[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10155-10158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02669]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2024-0005]


Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for 
Budget and Programs; U.S. Department of Transportation Learning Agenda 
Supplement: Fiscal Years 2024-2026

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)'s mission is to 
deliver the world's leading transportation system, serving the American 
people and economy through the safe, efficient, sustainable, and 
equitable movement of people and goods. Developing rigorous research 
and applying relevant evidence are essential components of the 
Department's success. On March 28, 2022, we published our first 
Department-wide Learning Agenda for Fiscal Years (FY) 2022-2026 (the 
``Learning Agenda'') in conjunction with the Department's FY 2022-2026 
Strategic Plan (the ``Strategic Plan''). The Learning Agenda was our 
first effort to identify priority evidence needs and propose research, 
evaluation activities, and data gathering to address those needs. As 
we've reached the mid-point of this Learning Agenda, the Department 
seeks to update it. With this Request for Information (RFI), DOT's 
Office of the Secretary (OST)'s Office of the Chief Financial Officer 
and Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs seeks public input 
regarding potential updates to our published Learning Agenda. 
Information provided in response to this RFI will inform the 
development of the Learning Agenda Supplement: Fiscal Year 2024-2026 
(``Learning Agenda Supplement'').

DATES: Comments are requested by April 09, 2024. See the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section on ``Public Participation,'' below for more 
information about written comments.

ADDRESSES: 
    Written Comments: Responses to this RFI are voluntary and may be 
submitted anonymously. Comments should refer to the docket number above 
and be submitted by one of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: Follow the online instructions 
at https://www.regulations.gov 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: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public 
Participation heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.
    Privacy Act: Except as provided below (``confidential business 
information''), all comments received into the docket will be made 
public in their entirety. The comments will be searchable by the name 
of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). 
You should not include information in your comment that you do not want 
to be made public.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, visit https://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please email [email protected] or call John 
D. Giorgis at (202) 366-6513 with questions. Office hours are from 8:30

[[Page 10156]]

a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Foundations for Evidenced-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 \1\ 
requires many Federal agencies to create an evidence-building plan, 
referred to as a Learning Agenda, to identify and address questions 
relevant to the agency's programs, policies, and regulations.\2\
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    \1\ Public Law 115-435, 132 Stat. 5529.
    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 312(a); Office of Mgmt. & Budget, Exec. Office of 
the President, OMB M-21-27: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/evidence-and-evaluation/.
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    The law further states that agencies ``shall consult with 
stakeholders, including the public, agencies, State and local 
governments, and representatives of non-governmental researchers'' when 
developing their Learning Agenda.\3\
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    \3\ 5 U.S.C. 312(c).
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    We published our FY 2022-2026 Learning Agenda in March 2022.\4\ In 
compliance with the Foundations for Evidenced-Based Policymaking Act of 
2018, we review our Learning Agenda annually, allowing us to adjust as 
needed when new evidence is generated or as priorities shift. In our 
most recent annual review, we decided that it would be appropriate to 
update the Learning Agenda to incorporate our experiences from the last 
two years and additional feedback from our stakeholders.
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    \4\ Learning Agenda: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-03/DOT_Learning_Agenda.pdf.
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    We also publish Annual Evaluation Plans (available at https://www.transportation.gov/budget) that describe the significant evaluation 
activities that we expect to launch each year as well as the major 
ongoing evaluation activities. To date, we have published Annual 
Evaluation Plans for FY 2023 and 2024.\5\
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    \5\ FY 2023 Evaluation Plan; FY 2024 Evaluation Plan: https://www.transportation.gov/budget.
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    The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) touches the lives of 
every person in the United States and its territories through its work 
to improve the safety and performance of our multi-modal transportation 
system. The Nation's transportation networks include two million miles 
of public roads, 110,000 miles of major railroads, 25,000 miles of 
commercially navigable waterways, 1.8 million miles of natural gas and 
oil pipelines, 5,200 public-use airports, and more than 3,000 operators 
of transit services.\6\
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    \6\ Hu, Patricia et al. (2022), Transportation Statistics Annual 
Report 2022, U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of 
Transportation Statistics, https://doi.org/10.21949/1528354; Federal 
Transit Administration (2022), Single Summary of Transit Report, 
https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-01/2022-Single-Summary-of-Transit_v1_1.pdf.
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    Congress established DOT in 1967, consolidating 31 transportation-
related agencies and functions. Approximately 55,000 DOT employees 
continue to bring innovations and integrity to the work of improving 
the safety and performance of our multi-modal transportation system. 
Leadership of the Department is provided by the Secretary of 
Transportation, who is the principal advisor to the President in all 
matters relating to Federal transportation programs. The Office of the 
Secretary oversees nine Operating Administrations, each with its own 
management and organizational structure. These nine Operating 
Administrations are:

--Federal Aviation Administration
--Federal Highway Administration
--Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
--Federal Railroad Administration
--Federal Transit Administration
--Great Lakes St Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
--Maritime Administration
--National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
--Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration

    Our Learning Agenda draws on work from across all nine of our 
Operating Administrations to identify key learning questions that 
support our strategic goals. The current Learning Agenda is organized 
around three sets of priority questions: Safety, Climate, and Equity. 
These priority questions are aligned with our FY 2022-2026 Strategic 
Plan \7\ includes at least one area of focus:
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    \7\ Strategic Plan: https://www.transportation.gov/dot-strategic-plan.

 Safety Priority Questions
    [cir] Focus Areas: Drug-Impaired Driving (Excluding Alcohol), 
Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety, Improving Aviation Safety and Efficiency
 Climate Priority Questions
    [cir] Focus Area: Reducing Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions
 Equity Priority Questions
    [cir] Focus Area: Equity in the DOT Workforce

    This RFI is part of our stakeholder engagement to develop the 
Learning Agenda Supplement. The goal of the Supplement is to identify 
new research and data priorities not currently included in the Learning 
Agenda that, if answered, could advance DOT's mission and achieve the 
long-term goals in our Strategic Plan. We will publish the Learning 
Agenda Supplement on the DOT website.\8\
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    \8\ U.S. Department of Transportation: https://www.transportation.gov/.
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    The Learning Agenda Supplement can help us advance the strategic 
goals identified in our FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan and our FY 2024-
2025 Agency Priority Goals.\9\ Identifying evidence-building needs 
inherent to these plans will help guide us in developing the Learning 
Agenda Supplement.
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    \9\ FY 2024-2025 Agency Priority Goals: https://www.performance.gov/agencies/DOT/apg/fy-24-25/.
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    The FY 2022-2026 DOT Strategic Plan provides the roadmap for 
advancing the Department's mission. It describes the long-term goals 
that we aim to achieve, the actions that we will take to realize those 
goals, and how we will most effectively use resources. It also 
identifies six Strategic Goals, which are outcome-oriented, long-term 
goals for our major functions and operations: Safety, Economic Strength 
and Global Competitiveness, Equity, Climate and Sustainability, 
Transformation, and Organizational Excellence. Each Strategic Goal has 
associated Strategic Objectives, which express more specifically the 
impact DOT is trying to achieve. We also established numerous 
performance goals that define what success looks like for each 
Strategic Objective, which can be found in our FY 2024 Performance Plan 
and FY 2023 Performance Report.\10\
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    \10\ FY 2024 Performance Plan and FY 2023 Performance Report: 
Budget, Performance, and Finance [verbar] US Department of 
Transportation.
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    Our Agency Priority Goals (APG) are a performance accountability 
structure of the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization 
Act of 2010 that provides us with a mechanism to focus leadership 
priorities, set outcomes, and measure results. They elevate mission 
areas where we need to drive significant progress and change. Agency 
Priority Goal statements are outcome-oriented, ambitious, and 
measurable with specific targets set that reflect a near-term result or 
achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within 
approximately 24 months. The Agency Priority Goals identify officials 
responsible for goal achievement, and our leaders review performance on 
a quarterly basis to identify barriers to progress and make changes to 
implementation strategies to achieve goal outcomes. We set five Agency 
Priority Goals covering FY 2024-2025: Roadway Safety, Aviation Safety, 
High-Performing Core Assets, Equity, and National Electric Vehicle

[[Page 10157]]

Charging Network (Joint with the Department of Energy).
    The Learning Agenda Supplement: FY 2024-2026 can also support the 
evidence-building needs of the DOT's National Roadway Safety Strategy, 
the FAA Safety Call to Action and the Independent Aviation Safety 
Review Team's findings, the DOT's Equity Action Plan, and the U.S. 
National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization (NBTD). 
Identifying evidence-building needs related to these strategies and 
reports will inform the development of the Learning Agenda Supplement.
    We released the National Roadway Safety Strategy in January 
2022.\11\ It outlines our comprehensive approach to significantly 
reducing serious injuries and deaths on our Nation's highways, roads, 
and streets aligned to our ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero 
roadway fatalities.
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    \11\ National Roadway Safety Strategy: https://www.transportation.gov/NRSS.
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    In February 2023 we launched the FAA Safety Call to Action and in 
April 2023 established and appointed outside experts to the Independent 
Aviation Safety Review Team with the goal of ensuring that our 
structure continues to be fit for purpose for the U.S. aerospace system 
for both today and the future.\12\ Safety guides everything we do, 
which is why reducing aviation safety risk remains a top priority. 
Aviation passengers expect and deserve the same level of safety 
wherever they fly. Over the past two decades, commercial aviation 
fatalities in the U.S. have decreased significantly. As a result of 
recent aviation incidents, we are taking a critical look at the U.S. 
aerospace system's structure, culture, processes, systems, and 
integration of safety efforts.
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    \12\ FAA Safety Call to Action: https://www.faa.gov/aviation-safety-call-to-action; Independent Aviation Safety Review Team: 
https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-establishes-independent-aviation-safety-review-team and https://www.faa.gov/NAS_safety_review_team_report.pdf.
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    We released our first Equity Action Plan in FY 2022, and we have 
updated it annually since then.\13\ The Equity Action Plan highlights 
work that we are undertaking, focused on wealth creation, power of 
community, interventions, and expanding access. The Equity Action Plan 
is a major milestone for the DOT and represents a shift in how we view 
and deliver transportation programs.
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    \13\ Equity Action Plan: https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/equity-action-plan.
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    The U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization is a 
first-of-its-kind strategy for federal leadership and partnerships to 
decarbonize the entire U.S. transportation sector.\14\ Released in 
January 2023, the plan represents coordinated efforts between the 
departments of Transportation, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, 
and the Environmental Protection Agency to create a framework of 
strategies and actions to remove all emissions from the transportation 
sector by 2050.
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    \14\ U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization: 
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/the-us-national-blueprint-for-transportation-decarbonization.pdf.
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Purpose of This Request for Information

    The purpose of this RFI is to solicit information regarding new 
research and data priorities that should be considered for 
incorporation into the Learning Agenda Supplement, as well as 
adjustments to existing research and data priorities.
    Through this RFI, we are asking interested persons, including 
stakeholders across public and private sectors who may be familiar with 
or interested in the work of our agency, for input on evidence-building 
activities that inform important priorities for our agency, including 
those that are also related to the President's broader priorities 
available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/priorities/. We also seek input 
on future projects that will advance our mission.
    We will analyze information collected from this RFI to inform the 
development of the Learning Agenda Supplement. This RFI is for 
information and planning purposes only and should not be construed as a 
solicitation or as an obligation on our part. We will not respond to 
comments we receive in response to this RFI but will use the input to 
develop the Learning Agenda Supplement.

Specific Information Requested

    We invite suggestions in various forms--as key questions to be 
answered, hypotheses to be tested, or problems to be investigated--that 
are focused on any area of our mission. The responses to this RFI will 
inform our ongoing updates and revisions to priorities that guide 
evidence-building activities.
    We are particularly interested in receiving input from interested 
parties on the questions outlined below. In responding to these 
questions, interested parties should reference the Learning Agenda for 
FY 2022-2026, available at https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-03/DOT_Learning_Agenda.pdf.
    1. Are there new priority learning questions (i.e., not already 
included in the DOT Learning Agenda) that reflect emerging or 
unanticipated needs and knowledge gaps and that, if answered, could 
help advance DOT's mission?
    2. Are there new priority data needs (i.e., not already included in 
the DOT Learning Agenda) that reflect emerging or unanticipated needs 
and knowledge gaps and that, if addressed, could help advance DOT's 
mission?
    3. Does the DOT Learning Agenda contain learning questions or data 
priorities that need to be adjusted either because priorities have 
shifted or because they have been addressed through evidence-building 
activities by DOT or others?

Public Participation

How do I prepare and submit comments?

    To ensure that your comments are filed correctly, please include 
the docket number of this document (DOT-OST-2024-0005) in your 
comments.
    Please submit one copy (two copies if submitting by mail or hand 
delivery) of your comments, including any attachments, to the docket 
following the instructions given above under ADDRESSES. Please note, if 
you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we 
ask that the documents submitted be scanned using an Optical Character 
Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the Agency to search and copy 
certain portions of your submissions.

How do I submit confidential business information?

    Any submissions containing Confidential Information must be 
delivered to DOT in the following manner:
     Submitted in a sealed envelope marked ``confidential 
treatment requested'';
     Document(s) or information that the submitter would like 
withheld from the public docket should be marked ``PROPIN'';
     Accompanied by an index listing the document(s) or 
information that the submitter would like the Departments to withhold. 
The index should include information such as numbers used to identify 
the relevant document(s) or information, document title and 
description, and relevant page numbers and/or section numbers within a 
document; and
     Submitted with a statement explaining the submitter's 
grounds for

[[Page 10158]]

objecting to disclosing the information to the public.
    DOT will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the 
FOIA and not include them in the public docket. DOT also requests that 
submitters of Confidential Information include a non-confidential 
version (either redacted or summarized) of those confidential 
submissions in the public docket. If the submitter cannot provide a 
non-confidential version of its submission, DOT requests that the 
submitter post a notice in the docket stating that it has provided DOT 
with Confidential Information. Should a submitter fail to docket either 
a non-confidential version of its submission or to post a notice that 
Confidential Information has been provided, we will note the receipt of 
the submission on the docket, with the submitter's organization or name 
(to the degree permitted by law) and the date of submission.

Will the Agency consider late comments?

    DOT will consider all comments received before the close of 
business on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To 
the extent practicable, the Agency will also consider comments received 
after that date.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the comments received at the address given above under 
WRITTEN COMMENTS. The hours of the docket are indicated above in the 
same location. You may also see the comments on the internet, 
identified by the docket number at the heading of this notice, at 
http://www.regulations.gov.
    Please note, this RFI is a planning document and will serve as 
such. The RFI should not be construed as policy, a solicitation for 
applications, or an obligation on the part of the government.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2024.
Victoria Wassmer,
Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and Chief Financial 
Officer, U.S. Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2024-02669 Filed 2-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P