21432 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 83 / Monday, April 30, 2001 / Notices

petitions seeking relief from specified

requirements of 14 CFR. The purpose of

this notice is to improve the public’s

awareness of, and participation in, this

aspect of FAA’s regulatory activities.

Neither publication of this notice nor

the inclusion or omission of information

in the summary is intended to affect the

legal status of any petition or its final

disposition.

DATES: Comments on petitions received

must identify the petition docket

number involved and must be received

on or before May 21, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send comments on any

petition to the Docket Management

System, U.S. Department of

Transportation, Room Plaza 401, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20590–0001. You must identify the

docket number FAA–2000–XXXX at the

beginning of your comments. If you

wish to receive confirmation that FAA

received your comments, include a selfaddressed, stamped postcard.

You may also submit comments

through the Internet to http://

dms.dot.gov. You may review the public

docket containing the petition, any

comments received, and any final

disposition in person in the Dockets

Office between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays. The Dockets Office (telephone

1–800–647–5527) is on the plaza level

of the NASSIF Building at the

Department of Transportation at the

above address. Also, you may review

public dockets on the Internet at http:/

/dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Forest Rawls (202) 267–8033, Sandy

Buchanan-Sumter (202) 267–7271, or

Vanessa Wilkins (202) 267–8029, Office

of Rulemaking (ARM–1), Federal

Aviation Administration, 800

Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20591.

This notice is published pursuant to

14 CFR 11.85 and 11.91.

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 24,

2001.

Donald P. Byrne,

Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulations.

Petitions for Exemption

Docket No.: FAA–2001–9101.

Petitioner: Associated Air Center.

Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR

25.813(e).

Description of Relief Sought: To

provide AAC with relief from the

requirements of 14 CFR 25.813(e)

pertaining to the installation of interior

doors between passenger compartments

on a Boeing Model 737–2H4 airplane.

Docket No.: FAA–2001–9283.

Petitioner: Atlantic Coast Airlines.

Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR

121.434, 121.440, and 121.441.

Description of Relief Sought: To allow

ACA to employ and use pilots currently

employed by ACA’s sister air carrier,

Atlantic Coast Jet, Inc. (ACJet) without

requiring these pilots to repeat the

328Jet checking and experience

requirements, which they already have

accomplished at ACJet.

[FR Doc. 01–10569 Filed 4–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

Environmental Impact Statement on

Transit Improvements in Miami, Florida

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration,

DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit

Administration (FTA), the Florida

Department of Transportation (FDOT),

and Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) in

issuing this notice to advise that an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

is being prepared on the proposed

Airport/Earlington Heights Connector

Project in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

The EIS will be prepared in accordance

with the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended.

The EIS will evaluate the following

alternatives: a no build alternative; a

transportation systems management

alternative; three Metrorail extension

alternatives from Earlington Heights to

the Airport, and a People Mover

extension alternative. Scoping will be

accomplished through meetings and

correspondence with interested persons,

organizations, the general public,

Federal, State and local agencies.

DATES: Comment Due Date: Written

comments on the scope of the

alternatives and impacts to be

considered should be sent to Aurelio

Rodriguez, Project Manager by May 30,

2001. See ADDRESSES below.

Scoping Meetings: Miami-Dade

Transit public scoping meetings will be

held on Tuesday May 15, 2001 at 12

p.m. and at 7 p.m. at the Miami-Dade

Transit office located at 3300 NW 32nd

Avenue, First Floor Conference Room,

Miami, Florida.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the

project scope should be sent to Mr.

Aurelio Rodriguez, Director, MiamiDade Transit, 111 NW First Street, Suite

910, Miami, Florida 33128–1970. See

DATES section above for the location of

scoping meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Elizabeth Martin, Community Planner,

Federal Transit Administration, (404)

562–3509.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Scoping

The MDT and FTA invite interested

individuals, organizations, and federal,

state, and local agencies to participate in

refining the Airport/Earlington Heights

Connector DEIS, including alignment

and project locations. Comments should

focus on identifying any significant

social, economic, or environmental

issues related to the alignments.

Specific suggestions related to

additional alternatives to be examined

and issues to be addressed are welcome

and will be considered in the final

scope for the project. Scoping comments

should focus on the issues and

alternative for analysis, and not on

preference for particular alternatives.

Individual preference for particular

alternatives should be communicated

during the comment period for Draft

EIS. Comments may be made at the

meeting or in writing no later than May

30, 2001 (see DATES and ADDRESSES

above for meeting times and locations

and the address for written comments).

A scoping information packet is

available from Mr. Aurelio Rodriguez of

MDT at the address given above in the

ADDRESS section or on the MDT internet

webpage at http://www.co.miamidade.fl.us/mdta.

II. Description of Study Area and

Project Need

The project area is located in central

Miami-Dade County. The limits for the

project area extend from NW 42nd

Avenue (LeJeune Road) eastward to NW

22nd Avenue and from NW 46th Street

southwards to NW 20th Street. The

study area is traversed diagonally by the

Miami River, in a northwest to southeast

direction.

The project proposes a 2.5-mile

elevated heavy rail connection from the

existing Earlington Heights Metrorail

station to the MIC–MIA connector in the

proposed MIC transfer station. The

project involves planning and

environmental investigations, travel

demand forecasting, traffic impact

analysis, operations and maintenance

planning, and financial assessments for

the alignment alternatives.

Steady growth in South Florida in

recent years has led to increasingly

congested streets and highways in

Miami-Dade County. Heavy congestion

is especially significant during travel

destined to MIA and the large

employment centers surrounding the

airport. Vehicles traveling from south

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 83 / Monday, April 30, 2001 / Notices 21433

and west Miami-Dade County heading

to downtown Miami must travel the

same route as vehicles bound for the

airport. This traffic congestion will

steadily worsen as the streets and

highways of Miami-Dade County

surpass their carrying capacity. Based

on this traffic condition, there is a need

to provide an alternative transportation

mode between downtown Miami and

the airport that offers convenient, rapid

and safe travel in place of the

automobile.

This project was developed as a

means to ease severe congestion on area

expressways resulting from increasing

passenger travel to and from MIA. The

specific goal of the Airport/Earlington

Heights Connector project is to provide

a public transit connection between the

existing Earlington Heights Metrorail

station and MIA. The alignments under

consideration would connect to the

airport via the intermodal transfer

center being proposed under the Miami

Intermodal Center (MIC) project.

This new connection to the Metrorail

system will provide a critical link in

passenger travel throughout MiamiDade County. Passengers traveling to

and from MIA will be able to avoid

highway congestion through use of the

new Airport Connector. By connecting

to the Earlington Heights Metrorail

Station, passengers will then be able to

travel to northern and southern portions

of Miami-Dade County. This critical link

will also allow passengers to travel

directly between MIA and downtown

Miami by rail.

The MIA area is one of the largest

employment centers in Miami-Dade

County. The Earlington Heights

connector to the MIC will provide

critical access to employment

opportunities for transit dependent

populations in adjacent residential areas

and the cities of Hialeah, Brownsville

and Liberty City.

III. Alternatives

The transporation alternatives

proposed for consideration in this

project area include:

No-Project Alternative—The NoProject Alternative includes the existing

street, highway, and transit facilities

and services and those transit and

highway improvements planned and

programmed to be implemented by

2020. This alternative provides the

baseline for establishing the

environmental impacts of the project,

and assumes the following projects will

be completed:

• Extension of the Stage 1 Metrorail

Line to a new station just west of the

Palmetto Expressway, a new park-andride facility at that location, and access

ramps to and from the north on the

Palmetto expressway.

• Increase in Tri-Rail frequencies to

20-minute headways during peak

periods between MIA and Mangonia

Park Station in West Palm Beach.

Transportation System Management

Alternative—The Transportation

Systems Management (TSM) Alternative

is defined as low cost, operationally

oriented improvements to address the

identified transportation problems in

the corridor. It also provides a baseline

against which all of the Build

alternatives are evaluated.

• Additional Metrorail service from

Dadeland South to the Palmetto Station.

The additional service would decrease

headways on that segment of the line

from 7.5 minutes to 3.75 minutes in

peak periods and from 20 minutes to 7.5

minutes in off-peak periods.

• Increased Tri-Rail Service between

the MIC and the Tri-Rail/Metrorail

Transfer station at NW 79th Street. The

train would operate every 15 minutes

during peak periods and every 20

minutes during off-peak periods.

• The operation of a bus service

between the MIC and the Earlington

Heights Metrorail station.

The TSM alternative also includes all

improvements identified under the NoProject alternative.

Three Metrorail extension

Alternatives—The Metrorail Extension

option consists of extending the Stage 1

Metrorail line from the Earlington

Heights Station to the Airport. The

existing Stage 1 line heads westward

from the Earlington Heights Station to

NW 27th Avenue at which point it turns

northwards and continues along NW

27th Avenue to the Brownsville Station.

Three potential alignments have been

proposed to connect the Earlington

Heights Station to MIA via the MIC hub:

NW 27th Avenue Alignment—The

branch would start from the existing

Stage 1 line at Earlington Heights and

begin a gradual turn to the south at

approximately NW 25th Avenue. The

line crosses over SR 112 at NW 26th

Avenue and follow a southward path in

the median of NW 27th Avenue. The

line begins a westerly turn at NW 26th

Street and runs westward along NW

24th Street. The line crosses the Miami

River in the 3100 block of North River

Drive, continues westward north of NW

21st Street, and terminates at the MIC.

NW 32nd Avenue Alignment—This

branch would commence at the existing

Metrorail line at Earlington Heights,

continue westward across NW 27th

Avenue, and cross SR 112 at

approximately NW 31st Avenue. The

line continues southward along NW

32nd Avenue and turn in a

southwesterly direction at

approximately NW 28th Street. The line

crosses the Miami River in the 3200

block of NW North River Drive, heads

westwards along NW 22nd Street, and

terminates at the MIC.

South Florida Rail Corridor (SFRC)

Alignment—The extension of this

branch heads westwards from

Earlington Heights over NW 27th

Avenue, and crosses SR 112 between

NW 27th and NW 28th Avenues. The

line parallels SR 112 and the proposed

SR 112/SR 836 Interconnector to the

south and begins its southward path just

west of NW 37th Avenue. The line

would cross the Miami River just

downstream of the existing SFRC Bridge

continuing its southward path and

terminating at the MIC.

One People Mover Extension Alternative

The People Mover Extension

alternative involves the extension of the

MIC/MIA Interconnecter Automatic

People Mover (APM) system. The

alignment would proceed northbound

from the MIC, following the alignment

that was previously described for the

SFRC Metrorail Extension alternative.

However, this alternative features the

option to terminate at either the

Earlington Heights or the Brownsville

Metrorail Stations. In the Brownsville

Station alternative, the line would turn

northwards just west of NW 27th

Avenue and follow the existing line to

the station.

IV. Probable Effects

The FTA, FDOT, and MDT will

evaluate all significant environmental,

social, and economic impacts of the

alternatives analyzed in the EIS.

Primary Structural environmental issues

include: environmental justice,

neighborhood protection, aesthetics, the

bridge crossing over the Miami River,

flight path clear zones and glide slopes,

recreational greenways, alternative

modes of transportation, hydrology and

storm water management,

archaeological and historic resources,

ecological issues. Environmental and

social impacts proposed for analysis

include land use, zoning, and economic

development; secondary development;

land acquisition, displacements, and

relocation of existing uses; historic;

visual and aesthetic qualities;

neighborhoods and communities;

environmental justice; air quality; noise

and vibration; hazardous materials;

ecosystems; water resources; energy;

safety and security; utilities; traffic and

transportation impacts. Impacts on

natural areas, rare and endangered

species, ground water and potentially

contaminated sites, wetlands, and

21434 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 83 / Monday, April 30, 2001 / Notices

floodplain areas. Potential impacts will

be assessed for the long-term operation

of each alternative and the short-term

construction period. Measures to avoid,

minimize, or mitigate any significant

adverse impacts will be identified.

V. FTA Procedures

The EIS process will be performed in

accordance with applicable laws and

Federal Transit Administration

regulations and guidelines for preparing

an Environmental Impact Statement.

The impacts of the project will be

assessed, and, if necessary, the scope of

the project will be revised or refined to

minimize and mitigate any adverse

impacts. After its publication, the draft

EIS will be available for public review

and comment. One or more public

hearings will be held during the draft

EIS public comment period. On the

basis of the draft EIS and comments

received, the project will be revised or

further refined as necessary and the

final EIS prepared.

Issued On: April 24, 2001.

Jerry Franklin,

Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 01–10670 Filed 4–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

Innovative Grants To Support

Increased Seat Belt Use Rates

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Announcement of grants to

support innovative and effective

projects designed to increase seat belt

use rates.

SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA)

announces the third year of a grant

program under Section 1403 of the

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st

Century (TEA–21) to provide funding to

States for innovative projects to increase

seat belt use rates. Consistent with last

year, the goal of this program is to

increase seat belt use rates across the

nation in order to reduce the deaths,

injuries, and societal costs that result

from motor vehicle crashes. This notice

solicits applications from the States, the

District of Columbia and Puerto Rico,

through their Governors’

Representatives for Highway Safety, for

funds to be made available in FY 2002.

Detailed application instructions are

provided in the Application Contents

and Grant Criteria section of this Notice.

The Section 157 Innovative grants will

be awarded to States that comply with

the criteria set out in the Application

Contents and Grant Criteria Section of

this Notice.

DATES: Applications must be received

by the office designated below on or

before June 29, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be

submitted to the National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration, Office of

Traffic Injury Control Programs,

Occupant Protection Division, (NTS–

12), ATTN: Janice Hartwill-Miller, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Room 5118,

Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions relating to this grant program

should be directed to Janice HartwillMiller, Office of Traffic Injury Control

Programs, Occupant Protection Division

(NTS–12), NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Room 5118, Washington, DC

20590, by e-mail at jhartwillmiller@nhtsa.dot.gov, or by phone at

(202) 366–2684. For legal issues contact

Mr. John Donaldson, Office of Chief

Counsel, NCC–30, NHTSA, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Room 5118, Washington,

DC 20590, by phone at (202) 366–1834.

Interested applicants are advised that no

separate application package exists

beyond the contents of this

announcement.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Transportation Equity Act for the

21st Century (TEA–21), Pub.L. 105–178,

was signed into law on June 9, 1998.

Section 1403 of TEA–21 contained a

safety incentive grant program regarding

seat belt usage rates in the States. Under

this program, funds are allocated each

fiscal year from 1999 until 2003 to

States that exceed the national average

seat belt use rate or that improve their

State seat belt use rate, based on certain

required determinations and findings.

Section 1403 provided that, beginning

in fiscal year 2000, any funds remaining

unallocated in a fiscal year after the

determinations and findings related to

seat belt use rates have been made are

to be used to ‘‘make allocations to States

to carry out innovative projects to

promote increased seat belt use rates.’’

Today’s notice solicits applications for

funds that will become available in

fiscal year 2002 under this provision.

TEA–21 imposes several requirements

under the innovative projects funding

provision. Specifically, to be eligible to

receive an allocation, a State must

develop a plan for innovative projects to

promote increased seat belt use rates

statewide and submit the plan to the

Secretary of Transportation (by

delegation, to NHTSA). NHTSA was

directed to establish criteria governing

the selection of State plans that are to

receive allocations and was further

directed to ‘‘ensure, to the maximum

extent practicable, demographic and

geographic diversity and a diversity of

seat belt use rates among the States

selected for allocations.’’ Finally,

subject to the availability of funds,

TEA–21 provides that the amount of

each grant under a State plan is to be

not less than $100,000.

In the following sections, the agency

describes the application and award

procedures for receipt of funds under

this provision, including requirements

related to the contents of a State’s plan

for innovative projects and the criteria

the agency will use to determine

whether a State will receive an award.

To assist the States in formulating plans

that meet these criteria, we have

provided an extensive discussion of

strategies for increasing seat belt use

and of the ways in which States might

meet the criteria for an award.

Objective of This Grant Program

The objective of this grant program is

to increase State seat belt use rates, for

both adults and children, by supporting

the implementation of innovative

projects that build upon strategies

known to be effective in increasing seat

belt use rates. Because one of the best

ways to ensure that children develop a

habit of buckling up is for parents to

properly restrain them in child safety

seats, efforts to increase the use of child

safety seats, in addition to seat belts,

may be included among the innovative

efforts in a State’s plan. However, efforts

to increase seat belt use rates must

remain the focus of the State’s plan. (For

a discussion of Strategies that have

proven effective in increasing seat belt

use, see Appendix A.)

As in previous years, to be considered

for an award of funds under this

program in FY 2002, the State’s

innovative project plan must be based

on a core component of highly visible

enforcement of its seat belt use law or

on a non-enforcement approach that has

the potential of increasing the seat belt

use rate statewide. The project plan also

must have a media program designed to

make the public aware of this

enforcement effort and it must include

a comprehensive plan to evaluate the

program in terms of changes in both

public awareness and observed seat belt

use. In addition, the State’s efforts must

be statewide. If a State is already

pursuing a significant and visible

enforcement effort, the innovative

aspects of the plan must detail

components that support, expand,