53094 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 2014 / Notices 

balance in terms of sectors, 

demographics, and other factors 

relevant to the TACA’s needs. 

Request for Nominations 

The Office of the U.S. Trade 

Representative is soliciting nominations 

for membership on the TACA. To be 

appointed to the TACA, the following 

eligibility criteria must be met: 

1. The applicant must be a U.S. 

citizen. 

2. The applicant must not be a fulltime employee of a U.S. governmental 

entity. 

3. If serving in an individual capacity, 

the applicant must not be a federallyregistered lobbyist. 

4. The applicant must not be 

registered with the U.S. Department of 

Justice under the Foreign Agents 

Registration Act; 

5. The applicant must be able to 

obtain and maintain a security 

clearance. 

6. For representative members, who 

will comprise the overwhelming 

majority of the TACA, the applicant 

must represent a U.S. organization 

whose members (or funders) have a 

demonstrated interest in issues relevant 

to trade and development in subSaharan Africa or that (a) is directly 

engaged in the import or export of goods 

or sells its services in sub-Saharan 

Africa, or (b) is an association of such 

entities. 

For eligibility purposes, a ‘‘U.S. 

organization’’ is an organization, 

established under the laws of the United 

States, that is controlled by U.S. 

citizens, by another U.S. organization 

(or organizations), or by a U.S. entity (or 

entities), as determined based on its 

board of directors (or comparable 

governing body), membership, and 

funding sources, as applicable. To 

qualify as a U.S. organization, more than 

50 percent of the board of directors (or 

comparable governing body) and more 

than 50 percent of the membership of 

the organization to be represented must 

be U.S. citizens, U.S. organizations, or 

U.S. entities. Additionally, at least 50 

percent of the organization’s annual 

revenue must be attributable to 

nongovernmental U.S. sources. 

7. For members who will serve in an 

individual capacity, the applicant must 

possess subject matter expertise 

regarding international trade and 

development issues relevant to subSaharan Africa. 

To be considered for TACA 

membership, interested persons should 

submit the following to Julia Friedman 

at iape@ustr.eop.gov: 

1. Applicant’s name, title, affiliation, 

and contact information. 

2. If applicable, a sponsor letter on the 

U.S. organization’s letterhead that 

contains a brief description of the 

manner in which international trade 

affects the U.S. organization and why 

the applicant should be considered for 

membership. 

3. Applicant’s personal resume. 

4. An affirmative statement that the 

applicant and, if applicable, the U.S. 

organization the applicant represents 

meet all eligibility requirements. 

Applicants who meet the eligibility 

criteria will be considered for 

membership based on the following 

factors: Ability to represent the 

sponsoring U.S. entity’s or U.S. 

organization’s and its subsector’s 

interests on trade and development 

matters; knowledge of and experience in 

trade and development matters relevant 

to the work of the TACA; and ensuring 

that the TACA is balanced in terms of 

points of view, demographics, 

geography, and entity or organization 

size. 

Dated: August 29, 2014. 

Jewel James, 

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, 

Intergovernmental Affairs and Public 

Engagement. 

[FR Doc. 2014–21126 Filed 9–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3290–F4–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

Dallas–Fort Worth Core Express 

Service 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: The Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA) is issuing this 

notice to advise the public that FRA and 

the Texas Department of Transportation 

(TxDOT) intend to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

pursuant to the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) for the 

impacts of constructing and operating 

enhanced intercity passenger rail 

services between Dallas and Fort Worth 

(Proposed Action). The EIS will 

evaluate route and operational 

alternatives for intercity passenger rail 

in the corridor that currently is only 

served by Amtrak’s long distance Texas 

Eagle service. 

DATES: FRA invites the public, 

governmental agencies, and all other 

interested parties to comment on the 

scope of the EIS. All such comments 

should be provided in writing, within 

ninety (90) days of the publication of 

this notice, at the address listed below. 

Comments may also be provided orally 

or in writing at the scoping meetings. 

Scoping meeting dates, times and 

locations, in addition to related 

information about the EIS for the 

Dallas–Fort Worth Core Express service 

can be found online at http://

www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0214. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

scope of the EIS may be mailed or 

emailed within ninety (90) days of the 

publication of this notice to Michael 

Johnsen, Lead Environmental Protection 

Specialist, Office of Program Delivery, 

Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., MS–20, 

Washington, DC 20590 or 

Michael.johnsen@dot.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Johnsen, Lead Environmental 

Protection Specialist, Office of Program 

Delivery, Federal Railroad 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., MS–20, Washington, DC 

20590 or Michael.johnsen@dot.gov, or 

Melissa Neeley, Rail Projects Manager, 

Environmental Affairs Division of the 

Texas Department of Transportation, 

118 E. Riverside Drive, Austin, Texas 

78704. Telephone (512) 416–3014, 

email: Melissa.neeley@txdot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EIS 

will be prepared in accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA) and the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations for implementing NEPA and 

the FRA’s Procedures for Considering 

Environmental Impacts as set forth in 64 

FR 28545, dated May 26, 1999 

(Environmental Procedures). The EIS 

will also address Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act, 

Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of 

Transportation Act of 1966 (49 U.S.C. 

303), Executive Order 12898 and 

USDOT Order 5610.2(a) on 

Environmental Justice and other 

applicable Federal and state laws and 

regulations. The EIS will address 

environmental issues of concern and 

will include: 

• Describing the purpose and need for 

the Proposed Action. 

• Describing the environment likely 

to be affected by the Proposed Action. 

• Identifying the reasonable 

alternatives that satisfy the purpose and 

need for the Proposed Action. 

• Describing the no-build or no-action 

alternative to serve as a baseline for 

comparison. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 2014 / Notices 53095 

• Describing the potential 

environmental impacts associated with 

the reasonable alternatives and 

mitigation to address significant 

impacts. 

FRA, in cooperation with TxDOT, 

will prepare the EIS for the Dallas–Fort 

Worth Core Express service. The 

Proposed Action would provide a 

passenger rail connection between 

Dallas and Fort Worth by means of an 

as-yet undetermined rail technology and 

establish connectivity with other 

transportation services in Dallas and 

Fort Worth, including two planned 

high-speed rail systems: Dallas–Houston 

(the Central Texas High Speed Rail 

Project) and Oklahoma City–Dallas–Fort 

Worth–Austin–San Antonio (the Texas 

Oklahoma Passenger Rail Service). As a 

part of the EIS, the impacts of various 

alternatives and route alignments will 

be analyzed including shared corridors 

with other existing linear infrastructure, 

such as railroads, roads, and utilities. In 

addition, the EIS will analyze the 

potential impacts of stations, power 

facilities and maintenance facilities to 

support Core Express operations. This 

EIS will build upon and incorporate the 

forthcoming findings of the Texas 

Oklahoma Passenger Rail Service Tier 1 

EIS, and its decisions and 

recommendations for the Fort Worth– 

Dallas connection. FRA hosts Web sites 

for the related passenger rail projects in 

the region, which can be found on 

FRA’s Web site at http://

www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0715. 

The EIS will describe an analysis of 

technology-neutral alternatives in the 

study area and evaluate the specific 

environmental impacts of reasonable 

alternatives in sufficient detail to allow 

FRA to make decisions incorporating 

environmental concerns consistent with 

NEPA goals and procedures. The 

evaluation will be conducted using a 

combination of Geographic Information 

System (GIS) data, field investigations, 

site visits and sampling. The primary 

environmental resources located within 

the study area that may be affected are: 

Residential, commercial, and industrial 

properties; streams and floodplains; 

wetlands and wildlife habitat; cultural 

resources; protected lands; and open 

space. FRA and TxDOT will develop 

alternatives that avoid and minimize 

impacts to these resources. 

Minimization and mitigation measures 

will be identified within the EIS where 

appropriate. 

In accordance with NEPA, the FRA 

and TxDOT invite comments and 

suggestions regarding the scope of the 

EIS from all interested parties to ensure 

that all issues are addressed related to 

this proposal, all reasonable alternatives 

considered, and any significant impacts 

are identified. Letters describing the 

project’s NEPA process and soliciting 

comments will be sent to appropriate 

federal, state, and local agencies, Native 

American tribes, and private 

organizations who might have 

previously expressed or who are known 

to have an interest in the Proposed 

Action. Federal agencies with 

jurisdiction by law or special expertise 

with respect to potential environmental 

issues will be requested to act as a 

Cooperating Agency in accordance with 

40 CFR 1501.16. 

In coordination with FRA, TxDOT 

will lead the outreach activities 

beginning with scoping meetings (dates 

to be determined). Public involvement 

initiatives including public meetings, 

access to a Web site, and outreach will 

continue throughout the EIS process. 

Opportunities for public participation 

will be announced through mailings, 

notices, advertisements, press releases 

and a FRA-hosted EIS Web page, 

accessible at http://www.fra.dot.gov/

Page/P0214. One or more public 

hearings will be held after the Draft EIS 

is released and made available for 

public and agency review. Public notice 

will be given for the time and place of 

public hearings. 

Comments or questions concerning 

the Proposed Action and the scope of 

the EIS are invited from all interested 

parties and should be directed to the 

FRA at the address provided above. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et. seq. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 28, 

2014. 

Corey Hill, 

Director, Office of Program Delivery. 

[FR Doc. 2014–21173 Filed 9–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Innovative Public Transportation 

Workforce Development Program 

(Ladders of Opportunity Initiative) 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of funding availability. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) announces a 

Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) 

for the Innovative Public Transportation 

Workforce Development Program 

Ladders of Opportunity Initiative. FTA 

will make available approximately $7.85 

million in funds appropriated in Fiscal 

Year 2013 and Prior Years, in support of 

this effort. This NOFA solicits proposals 

that promote innovative nationally and 

regionally significant public 

transportation workforce development 

models and programs that invest in 

America’s economic growth and help 

build ladders of opportunity into the 

middle class for American workers. 

DATES: Complete proposals are due by 

11:59 p.m. EDT on November 4, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: All proposals must be 

submitted electronically through the 

GRANTS.GOV ‘‘APPLY’’ function. All 

entities intending to apply should 

initiate the process of registering on the 

GRANTS.GOV Web site immediately to 

ensure completion of registration before 

the submission deadline. Instructions 

for applying can be found on FTA’s Web 

site at http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/

13093_3561.html and in the ‘‘FIND’’ 

module of GRANTS.GOV. Mail and fax 

submissions will not be accepted. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

specific information regarding the areas 

of research targeted within this NOFA, 

please contact Betty Jackson, Workforce 

Development Program Manager, Office 

of Research, Demonstration and 

Innovation, phone: (202) 366–1730, fax: 

(202) 366–3765, or email: 

betty.jackson@dot.gov. A TDD is 

available at 1–800–877–8339 (TDD/

FIRS). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discretionary Program Overview 

A. Authority 

Section 5322(b) of Title 49, United 

States Code authorizes FTA’s 

discretionary Innovative Public 

Transportation Workforce Development 

Program, pursuant to which FTA makes 

grants to transit agencies and other 

entities to undertake workforce 

development activities, including those 

that create employment training 

programs, increase minority and female 

employment in transit, conduct research 

on public transportation and training 

needs, and provide training and 

assistance for minority business 

opportunities. Under this authority, 

FTA is issuing this funding opportunity 

for the Innovative Public Transportation 

Workforce Development, Ladders of 

Opportunity Initiative. FTA plans to 

fund nationally or regionally significant 

public transportation workforce projects 

that will assist in building ladders of 

opportunity for American workers to 

move into the middle class, as well as 

build the critical skillset needed in the 

public transportation industry. 

B. Policy Priorities 

Supporting a highly-skilled transit 

workforce is critical to maintaining a 


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