552 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2000 / Notices

Environmental Quality (CEQ)

regulations at 40 CFR 1502.20. The Tier

1 document will be a detailed document

with a comprehensive, in-depth analysis

of alternative corridors. The Tier 1

document will involve extensive

environmental studies, as well as

transportation studies, economic impact

studies, and cost analysis. This

document will provide the basis for

FHWA to grant corridor location

approval for a specific corridor.

The Tier 2 documents will be a series

of smaller studies for individual

sections of the corridor. These sections

of the corridor would have independent

utility—i.e., each section could serve a

useful transportation purpose by itself.

Within each section of the corridor,

specific alignments would be identified

and evaluated based upon their social,

economic and environmental impacts.

The Tier 2 documents would be more

closely tailored to address the needs of

the communities located within each

project section.

A scoping meeting will be held for the

regulatory agencies followed by several

public scoping meetings held at various

locations in the project area. Early

Coordination letters describing the

proposed action and soliciting

comments will be sent to appropriate

Federal, State, and local agencies. As

part of the process, public hearings will

also be held. Public notice will be given

as to the time and place of the meetings

and hearings. The public hearings will

be held after the draft EIS is available

for review.

To ensure that the full range of issues

related to this proposed action is

addressed and any significant impacts

are identified, comments and

suggestions are invited from all

interested parties. Comments or

questions concerning this proposed

action and this Tier 1 EIS should be

directed to the FHWA or the INDOT at

the address provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning

and Construction. The regulations

implementing Executive Order 12372

regarding intergovernmental consultation on

Federal programs and activities apply to this

program)

Issued on: December 21, 1999.

Lawrence M. Heil,

Planning and Program Development

Manager, Indianapolis, IN.

[FR Doc. 00–201 Filed 01–04–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

Environmental Impact Statement;

Tippecanoe, Carroll and Cass

Countries, Indiana

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of scoping meeting.

SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing an

announcement to the public that a

Scoping Meeting will take place in

regards to the environmental document

for a proposed transportation project in

Tippecanoe, Carroll and Cass Countries,

Indiana to improve and/or relocate SR

25 from Lafayette to Logansport, a

distance of approximately 54 kilometers

(34 miles). The meeting will be held on

Tuesday, February 15, 2000 at 8:00 a.m.

in the Radisson Inn Lafayette Meeting

Room, located at 4343 State Road 26

East, Lafayette, Indiana.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Larry Heil, Planning and Program

Development Manager, Federal

Highway Administrator, Room 254,

Federal Office Building, 575 North

Pennyslvania Street, Indianapolis,

Indiana 46204, Telephone (317) 226–

7491.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

purpose of the scoping meeting is to

invite local, State, and Federal agencies

to help identify issues that may impact

the proposed project. Scoping is

intended to ensure that problems are

identified early and properly studied,

that issues of little significance do not

consume time and effort, that the draft

EIS is thorough and balanced, and that

delays aoccasioned by an inadequate

draft EIS is avoided. The scoping

process should identify the public and

agency concerns; clearly define the

environmental issues and alternatives to

be examined in the EIS including the

elimination of nonsignificant issues;

identify related issues which originate

from separate legislation, regulation, or

Executive Order (e.g., historic

preservation or endangered species

concerns); and identify state and local

agency requirements which must be

addressed.

To ensure that the full range of issues

related to the proposed action are

addressed and all significant issues are

identified, comments and suggestions

are invited from all interested parties.

Comments or questions concerning the

proposed action and the environmental

document should be directed to the

FHWA at the address provided above.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning

and Construction. The regulations

implementing Executive Order 12372

regarding integovernmental consulation on

Federal programs and activities apply to this

program)

Issued on: December 21, 1999.

Lawrence M. Heil,

Planning and Program Development

Manager, Indianapolis, Indiana

[FR Doc. 00–202 Filed 1–4–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Agency Information Collection;

Activity Under OMB Review; Part 249

Preservation of Air Carrier Records

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation

Statistics (BTS), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13, the Bureau of

Transportation Statistics (BTS) invites

the general public, industry and other

Federal Agencies to comment on the

continuing need for and usefulness of

DOT requiring certificated air carriers to

preserve accounting records, consumer

complaint letters, reservation reports

and records, system reports of aircraft

movements, etc.

DATES: Written comments should be

submitted by March 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

directed to: Office of Airline

Information, K–25, Room 4125, Bureau

of Transportation Statistics, Department

of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001, FAX

NO. (202) 366–3383, or EMAIL

bernard.stankus@bts.gov.

COMMENTS: Comments should identify

the OMB # 2138–0006 and submit a

duplicate copy to the address listed

above. Commenters wishing the

Department to acknowledge receipt of

their comments must submit with those

comments a self-addressed stamped

postcard on which the following

statement is made: Comments on OMB

# 2138–0006. The postcard will be date/

time stamped and returned to the

commenter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bernie Stankus, Office of Airline

Information, K–25, Bureau of

Transportation Statistics, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590–

0001, (202) 366–4387.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Approval No. 2138–0006

Title: Preservation of Air Carrier

Records Part 249.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 3 / Wednesday, January 5, 2000 / Notices 553

Form No.: None.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved recordkeeping

requirement:

Respondents: Certificated air carriers

and public charter operators.

Number of Respondents: 130

certificated air carriers 350 public

charter operators.

Total Annual Burden: 688 hours.

Needs and Uses: Part 249 requires the

retention of such records as general and

subsidiary ledgers, journals and journal

vouchers, voucher distribution registers,

accounts receivable and payable

journals and ledgers, subsidy records

documenting underlying financial and

statistical reports to the Department,

funds reports, consumer records, sales

reports, auditors’ and flight coupons, air

waybills, etc. Depending on the nature

of the document, it may be retained for

a period of 30 days to 3 years. Public

charter operators and overseas military

personnel charter operators must retain

documents which evidence or reflect

deposits made by each charter

participant and commissions received

by, paid to, or deducted by travel agents,

and all statements, invoices, bills and

receipts from suppliers or furnishers of

goods and services in connection with

the tour or charter. These records are

retained for 6 months after completion

of the charter program.

Not only is it imperative that carriers

and charter operators retain source

documentation, but it is critical that we

ensure that DOT has access to these

records. Given DOT’s established

information needs for such reports, the

underlying support documentation must

be retained for a reasonable period of

time. Absent the retention requirements,

the documentary support for such

reports may or may not exist for audit/

validation purposes and the relevance

and usefulness of carrier submissions

would be impaired, since the data could

not be verified to the source on a test

basis.

Donald W. Bright,

Acting Director, Office of Airline Information,

Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

[FR Doc. 00–161 Filed 1–4–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–FE–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Agency Information Collection;

Activity Under OMB Review; Report of

Financial and Operating Statistics for

Small Aircraft Operators—Form 298–C

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation

Statistics (BTS), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13, the Bureau of

Transportation Statistics (BTS) invites

the general public, industry and other

Federal Agencies to comment on the

continuing need for and usefulness of

BTS collecting financial, traffic and

operating statistics from small

certificated and commuter air carriers.

Small certificated air carriers (operate

aircraft with 60 seats or less or with

18,000 pounds of payload capacity or

less) must file the five quarterly

schedules listed below:

A–1 Report of Flight and Traffic

Statistics in Scheduled Passenger

Operations,

E–1 Report of Nonscheduled

Passenger Enplanements by Small

Certificated Air Carriers,

F–1 Report of Financial Data,

F–2 Report of Aircraft Operating

Expenses and Related Statistics, and

T–1 Report of Revenue Traffic by OnLine Origin and Destination.

Commuter air carriers must file the

three quarterly schedules listed below:

A–1 Report of Flight and Traffic

Statistics in Scheduled Passenger

Operations,

F–1 Report of Financial Data, and

T–1 Report of Revenue Traffic by OnLine Origin and Destination.

Commenters should address whether

BTS accurately estimated the reporting

burden and if there are other ways to

enhance the quality, utility and clarity

of the information collected.

DATES: Written comments should be

submitted by March 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

directed to: Office of Airline

Information, K–25, Room 4125, Bureau

of Transportation Statistics, Department

of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001, fax #

(202) 366–3383, or email

bernard.stankus@bts.gov.

COMMENTS: Comments should identify

the OMB # 2138–0009 and submit a

duplicate copy to the address listed

above. Commenters wishing the

Department to acknowledge receipt of

their comments must submit with those

comments a self-addressed stamped

postcard on which the following

statement is made: Comments on OMB

# 2138–0009. The postcard will be date/

time stamped and returned to the

commenter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bernie Stankus, Office of Airline

Information, K–25, Bureau of

Transportation Statistics, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590–

0001, (202) 366–4387.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Approval No. 2138–0009

Title: Report of Financial and

Operating Statistics for Small Aircraft

Operators—Form 298–C.

Form No.: 298–C.

Type of Review: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Respondents: Small certificated and

commuter air carriers.

Number of Respondents: 100.

Estimated Time Per Response: 16

hours for small certificated, 7 hours for

commuters.

Total Annual Burden: 5,000 hours.

Needs and Uses: Program Uses of

Form 298–C Data.

Mail Rates

The Department of Transportation

(DOT) sets and updates the Intra-Alaska

Bush mail rates based on carrier

expense, traffic, and operational data.

Form 298–C cost data, especially fuel

costs, terminal expenses, and line haul

expenses are used in arriving at rate

levels. DOT revises the established rates

based on the percentage of unit cost

changes in the carriers’ operations.

These updating procedures have

resulted in the carriers receiving rates of

compensation that more closely parallel

their costs of providing mail service and

contribute to the carriers’ economic

well-being.

Essential Air Service

DOT also must determine a

community’s eligibility as an essential

air service (EAS) point. If the

community qualifies as an EAS point, a

determination is made as to what level

of service the community is entitled and

how much, if any, compensation must

be paid to air carriers that provide the

service.

After DOT has determined that a

community is eligible to receive EAS,

DOT often has to select a carrier to

provide the service. Some of the carrier

selection criteria are historic presence in

the community, reliability of carrier

service, financial stability of the carrier,

and carrier cost structure.

Carrier Fitness

Fitness determinations are made for

both new entrants and established U.S.

domestic carriers proposing a

substantial change in operations. A

portion of these applications consists of

an operating plan for the first year (14

CFR Part 204) and an associated

projection of revenues and expenses.

The carrier’s operating costs, included

in these projections, are compared

against the cost data in the Form 298–