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

Michael Howell
Federal Highway Administration
December 10, 2013

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74220-74221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29427]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2013-0056]


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: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), this notice announces that FHWA will submit the 
collection of information described below to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The Federal Register Notice 
with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following 
collection of information was published on May 20, 2013. The PRA 
submission describes the nature of the information collection and its 
expected cost and burden.

DATES: Please submit comments by January 9, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID 2013-
0056 by any of the following methods:
    Web site: 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.
    Crystal Jones, 202-366-2976, Office of Freight Management & 
Operations (HOFM-1), Office of Operations, Federal Highway 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave, Room E84-313, Washington, DC 
20509. Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: USDOT Survey on Projects of National and Regional 
Significance (PNRS).
    Background: This information collection will facilitate compliance 
with the requirements of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century 
Act (MAP-21) as stated in Section 1120 (l)--Project of National and 
Regional Significance (PNRS). The information collection is not a 
solicitation for a grant application. Response to the information 
collection is voluntary; and responding or not responding will not 
help, harm or directly influence the USDOT's evaluation for any future 
funding or solicitation for projects.
    The information collected will be used by USDOT in submitting the 
required report to Congress regarding PNRS, in accordance with MAP-21 
Section 1120. The analysis to support the development of the content of 
the report will include; a review of project eligibility and the 
supporting information submitted by the respondents. As a minimum, all 
respondents will be asked to provide information that demonstrates how 
the project of national or regional significance meets the requirements 
outlined in the law.
    Section 1301 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 
109-59; 119 Stat. 1144) established a program to provide grants to 
States for PNRS to improve the safe, secure, and efficient movement of 
people and goods throughout the United States and to improve the health 
and welfare of the national economy. The PNRS program was amended under 
Section 1120 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, 
(MAP-21), Public Law 112-141 as follows:
     Expands eligible applicants to include a tribal government 
or consortium of tribal governments, a transit agency; or a multi-State 
or multi-jurisdictional group in addition to State DOTs.
     Reduces the floor on total project costs to $500m or 50% 
of the state's apportionment (previously 75%).
     Adds evaluation criteria to consider if a project improves 
roadways vital to national energy security and removes criteria related 
to technology.
     Requires United States Department of Transportation 
(USDOT) to develop a Report to Congress regarding PNRS. The purpose of 
the report is to identify projects of national and regional 
significance that:
     [cir] Will significantly improve the performance of the Federal-
aid highway system, nationally or regionally;
     [cir] Generate national economic benefits that reasonably exceed 
the costs of the projects, including increased access to jobs, labor, 
and other critical economic inputs;
     [cir] Reduce long-term congestion, including impacts in the State, 
region, and the United States, and increase

[[Page 74221]]

speed, reliability, and accessibility of the movement of people or 
freight; and
     [cir] Improve transportation safety, including reducing 
transportation accidents, and serious injuries and fatalities; and
     [cir] Can be supported by an acceptable degree of non-Federal 
financial commitments.
    Respondents: The target groups of respondents are eligible 
applicants for the PRNS program, this includes:
    (A) A State department of transportation or a group of State 
departments of transportation;
    (B) A tribal government or consortium of tribal governments;
    (C) A transit agency; or
    (D) A multi-State or multi-jurisdictional group of the agencies 
described in (A) through (C) above.
    The target groups identified in the MAP-21 are ``State departments 
of transportation'' (SDOTs). The FHWA interprets SDOTs to be the 
minimum target group of respondents and believes it is necessary to 
survey all eligible applicants groups, in order to compile the 
comprehensive list of projects required by the law.

Estimate:

State Departments of Transportation = 52
Transit Agencies = 50
Tribal Governments = 10
Multi-state or multi-jurisdictional groups = 10

Burden hours:

    80 hours/State Department of Transportation = 4160 hours
    40 hours/Transit Agency = 2000 hours
    10 hours/Tribal Government = 100
20 hours/Multi-state or multi-jurisdictional groups = 200
Total burden hours = 6460 (as allocated above).

    Estimated Average Burden per Response: The estimated average 
reporting burden per response is 80 hours per State Department of 
Transportation, 40 hours per large transit agency, 10 hours per tribal 
government and 20 hours per Multi-state or multi-jurisdictional groups. 
The estimated average burden for SDOTs is greater than other 
respondents, this is in part because the FHWA expects that SDOTs, in 
developing their PNRS project lists, will gather input from project 
developers, such metropolitan planning organizations, seaports, 
railroads, economic development organizations, and entities which have 
responsibility for planning and/or implementing transportation 
infrastructure projects.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: This information collection is a 
one-time requirement.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued On: December 4, 2013.
 Michael Howell,
Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-29427 Filed 12-9-13; 8:45 am]
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