48578 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 161 / Monday, August 21, 2006 / Notices 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of Title 

49 U.S.C. 47153(c), notice is being given 

that the FAA is considering a request 

from the Gadsden Airport Authority to 

waive the requirement that a .98-acre 

parcel of surplus property, located at the 

Northeast Alabama Regional Airport, be 

used for aeronautical purposes. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before September 20, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on this notice 

may be mailed or delivered in triplicate 

to the FAA at the following address: 

Jackson Airports District Office, 100 

West Cross Street, Suite B, Jackson, MS 

39208–2307. 

In addition, one copy of any 

comments submitted to the FAA must 

be mailed or delivered to the Gadsden 

Airport Authority, Gadsden, Alabama at 

the following address: P.O. Box 961, 

Gadsden, Alabama 35902–0961. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Keafur Grimes, Program Manager, 

Jackson Airports District Office, 100 

West Cross Street, Suite B, Jackson, MS 

39208–2307, (601) 664–9886. The land 

release request may be reviewed in 

person at this same location. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA 

is reviewing a request by the Gadsden 

Airport Authority to release .98 acres of 

surplus property at the Northeast 

Alabama Regional Airport. The property 

will be purchased by Mr. Todd Davis, 

which is a manufacturing Company. 

The property consist of excess right of 

way land. The net proceeds from the 

sale of this property will be used for 

airport purposes. 

Any person may inspect the request 

in person at the FAA office listed above 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

In addition, any person may, upon 

request, inspect the request, notice and 

other documents germane to the request 

in person at the Gadsden Airport 

Authority Office in Gadsden, Alabama. 

Issued in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 

15, 2006. 

Rans D. Black, 

Manager, Jackson Airports District Office, 

Southern Region. 

[FR Doc. 06–7059 Filed 8–18–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Public Notice for Waiver of 

Aeronautical Land-Use Assurance 

Watertown Municipal Airport, 

Watertown, WI 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration, DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of intent of waiver with 

respect to land. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) is giving notice 

that a portion of the airport property 

containing 2.3 acres located at the 

southeast corner of Air Park Drive and 

Airport Rd. is not needed for 

aeronautical use as currently identified 

on the airport Layout Plan. 

This parcel was originally acquired 

through Grant No. AIP–01 in 1989. The 

parcel was an uneconomic remnant left 

from reconfiguration of a roadway 

intersection alongside the edge of the 

airport. The parcel is segregated from 

the airport and is not accessible from 

the air operations area. The land 

comprising this parcel is, therefore, no 

longer needed for aeronautical 

purposes. Income from the sale will be 

used to improve the airport. There are 

no impacts to the airport by allowing 

the airport to dispose of the property. 

In accordance with section 47107(h) 

of title 49, United States Code, this 

notice is required to be published in the 

Federal Register 30 days before 

modifying the land-use assurance that 

requires the property to be used for an 

aeronautical purpose. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before September 20, 2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Sandra E. DePottey, Program Manager, 

Federal Aviation Administration, 

Airports District Office, 6020 28th 

Avenue South, Room 102, Minneapolis, 

MN 55450–2706. Telephone Number 

(612) 713–4363/FAX Number (612) 713–

4364. Documents reflecting this FAA 

action may be reviewed at this same 

location or at the Watertown Municipal 

Airport, Watertown, WI. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice announces that the FAA intends 

to authorize the disposal of the subject 

airport property at Watertown 

Municipal Airport, Watertown, WI. 

Approval does not constitute a 

commitment by the FAA to financially 

assist in the disposal of the subject 

airport property nor a determination 

that all measures covered by the 

program are eligible for Airport 

Improvement Program funding from the 

FAA. The disposition of proceeds from 

the disposal of the airport property will 

be in accordance with FAA’s Policy and 

Procedures Concerning the Use of 

Airport Revenue, published in the 

Federal Register on February 16, 1999. 

Issued in Minneapolis, MN on August 3, 

2006. 

Robert A. Huber, 

Manager, Minneapolis Airports District 

Office, FAA, Great Lakes Region. 

[FR Doc. 06–7066 Filed 8–18–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Agency Information Collection Activity 

Under OMB Review 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The FAA invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget’s 

(OMB) revision of a current information 

collection. The Federal Register Notice 

with a 60-day comment period soliciting 

comments on the following collection of 

information was published on March 

15, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 50, page 13446–

13447. Information is collected to 

provide services to aircraft in-flight and 

protection of persons/property on the 

ground. 

DATES: Please submit comments by 

September 20, 2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carla Mauney at Carla.Mauney@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

Title: Flight Plans (Domestic/ 

International). 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

OMB Control Number: 2120–0026. 

Forms(s): FAA Forms 7233–1, 

7233–4. 

Affected Public: An estimated 300,000 

Respondents. 

Abstract: Title 49 U.S.C., paragraph 

40103(b) authorizes regulations 

governing the flight of aircraft. 14 CFR 

part 91 prescribes requirements for 

filing domestic and international flight 

plans. Information is collected to 

provide services to aircraft in-flight and 

protection of persons/property on the 

ground. 

Estimated Annual Burden Hours: An 

estimated 17,246,826 hours annually. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20503, Attention FAA 

Desk Officer. 

Comments are invited on: Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC72 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 161 / Monday, August 21, 2006 / Notices 48579 

of the functions of the Department, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; the accuracy of 

the Department’s estimates of the 

burden of the proposed information 

collection; ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 14, 

2006. 

Carla Mauney, 

FAA Information Collection Clearance 

Officer, Information Systems and Technology 

Services Staff, ABA–20. 

[FR Doc. 06–7064 Filed 8–18–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[Docket No. FTA–2006–24063] 

Disadvantaged Business Enterprises; 

Western States Guidance for Public 

Transportation Providers 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and policy 

guidance. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) 

implementation of Department of 

Transportation guidance for participants 

of the Disadvantaged Business 

Enterprise (DBE) program. This notice 

solely concerns FTA implementation 

procedures applicable to FTA grantees 

in the states comprising the 9th Federal 

Judicial Circuit (California, Oregon, 

Washington, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, 

Montana, Nevada, and Hawaii). 

DATES: Effective Date: This policy takes 

effect on August 21, 2006. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scheryl Portee, Attorney Advisor, Office 

of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366–4011 

(telephone) and (202) 366–3809 (fax). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Availability of the DOT Guidance 

and Comments 

A copy of the Department of 

Transportation Guidance for 

participants of the Disadvantaged 

Business Enterprise (DBE) program in 

the affected States and comments 

received from the public are available 

for inspection or copying at the Docket 

Management Facility, U.S. Department 

of Transportation, Room PL–401 on the 

plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

You may retrieve the guidance and 

comments online through the Document 

Management System (DMS) at: http:// 

dms.dot.gov. Enter the docket number 

24063 in the search field. The DMS is 

available 24 hours each day, 365 days 

each year. Electronic submission and 

retrieval help and guidelines are 

available under the help section of the 

Web site. An electronic copy of the 

document may also be downloaded by 

using a computer, modem and suitable 

communications software from the 

Government Printing Office’s Electronic 

Bulletin Board Service at (202) 512–

1661. Internet users may also reach the 

Office of the Federal Register’s home 

page at: http://www.nara.gov/fedreg and 

the Government Printing Office’s Web 

page at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ 

index.html. 

2. Background 

The General Counsel of the 

Department of Transportation issued 

guidance concerning the effects of the 

Western States Paving Co. v. United 

States and Washington State 

Department of Transportation, 407 F. 3d 

983 (9th Cir. 2005) in January 2006. On 

March 23, 2006, FTA published a 

Federal Register notice requesting 

comments on its implementation of the 

Department’s guidance (56 FR 14775). 

The guidance applies to recipients of 

Federal funds authorized under chapter 

53 of Title 49 of the United States Code 

that are located within the states of 

Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, 

Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and 

Washington. 

The Court of Appeals for the 9th 

Circuit, like other Federal courts that 

have reviewed the Department of 

Transportation’s DBE program, held that 

49 CFR part 26 and the authorizing 

statute for the DBE program in TEA–21 

were constitutional. The court affirmed 

that Congress had determined that there 

was a compelling need for the DBE 

program and part 26 was narrowly 

tailored. However, the 9th Circuit 

opinion held that the Washington State 

Department of Transportation’s program 

for implementing part 26 was not 

narrowly tailored because the State’s 

evidence of discrimination supporting 

the use of race conscious measures in 

the program was inadequate. The 

January 2006 DOT guidance provides 

information to recipients in the 9th 

Circuit about how to address the 

implications of the court’s decision in 

their programs. This document provides 

further information on how FTA will 

administer the DBE program for FTA 

recipients in light of the court decision 

and the DOT guidance. 

3. Response to Comments 

This notice responds to comments 

regarding the procedures that FTA will 

employ in its review process for overall 

goal submissions from grantees in 9th 

Circuit States for Fiscal Year 2006 (that 

were due August 1, 2005) and 

subsequent-year submissions. These 

procedures concern such matters as 

race-neutral submissions, the evidence 

gathering process to determine evidence 

of discrimination or its effects in 

grantees’ markets, and action plans for 

disparity/availability studies or other 

appropriate evidence gathering 

processes. 

FTA solicited comments on two 

transit-specific issues. FTA considered 

all comments and statements filed that 

pertained to these two issues. FTA 

responses to these comments are 

included in this section. There is no 

discussion by FTA of comments that 

addressed Department-wide DBE issues, 

the content of the January 2006 DOT 

guidance, or statutory requirements. 

These issues were beyond the scope of 

the FTA notice. FTA received 10 

comments in response to the two 

transit-specific issues we raised. The 

breakdown among commenter 

categories follows: 

• Nonprofits and special transit 

providers: 1. 

• City and County transit providers: 

8. 

• Trade association: 1. 

Issues 

1. Commitment To Conduct Disparity 

Studies 

On the two matters posed for 

comment regarding FTA’s 

implementation of the Western States 

guidance, there were limited comments 

on the first issue, that FTA may require 

recipients to certify that they will 

conduct or participate in a disparity or 

availability study. Those that did 

respond expressed concern that the 

Regional Civil Rights Office may require 

this certification. 

FTA Response: DBE compliance is a 

condition of the FTA Master Agreement 

for all applicable recipients. The 

Regional Civil Rights Officer, in its 

review of DBE goal submissions, will 

work with grantees. In some cases, this 

will result in grantees having to commit 

to conducting disparity studies or 

similar evidence gathering efforts. 

The Department’s Guidance explicitly 

states that if a recipient does not 

currently have sufficient evidence of 

discrimination or its effects, then an all 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC72 with NOTICES