Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 79 / Monday, April 27, 2009 / Notices 19113 

Washington, DC 20590–0001 between 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Candace Noonan, Office of Planning and 

Environment, (202) 366–1648, or e-mail: 

candace.noonan@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: Metropolitan and Statewide 

Transportation Planning (OMB Number: 

2132–0529). 

Background: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) and Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA) 

jointly carry out the Federal mandate to 

improve urban and rural transportation. 

49 U.S.C. Sections 5303 and 5304 and 

23 U.S.C. 134 and 135 authorize the use 

of Federal funds to assist Metropolitan 

Planning Organizations (MPOs), States, 

and local public bodies in developing 

transportation plans and programs to 

serve the transportation needs of 

urbanized areas over 50,000 in 

population and other areas of States 

outside of urbanized areas. The 

information collection activities 

involved in developing the Unified 

Planning Work Program (UPWP), the 

Metropolitan Transportation Plan, the 

Long Range Statewide Transportation 

Improvement Plan, the Transportation 

Improvement Program (TIP), and the 

Statewide Transportation Improvement 

Program (STIP) are necessary to identify 

and evaluate the transportation issues 

and needs in each urbanized area and 

throughout every State. These products 

of the transportation planning process 

are essential elements in the reasonable 

planning and programming of Federally 

funded transportation investments. 

In addition to serving as management 

tools for MPOs and State DOTs, the 

UPWP and State Planning and Research 

(SP&R) Work Program are used by both 

FTA and FHWA to monitor the 

transportation planning activities of 

those agencies. It is also needed to 

establish national out year budgets and 

regional program plans, develop policy 

on using funds, monitor State and local 

compliance with national technical 

emphasis areas, respond to 

Congressional inquiries, prepare 

Congressional testimony, and ensure 

efficiency in the use and expenditure of 

Federal funds by determining that 

planning proposals are both reasonable 

and cost-effective. 49 U.S.C. Section 

5303 and 23 U.S.C.134(h) require the 

development of TIPs for urbanized 

areas; STIPs are mandated by 49 U.S.C. 

Section 5304 and 23 U.S.C. 235(f) for an 

entire State. After approval by the 

Governor and MPO, metropolitan TIPs 

in attainment areas are to be 

incorporated directly into the STIP. For 

nonattainment areas, FTA/FHWA must 

make a conformity finding on the TIPs 

before including them into the STIP. 

The complete STIP is then jointly 

reviewed and approved or disapproved 

by FTA and FHWA. These conformity 

findings and approval actions constitute 

the determination that States are 

complying with the requirements of 23 

U.S.C. 235 and 49 U.S.C. Section 5304 

as a condition of eligibility for Federalaid funding. Without these documents, 

approvals and findings, capital and/or 

operating assistance cannot be provided. 

Respondents: State Departments of 

Transportation (DOTs) and MPOs. 

Estimated Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 634.7 hours for each of the 

453 respondents. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

287,519 hours. 

Frequency: Annual. 

Issued: April 21, 2009. 

Ann M. Linnertz, 

Associate Administrator for Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–9468 Filed 4–24–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[FTA Docket No. FTA–2009–0023] 

Notice of Request for Extension of a 

Currently Approved Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, 

DOT. 

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 the extension 

of the currently approved information 

collection: 

49 CFR Part 611 Major Capital 

Investment Projects. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted 

before June 26, 2009. 

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. Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the U.S. Government electronic 

docket site. (Note: The U.S. Department 

of Transportation’s (DOT’s) electronic 

docket is no longer accepting electronic 

comments.) All electronic submissions 

must be made to the U.S. Government 

electronic docket site at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Commenters 

should follow the directions below for 

mailed and hand-delivered comments. 

2. Fax: 202–493–2251. 

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 http:// 

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 http://www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to read 

background documents and comments 

received, go to http:// 

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: Ms. 

Elizabeth Day, Office of Planning and 

Environment, (202) 366–5159, or e-mail: 

elizabeth.day@dot.gov. 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
19114 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 79 / Monday, April 27, 2009 / Notices 

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: 49 CFR Part 611 Major Capital 

Investment Projects (OMB Number: 

2132–0561) 

Background: On August 10, 2005, the 

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, 

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for 

Users (SAFETEA–LU) was enacted. 

Sections 3011(d)(5) and 3011(e)(6) of 

SAFETEA–LU require FTA to issue 

regulations on the manner in which 

candidate projects for major capital 

investment grants for new fixed 

guideway systems, extensions to 

existing fixed guideway systems, or 

significant corridor based bus 

investments (‘‘New Starts,’’ ‘‘Small 

Starts,’’ respectively) will be evaluated 

and rated for purposes of the FTA 

Capital Investment Grants program for 

New and Small Starts under 49 U.S.C. 

Section 5309. An Advanced Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for this 

regulation was issued on January 30, 

2006, (71 FR 22841). A Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was 

issued on August 3, 2007, (72 FR 

43328). The NPRM was withdrawn on 

February 17, 2009, due to an intervening 

statutory change resulting from the 

passage of the SAFETEA–LU Technical 

Corrections Act in June 2008. 

FTA has a longstanding requirement 

to evaluate proposed projects against a 

prescribed set of statutory criteria. The 

Surface Transportation and Uniform 

Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 

(STURAA) established in law a set of 

criteria that proposed projects had to 

meet in order to be eligible for federal 

funding. The requirement for summary 

project ratings has been in place since 

1998. Thus, the requirements for project 

evaluation and data collection for New 

Starts projects are not new, nor have 

they changed extensively since their 

inception. One addition included in 

SAFETEA–LU is the Small Starts 

program. The Small Starts program 

enables projects with a lesser total 

capital cost and smaller requested share 

of New Starts funds to progress through 

a simplified and streamlined project 

evaluation and data collection process. 

In general, though, the information used 

by FTA for New and Small Starts project 

evaluation and rating purposes should 

arise as a part of the normal planning 

process. 

FTA has been collecting project 

evaluation information from project 

sponsors under the existing OMB 

approval for this program (OMB No. 

2132–0561). However, due to 

modifications in project evaluation 

criteria for the New Starts program and 

the addition of the Small Starts 

program, it became apparent that some 

information required might be beyond 

the scope of ordinary planning 

activities. 

SAFETEA–LU creates additional 

requirements for before-and-after data 

collection for purposes of Government 

Performance and Results Act reporting 

as a condition of obtaining a Full 

Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) or a 

Project Construction Grant Agreement 

(PCGA). 

Respondents: State and local 

government. 

Estimated Annual Burden on 

Respondents: Approximately 217.7 

hours for each of the 178 respondents. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

38,760 hours. 

Frequency: Annual. 

Issued: April 21, 2009. 

Ann M. Linnertz, 

Associate Administrator for Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–9471 Filed 4–24–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[FTA Docket No. FTA–2009–0022] 

Notice of Request for the Extension of 

a Currently Approved Information 

Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, 

DOT. 

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 extend the following 

currently approved information 

collection: Transit Investments in 

Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction 

Program. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted 

before June 26, 2009. 

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. Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the U.S. Government electronic 

docket site. (Note: The U.S. Department 

of Transportation’s (DOT’s) electronic 

docket is no longer accepting electronic 

comments.) All electronic submissions 

must be made to the U.S. Government 

electronic docket site at http:// 

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 http:// 

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 http://www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to read 

background documents and comments 

received, go to http:// 

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: 

Mr. Walter Kulyk, Office of Research, 

Demonstration and Innovation, (202) 

366–4995, or e-mail at: 

Walter.Kulyk@dot.gov 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Interested 

parties are invited to send comments 

regarding any aspect of this information 

collection, including: (1) The necessity 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES