[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 43 (Thursday, March 6, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11459-11461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03588]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2024-0132]
Notice of Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities;
Modification of Existing Information Collection
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR)
abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and comments. A Federal Register Notice with a
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information
collection was published November 26, 2024, and the comment period
ended January 27, 2025. No comments were received during the open
period.
[[Page 11460]]
DATES: Written comments should be submitted directly to the OMB by
April 7, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to the attention of the
DOT/OST Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20503 or by email at
[email protected] with the associated OMB Control Number
2105-0569.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Approval No. 2138-0013.
Title: Letter of Interest and Application Forms for the Railroad
Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing and Transportation
Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act Credit Programs.
Type of Review: Modification of existing information collection.
Background: The Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing
(RRIF) credit program has its origins in title V of the Railroad
Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, 45 U.S.C. 821 et
seq., which authorized the Federal Railroad Administration to provide
railroads certain financial assistance. This title V financing program
was replaced by the RRIF program under section 7203 of the
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998, Public Law 105-
178 (1998) (TEA 21). RRIF was subsequently amended by: the Safe,
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy
for Users, Public Law 109-59 (2005) (SAFETEA-LU); the Rail Safety
Improvement Act of 2008, Division A of Public Law 110-432; the Fixing
America's Surface Transportation Act, Public Law 114-94 (2015) (FAST
Act); and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58
(2021) (IIJA). All applicants for RRIF credit program assistance are
required to submit a completed application. 49 U.S.C. 22403(a). The
information collection activity request for the RRIF credit program
letter of interest and application was most recently approved in 2021
(OMB Control Number 2105-0569). See 86 FR 33475 and 86 FR 51717.
The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of
1998 (TIFIA) was enacted as part of TEA 21. The TIFIA program was
subsequently amended by SAFETEA-LU, the Moving Ahead for Progress in
the 21st Century Act (Pub. L. 112-141) (2012) (MAP-21), the FAST Act,
and the IIJA. All applicants for TIFIA credit program assistance are
required to submit a completed letter of interest (LOI) and
application. 23 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)(A). The existing information
collection activity request for the TIFIA credit program letter of
interest and application was most recently approved in 2021 (OMB
Control Number 2105-0569). See 86 FR 33475 and 86 FR 51717.
The National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau
(referenced hereafter as the Build America Bureau or the Bureau),
established by the Secretary on July 20, 2016, in accordance with the
FAST Act, was created to streamline and improve access to the
Department's Federal credit programs, including the RRIF and TIFIA
programs. The Bureau was made responsible for administering the
application processes for the TIFIA and RRIF credit programs. To
streamline and conform these application processes, the Bureau created
a single LOI form and a single application form that can be used by
applicants of either credit program. Both the LOI form and the
application form have been updated to reflect efficiencies in the
application process adopted by the Department, provide clarifying
information, and make the forms easier for applicants to use. The
Department seeks OMB approval to modify the LOI and application. The
forms have also been reviewed to ensure that all information requested
is necessary for the Department to properly perform its functions in
administering its credit programs and updated to reflect the current
statutory requirements.
The LOI asks the applicant to describe, among other things, the
project and its location, purpose and cost; the proposed financial
plan, the status of environmental review, and certain information
regarding satisfaction of other eligibility requirements under the
applicable credit program. The application serves as the official
request for credit and, therefore, requires the same information
required of the LOI, plus detailed information about the applicant's
legal and management structure, its financial health, the revenue
stream pledged to repay the loan, and other information regarding
satisfaction of eligibility requirements. TIFIA and RRIF credit
assistance is awarded based on a project's satisfaction of TIFIA and
RRIF (as applicable) eligibility requirements. The Department is
authorized to prescribe the form and contents of the LOI and
application. 49 U.S.C. 22403(a) and 23 U.S.C. 601(a)(6).
Respondents: State and local governments, transit agencies,
government-sponsored authorities, special authorities, special
districts, ports, private railroads, and certain other private
entities.
Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: Based on the number and
type of interested stakeholders that have contacted the Department
about the RRIF and TIFIA programs in fiscal years (FY) 2018-2021, the
Department estimates that it will receive, on an annual basis, eight
(8) RRIF LOIs, twelve (12) TIFIA LOIs, eight (8) RRIF applications, and
twelve (12) TIFIA applications.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The Department estimates that
it will generally take applicants not fewer than twenty (20) person-
hours to assemble a single LOI (for either credit program) and not
fewer than one hundred (100) person-hours to assemble a single
application (for either credit program). (Person-hour estimates
provided for a RRIF application assume that the applicant will
initially submit an LOI, reducing the number of person-hours spent on
the application.) Based on the anticipated annual total number of
respondents, the total annual hour burden of this collection for RRIF
LOIs and applications is 960 and for TIFIA LOIs and applications is
1,440 hours.
Frequency of Collection: This information collection will occur on
a rolling basis as interested entities seek RRIF or TIFIA credit
assistance.
Public Comments Invited: The Department invites interested
respondents to comment on a proposed information collection activity
(summarized below) with respect to: (i) whether the information
collection activities are necessary for the Department to properly
execute its functions, including whether the activities will have
practical utility; (ii) the accuracy of the Department's estimates of
the burden of the information collection activities, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used to determine the
estimates; (iii) ways for the Department to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information being collected; and (iv) ways
for the Department to minimize the burden of information collection
activities on the public by automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology (e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses). See
44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)(i)-(iv); 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1)(i)-(iv). The
Department believes that soliciting public comment will promote its
efforts to reduce the administrative and paperwork burdens associated
with the collection of information mandated by Federal regulations. In
summary, the
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Department reasons that comments received will advance three
objectives: (i) reduce reporting burdens; (ii) ensure that it organizes
information collection requirements in a ``user friendly'' format to
improve the use of such information; and (iii) accurately assess the
resources expended to retrieve and produce information requested. See
44 U.S.C. 3501.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. chapter
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Morteza Farajian,
Executive Director, the Build America Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2025-03588 Filed 3-5-25; 8:45 am]
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