85000 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 206 / Thursday, October 24, 2024 / Notices 

exceeding 30 days. That RFA is 

available in Docket No. FRA–2010– 

0029. 

Interested parties are invited to 

comment on Amtrak’s RFA by 

submitting written comments or data. 

During FRA’s review of Amtrak’s RFA, 

FRA will consider any comments or 

data submitted within the timeline 

specified in this notice and to the extent 

practicable, without delaying 

implementation of valuable or necessary 

modifications to a PTC system. See 49 

CFR 236.1021; see also 49 CFR 

236.1011(e). Under 49 CFR 236.1021, 

FRA maintains the authority to approve, 

approve with conditions, or deny a 

railroad’s RFA at FRA’s sole discretion. 

Privacy Act Notice 

In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, 

FRA solicits comments from the public 

to better inform its decisions. DOT posts 

these comments, without edit, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides, to https://

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

See https://www.regulations.gov/ 

privacy-notice for the privacy notice of 

regulations.gov. To facilitate comment 

tracking, we encourage commenters to 

provide their name, or the name of their 

organization; however, submission of 

names is completely optional. If you 

wish to provide comments containing 

proprietary or confidential information, 

please contact FRA for alternate 

submission instructions. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams, 

Director, Office of Railroad Systems and 

Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24778 Filed 10–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[FTA Docket No. FTA 2024–0011] 

Agency Information Collection Activity 

Under OMB Review: Transit COVID–19 

Response Program 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the intention of the 

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to 

request the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) to approve a request for 

an extension without change to an 

existing information collection: Transit 

COVID–19 Response Program. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted 

before December 23, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: To ensure that your 

comments are not entered more than 

once into the docket, submit comments 

identified by the docket number by only 

one of the following methods: 

1. Website: https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the U.S. Government electronic 

docket site. All electronic submissions 

must be made to the U.S. Government 

electronic docket site at https://

www.regulations.gov. Commenters 

should follow the directions below for 

mailed and hand-delivered comments. 

2. Fax: 202–366–7951. 

3. Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Docket Operations, M–30, 

West Building, Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

4. Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Docket Operations, M–30, 

West Building, Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, Washington, DC 20590–0001 

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

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Instructions: You must include the 

agency name and docket number for this 

notice at the beginning of your 

comments. Submit two copies of your 

comments if you submit them by mail. 

For confirmation that FTA has received 

your comments, include a selfaddressed stamped postcard. Note that 

all comments received, including any 

personal information, will be posted 

and will be available to internet users, 

without change, to https://

www.regulations.gov. You may review 

DOT’s complete Privacy Act Statement 

in the Federal Register published April 

11, 2000, (65 FR 19477), or you may 

visit https://www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents and 

comments received, go to https://

www.regulations.gov at any time. 

Background documents and comments 

received may also be viewed at the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, Docket 

Operations, M–30, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001 between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stewart Mader, 202–366–9677 or 

stewart.mader@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Interested parties are invited to send 

comments regarding any aspect of this 

information collection, including: (1) 

the necessity and utility of the 

information collection for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

FTA; (2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the collected 

information; and (4) ways to minimize 

the collection burden without reducing 

the quality of the collected information. 

Comments submitted in response to this 

notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection. 

Title: Transit COVID–19 Response 

Program. 

OMB Number: 2132–0581. 

Background: 

In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the 

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is 

requesting Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) 3-year approval of an 

extension without change for a currently 

approved collection. FTA began 

collecting monthly data in April 2021 

related to impacts from the coronavirus 

disease 2019 (COVID–19) on public 

transportation agencies, including 

transit workforce counts; transit service 

levels; counts of COVID–19 positives, 

fatalities, recoveries, and unvaccinated 

employees; whether or not a transit 

agency has implemented the U.S. 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) Order and 

Transportation Security Administration 

(TSA) Security Directive requiring 

workers and passengers to wear masks; 

and whether or not the agency used 

FTA funds to support vaccine access 

services. FTA used this data to inform 

FTA’s COVID–19 response and recovery 

actions, including monitoring of safety 

measures and impacts, development of 

technical assistance and safety 

advisories, monitoring use of FTA grant 

funds to address COVID–19 

considerations, and monitoring 

compliance with Federal requirements. 

Although the Public Health Emergency 

for the COVID–19 pandemic ended in 

May 2023 and the FTA discontinued 

COVID–19 reporting requirements in 

September 2022, the FTA is seeking to 

renew this information collection. 

Current Action: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents: Recipients and subrecipients of FTA funds under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Funding 

program or the Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas program that operate transit 

systems or pass through funds to subrecipients that operate transit systems. 

Recipients of FTA funds under the 

Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and 

Individuals with Disabilities program 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 206 / Thursday, October 24, 2024 / Notices 85001 

were requested to provide this 

information on a voluntary basis. 

Estimated Total Annual Respondents: 

2,390. 

Estimated Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 28,680. 

Frequency: As Needed. 

Kusum Dhyani, 

Director, Office of Management Planning. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24584 Filed 10–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Ballard Link Extension Project, 

King County, Washington 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), Department of Transportation 

(DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA), as lead Federal 

agency, and the Central Puget Sound 

Regional Transit Authority (Sound 

Transit), as local project sponsor and 

joint lead agency, issue this notice to 

advise the public that they intend to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for 

the Ballard Link Extension Project 

(Project) located in the City of Seattle, 

King County, Washington. 

DATES: Comments related to the NEPA 

review of this project must be received 

on or before December 9, 2024. FTA will 

consider comments received after that 

date to the extent practicable. FTA will 

consider all comments received during 

this NEPA scoping period and those 

previously submitted during the 

Washington State Environmental Policy 

Act (SEPA) scoping process. 

Commenters who previously provided 

SEPA scoping comments do not need to 

resubmit those same comments for 

consideration under NEPA, but may 

elect to do so. 

ADDRESSES: Comments on the scope of 

the EIS should be directed to: Lauren 

Swift, Central Corridor Environmental 

Manager, 401 South Jackson Street, 

Seattle, WA 98104, by email to: 

lauren.swift@soundtransit.org, or by 

phone at 206–398–5301. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

FTA: Erin Littauer, erin.littauer@

dot.gov, 206–220–7521. For Sound 

Transit: Lauren Swift, lauren.swift@

soundtransit.org, 206–398–5301. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Project would extend existing light rail 

service along a 7.7-mile corridor 

through downtown Seattle, from SODO 

to Ballard, and include a new 3.3-mile 

light rail-only tunnel from south of the 

Chinatown-International District to 

South Lake Union and Seattle Center/ 

Uptown. Stations would serve the 

following areas: ChinatownInternational District, Midtown, 

Westlake, Denny, South Lake Union, 

Seattle Center, Smith Cove, Interbay, 

and Ballard. FTA has created the 

following ‘‘Unique Identification 

Number’’ that will be included on all 

environmental documents for this 

project: EISX–021–36–R10–1728553542. 

FTA, as NEPA Federal lead agency, 

and Sound Transit, as joint lead agency 

for NEPA and lead agency under the 

Washington State Environmental Policy 

Act (SEPA), issued a Notice of Intent/ 

Scoping Notice in February 2019 and 

later published a combined NEPA/SEPA 

Draft EIS in January 2022 that evaluated 

both the West Seattle Link Extension 

and the Ballard Link Extension together 

as a single project: the West Seattle and 

Ballard Link Extensions Project 

(WSBLE). The extensions were 

evaluated together in the WSBLE Draft 

EIS because of their location, schedule, 

and review efficiencies for partner 

agencies. 

In July 2022, the Sound Transit Board 

directed Sound Transit staff to prepare 

further studies evaluating additional 

station options and other refinements 

for the Ballard Link Extension (BLE). 

Some of these project options and 

refinements required additional 

conceptual engineering and 

environmental review. Rather than 

delay completion of the environmental 

review process for the West Seattle Link 

Extension while additional review was 

conducted for BLE, Sound Transit and 

FTA decided to move forward under 

separate environmental reviews for each 

extension. As described in the WSBLE 

Draft EIS, the two extensions will 

operate as separate lines, and the 

extensions are stand-alone projects with 

independent utility. 

Because the environmental review 

processes are now separated for the two 

extensions, Sound Transit is preparing a 

SEPA Supplemental Draft EIS that 

evaluates the new station options and 

refinements for the BLE. FTA has 

determined that a new NEPA Draft EIS 

be prepared for the BLE, because it is 

now being evaluated independently 

from the West Seattle extension. The 

NEPA process requires that project 

scoping be repeated with a 30-day 

public comment period. Scoping for 

BLE has been extended with a 45-day 

public comment period. The scoping 

process and Draft EIS for the BLE will 

build on the analysis completed for the 

WSBLE Draft EIS. 

Comments made during the previous 

scoping process (February 19 through 

April 2, 2019) will be carried forward 

and considered, as will all of the 

relevant analysis of alternatives and 

environmental impacts included in the 

2022 Draft EIS. At the conclusion of the 

NEPA scoping process, FTA and Sound 

Transit anticipate issuing the Draft 

NEPA EIS and SEPA Supplemental 

Draft EIS, including the new 

information and analysis. 

FTA has determined that the project 

will not be evaluated as a major project 

as defined in 23 U.S.C. 139(a)(7). 

I. Purpose and Need for the Project 

The purpose of the project is to 

expand the Sound Transit Link light rail 

system from SODO to Ballard, to make 

appropriate community investments to 

improve mobility, and to increase 

capacity and connectivity for regional 

connections in order to achieve the 

following: 

• Provide rapid, reliable, and efficient 

light rail transit service to communities 

in the project corridor as defined 

through the local planning process and 

reflected in the regional transit system 

plan, Sound Transit 3 Plan (https://

www.soundtransit.org/get-to-know-us/ 

documents-reports/sound-transit-3). 

• Improve regional mobility by 

increasing connectivity and capacity 

through Downtown Seattle to meet the 

projected transit demand. 

• Connect regional centers as 

described in adopted regional and local 

land use, transportation, and economic 

development plans and Sound Transit’s 

Regional Transit Long-Range Plan 

(https://www.soundtransit.org/sites/ 

default/files/documents/2015123_

lrpupdate.pdf). 

• Implement a system that is 

technically and financially feasible to 

build, operate, and maintain. 

• Expand mobility for the corridor 

and the region’s residents, which 

include transit-dependent residents, 

low-income people, and communities of 

color. 

• Encourage equitable and 

sustainable urban growth in station 

areas through support of transit-oriented 

development and multi-modal 

integration in a manner that is 

consistent with local land use plans and 

policies, including Sound Transit’s 

Equitable Transit-Oriented Development 

Policy (https://www.soundtransit.org/ 

system-expansion/creating-vibrantstations/transit-oriented-development) 

and Sustainability Plan (https:// 


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