Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 213 / Friday, November 4, 2005 / Notices 67211 

one hand, and Saltillo, Guadalajara, and 

Monterrey, Mexico, on the other. 

Renee V. Wright, 

Program Manager, Docket Operations, 

Federal Register Liaison. 

[FR Doc. 05–22022 Filed 11–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–62–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Supplemental Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement: Loudon, Anderson, 

and Knox Counties, TN 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) is issuing this 

notice to advise the public of its intent 

to prepare a Supplemental Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement in 

cooperation with the Tennessee 

Department of Transportation (TDOT) 

for Route 475 (Knoxville Parkway) in 

Loudon, Knox, and Anderson Counties, 

Tennessee. This project is intended to 

improve regional and national 

transportation needs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Walter Boyd, P.E., Field Operations 

Team Leader, Federal Highway 

Administration—Tennessee Division 

Office, 640 Grassmere Park Road, Suite 

112, Nashville, TN 37211. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. 

Department of Transportation Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA), in 

cooperation with the Tennessee 

Department of Transportation (TDOT), 

intends to prepare a Supplemental Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(SDEIS) for the Route 475 (Knoxville 

Parkway). 

A Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) FHWA–EIS–(TN–EIS–

01–02–D) for the project was approved 

and released for public review in 

December 2001. The original DEIS 

contained analysis of three alternative 

alignments, called the Blue, Orange, and 

Green Alternatives. Based on the 

findings of the DEIS and comments 

provided by the public, TDOT identified 

the Orange Alternative as the preferred 

alignment to carry forward in the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement. The 

proposed project corridor begins at 

Interstate 75 (I–75) approximately 5.8 

miles southwest of the I–40/I–75 merge 

southwest of Knoxville near Lenoir City. 

From this location, the corridor extends 

in a northeasterly direction to I–75 

approximately 3.0 miles northwest of 

the I–75/SR–61 interchange, north of 

Knoxville near the City of Norris. 

Since the DEIS was approved, the 

alternatives development and screening 

process for the Route 475 project has 

continued through the Context Sensitive 

Solutions (CSS) process (http:// 

www.knoxvilleparkway.com). The CSS 

process identified two new alternatives 

that follow the general alignment of the 

original Orange alternative, but have 

been shifted at various locations based 

primarily on input from the CSS team. 

Furthermore, the number and type of 

access points along the corridor have 

been modified on these two alternatives. 

The purpose of the SDEIS is to develop 

and study these two new alternatives. 

Letters describing the proposed NEPA 

study and soliciting input will be sent 

to the appropriate Federal, State, and 

local agencies that have expressed or are 

known to have an interest or legal role 

in this proposal. Private organizations, 

citizens, and interest groups will have 

an opportunity to provide input into the 

development of the SDEIS and identify 

issues that should be addressed. Notices 

of public meetings or public hearings 

will be given through various forums 

providing the time and place of the 

meeting along with other relevant 

information. The SDEIS will be 

available for public and agency review 

and comment prior to the public 

hearings. 

To ensure that the full range of issues 

related to this proposed action are 

identified and taken into account, 

comments and suggestions are invited 

from all interested parties. Comments 

and questions concerning the proposed 

action and SDEIS should be directed to 

FHWA at the address provided above. 

Issued on: October 31, 2005. 

Walter Boyd, 

Field Operations Team Leader, Nashville, 

Tennessee. 

[FR Doc. 05–22008 Filed 11–3–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Federal Transit Administration 

Cooperative Procurement Pilot 

Program 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, 

DOT. 

ACTION: Notice; request for proposals. 

SUMMARY: This notice solicits proposals 

for consideration for the Cooperative 

Procurement Pilot Program (CPPP). 

Section 166 of the Transportation, 

Treasury, and Independent Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2004 directs the 

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to 

establish a pilot program to determine 

the benefits of encouraging cooperative 

procurement of major capital 

equipment. As specified in the 

Appropriations Act, three pilot projects 

were selected in November 2004. 

Section 167 of the Transportation 

Treasury, and Independent Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2005 directs the 

FTA to continue the CPPP and to 

expand the program to five pilot 

projects. Under the CPPP, competitively 

selected grantees, consortiums of 

grantees, or members of the private 

sector acting as agents of grantees will 

develop cooperative specifications and 

conduct joint procurements. For this 

program, Congress has raised the 

Federal share to be provided from 80 

percent to 90 percent. 

DATES: Proposals (2 copies) and/or 

comments will be evaluated in the order 

they are received and the proposing 

party will receive notification of 

acceptance or denial no later than 90 

days after FTA receives the proposal. 

ADDRESSES: Proposals and/or comments 

should be submitted to Bruce Robinson, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Suite 9401, 

Washington, DC 20490 or 

bruce.robinson@fta.dot.gov and shall 

reference CPPP. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bruce Robinson, Office of Research, 

Demonstration, and Innovation, Federal 

Transit Administration, (202) 366–4209, 

or e-mail: bruce.robinson@fta.dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Federal Transit Administration 

provides grants to State and local 

government agencies to support public 

transportation in communities across 

America. A major portion of these funds 

is used to purchase major capital 

equipment (e.g., buses, vans, railcars) 

used in providing public transit service. 

FTA’s annual budget exceeds $7 billion, 

or which more than $3 billion is 

distributed by formula to more than 

1,000 grantees nationwide. On average, 

FTA funds more than half of the bus 

purchases in any given year in the 

United States. The bus industry and 

FTA have promoted standard contract 

terms and conditions to try to reduce 

the number of individualized bus 

orders. Voluntary standard technical 

specifications and warranties have been 

developed and promoted by FTA and 

the American Public Transportation 

Association. To date, none of these 

efforts has reduced the use of 

individualized designs and 

specifications. This phenomenon also