Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2016 / Notices 5815 

document provides the public notice 

that by a document dated December 17, 

2015, Union Pacific Railroad (UP) 

petitioned the Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA) seeking approval 

for the discontinuance or modification 

of a signal system. FRA assigned the 

petition Docket Number FRA–2016– 

0005. 

Applicant: Union Pacific Railroad, 

Mr. John J. Hovanec, AVP Engineering— 

Design, 1400 Douglas Street, Mail Stop 

0910, Omaha, NE 68179. 

UP seeks approval of the 

discontinuance of Hold Signal Y077 at 

Milepost (MP) 77.50 and the removal of 

the coded track in Yard Lead 202 on the 

Geneva Subdivision in the State of 

Illinois. 

The reason given for the proposed 

discontinuance is to allow and facilitate 

yard switching operations on the 

affected trackage, which are necessary to 

maintain fluid operation. 

A copy of the petition, as well as any 

written communications concerning the 

petition, is available for review online at 

www.regulations.gov and in person at 

the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 

Docket Operations Facility, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. The Docket 

Operations Facility is open from 9 a.m. 

to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in these proceedings by 

submitting written views, data, or 

comments. FRA does not anticipate 

scheduling a public hearing in 

connection with these proceedings since 

the facts do not appear to warrant a 

hearing. If any interested party desires 

an opportunity for oral comment, they 

should notify FRA, in writing, before 

the end of the comment period and 

specify the basis for their request. 

All communications concerning these 

proceedings should identify the 

appropriate docket number and may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• Web site: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Communications received by March 

21, 2016 will be considered by FRA 

before final action is taken. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered as far as practicable. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT 

solicits comments from the public to 

better inform its processes. DOT posts 

these comments, without edit, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. See also http://

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice 

for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. 

Robert C. Lauby, 

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, 

Chief Safety Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01969 Filed 2–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket Number FRA–2016–0004] 

Notice of Application for Approval of 

Discontinuance or Modification of a 

Railroad Signal System 

In accordance with part 235 of title 49 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and 

49 U.S.C. 20502(a), this document 

provides the public notice that by a 

document dated October 22, 2015, 

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) petitioned 

the Federal Railroad Administration 

(FRA) seeking approval for the 

discontinuance or modification of a 

signal system. FRA assigned the petition 

Docket Number FRA–2016–0004. 

Applicant: Union Pacific Railroad, 

Mr. John J. Hovanec, AVP Engineering— 

Design, 1400 Douglas Street, Mail Stop 

0910, Omaha, NE 68179. 

UP seeks approval to modify Control 

Point (CP) B002 on the Omaha 

Subdivision in the State of Iowa by 

dividing it into two CP’s, CP B902 and 

CP B002. The reason given for the 

proposed modification is to 

accommodate a U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT) project to widen 

Interstate 29, as well as to facilitate yard 

operations and expedite train 

movements in the area. The 

modification will involve the relocation 

of most signals and some changes in 

signal aspects currently in service. 

A copy of the petition, as well as any 

written communications concerning the 

petition, is available for review online at 

www.regulations.gov and in person at 

the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 

Docket Operations Facility, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. The Docket 

Operations Facility is open from 9 a.m. 

to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in these proceedings by 

submitting written views, data, or 

comments. FRA does not anticipate 

scheduling a public hearing in 

connection with these proceedings since 

the facts do not appear to warrant a 

hearing. If any interested party desires 

an opportunity for oral comment, they 

should notify FRA, in writing, before 

the end of the comment period and 

specify the basis for their request. 

All communications concerning these 

proceedings should identify the 

appropriate docket number and may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• Web site: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Communications received by March 

21, 2016 will be considered by FRA 

before final action is taken. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered as far as practicable. 

Anyone is able to search the 

electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT 

solicits comments from the public to 

better inform its processes. DOT posts 

these comments, without edit, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. See also http://

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

5816 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2016 / Notices 

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice 

for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. 

Robert C. Lauby, 

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, 

Chief Safety Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01968 Filed 2–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[Docket No. FTA–2016–0009] 

Notice of Request for Comments on 

Update to the Uniform System of 

Accounts (USOA) and Changes to the 

National Transit Database (NTD) 

Reporting Requirements 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice; request for comments on 

updates to the USOA and changes to the 

NTD reporting requirements. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration is updating the Uniform 

System of Accounts (USOA). The 

proposed updates are prompted by the 

outdated nature of the 1995 USOA. FTA 

is seeking public comment on these 

proposed changes before releasing the 

updated USOA and implementing the 

associated changes to 49 U.S.C. 5335, 

National Transit Database. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

April 4, 2016. Any comments filed after 

this deadline will be considered to the 

extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit your 

comments by only one of the following 

methods, identifying your submission 

by Docket Number FTA–2016–0009 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

Submit electronic comments and other 

data to http://www.regulations.gov. 

• U.S. Mail: Send comments to 

Docket Operations; U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building Room W12– 

140, Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take 

comments to Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building, 

Ground Floor, at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 

9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, at (202) 493–2251. 

Instructions: You must include the 

agency name (Federal Transit 

Administration) and Docket Number 

(FTA–2016–0009) for this notice, at the 

beginning of your comments. If sent by 

mail, submit two copies of your 

comments. Due to security procedures 

in effect since October 2001, mail 

received through the U.S. Postal Service 

may be subject to delays. Parties 

submitting comments should consider 

using an express mail firm to ensure 

their prompt filing of any submissions 

not filed electronically or by hand. If 

you wish to get confirmation that FTA 

received your comments, you must 

include a self-addressed stamped 

postcard. All comments received will be 

posted without change to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. You 

may review U.S. DOT’s complete 

Privacy Act Statement published in the 

Federal Register on April 11, 2000, at 

65 FR 19476 or http://

DocketsInfo.dot.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Margaret Schilling, National Transit 

Database Program Manager, Office of 

Budget and Policy, (202) 366–2054, or 

email: margaret.schilling@dot.gov. 

Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The National Transit Database (NTD) 

is the Federal Transit Administration’s 

(FTA) primary database for statistics on 

the transit industry. Congress 

established the NTD to ‘‘help meet the 

needs of . . . the public for information 

on which to base public transportation 

service planning . . .’’ (49 U.S.C 5335). 

Currently, 821 transit providers in 

urbanized areas report to the NTD 

through its online reporting system. 

Each year, performance data from these 

submissions are used to apportion over 

$7 billion of FTA funds for Urbanized 

Area Formula (section 5307) grants, 

Rural Area Formula (section 5311) 

grants, Tribal Transit Formula grants, 

Bus and Bus Facilities Formula (section 

5339) grants, and State of Good Repair 

(section 5337) grants. The data is made 

available on the NTD Web site at 

www.ntdprogram.gov for the benefit of 

the public, transit systems, and all 

levels of government. The data is also 

used in the annual National Transit 

Summaries and Trends report, the 

biennial Conditions and Performance 

Report to Congress, and in meeting 

FTA’s obligations under the 

Government Performance and Results 

Act. Reporting requirements are 

governed by a Uniform System of 

Accounts (USOA) and Reporting 

Manuals that are issued each year. The 

USOA is the chart of accounts and 

accounting manual that describes how 

transit agencies are to report to the NTD. 

The USOA was originally published in 

1977 when NTD reporting began. While 

the NTD has undergone numerous and 

substantial changes in the past 38 years, 

the USOA was last updated for minor 

changes in 1995. This notice proposes 

updates to the USOA to better align 

with today’s NTD and accounting 

practices and to address FTA data needs 

and common questions among NTD 

reporters. 

II. Background 

This notice proposes changes to the 

USOA that impact NTD reporting 

requirements. FTA proposes that 

changes A–J below take effect starting 

with the FY17 data reporting cycle. 

Change K below, the revised APC 

certification policy, would take effect 

when changes are proposed in the 

Federal Register. Following is a 

summary of proposed changes: 

A. Separation of ‘‘Passenger-Paid Fares’’ 

and ‘‘Organization-Paid Fares’’ 

B. Separation of ‘‘Paid Absences’’ From 

‘‘Fringe Benefits’’ 

C. Consolidation of ‘‘Casualty and 

Liability Costs’’ Under General 

Administration Function 

D. Expansion of Assets and Liabilities 

Object Classes (F–60) 

E. Addition of ‘‘Voluntary NonExchange Transactions’’ 

F. Addition of ‘‘Sales and Disposals of 

Assets’’ 

G. Simplification of State Fund 

Reporting 

H. Reorganization of B–30 Contractual 

Relationship 

Additionally, this notice proposes the 

following changes to the NTD reporting 

requirements that are not directly 

addressed in the updated USOA: 

I. Separation of Operators’ and NonOperators’ Work Hours and Counts 

J. Enhanced Auditor’s Review 

K. Revised APC Certification Policy 

Finally, FTA seeks comments on the 

decision to not require a separate nonadd item for police force expenses. 

III. Proposed Changes to the National 

Transit Database Reporting 

Requirements 

A. Separation of ‘‘Passenger-Paid Fares’’ 

and ‘‘Organization-Paid Fares’’ 

Currently, the NTD category 

‘‘Passenger Fares’’ includes both 

directly paid fares collected via 

standard methods such as a farebox or 

purchase of monthly passes and less 

direct fares—for example, where a 

university pays the transit agency to 

provide fare-free service to students. 

This combination of revenue sources 

has been confusing to some reporters. 

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