[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 135 (Monday, July 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57516-57518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15456]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[DOT-OST-2024-0072]


Department of Transportation Equity Action Plan Update

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

ACTION: Request for Information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) invites 
public comment on the most meaningful activities to advance equity that 
should be considered as part of DOT's 2024 update to its Equity Action 
Plan. The responses to this RFI will help the Department of 
Transportation (DOT, or the Department) understand the impact of our 
equity activities to date and inform what equity-related activities and 
performance metrics we prioritize through the Plan.

DATES: Comments are requested by August 14, 2024. See the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section on ``Public Participation,'' below, for more 
information about written comments.
    Written Comments: Responses to this RFI are voluntary Comments 
should refer to the docket number above and be submitted by one of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
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: 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 http://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. For information on DOT's Privacy Act compliance, see 
https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please email [email protected] or contact 
Kristin Wood at 774-293-2726 with questions. Office hours are from 8 
a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Through this Request for Information (RFI), the Department solicits 
input from the public on the following question:
    (1) What activities being advanced through DOT's Equity Action Plan 
would be the most meaningful in advancing equity?
    (a) What activities can be expanded?
    (b) What new activities can DOT consider for the future?
    This section includes additional background information related to 
DOT's Equity Action Plan that may be helpful in responding to this 
question.
    The DOT Strategic Plan (available at https://www.transportation.gov/dot-strategic-plan) is a roadmap for the 
Department's implementation of six strategic goals, one of which is 
Equity. The Equity strategic goal states that the Department will 
``reduce inequities across our transportation systems and the 
communities they affect'' and ``support and engage people and 
communities to promote safe, affordable, accessible, and multimodal 
access to opportunities and services while reducing transportation-
related disparities, adverse community impacts, and health effects.''
    In response to Executive Order (E.O.) 13985, Advancing Racial 
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal 
Government (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government), the Department developed its first 
Equity Action Plan (https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/actionplan). It highlighted key actions that the Department will

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undertake to expand access and opportunity to all communities while 
focusing on underserved, overburdened, and disadvantaged communities.
    E.O. 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for 
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/22/2023-03779/further-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal), directs all federal agencies to update their 
Equity Action Plans on an annual basis. Specifically, each update 
should include: the progress made by the agency on the actions, 
performance measures, and milestones highlighted in the preceding 
year's Equity Action Plan; potential barriers that underserved 
communities may face; strategies to address those barriers, and a 
description of how the agency intends to meaningfully engage with 
underserved communities. In response to E.O. 14091, the 2023 update to 
DOT's Equity Action Plan (https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/2023-equity-action-plan) highlights DOT accomplishments and 
updated commitments to equity. Actions in the EAP fall under five focus 
areas, including four that carried over from the original Equity Action 
Plan: Wealth Creation; Power of Community; Proactive Intervention, 
Planning, and Capacity Building; Expanding Access; and a new 
Institutionalizing Equity focus area.
    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL; enacted November 15, 2021 
as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and Inflation Reduction 
Act (IRA; enacted August 16, 2022) make historic investments in the 
transportation sector, improving public safety and climate resilience, 
creating jobs across the country, and delivering a more equitable 
future. The Department is committed to applying an equity lens to 
implementation of BIL and IRA, including through actions described in 
our initial and updated Equity Action Plans.
    Government-wide definitions of (a) equity, (b) underserved 
communities, and (c) disadvantaged communities have been established 
via Executive Order(s). DOT has adopted these government-wide 
definitions for the purpose of this RFI and our Equity Action Plan:
    (a) The term ``equity'' means the consistent and systematic 
treatment of all individuals in a fair, just, and impartial manner, 
including individuals who belong to communities that often have been 
denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native 
American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander persons 
and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; women and 
girls; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; 
persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; persons who 
live in United States Territories; persons otherwise adversely affected 
by persistent poverty or inequality; and individuals who belong to 
multiple such communities. [Source: E.O. 14091.]
    (b) The term ``underserved communities'' refers to those 
populations [included in the definition of ``equity''] as well as 
geographic communities that have been systematically denied the 
opportunity to participate fully in aspects of economic, social, and 
civic life, as defined in E.O. 13985. [Source: E.O. 14091.]
    (c) The term ``disadvantaged community'' refers to a community that 
experiences disproportionately high and adverse health, environmental, 
climate related, economic, and other cumulative impacts. [Source: E.O. 
14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad.]
    In addition, DOT has adopted the following definitions of (d) 
overburdened community and (2) for the purpose of this RFI and our 
Equity Action Plan:
    (d) The term ``overburdened community'' refers to minority, low-
income, tribal, or Indigenous populations or geographic locations in 
the United States that potentially experience disproportionate 
environmental and/or safety harms and risks. This disproportionality 
can be a result of greater vulnerability to environmental hazards, 
heightened safety risks, lack of opportunity for public participation, 
or other factors. [Source: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/ej-2020-glossary.]
    (e) The term ``meaningful public involvement'' refers to a process 
that proactively seeks full representation from the community, 
considers public comments and feedback, and incorporates that feedback 
into a project, program, or plan. [Source: https://www.transportation.gov/public-involvement.]
    DOT is in the process of preparing the 2024 Equity Action Plan 
update. The responses to this RFI will help the Department understand 
the impact of our equity activities to date and inform what we 
prioritize through this year's update to DOT's Equity Action Plan. 
Through this request, the Department seeks information from 
stakeholders in public agencies, academic researchers involved in the 
study of equity in transportation decision-making, advocacy, community-
based organizations, and not-for-profit institutions and individuals 
working in the transportation sector or the field of equity, and State, 
local, Tribal, and territorial areas, and the public. A summary of 
input provided to the 2023 EAP update is available at: https://www.transportation.gov/equity-RFI and a webinar will be hosted on July 
25, 2024.

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-2024-0072 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 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

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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, DOT 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 July 10, 2024.
Mariia Zimmerman,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.
[FR Doc. 2024-15456 Filed 7-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P