[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67705-67706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18736]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2024-0059]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments 
for a New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA has forwarded the information collection request 
described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
to approve a new information collection. We are required to publish 
this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by September 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number 
FHWA-2024-0059 by any of the following methods:
    Website: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of Transportation, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Tashia J. Clemons, Office of 
Infrastructure, 202-493-0551, [email protected], Federal Highway 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 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: We published a Federal Register Notice with 
a 60-day public comment period on this information collection on May 
30, 2024, at [89 FR 46985].
    FHWA received one comment, a letter from the Virginia Department of 
Transportation (VDOT) that addressed several subjects, which are 
summarized below with FHWA's responses:
    Comment: FHWA's estimates of the burden hours and costs to develop 
the AMP and the new resilience and extreme weather analyses are too 
low; VDOT's estimated level of effort to develop its AMP is 
significantly higher than FHWA's estimate.
    Response: FHWA's estimates of the level of effort and cost to 
develop the AMP and new resilience and extreme weather analyses are an 
average across all State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) 
that are subject to the requirement to develop and implement an AMP. 
Some individual State DOTs may have higher costs to comply with this 
collection of information, and some State DOT costs may be lower. VDOT 
notes that it has the ``3rd largest state-maintained transportation 
system in the

[[Page 67706]]

nation,'' \1\ so it stands to reason that VDOT's estimated burden would 
be higher than average for all State DOTs.
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    \1\ VDOT, Comment Letter on FHWA Information Collection; Risk-
Based Asset Management Plans (July 29, 2024) at 2, https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FHWA-2024-0043-0002.
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    Comment: VDOT already develops a State AMP that covers assets 
beyond what is required under 23 U.S.C. 119(e) and 23 CFR part 515, and 
VDOT already develops a State Resilience Plan that should fulfill the 
requirements for extreme weather and resilience analyses now required 
in a Federal AMP. Requiring a Federal AMP with these analyses is an 
added burden and an unfunded mandate, and VDOT should be able to meet 
these requirements using its existing State AMP and Resilience Plan.
    Response: The requirement for a State DOT to develop and implement 
an AMP that now must include consideration of extreme weather and 
resilience is statutory, and FHWA does not have the authority to waive 
it for any State DOT.
    Comment: The funding used for these unfunded mandates would be 
better served to go to pavement and structure work that will then 
impact the network performance.
    Response: The requirement for a State DOT to develop and implement 
an AMP that now must include consideration of extreme weather and 
resilience is statutory, and FHWA does not have the authority to waive 
it for any State DOT.
    Title: Risk-Based Asset Management Plans.
    Background: Under 23 U.S.C. 119(e) and implementing regulations at 
23 CFR part 515, State DOTs are required to develop Risked-Based Asset 
Management Plans (AMP) for the National Highway System (NHS) to improve 
or preserve the condition of the assets on and the performance of the 
NHS. Each State DOT must also annually demonstrate to FHWA that it has 
implemented an AMP that meets the requirements of 23 U.S.C. 119(e) and 
23 CFR part 515 (23 CFR 515.13(b)(2)), and each State DOT must submit 
its processes for the development of its AMP to FHWA for certification 
and recertification every four years following the year of initial 
certification (23 U.S.C. 119(e)(6)). Section 11105(3) of the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law (BIL) (Pub. L. 117-58) added the requirement in 23 
U.S.C. 119(e)(4)(D) that risk management and lifecycle cost analyses in 
AMPs discuss extreme weather and resilience.
    Respondents: There are 52 State DOTs that are required to submit 
information to demonstrate implementation of an AMP and to recertify 
their processes for developing an AMP.\2\ Of these, 17 State DOTs 
already conduct extreme weather and resilience analyses, so 35 State 
DOTs would be required to conduct extreme weather and resilience 
analyses.
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    \2\ The District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are considered 
States for the purposes of the Federal-aid highway program. See 23 
U.S.C. 101(a)(28).
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    Frequency: Annually (to demonstrate implementation of an AMP) and 
every 4 years (when submitting processes for the development of an AMP 
for recertification).
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: Per State DOT, the estimated 
annual burden is 884 hours for the general AMP preparation, plus an 
additional 1,560 burden hours per State DOT that does not already 
perform extreme weather and resilience analyses.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Total estimated average annual 
burden is 100,568 hours.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of 
the estimated burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that 
the burden could be minimized, including the use of electronic 
technology, without reducing the quality of the collected information. 
The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request 
for OMB's clearance of this information collection.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. chapter 
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: August 16, 2024.
Jazmyne Lewis,
Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-18736 Filed 8-20-24; 8:45 am]
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