in the 
Fixing American's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (``FAST ACT''), 
Public Law 114-94 sec. 1105, and continued in the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58 (2021). OST is referring to 
these grants as ``FASTLANE'' or ``INFRA'' Discretionary Grants, 
depending on the year of award.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established two new programs 
along with the reauthorization of INFRA. The Mega Program, known 
statutorily as the National Infrastructure Project Assistance program 
(49 U.S.C. 6701), will support large, complex projects that are 
difficult to fund by other means and likely to generate national or 
regional economic, mobility, or safety benefits. The Rural Surface 
Transportation Grant Program (23 U.S.C. 173) will support projects to 
improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural 
areas to increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of 
the movement of people and freight, and generate regional economic 
growth and improve quality of life.
    The DOT combined these three programs into single Notice of Funding 
Opportunity (NOFO) to provide a more efficient application process for 
project sponsors. While they remain separate programs for the purposes 
of award, the programs share many common characteristics. Because of 
these shared characteristics, it is possible for many projects to be 
eligible and considered for multiple programs using a single 
application.
    This notice seeks comments on the proposed information collection, 
which will collect information necessary to support the ongoing 
oversight and administration of previous awards, the evaluation and 
selection of new applications, the funding agreement negotiation stage 
for new awards, and the evaluation of the programs.
    The reporting requirements for the program is as follows:
    To be considered to receive a MPDG grant, a project sponsor must 
submit an application to DOT containing a project narrative, as 
detailed in the NOFO. The project narrative should include the 
information necessary for the Department to determine that the project 
satisfies eligibility requirements as warranted by law.
    After the award announcement the Department will send out a 
voluntary survey to all applicants and webinar participants to help 
evaluate the application process.
    Following the announcement of a funding award, the recipient and 
DOT will negotiate and sign a funding agreement. In the agreement, the 
recipient must describe the project that DOT agreed to fund, which is 
the project that was described in the MPDG application or a reduced-
scope version of that project. The agreement also includes project 
schedule milestones, a budget, and project-related climate change and 
equity planning and policies.
    During the project monitoring stage, grantees will submit reports 
on the financial condition of the project and the project's progress. 
Grantees will submit progress and monitoring reports to the Government 
on a quarterly basis until completion of the project. The progress 
reports will include an SF-425, Federal Financial Report, and other 
information determined by the administering DOT Operating 
Administration. This information will be used to monitor grantees' use 
of Federal funds, ensuring accountability and financial transparency in 
the MPDG programs.
    For the purposes of estimating the information collection burden 
below for new applicants and awardees, the Department is assuming that 
for each year 2023-2025, the Department will review approximately 500 
applications in Year 1, negotiate 45 funding agreements in Year 2, and 
begin quarterly project monitoring for 45 projects in Year 3. For a new 
applicant in 2023, their burden will be 100 hours in 2023, 6 hours in 
2024, and 20 hours in 2025. See Table 1 below:

                                                                         Table 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Year 1 (2023)                   Year 2 (2024)                   Year 3 (2025)
               Respondent                ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------      Total
                                               Hours         Frequency         Hours         Frequency         Hours         Frequency
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023 Applicant (500)....................             100               1  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............          50,000
2023 Survey (700).......................             0.5               1  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............             350
2023 Awardee (45).......................  ..............  ..............               6               1  ..............  ..............             270
2023 Recipient (45).....................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............               5               4             900
2024 Applicant (500)....................  ..............  ..............             100               1  ..............  ..............          50,000
2024 Survey (700).......................             0.5               1  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............             350
2024 Awardee (45).......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............               6               1             270
2024 Recipient (45).....................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
2025 Applicant (500)....................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............             100               1          50,000
2025 Survey (700).......................             0.5               1  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............             350
2025 Awardee (45).......................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
2025 Recipient (45).....................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This Notice is separately estimating the information collection 
burden for projects awarded from 2016-2022. Approximately 60 of these 
projects are in the project monitoring phase in Year 1, while 47 
projects are still negotiating funding agreements. In Year 2, 
approximately 30 of these projects will begin project monitoring, while 
approximately 20 projects will cease reporting once their projects are 
completed. In Year 3, 10 projects will begin project monitoring while 
20 projects will cease reporting. The individual burden for a project 
awarded from 2016-2021 will depend on when they were selected, when 
they completed negotiation of their funding agreement, and when their 
project reaches completion. See Table 2 below:

[[Page 42426]]



                                                                         Table 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Year 1                           Year 2                           Year 3
                Respondent                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Total
                                              Number      Hrs        Freq      Number      Hrs        Freq      Number      Hrs        Freq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016-2022 Awardee.........................         47          4          1         10          4          1          0          4          1        200
2016-2022 Recipient.......................         70          5          4         77          5          4         64          5          4      3,800
2016-2022 Project Closed..................          0          0          0         20          0          0         43          0          0  .........
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    The Department's estimated burden for this information collection 
is the following:
    For New Applications:
    Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 500 per year.
    Frequency: Once.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 100 hours for each new 
Application;
    For Funding Agreements:
    Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 45 in Year 1, 2 and 
3.
    Frequency: Once.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 6 hours for each new Funding 
Agreement.
    For Project Monitoring:
    Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 47 in Year 1, 93 in 
Year 2, 130 in Year 3.
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 5 hours for each request for 
Quarterly Progress and Monitoring Report;
    For Program Evaluation (Survey):
    Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 700 per year.
    Frequency: Once.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 0.5 hours for each 
application;
    Estimated Total 3-year Burden on Respondents: 80,750 hours. (New 
Applicants [75,000 hrs], Survey [1,050 hrs] New Awardees/Recipients 
[700 hrs] + Prior Awardees/Recipients [4000 hrs]).
    The following is detailed information and instructions regarding 
the specific reporting requirements for each report identified above:

Application Stage

    To be considered to receive a MPDG grant, a project sponsor must 
submit an application to DOT containing a project narrative, as 
detailed in the NOFO. The project narrative should include the 
information necessary for the Department to determine that the project 
satisfies eligibility requirements.
    Applications must be submitted through www.Grants.gov. Instructions 
for submitting applications can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/grants/mpdg-how-apply. The application must 
include the Standard Form 424 (Application for Federal Assistance), 
Standard Form 424C (Budget Information for Construction Programs), 
cover page, and the Project Narrative.
    The application should include a table of contents, maps, and 
graphics, as appropriate, to make the information easier to review. The 
Department recommends that the application be prepared with standard 
formatting preferences (i.e., a single-spaced document, using a 
standard 12-point font such as Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins). 
The project narrative may not exceed 25 pages in length, excluding 
cover pages and table of contents. The only substantive portions that 
may exceed the 25-page limit are documents supporting assertions or 
conclusions made in the 25-page project narrative. If possible, website 
links to supporting documentation should be provided rather than copies 
of these supporting materials. If supporting documents are submitted, 
applicants should clearly identify within the project narrative the 
relevant portion of the project narrative that each supporting document 
supports. At the applicant's discretion, relevant materials provided 
previously to a modal administration in support of a different USDOT 
financial assistance program may be referenced and described as 
unchanged.
    OST estimates that it takes approximately 100 person-hours to 
compile an application package for a MPDG application. Since OST 
expects to receive 500 applications per funding round, the total hours 
required are estimated to be 50,00 hours (100 hours x 500 applications 
= 50,000 hours) on a one-time basis, per funding round.

Program Evaluation Stage (Survey)

    To understand the MPDG grant process from the applicant's point of 
view, OST plans to send out a survey after all award decisions have 
been made. This survey will go to all applicants, both successful and 
unsuccessful, as well as webinar participants that did not apply and 
will take approximately .5 hours to complete.

Funding Agreement Stage

    DOT enters a funding agreement with each recipient. In the 
agreement, the recipient describes the project that DOT agreed to fund, 
which is typically the project that was described in the MPDG 
application or a reduced-scope version of that project. The agreement 
also includes a project schedule, budget, and project related climate 
change and equity planning and policies.
    OST estimates that it takes approximately 6 person-hours to respond 
to provide the information necessary for funding agreements. Based on 
previous rounds of MPDG awards, OST estimates that there will likely be 
45 agreements negotiated per additional funding round. The total hours 
required are estimated to be 270 (6 hours x 45 agreements = 270 hours) 
on a one-time basis, per funding round.

Project Monitoring Stage

    OST requires each recipient to submit quarterly reports during the 
project to ensure the proper and timely expenditure of Federal funds 
under the grant.
    The requirements comply with 2 CFR part 200 and are restated in the 
funding agreement. During the project monitoring stage, the grantee 
will complete Quarterly Progress Reports to allow DOT to monitor the 
project budget and schedule.
    OST estimates that it takes approximately 5 person-hours to develop 
and submit a quarterly progress report. OST expects approximately 45 
projects to be awarded per funding round, while grants awarded in prior 
years will reach completion during the year and would no longer need to 
submit these reports. OST expects recipients and awardees from 2016-
2021 will require 3800 hours to submit project monitoring reports while 
new recipients and awardees will require 900 hours from 2023-2025.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. chapter 
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1:48.


[[Page 42427]]


    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2023.
John Augustine,
Director of the Office of Infrastructure Finance and Innovation, Office 
of the Under Secretary for Transportation Policy.
[FR Doc. 2023-13939 Filed 6-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P