71924 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 18, 2023 / Notices 

this PEA to create efficiencies by 

establishing a ‘‘tiering’’ framework, 

where appropriate, to project-specific 

actions that require additional analysis. 

As decisions on specific project sites are 

made, to the extent additional NEPA 

analysis is required, environmental 

reviews would be conducted to 

supplement the analysis set forth in the 

PEA. 

The Final PEA and FONSI/ROD are 

available on the project website (http:// 

www.faa.gov/air_traffic_atf). 

Issued in Des Plaines, Illinois, on October 

12, 2023. 

Aaron W. Comrov, 

Environmental Team Lead, FAA CSA ES 

EOSH Center, AJW–216E. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22935 Filed 10–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

[Docket No. FHWA–2023–0041] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Request for Comments for a 

New Information Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget’s 

(OMB) approval for an 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 

December 18, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by DOT Docket ID Number 

0041 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: 

Carlos B. McCloud, (225)–433–2892— 

carlos.mccloud@dot.gov or David 

Harris, (202) 366–2825—dave.harris@

dot.gov, FHWA Office of Transportation 

Management (HOTM) USDOT HQ E84– 

471, 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: Strategic Innovation for 

Revenue Collection (SIRC) Program 

Grant Application, Agreement, and 

Project Management. 

Background: In adherence with 5 CFR 

1320.13, this is a request for approval 

for an emergency clearance for 

processing of information related to a 

new collection of information for the 

SIRC Program grant application 

submission and quarterly reporting 

requirements for FY 2023–2024 program 

of projects awards. The collection of 

information will support 

implementation of Title III—Research, 

Technology, and Education, Sec. 13001. 

Strategic Innovation for Revenue 

Collection (a) and (b) of the 

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 

(Pub. L. 117–58 or also referred to as the 

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-BIL (see 

Exhibit A page 12). The Office of the 

Secretary of Transportation (OST) and 

the Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) has coordinated on the 

development of public information to 

solicit responses to a Notice of Funding 

Opportunity (NOFO) for the SIRC 

Program. Awarded funds to eligible 

applicants will test the feasibility of a 

road usage fee and other user-based 

alternative revenue mechanisms 

(referred to in this section as ‘‘user 

based alternative revenue mechanisms’’) 

to help maintain the long-term solvency 

of the Highway Trust Fund. 

• The information will be received by 

the FHWA to fulfill the grant 

application submittal requirements and 

agreements prescribed in the NOFO. 

• The collection of information will 

include grant application forms and 

narratives, grant agreements, and project 

management quarterly reporting. 

• The purpose of the collection is to 

receive information relevant to 

evaluating applications to the SIRC 

grant program, per the NOFO, and 

reporting requirements agreed to by 

recipients of the Grants. 

• The obligation to respond to the 

collection of information is voluntary 

and is required to obtain or retain a 

benefit. 

The Strategic Innovation for Revenue 

Collection (SIRC) Program seeks to fund 

pilot projects that test the 

implementation of user-based 

alternative revenue mechanisms that 

utilize a road user fee structure for 

eligible entities to test the feasibility of 

the program objectives outlined in 

Section 133001 (b)(3), as prescribed in 

Exhibit A of this document. Grant 

awards test innovative ways to replace 

or supplement the Federal gas tax to 

maintain the long-term solvency of the 

Highway Trust Fund. The collection of 

information is necessary to receive 

applications for grant funds, evaluate 

the effectiveness of projects that have 

been awarded grant funds, and monitor 

project financial conditions and project 

progress pursuant to Section 133001 (b) 

(3). FY 2023–FY 2024 is the first year of 

implementation for the SIRC Program. 

FHWA implemented a similar 

predecessor program, the Surface 

Transportation System Funding 

Alternatives (STSFA) program 

authorized by section 6020 of the Fixing 

America’s Surface Transportation 

(FAST) Act, Public Law 114–94, FY 

2016–2021, which was repealed with 

the passage of BIL. Information about 

awards funded under the STSFA 

program is available at: https://

ops.fhwa.dot.gov/stsfa/index.htm. 

FHWA requests information from 

applicants in the form an electronic 

application, which will represent 100% 

of the submissions. The application will 

assist in soliciting proposals for funding 

from eligible applicants for the five-year 

grant program, to monitor the grant 

program recipients, project progress, 

assess project outcomes and permit 

evaluation. The reporting requirements 

are submitted by recipients and will be 

completed during the application stage, 

grant agreement, and the project 

management stages. FHWA will 

continue to use the information 

collected in the application phase to 

evaluate proposals and make decisions 

to award grants to applicants for any 

future similar appropriations. FHWA 

will use the information to monitor the 

progress of projects that have been 

awarded SIRC Program funds, and to 

monitor the proper expenditure of 

Federal funds. The project management 

information will be collected by grant 

recipients. 

Much of the information will be 

produced and collected through the 

normal process of project management, 

so the additional burden of Government 

information collection is small in 

comparison to the data management 

related to information that grant 

recipients already collect to manage 

their projects properly. The information 

collected from grant recipients is project 

specific and the information is not 

available other than from the grantees. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 18, 2023 / Notices 71925 

The information will be used to monitor 

projects on a quarterly basis, and to 

ensure on an annual basis that the 

project’s plan conforms to the project’s 

real operating environment. 

All information submitted as part of 

or in support of any application shall 

use publicly available data or data that 

can be made public. If the application 

includes information the applicant 

considers to be a trade secret or 

confidential commercial or financial 

information, the applicant should do the 

following: (1) Note on the front cover 

that the submission ‘‘Contains 

Confidential Business Information 

(CBI)’’; (2) mark each affected page 

‘‘CBI’’; and (3) highlight or otherwise 

denote the CBI portions. DOT protects 

such information from disclosure to the 

extent allowed under applicable law. In 

the event DOT receives a Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) request for the 

information, DOT will follow the 

procedures described in its FOIA 

regulations at 49 CFR 7.17. Only 

information that is ultimately 

determined to be confidential under that 

procedure will be exempt from 

disclosure under FOIA. Retention of 

records will adhere to DOT Order 

1351.28 Records Management, 28.4.5 

Electronic Records. 

The Department will receive 

application reports electronically via 

email and via websites from grant 

awardees upon approval from OMB. 

Certain agencies within the Department 

have found that delivery of reports 

electronically is the most reliable way to 

collect information and will use their 

existing grant administration systems to 

collect the information covered under 

this request. To minimize the burden on 

applicants, OMB approved standard 

forms are being used to collect 

information where possible. Such 

standard forms include the Application 

for Federal Assistance (SF–424), 

available online at https://

apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/ 

sample/SF424_2_1-V2.1.pdf, and the 

post-award Federal Financial Reports 

form (SF–425), available online at 

https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/ 

sample/SF425_2_0-V2.0.pdf. 

If the information requested in the 

reports is not collected, the Department 

will not be able to evaluate project 

progress or financial conditions in 

accordance with the 23 U.S.C., 

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) 

for the program published in the 

Federal Register. The quarterly 

collection of financial data ensures that 

the use of Federal funds can be 

appropriately monitored. 

Respondents: The primary 

respondents are the eligible applicants, 

which includes a State or a group of 

States, Metropolitan Planning 

Organization (MPO) or a group of 

Metropolitan Planning Organizations (as 

defined in section 134(b) of title 23, 

United States Code), a local government 

or a group of local governments. 

Frequency: Every year by December 

31st. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: The estimated number of 

hours for each of the 15 recipients 

(annually based on previous STSFA 

Program) to compile and submit the 

requested data is estimated to be no 

more than 8 employee hours annually. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: The estimated total annual 

burden for 15 recipients is 120 hours 

annually. 

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; and 49 CFR 1.48. 

Issued On: October 13, 2023. 

Jazmyne Lewis, 

Information Collection Officer. 

Exhibit A 

Section 13001 Strategic Innovation for 

Revenue Collection 

Title III—Research, Technology, and 

Education Sec. 13001. Strategic Innovation 

for Revenue Collection 

(a) In General.—The Secretary shall 

establish a program to test the feasibility of 

a road usage fee and other user-based 

alternative revenue mechanisms (referred to 

in this section as ‘‘user based alternative 

revenue mechanisms’’) to help maintain the 

long term solvency of the Highway Trust 

Fund, through pilot projects at the State, 

local, and regional level. 

(b) Grants.— 

(1) In General.—The Secretary shall 

provide grants to eligible entities to carry out 

pilot projects under this section. 

(2) Applications.—To be eligible for a grant 

under this section, an eligible entity shall 

submit to the Secretary an application at 

such time, in such manner, and containing 

such information as the Secretary may 

require. 

(3) Objectives.—The Secretary shall ensure 

that, in the aggregate, the pilot projects 

carried out using funds provided under this 

section meet the following objectives: (A) To 

test the design, acceptance, equity, and 

implementation of user-based alternative 

revenue mechanisms, including among—(i) 

differing income groups; and (ii) rural and 

urban drivers, as applicable. H.R. 3684–195 

(B) To provide recommendations regarding 

adoption and implementation of user-based 

alternative revenue mechanisms. (C) To 

quantify and minimize the administrative 

costs of any potential user-based alternative 

revenue mechanisms. (D) To test a variety of 

solutions, including the use of independent 

and private third-party vendors, for the 

collection of data and fees from user-based 

alternative revenue mechanisms, including 

the reliability and security of those solutions 

and vendors. (E) To test solutions to ensure 

the privacy and security of data collected for 

the purpose of implementing a user-based 

alternative revenue mechanism. (F) To 

conduct public education and outreach to 

increase public awareness regarding the need 

for user-based alternative revenue 

mechanisms for surface transportation 

programs. (G) To evaluate the ease of 

compliance and enforcement of a variety of 

implementation approaches for different 

users of the surface transportation system. 

(H) To ensure, to the greatest extent 

practicable, the use of innovation. (I) To 

consider, to the greatest extent practicable, 

the potential for revenue collection along a 

network of alternative fueling stations. (J) To 

evaluate the impacts of the imposition of a 

user-based alternative revenue mechanism 

on—(i) transportation revenues; (ii) personal 

mobility, driving patterns, congestion, and 

transportation costs; and (iii) freight 

movement and costs. (K) To evaluate options 

for the integration of a user based alternative 

revenue mechanism with—(i) nationwide 

transportation revenue collections and 

regulations; (ii) toll revenue collection 

platforms; (iii) transportation network 

company fees; and (iv) any other relevant 

transportation revenue mechanisms. 

(4) Eligible Entity.—An entity eligible to 

apply for a grant under this section is—(A) 

a State or a group of States; (B) a local 

government or a group of local governments; 

or (C) a metropolitan planning organization 

(as defined in section 134(b) of title 23, 

United States Code) or a group of 

metropolitan planning organizations. 

(5) Use of Funds.—An eligible entity that 

receives a grant under this section shall use 

the grant to carry out a pilot project to 

address 1 or more of the objectives described 

in paragraph (3). 

(6) Consideration.—The Secretary shall 

consider geographic diversity in awarding 

grants under this subsection. 

(7) Federal Share.—The Federal share of 

the cost of a pilot project carried out under 

this section may not exceed—H.R. 3684–196. 

(A) 80 percent of the total cost of a project 

carried out by an eligible entity that has not 

otherwise received a grant under this section; 

and 


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71926 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 200 / Wednesday, October 18, 2023 / Notices 

(B) 70 percent of the total cost of a project 

carried out by an eligible entity that has 

received at least 1 grant under this section. 

(c) Limitation on Revenue Collected.—Any 

revenue collected through a user-based 

alternative revenue mechanism established 

using funds provided under this section shall 

not be considered a toll under section 301 of 

title 23, United States Code. 

(d) Recommendations and Report.—Not 

later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination 

with the Secretary of the Treasury and the 

Federal System Funding Alternative 

Advisory Board established under section 

13002(g)(1), shall submit to the Committee on 

Environment and Public Works of the Senate 

and the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

a report that— 

(1) summarizes the results of the pilot 

projects under this section and the national 

pilot program under section 13002; and 

(2) provides recommendations, if 

applicable, to enable potential 

implementation of a nationwide user-based 

alternative revenue mechanism. 

(e) Funding.—(1) In General.—Of the funds 

made available to carry out section 503(b) of 

title 23, United States Code, for each of fiscal 

years 2022 through 2026 $15,000,000 shall be 

used for pilot projects under this section. 

(2) Flexibility.—If, by August 1 of each 

fiscal year, the Secretary determines that 

there are not enough grant applications to 

meet the requirements of this section for that 

fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer to the 

national pilot program under section 13002 

or to the highway research and development 

program under section 503(b) of title 23, 

United States Code—(A) any funds reserved 

for a fiscal year under paragraph (1) that the 

Secretary has not yet awarded under this 

section; and (B) an amount of obligation 

limitation equal to the amount of funds that 

the Secretary transfers under subparagraph 

(A). 

(f) Repeal.— 

(1) In General.—Section 6020 of the FAST 

Act (23 U.S.C. 503 note; Pub. L. 114–94) is 

repealed. 

(2) Clerical Amendment.—The table of 

contents in section 1(b) of the FAST Act 

(Pub. L. 114–94; 129 Stat. 1312) is amended 

by striking the item relating to section 6020. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22997 Filed 10–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

[Docket No. FHWA–2023–0039] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Request for Comments for a 

New Information Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget’s 

(OMB) approval for an 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 

December 18, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by DOT Docket ID Number 

0039 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: 

Steven Jessberger, (202) 366 5052/ 

steven.jessberger@dot.gov; Patrick 

Zhang, (202) 366–1941/patrick.zhang@

dot.gov, Department of Transportation, 

Federal Highway Administration, Office 

Highway Policy Information, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590. Office hours are from 7 a.m. to 

4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal Holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Travel Monitoring Analysis 

System. 

Background and Justification: The 

purpose of this document is to request 

OMB’s three-year extension for a 

currently approved information 

collection titled ‘‘Heavy Vehicle Travel 

Information System (HVTIS),’’ covered 

by OMB Control No. 2125–0587. This 

information collection is due to expire 

on August 30, 2021. The Travel 

Monitoring Analysis System (TMAS) is 

the current system used to collect 

HVTIS information; therefore, the 

extension should now be titled Travel 

Monitoring Analysis System. 

Part A. Justification 

1. Circumstances That Make the 

Collection of Information Necessary 

23 U. S. Code 150 National Goals and 

Performance Management Measures 

requires that the U.S. DOT to establish 

a performance management system for 

its Federal-aid highway program. The 

Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA), U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT) promulgated the 

performance management via 23 CFR 

490: National Performance Management 

Measures. Traffic data, including 

volume (# of vehicles and travelers), 

class (types of vehicles), weight (weight 

of vehicles), and travel time (speed), are 

parameters the performance 

management program relies upon. 

The FHWA is planning to continue to 

collect these traffic data through the 

TMAS system. To carry out the data 

collection, the FHWA will request that 

State Departments of Transportations 

(SDOTs) provide traffic volume, vehicle 

classification, vehicle speed, vehicle 

weight data, and nonmotorized data, 

which they collect as part of their traffic 

monitoring programs. 

In addition, 23 CFR 1.5 and 49 CFR 

1.48 provide the Federal Highway 

Administrator with authority to request 

such information deemed necessary to 

administer the Federal-aid highway 

program. Traffic data are used for 

assessing highway system performance 

under FHWA’s strategic planning and 

performance reporting process in 

accordance with the requirement of the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act (GPRA, Sections 3 and 4). 

Finally, both the 23 U. S. Code 503 

and the 23 CFR 420.105(b) require 

States to provide data that support 

FHWA’s responsibilities carrying out 

the Federal-aid highway program to 

Congress and the public. 

The data to be collected will continue 

to be used by the FHWA and other DOT 

agencies to (a) manage its Federal-aid 

highway program through the 

performance management mechanism, 

(b) evaluate changes in vehicular and 

nonmotorized travel to assess impacts 

on highway safety, (c) analyze the role 

of travel in economic development and 

productivity, (d) assess impacts from 

truck travel on infrastructure demands, 

and (e) maintain and improve our 

Nation’s mobility while protecting the 

human and natural environment. 

2. How, by Whom, and for What 

Purpose Is the Information Used 

The data submitted through TMAS 

will provide the amount and nature of 

vehicular travel at the national, regional, 

and state levels. The data also provide 

information on how vehicular travel 

pattern varies by hour of the day, day 

of the week, the month of the year, and 

year to year. 

Data submitted under the TMAS 

program are essential to the FHWA and 

the U.S. DOT in determining: 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1