Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 30, 2010 / Notices 74131 

of private roads open to public travel 

can minimize any impact of this signal 

timing requirement by adopting a policy 

that determines durations of yellow 

change and red clearance intervals that 

is based on engineering practices and 

then by applying that policy whenever 

an existing individual signal location or 

system of interconnected locations is 

being checked or adjusted for any 

reason, such as investigation of citizen 

complaints or routine maintenance. 

Pedestrian Intervals and Signal Phases 

(Section 4E.06) 

The 2009 MUTCD established a new 

requirement for pedestrian signals that 

the pedestrian change interval (flashing 

upraised orange hand) shall not extend 

into the red clearance interval and shall 

be followed by a buffer interval of at 

least 3 seconds. Previously, it was 

allowable to continue the flashing 

orange hand display into and through 

the vehicular red clearance interval, and 

thus there was no requirement for any 

pedestrian safety ‘‘buffer time’’ between 

the end of the flashing orange hand 

display and the start of green for 

conflicting traffic on the street being 

crossed by pedestrians. A compliance 

date of December 31, 2014 (5 years), or 

when timing adjustments are made to 

the individual intersection and/or 

corridor, whichever occurs first, was 

established for this new requirement. 

Most highway agencies have operated 

their pedestrian signals so that the 

flashing upraised hand terminates no 

later than the start of the yellow change 

interval for parallel vehicular traffic. 

With this display sequence, the yellow 

time and any red clearance time serves 

as the buffer interval and would comply 

with the new requirement. However, 

there are some highway agencies that 

have made it a practice at some or all 

of their signals to extend the flashing 

orange hand to the end of the yellow 

change interval or even all the way to 

the end of the red clearance interval. 

Most such pedestrian signal displays do 

not provide the required minimum 3 

seconds after the end of the flashing 

orange hand as a margin of safety that 

allows a pedestrian who underestimates 

the time needed to cross a roadway, 

with or without a countdown display, to 

better avoid a conflict with vehicles. 

Highway agencies that have existing 

pedestrian signals operated in this 

manner might be burdened by the need 

to adjust the control equipment and/or 

durations of timing intervals to comply 

with the new requirement within the 5- 

year compliance period. 

The FHWA established the 5-year 

compliance date because of the 

demonstrated safety issues associated 

with pedestrian crossings at traffic 

signals, the need for consistent display 

of signal indications for pedestrians, 

and the pedestrian confusion that would 

likely occur as a result of a long-term 

mixing of a variety of pedestrian signal 

displays associated with the pedestrian 

clearance interval. Traffic signals and 

signal control equipment have a very 

long service life (30 to 50 years is not 

uncommon) and very long intervals 

between signal retiming are typical at 

many traffic signal locations in many 

jurisdictions. The FHWA believes that 

relying on systematic upgrading, based 

on service life, to achieve compliance 

with this critical timing need would 

take an inordinately long time, to the 

detriment of pedestrian safety. The 

FHWA believes that State and local 

highway agencies and owners of private 

roads open to public travel can 

minimize any impact of this signal 

timing requirement by adopting a policy 

for timing and display of pedestrian 

change intervals in relation to vehicular 

intervals in compliance with Section 

4E.06 and then by applying that policy 

whenever an existing individual signal 

location or system of interconnected 

locations is being checked or adjusted 

for any reason, such as investigation of 

citizen complaints or routine 

maintenance. 

Questions 

A series of seven specific questions 

regarding MUTCD compliance dates are 

listed below, for which the FHWA 

requests input on each, to help further 

examine this issue. 

The seven questions are as follows: 

1. What, if any, difficulties does your 

organization anticipate in meeting the 

seven MUTCD compliance dates 

discussed above for upgrading existing 

non-compliant devices in the field? 

2. Are there one or more of these 

seven compliance dates that are more 

problematic than the others for your 

organization? If so, which ones, and 

why? 

3. If some or all of these seven 

compliance dates were extended, how 

long do you estimate it would take to 

complete the necessary traffic control 

device upgrades? 

4. What safety or other impacts would 

result from extending some or all of 

these seven compliance dates? 

5. Are there other MUTCD 

compliance dates not described in this 

notice that are problematic for your 

organization? If yes, which ones, and 

why? 

6. What considerations should be 

applied to establish new compliance 

dates in the MUTCD? 

7. What other comments or input do 

you wish to provide to FHWA regarding 

MUTCD compliance dates for upgrading 

existing traffic control devices? 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 101(a), 104, 109(d), 

114(a), 217, 315, and 402(a); 23 CFR 1.32; 

and, 49 CFR 1.48(b). 

Issued on: November 18, 2010. 

Shailen Bhatt, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29587 Filed 11–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Notice of Finding of No Significant 

Impact for the Washington State 

Portion of the Pacific Northwest Rail 

Corridor Upgrades Tier-1 

Environmental Assessment 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), United States 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA) and the FRA’s Procedures 

for Considering Environmental Impacts 

(FRA Environmental Procedures) (64 FR 

28545 (May 26, 1999)), the FRA and the 

Washington State Department of 

Transportation (WSDOT) prepared a 

Tier-1 Environmental Assessment (Tier1 EA) that evaluates the impacts of a 

corridor improvements program to the 

Washington State portion of the Pacific 

Northwest Rail Corridor (PNWRC 

Program). This notice advises the public 

that FRA finds that the corridor 

improvement program will not have a 

significant impact on the quality of the 

human or natural environment and has 

issued a Finding of No Significant 

Impact (FONSI) supporting that 

determination. Copies of both the Tier1 EA and FONSI are available on FRA’s 

Web site at http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/ 

freight/3011.shtml. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information regarding either the 

Tier-1 EA or FONSI please contact 

Melissa DuMond, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, Federal Railroad 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., 

SE., Stop 20, Washington, DC 20590, 

telephone: (202) 493–6366. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the PNWRC Program in 

Washington State is to improve intercity 

passenger rail service by reducing travel 

times, achieving greater schedule 

reliability, and creating capacity for 

additional trip frequencies in order to 

accommodate growing intercity travel 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
74132 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 229 / Tuesday, November 30, 2010 / Notices 

demand. To achieve these goals WSDOT 

applied for Federal funding through the 

High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail 

Program (HSIPR Program) administered 

by the FRA and funded by the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

(Recovery Act). WSDOT’s application 

under the Recovery Act was split into 

three Service Blocks, and identified 

incremental service benefits including 

increased service levels, improved ontime performance and schedule 

reliability, and reduced travel times. 

The FRA intends to provide funding 

under the HSIPR Program for projects 

contained in two of the three service 

blocks. 

In order to comply with the 

requirements of the HSIPR Program 

Guidance (Interim Guidance) that 

described the eligibility requirements 

and procedures for obtaining funding 

under the HSIPR Program (74 FR 29901 

(June 23, 2009)), WSDOT prepared a 

Tier-1 or ‘‘service’’ NEPA document that 

included the analysis of two 

alternatives; the ‘‘No Build’’ and the 

‘‘Corridor Service Expansion 

Alternative.’’ The Tier-1 EA was 

completed in September 2009 and was 

made available for comment between 

October 2, 2009 and October 23, 2009 

on the WSDOT Web site. Thirteen 

agencies submitted written comments. 

No individual written comments were 

received. 

Based on the analysis in the Tier-1 

EA, FRA released a draft FONSI for 

public comment on July 8, 2010 for a 

period of 30 calendar days (75 FR 39325 

(July 8, 2010)). FRA received six 

comments on the draft FONSI, 

including comments from one federal 

agency, two state agencies, and three 

local governments. In compliance with 

NEPA and the FRA’s Environmental 

Procedures, FRA has addressed all 

comments on the FONSI and has 

determined that the PNWRC corridor 

improvements will not have a 

significant impact on the quality of the 

human or natural environment. Prior to 

release of construction funding for 

individual projects, WSDOT will 

successfully complete applicable 

mitigation measures detailed in the 

FONSI and complete appropriate 

project-level NEPA evaluations, 

documentation, and required 

determinations for the individual 

project. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

19, 2010. 

Joseph C. Szabo, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30021 Filed 11–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Notice of Intent To Grant Buy America 

Waiver to Northern New England 

Passenger Rail Authority To Purchase 

3,340 AREMA Specified Carbon Steel 

Standard 11⁄8 Nominal Diameter Nuts 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), United States 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of intent to grant Buy 

America waiver. 

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to 

advise the public that it intends to grant 

the Northern New England Passenger 

Rail Authority’s (NNEPRA) waiver 

request from FRA’s Buy America 

requirement, 49 U.S.C. 24405(a), for the 

purchase and use of 3,340 AREMA 

specified carbon steel standard 11⁄8

nominal diameter nuts. FRA intends to 

grant the waiver because there are no 

domestic commercially available track 

nuts that meet the needed specifications 

and custom made fabricated track nuts 

that cannot be delivered for 10–16 

weeks are not ‘‘reasonably available’’ 

under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(B), 

especially given NNEPRA has mobilized 

for the track construction and Maine has 

a short construction season. In addition, 

NNEPRA used a competitive bidding 

process to procure the track nuts and no 

bidders came forward at that time who 

could comply with Buy America. 

Finally, FRA published public notice of 

the NNEPRA waiver request in the 

Federal Register on August 2, 2010. 

This notice also failed to identify a 

reasonably available domestic source. 

49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(4) requires that the 

Secretary provide public notice of a 

determination that it is necessary to 

waive the Buy America requirement and 

provide a maximum fifteen day 

opportunity for public comment before 

the waiver becomes final. 

DATES: Written comments on FRA’s 

determination to grant NNEPRA’s Buy 

America waiver request should be 

provided to the FRA on or before 

December 15, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit your 

comments by one of the following 

means, identifying your submissions by 

docket number FRA–2010–0122. All 

electronic submissions must be made to 

the U.S. Government electronic site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Commenters should follow the 

instructions below for mailed and handdelivered comments. 

(1) Web Site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the U.S. Government electronic 

docket site; 

(2) Fax: (202) 493–2251; 

(3) Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Docket Operations, M–30, 

Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590–0001; or 

(4) Hand Delivery: Room W12–140 on 

the first floor of the West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 

DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

make reference to the ‘‘Federal Railroad 

Administration’’ and include docket 

number FRA–2010–0122. Due to 

security procedures in effect since 

October 2001, mail received through the 

U.S. Postal Service may be subject to 

delays. Parties making submissions 

responsive to this notice should 

consider using an express mail firm to 

ensure the prompt filing of any 

submissions not filed electronically or 

by hand. Note that all submissions 

received, including any personal 

information therein, will be posted 

without change or alteration to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. For more 

information, you may review DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement in the 

Federal Register published on April 11, 

2000 (65 FR 19477), or visit http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions about this notice, please 

contact Ms. Linda Martin, AttorneyAdvisor, FRA Office of Chief Counsel, 

(202) 493–6062 or via e-mail at 

Linda.Martin@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: See 

waiver letter below. 

Ms. Marina Douglass, 

Manager of Budget and Administration, 

Northern New England Passenger Rail 

Authority, 

75 West Commercial Street, Suite 104, 

Portland, ME 04101–4631, 

Re: Request for Waiver of Buy America 

Requirement, 

Dear Ms. Douglass: 

This letter is in response to your July 

14, 2010, request that the Northern New 

England Passenger Rail Authority 

(NNEPRA) be granted a waiver from the 

Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) 

Buy America provision, at 49 U.S.C. 

24405(a), to permit NNEPRA to 

purchase 3,340 foreign-made AREMA 

specified carbon steel standard 11⁄8

nominal diameter track nuts. Section 

24405(a) authorizes the Secretary of 

Transportation to obligate certain grant 

funds only if the steel, iron, and 

manufactured goods used in the project 

are produced in the United States. The 


jdjones on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES