Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection Publication: Federal Register Agency: Federal Highway Administration Byline: Michael Howell Date: 17 March 2022 Subjects: American Government , Roads & Highways

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 15301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05575]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2022-0003]


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 invites public comments about our intention to 
request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new 
information collection, which is summarized below under Supplementary 
Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal 
Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by May 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID FHWA 
2022-0003 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: Kenneth Petty, Office of Planning 
(HEPP-1), 202-366-6654, and Spencer Stevens, Office of Planning (HEPP-
20), 202-366-6221, Federal Highway Administration, Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Office 
hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Survey of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and State 
Departments of Transportation Regarding Practices for Incorporating 
Equity and Meaningful Public Involvement in Transportation Planning and 
Project Decision-Making.
    Background: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT, or ``the 
Department'') is committed to pursuing a comprehensive approach to 
advancing equity for all. In response to Executive Order 13985: 
Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through 
the Federal Government (86 FR 7009), DOT is working to expand access 
and opportunity to all communities while focusing on underserved, 
overburdened, and disadvantaged communities.
    One focus area for DOT relates to the Department's programmatic 
enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (DOT Order 1000.12C), 
including emphasizing agency review of the potential discriminatory 
impacts of plans, investment programs, and projects to prevent 
disparate impacts on protected classes, and empower communities, 
including limited English proficient communities, in transportation 
decision-making (49 CFR 21.5, 21.7, 21.9 and 28 CFR 406).
    FHWA plans to conduct a survey of all State departments of 
transportation (State DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations 
(MPOs) to better understand how these agencies consider equity and 
comply with Title VI in transportation planning and programming 
activities. This will include questions about how each State DOT or MPO 
is using quantitative data or tools to analyze equity factors for 
transportation plans and investment programs, as well as how each 
agency provides a meaningful and representative role to members of all 
communities, including underserved and limited English proficient 
communities, in shaping these plans and programs (28 CFR 407).
    Information from the survey will be used to inform future research 
products and capacity-building activities for State DOTs and MPOs, to 
help them improve practices related to equity and meaningful public 
involvement in transportation planning and programming. Survey 
responses may also inform future revisions to existing guidance, or the 
development of new guidance, to DOT funding recipients on meeting the 
requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the National 
Environmental Policy Act, transportation planning and programming, or 
other legal or regulatory requirements that relate to transportation 
equity and public involvement.
    FHWA plans to conduct the survey on a voluntary-response basis, 
utilizing an electronic survey platform. This is planned as a one-time 
information collection, and FHWA estimates that the survey will take 
approximately one hour to complete. The survey will consist of both 
multiple-choice and short-answer question formats.
    Respondents: 52 State DOTs and approximately 405 MPOs.
    Frequency: Once.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: Approximately 60 minutes per 
respondent.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Approximately 457 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; 23 U.S.C. 134 and 135; and 23 CFR chapter 1, 
subchapter E, part 450.)

    Issued On: March 11, 2022.
Michael Howell,
Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-05575 Filed 3-16-22; 8:45 am]
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