Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 68 / Friday, April 10, 2009 / Notices 16441 

Albany, New York 12207, Telephone: 

518–431–4127. 

Or 

Norik Tatevossian, P.E., Director of 

Structures, New York State Department 

of Transportation, Region 11, Hunters 

Point Plaza, 47–40 21st Street, Long 

Island City, NY 11101, Telephone: 718– 

482–4683. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given that the FHWA, and other 

Federal agencies have taken their final 

agency actions subject to 23 U.S.C. 

139(l)(1) by issuing licenses, permits, 

and approvals for the following highway 

project in the State of New York: The 

Kosciuszko Bridge (Interstate 278) over 

Newtown Creek, Kings and Queens 

Counties. The preferred environmental 

alternative replaces the existing bridge, 

building a new permanent, parallel 

bridge on the eastbound (Queensbound) side of the existing bridge. The 

new bridge will be built at a lower 

elevation to allow for reduced grades. 

When completed, the Kosciuszko Bridge 

will include auxiliary lanes in both 

directions, carrying five lanes of 

eastbound traffic and four lanes of 

westbound traffic, and have standard 

lane widths and shoulders. The new 

bridge will also include a bikeway/ 

walkway on the north side of the bridge. 

The selected alternative provides 

superior safety, operational, and 

structural improvements compared with 

the other build alternatives, while 

minimizing adverse social, economic, 

and environmental impacts to the extent 

practicable. 

The new bridge will be constructed at 

a lower elevation, decreasing the 

vertical clearance over Newtown Creek 

from 38 m (125′–0′′) to approximately 27 

m (88′–6′′), to improve traffic safety and 

operations on the bridge by decreasing 

the steep roadway grades. The reduced 

grades will significantly improve the 

vertical stopping sight distance on the 

main span of the bridge, meeting the 

current interstate highway standard. As 

described in the Final EIS, constructing 

the new bridge 11 m (36 ft) lower than 

the existing bridge will not impede 

maritime traffic on the creek. The 

project will also include the 

construction of a new bikeway/walkway 

on the north side of the westbound 

(Brooklyn-bound) structure and 

substantial increases in both the quality 

and quantity of parkland (with both 

active and passive recreation features) 

in the project area, between four and 

five times over existing park space. 

Other mitigation measures include 

streetscaping enhancements along all 

streets to be reconstructed as part of the 

project, including new tree plantings, 

reconstructed sidewalks, new street 

lighting, improved crosswalks, and 

better pedestrian sightlines. In addition, 

boat launches for small, non-motorized 

boats on each side of Newtown Creek 

will be provided. 

The actions taken by the Federal 

agencies, and the laws under which 

such actions were taken, are described 

in the Final Environmental Impact 

Statement (FEIS) issued on November 

25, 2008 and in the FHWA Record of 

Decision (ROD) issued on March 3, 

2009. The FEIS, ROD, and other project 

records are available by contacting the 

FHWA or the New York State 

Department of Transportation at the 

addresses provided above, or they can 

be viewed and downloaded at the 

project Web site (https:// 

www.nysdot.gov/regional-offices/ 

region11/projects/kosciuszko-bridgeproject), or viewed at public libraries in 

the project area. 

This notice applies to all Federal 

agency decisions related to the 

replacement of the Kosciuszko Bridge 

over Newtown Creek project as of the 

issuance date of this notice and all laws 

under which such actions were taken, 

including but not limited to: 

1. National Environmental Policy Act 

[42 U.S.C. 4321–4351]. 

2. Federal-Aid Highway Act [23 

U.S.C. 109 and 23 U.S.C. 128]. 

3. Clean Air Act [42 U.S.C. 7401– 

7671(q)]. 

4. Section 4(f) of the Department of 

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

303]. 

5. Endangered Species Act [16 U.S.C. 

1531–1544 and Section 1536]. 

6. Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 

[16 U.S.C. 661–667(d)]. 

7. Migratory Bird Treaty Act [16 

U.S.C. 703–712]. 

8. Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act of 1966, as amended 

[16 U.S.C. 470(f) et seq.]. 

9. Civil Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 

2000(d)–2000(d)(1)]. 

10. Farmland Protection Policy Act [7 

U.S.C. 4201–4209]. 

11. Wetlands and Water Resources: 

Clean Water Act (Section 404, Section 

401, Section 319) [33 U.S.C. 1251–1377] 

12. Land and Water Conservation 

Fund [16 U.S.C. 4601–4604]. 

13. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 

[33 U.S.C. 401–406]. 

14. Executive Order 11990 Protection 

of Wetlands. 

15. Executive Order 11988 Floodplain 

Management. 

16. Executive Order 12898, Federal 

Actions to Address Environmental 

Justice Minority Populations and Low 

Income Populations. 

(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.) 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). 

Issued on April 2, 2009. 

Jeffrey W. Kolb, 

Division Administrator, Federal Highway 

Administration, Albany, New York. 

[FR Doc. E9–8191 Filed 4–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–RY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Ex Parte No. 431 (Sub-No. 3)] 

Review of the Surface Transportation 

Board’s General Costing System 

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board. 

ACTION: Notice of public hearing. 

SUMMARY: The Surface Transportation 

Board will hold a public hearing 

beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 

30, 2009, at its headquarters in 

Washington, DC. The purpose of the 

public hearing will be to examine issues 

related to the Board’s Uniform Railroad 

Costing System (URCS). Persons 

wishing to speak at the hearing should 

notify the Board in writing. 

DATES: The public hearing will take 

place on Thursday, April 30, 2009. Any 

person wishing to speak at the hearing 

should file with the Board a combined 

written notice of intent to participate 

(identifying the party, the proposed 

speaker, the time requested, and topic(s) 

to be covered) and their written 

testimony as soon as possible, but no 

later than April 23, 2009. Written 

submissions by interested persons who 

do not wish to appear at the hearing will 

also be due by April 23, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: All combined notices of 

intent to participate and testimony may 

be submitted either via the Board’s efiling format or in the traditional paper 

format. Any person using e-filing should 

attach a document and otherwise 

comply with the Board’s http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov Web site, at the ‘‘E– 

FILING’’ link. Any person submitting a 

filing in the traditional paper format 

should send an original and 10 copies 

of the filing to: Surface Transportation 

Board, Attn: STB Ex Parte No. 431 (SubNo. 3), 395 E Street, SW., Washington, 

DC 20423–0001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Timothy J. Strafford, (202) 245–0356. 

[Assistance for the hearing impaired is 

available through the Federal 

16442 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 68 / Friday, April 10, 2009 / Notices 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at: 

(800) 877–8339.] 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Board 

uses URCS to determine a rail carrier’s 

variable costs in a variety of regulatory 

proceedings. URCS determines, for each 

Class I railroad, the portion of each 

category of expenses shown in the 

carrier’s Annual Report to the Board 

(STB Form R–1) that represents its 

system-average variable unit cost for 

that cost category for that year. More 

specifically, URCS consists of a series of 

computer programs and manual 

procedures organized into three phases. 

Phase I compiles the raw data provided 

by the carriers into a useable format, 

and then uses statistical estimation 

procedures to determine the portion of 

specific expense account groupings that 

vary with changes in the volume of 

activity. In Phase II, these cost/volume 

relationships are then used to develop 

the variable unit costs that allow costing 

of specific rail movements. Finally, in 

Phase III, these variable unit costs are 

applied to determine the costs of 

specific movements via an interactive 

computer program that permits the user 

to enter operating characteristic data for 

the specific movements under 

consideration. 

URCS was initially adopted by the 

Board’s predecessor agency, the 

Interstate Commerce Commission, as the 

general purpose costing system in Ex 

Parte No. 431 (Sub-No. 1), Adoption of 

the Uniform Railroad Costing System as 

a General Purpose Costing System For 

All Regulatory Costing Purposes, 5 

I.C.C.2d 894 (1989). Periodic review of 

URCS is called for in 49 U.S.C. 11161. 

The first review of URCS came in a 

decision served on October 1, 1997, in 

which the system was modified to: (1) 

Alter the procedures used to determine 

the variable costs associated with rail 

movements of intermodal traffic; (2) 

revise the train switching conversion 

factor used in the costing procedures; 

(3) discontinue the collection of cost 

data on switching and terminal 

companies; and (4) revise the procedure 

for determining the variable cost of 

using privately-owned rail cars. See 

Review of the General Purpose Costing 

System, 2 S.T.B. 659 (1997). On 

reconsideration in a decision served on 

December 12, 1997, the costing of 

intermodal rail movements was further 

modified. See Review of the General 

Purpose Costing System, 2 S.T.B. 754 

(1997). 

The Board believes it is time for a 

second, and more comprehensive, 

review of URCS to determine whether 

and to what extent modifications are 

needed to account for recent changes in 

Board procedures and to improve the 

system outputs. Accordingly, the Board 

is instituting this proceeding and 

holding a hearing to receive public 

comment on how best to revise the 

existing URCS model. Parties are 

specifically encouraged to address 

whether and how the Board could: 

1. Improve the efficiency adjustments 

associated with unit-train and multi-car 

movements; 

2. Update the historical studies used 

in URCS; 

3. Improve the costing of trailer or 

container on flat car (TOFC/COFC) 

traffic; 

4. Update the URCS national car tare 

weight calculation to account for the 

number of car miles that each car type 

operates; 

5. Update the number of miles 

between non-intermodal intertrain/ 

intratrain (I&I) switches by URCS car 

type; 

6. Disaggregate loss and damage 

information by carrier and by two-digit 

Standard Transportation Commodity 

Code (STCC) groupings; 

7. Revise the Train Switching 

Conversion factor used to place all road 

train crew wages on a common mileage 

basis; 

8. Require carriers to report their 

average switch engine speeds in order to 

better reflect switching expenses; 

9. Revise the ratio of urban and rural 

land values to allocate expenses 

between running and switching; 

10. Revise the URCS car types to 

eliminate outdated car types and add 

new car types to reflect those currently 

used in the railroad industry; 

11. Revise the spotted to pulled factor 

for each car type; 

12. Revise the approach used in 

individual proceedings to index URCS 

in order to use the Rail Cost Adjustment 

Factor indexes published by the Board; 

and 

13. Update the various statistical 

relationships used in URCS, including 

the variability estimates. 

The Board welcomes suggestions on 

additional aspects or features of URCS 

the Board should revisit. However, note 

that, by an advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking served and published on 

January 5, 2009 (74 FR 248), the Board 

already sought comments on whether 

and how the Board should update its 

accounting and financial reporting for 

Class I rail carriers and URCS to better 

capture the operating cost of 

transporting hazardous materials. The 

Board is currently reviewing the 

comments submitted. Therefore, 

comments for this public hearing need 

not duplicate those already submitted in 

that proceeding. 

As a follow up to this hearing, the 

Board will accept comments for 30 days 

responsive to the hearing. 

Date of Hearing. The hearing will 

begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 30, 

2009, in the 1st floor hearing room at 

the Board’s headquarters at 395 E Street, 

SW., in Washington, DC, and will 

continue until every person scheduled 

to speak has been heard. 

Notice of Intent to Participate and 

Testimony. Any person wishing to 

speak at the hearing should file with the 

Board a combined written notice of 

intent to participate (identifying the 

party, the proposed speaker, the time 

requested, and topic(s) to be covered) 

and their written testimony as soon as 

possible, but no later than April 23, 

2009. 

Board Releases and Live Audio 

Available Via the Internet. Decisions 

and notices of the Board, including this 

notice, are available on the Board’s Web 

site at http://www.stb.dot.gov. This 

hearing will be available on the Board’s 

Web site by live video streaming. To 

access the hearing, click on the ‘‘Live 

Video’’ link under ‘‘Information Center’’ 

at the left side of the home page 

beginning at 9 a.m. on April 30, 2009. 

This action will not significantly 

affect either the quality of the human 

environment or the conservation of 

energy resources. 

Dated: April 6, 2009. 

Kulunie L. Cannon, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. E9–8152 Filed 4–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Membership Availability in the National 

Parks Overflights Advisory Group 

Aviation Rulemaking Committee 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Park Service 

(NPS) and the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), as required by 

the National Parks Air Tour 

Management Act of 2000, established 

the National Parks Overflights Advisory 

Group (NPOAG) in March 2001. The 

NPOAG was formed to provide 

continuing advice and counsel with 

respect to commercial air tour 

operations over and near national parks. 

This notice informs the public of six 

vacancies (due to completion of 

membership on October 9, 2009) on the 

NPOAG (now the NPOAG Aviation 

Rulemaking Committee (ARC)) for 

members representing general aviation