National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Freight Movement on the Interstate System, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program

Walter C. Waidelich, Jr.
Federal Highway Administration
19 May 2017

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 96 (Friday, May 19, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22879-22880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-10092]



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Rules and Regulations
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents 
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed 
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published 
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 96 / Friday, May 19, 2017 / Rules and 
Regulations

[[Page 22879]]



DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

23 CFR Part 490

[Docket No. FHWA-2013-0054]
RIN 2125-AF54


National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance 
of the National Highway System, Freight Movement on the Interstate 
System, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Final regulation; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the indefinite delay of specific 
portions of the National Performance Management measures; Assessing 
Performance of the National Highway System, Freight Movement on the 
Interstate System, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality 
Improvement Program Final Rule (PM#3) (RIN 2125-AF54) and announces the 
initiation of additional regulatory proceedings for those portions.

DATES: Effective May 19, 2017, the effective date of the amendments to 
49 CFR 490.105(c)(5) and (d)(1)(v), 490.107(b)(1)(ii)(H), 
(b)(2)(ii)(J), (b)(3)(ii)(I), and (c)(4), 490.109(d)(1)(v) and 
(f)(1)(v), 490.503(a)(2), 490.505 (Definition of Greenhouse gas (GHG)), 
490.507(b), 490.509(f), (g) and (h), 490.511(a)(2), (c), (d), and (f), 
and 490.513(d) published on January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5970 is delayed 
indefinitely. FHWA will publish a document in the Federal Register 
announcing the new effective date. The remainder of the provisions of 
the Final Rule published on January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5970, and not 
otherwise specified in this document, will take effect on May 20, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Richardson, Assistant 
Chief Counsel for Legislation, Regulations, and General Law, Office of 
Chief Counsel, Federal Highway Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-0761. Office hours are 
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access and Filing

    A copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), all comments 
received, the Final Rule, and all background material may be viewed 
online at http://www.regulations.gov using the docket numbers listed 
above. A copy of this document will be placed on the docket. Electronic 
retrieval help and guidelines are available on the Web site. It is 
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. An electronic copy of 
this document may also be downloaded from the Office of the Federal 
Register's Web site at http://www.ofr.gov and the Government Publishing 
Office's Web site at http://www.gpo.gov.

Background

    On January 20, 2017, the Assistant to the President and Chief of 
Staff issued a memorandum entitled, ``Regulatory Freeze Pending 
Review.'' This memorandum directed heads of executive departments and 
agencies to take certain steps to ensure that the President's 
appointees and designees have the opportunity to review new and pending 
regulations. It instructed agencies to temporarily postpone the 
effective dates of regulations that had been published in the Federal 
Register but were not yet effective until 60 days after the date of the 
memorandum (January 20, 2017). In accordance with that directive, FHWA 
announced on February 13, 2017, at 82 FR 10441 that it would delay the 
effective date of the PM#3 Final Rule to March 21, 2017. On March 21, 
2017, at 82 FR 14438, FHWA further delayed the effective date to May 
20, 2017.
    This document confirms that the majority of the PM#3 Final Rule 
will become effective on May 20, 2017. After further consideration, 
FHWA has also determined that the portions of the PM#3 Final Rule 
pertaining to the measure on the percent change in CO2 
emissions from the reference year 2017, generated by on-road mobile 
sources on the National Highway System (the GHG measure) would benefit 
from further notice and comment procedures under the Administrative 
Procedure Act (APA). As such, this document delays the effective date 
for these provisions and announces that FHWA will be publishing an NPRM 
in the Federal Register in the coming weeks pertaining to the GHG 
measure. The effective date is delayed until such rulemaking on the GHG 
measure is completed.
    Specifically, FHWA is delaying the effective date indefinitely for 
the following sections of the Final Rule:

1. 23 CFR 490.105(c)(5)
2. 23 CFR 490.105(d)(1)(v)
3. 23 CFR 490.107(b)(1)(ii)(H)
4. 23 CFR 490.107(b)(2)(ii)(J)
5. 23 CFR 490.107(b)(3)(ii)(I)
6. 23 CFR 490.107(c)(4)
7. 23 CFR 490.109(d)(1)(v)
8. 23 CFR 490.109(f)(1)(v)
9. 23 CFR 490.503(a)(2)
10. 23 CFR 490.505 (Definition of Greenhouse gas (GHG))
11. 23 CFR 490.507(b)
12. 23 CFR 490.509(f)
13. 23 CFR 490.509(g)
14. 23 CFR 490.509(h)
15. 23 CFR 490.511(a)(2)
16. 23 CFR 490.511(c)
17. 23 CFR 490.511(d)
18. 23 CFR 490.511(f)
19. 23 CFR 490.513(d).

Waiver of Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date

    Under section 5 U.S.C. 553(b) of the APA, FHWA generally offers 
interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed regulations. 
Under section 553(d) of the APA, FHWA ordinarily publishes rules not 
less than 30 days before their effective dates. However, the APA 
provides that an agency is not required to conduct notice-and-comment 
rulemaking or provide a delay in effective date for the provisions of a 
rule when the agency, for good cause, finds that the requirement is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest (5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3)).
    Good cause exists to suspend the effective date of the GHG measure 
without notice and comment. Given the imminence of the effective date 
of the PM#3 Final Rule, seeking prior public

[[Page 22880]]

comment on this delay of the GHG measure would be impractical, as well 
as contrary to the public interest in the orderly promulgation and 
implementation of regulations. The President's appointees and designees 
need to further delay the effective date of the sections of the PM#3 
Final Rule pertaining to the GHG measure to have adequate time to 
review them, and neither the notice and comment process nor a 30 day 
delay in effective date could be implemented in time to allow for this 
review. Additionally, the public will have the opportunity to provide 
additional comments on the GHG measure in the near future.

List of Subjects in 23 CFR Part 490

    Bridges, Highway safety, Highways and roads, Incorporation by 
reference, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Issued on: May 15, 2017.
Walter C. Waidelich, Jr.,
Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2017-10092 Filed 5-18-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-22-P