71504 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 2, 2014 / Notices 

and 5-Year Transportation Plans, and 

any future actions will progress under a 

separate environmental review process, 

in accordance with all applicable laws 

and regulations. 

(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.) 

Dated: November 25, 2014. 

Karla S. Petty, 

FHWA Arizona Division Administrator, 

Phoenix, AZ. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28366 Filed 12–1–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket No. FRA–2012–0033] 

Notice of Intent To Grant Buy America 

Waivers to National Railroad 

Passenger Corporation and California 

High-Speed Rail Authority for the NonDomestic Final Assembly of Four 

‘‘Prototype’’ Tier III High-Speed Rail 

Trainsets 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), United States 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of intent to grant Buy 

America waivers. 

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to 

advise the public that it intends to grant 

the National Railroad Passenger 

Corporation (Amtrak) and California 

High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) 

waivers from FRA’s Buy America 

requirement for the non-domestic final 

assembly of up to four (two for Amtrak; 

two for the Authority) ‘‘prototype’’ Tier 

III high-speed rail (HSR) trainsets in 

connection with the procurement of 

HSR trainsets. These waivers apply only 

to the final assembly of up to two 

prototype HSR trainsets each for Amtrak 

and the Authority. Each waiver is 

subject to the following condition: 

Before issuing a ‘‘Notice To Proceed’’ to 

any selected supplier, Amtrak and the 

Authority each must certify and provide 

support to FRA that its selected supplier 

still has not established domestic 

manufacturing facilities capable of 

assembling the prototypes and 

delivering them within a reasonable 

time. All components used in the 

prototypes must still be domestically 

manufactured or separate waivers for 

components requested and granted 

before assembly of the prototypes can 

commence. 

DATES: Written comments on FRA’s 

determination to grant Amtrak’s and the 

Authority’s Buy America waiver 

requests should be provided to the FRA 

on or before December 17, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Please submit your 

comments by one of the following 

means, identifying your submissions by 

docket number FRA–2012–0033. All 

electronic submissions must be made to 

the U.S. Government electronic site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Commenters should follow the 

instructions below for mailed and handdelivered comments. 

(1) Web site: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the U.S. Government electronic 

docket site; 

(2) Fax: (202) 493–2251; 

(3) Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M–30, 

Room W12–140, Washington, DC 

20590–0001; or 

(4) Hand Delivery: Room W12–140 on 

the first floor of the West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

make reference to the ‘‘Federal Railroad 

Administration’’ and include docket 

number FRA–2012–0033. Due to 

security procedures in effect since 

October 2001, mail received through the 

U.S. Postal Service may be subject to 

delays. Parties making submissions 

responsive to this notice should 

consider using an express mail firm to 

ensure the prompt filing of any 

submissions not filed electronically or 

by hand. Note that all submissions 

received, including any personal 

information therein, will be posted 

without change or alteration to http://

www.regulations.gov. For more 

information, you may review DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement in the 

Federal Register published on April 11, 

2000 (65 FR 19477), or visit http://

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

John Johnson, Attorney-Advisor, FRA 

Office of Chief Counsel, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., Mail Stop 25, 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493–0078, 

John.Johnson@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

FRA is issuing this notice to advise 

the public that it intends to grant 

Amtrak’s and the Authority’s requests 

for waivers from FRA’s Buy America 

requirement, 49 U.S.C. 24405(a), for the 

non-domestic final assembly of up to 

four (two for Amtrak; two for the 

Authority) ‘‘prototype’’ Tier III highspeed rail (HSR) trainsets in connection 

with the procurement of HSR trainsets. 

These ‘‘prototype’’ Tier III HSR trainsets 

will be delivered to Amtrak and the 

Authority for use in passenger (revenue) 

service. Please note that the Federal 

Transit Administration (FTA) would use 

the term ‘‘pilot’’ to describe these 

vehicles. Because some time may elapse 

between granting these waivers and 

construction of prototype HSR trainsets, 

each waiver has the following 

condition: Before issuing a ‘‘Notice To 

Proceed’’ to any selected supplier, 

Amtrak and the Authority each must 

certify and provide support to FRA that 

its selected supplier still has not 

established domestic manufacturing 

facilities capable of assembling the 

prototypes and delivering them within a 

reasonable time. In addition, all 

components used in the prototypes 

must still be domestically manufactured 

or separate waivers for components 

requested and granted before assembly 

of the prototypes can commence. 

The larger projects underlying these 

waiver requests are Amtrak’s and the 

Authority’s plans to advance HSR on 

the Northeast Corridor and in California, 

respectively. In near identical waiver 

requests Amtrak and the Authority 

asserted that the projects require the 

purchase and use of high-quality, 

service-proven FRA Tier III Next 

Generation Trainsets, including two 

prototype HSR trainsets for each project. 

FRA’s Buy America requirement for 

rolling stock, including HSR trainsets, 

requires domestic final assembly of the 

trainsets and that all of the components 

be manufactured in the United States. 

More information about FRA’s Buy 

America requirement is available at 

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0185. 

Section 24405(a)(2) also permits the 

Secretary of Transportation (delegated 

to the FRA Administrator) to waive the 

Buy America requirements if the 

Secretary finds that: (A) applying 

paragraph (1) would be inconsistent 

with the public interest; (B) the steel, 

iron, and goods manufactured in the 

United States are not produced in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

amount or are not of a satisfactory 

quality; (C) rolling stock or power train 

equipment cannot be bought or 

delivered to the United States within a 

reasonable time; or (D) including 

domestic material will increase the cost 

of the overall project by more than 25 

percent. 

FRA believes a waiver is appropriate 

under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(C) because 

domestically-produced HSR trainsets 

meeting the specific technical, design, 

and schedule needs of Amtrak and the 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 231 / Tuesday, December 2, 2014 / Notices 71505 

Authority are not currently available in 

the United States. There is no assembly 

or testing facility for HSR trainsets 

operating at speeds greater than 160 

mph in the United States. Moreover, 

FRA estimates that it could take HSR 

trainset manufacturers a minimum of 

one-and-a-half to two years to establish 

the required facilities to support a 

domestic HSR trainset assembly 

capability. This includes any HSR 

trainset manufacturers that currently 

have passenger railcar manufacturing 

facilities in the United States. For 

example, in addition to acquiring 

specialized machinery and training and 

hiring the workforce, these 

manufacturers’ plants are currently 

customized for steel railcars, and HSR 

trainsets use aluminum, which requires 

different manufacturing techniques. 

In addition, Tier III HSR is a 

significant new technology for the U.S. 

market, and safety is a significant factor. 

Allowing final assembly of the 

prototype HSR trainsets at the 

manufacturer’s existing non-domestic 

facilities is necessary to ensure that 

expected safety benefits of ‘‘serviceproven’’ systems are secured, to enable 

training of domestic workers, and to 

assure successful technology transfer. 

For example, rather than attempting to 

establish new manufacturing and 

assembly processes at a domestic 

facility while simultaneously integrating 

and testing HSR trainset designs, the 

selected manufacturer(s) can focus on 

identifying and remedying any defects 

in the designs specific to Amtrak and 

the Authority and their operations in 

the United States. FRA concludes that 

integrating manufacturing, assembly, 

and labor resources into the prototype 

production, among other suggested 

actions by Amtrak and the Authority, 

will facilitate the development of 

domestic HSR production facilities. 

This same ‘‘human technology transfer’’ 

has been successful in other global HSR 

installations in South Korea, China, 

Taiwan, and Spain. 

On March 14, 2014, FRA published 

on its Web site public notice of 

Amtrak’s and the Authority’s waiver 

requests. FRA received 13 online 

comments and one mailed response to 

this notice. None of the commenters 

identified a domestic source for HSR 

trainsets. Of the 14 comments, 10 

commenters indicated they were against 

granting the waiver; four were for 

granting the waiver. Of the 10 comments 

‘‘against,’’ four were not responsive to 

the notice. Of the six remaining 

dissenters, they mainly disagreed with 

Amtrak’s and the Authority’s argument 

that HSR trainsets cannot be delivered 

in a reasonable time because Amtrak 

and the Authority could wait for 

domestic assembly. While this is 

theoretically possible, significant 

capacity and technology transfer 

problems are probable, and FRA 

believes that the one-and-a-half to twoyear minimum delay could negatively 

impact the schedules proposed by 

Amtrak and the Authority. In addition, 

as noted above, FRA believes that 

allowing the prototypes to be assembled 

at the manufacturers’ non-domestic 

factories will facilitate the successful 

technology transfer and training of U.S. 

workers. Finally, because FRA is 

limiting the waivers to final assembly of 

up to four prototypes with the 

expectation that the training of domestic 

resources will occur simultaneously, 

FRA is not delaying or preventing the 

establishment of the selected supplier’s 

domestic assembly facilities. FRA finds 

that this delay to provide ‘‘serviceproven’’ systems makes the prototypes 

not available within a ‘‘reasonable 

time.’’ Therefore, waivers are 

appropriate. 

FRA will publish the letters granting 

Amtrak’s and the Authority’s waiver 

requests on its Web site at: http://

www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L16035 

and http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/

Details/L16036, respectively. 

Issued in Washington, DC on November 26, 

2014. 

Melissa L. Porter, 

Chief Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28365 Filed 12–1–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

November 26, 2014. 

The Department of the Treasury will 

submit the following information 

collection request to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, Public Law 104–13, on or after the 

date of publication of this notice. 

DATES: Comments should be received on 

or before January 2, 2015 to be assured 

of consideration. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding 

the burden estimate, or any other aspect 

of the information collection, including 

suggestion for reducing the burden, to 

(1) Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for 

Treasury, New Executive Office 

Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 

20503, or email at OIRA_Submission@

OMB.EOP.GOV and (2) Treasury PRA 

Clearance Officer, 1750 Pennsylvania 

Ave. NW., Suite 8140, Washington, DC 

20220, or email at PRA@treasury.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Copies of the submission(s) may be 

obtained by calling (202) 927–5331, 

email at PRA@treasury.gov, or the entire 

information collection request maybe 

found at www.reginfo.gov. 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

OMB Number: 1545–0003. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Title: Forms SS–4—Application for 

Employer Identification Number; SS– 

4PR, Solicitud de Numero de 

Identificacion Patronal (EIN) 

Form: SS–4, SS4–PR 

Abstract: Taxpayers required to have 

an identification number for use on any 

return, statement, or other document 

must prepare and file Form SS–4 or 

Form SS–4–PR (Puerto Rico only) to 

obtain a number. The information is 

used by the IRS and the SSA in tax 

administration and by the Bureau of the 

Census for business statistics. The 

estimated burden has been reduced by 

15,038,797 hours in order to correct an 

error in the previous calculation. 

Affected Public: Private sector: 

Businesses or other For-Profit 

Institutions. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 

903,116. 

OMB Number: 1545–1244. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Title: T.D. 9013 Limitation on Passive 

Activity Losses and Credits- Treatment 

on Self-Charged Items of Income and 

Expense. 

Abstract: These regulations provide 

guidance on the treatment of selfcharged items of income and expense 

under section 469. The regulations recharacterize a percentage of certain 

portfolio income and expense as passive 

income and expense (self-charged items) 

when a taxpayer engages in a lending 

transaction with a partnership or an S 

corporation (passthrough entity) in 

which the taxpayer owns a direct or 

indirect interest and the loan proceeds 

are used in a passive activity. Similar 

rules apply to lending transactions 

between two identically owned 

passthrough entities. These final 

regulations affect taxpayers subject to 

the limitations on passive activity losses 

and credits. There is a reduction in 50 

hours to the annual estimate to correct 

an error in the previous calculation. 

Affected Public: Private sector: 

Business or other for-profits. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 100. 


rljohnson on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES