Document ID: FRA-2010-0147-0001
Agency: fra
Document Type: Rule
Title: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions; Availability: Buy America and FRA High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program
Posted Date: 2010-09-27T04:00Z

[Federal Register: September 27, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 186)]
[Notices]               
[Page 59322-59323]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27se10-152]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

 
Notice of Availability of Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 
Regarding Buy America & FRA's High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail 
Program

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), United States Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: FRA announces the availability of Answers to Frequently Asked 
Questions regarding Buy America and FRA's High Speed Intercity

[[Page 59323]]

Passenger Rail Program. The Answers to Frequently Asked Questions can 
be found on FRA's Web site at http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/11.shtml.

DATES: Written comments on FRA's Buy America Answers to Frequently 
Asked Questions may be provided to the FRA on or before October 18, 
2010.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means, 
identifying your submissions by docket number FRA-2010-0147. 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 hand-delivered 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-2010-0147. 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: For questions about this notice, 
please contact Ms. Linda Martin, Attorney-Advisor, FRA Office of Chief 
Counsel, (202) 493-6062 or via e-mail at Linda.Martin@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Passenger Rail Investment and 
Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) (Division B of Pub. L. 111-432) 
authorized the appropriation of funds to establish several new 
passenger rail grant programs, including capital investment grants to 
support intercity passenger rail service (Sec.  301), high-speed 
corridor development (Sec.  501), and congestion grants (Sec.  302). 
FRA consolidated these and other closely related programs into the 
High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) program, as detailed in 
FRA's High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) Interim Guidance (74 
FR 29900 (June 23, 2009)) and as further detailed in a second set of 
HSIPR interim program guidance governing the distribution of fiscal 
year 2010 funding (75 FR 38344 and 38365 (July 1, 2010). Spending 
authorized under PRIIA is subject to the Buy America provision of 49 
U.S.C. 24405(a).
    In 2009, President Obama, together with Vice President Biden and 
Secretary of Transportation LaHood, articulated a new ``Vision for 
High-Speed Rail in America'' (available on FRA's Web site). The HSIPR 
program is a component of that vision, as is the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which appropriated funds for PRIIA-
authorized grant programs. The vision includes a goal to bolster 
American passenger rail expertise and resources. The Buy America 
requirements reinforce this goal, and aid in encouraging a domestic 
market in the rail sector. PRIAA authorized FRA to operate the grant 
programs under guidance, prior to the issuance of final regulations. 
FRA is beginning the process of implementing regulations to govern the 
application of the Buy America statute to all PRIIA-authorized spending 
as part of the HSIPR program. As required, the proposed regulation will 
be published in the Federal Register for public comment under RIN 2130-
AC23 and docket number FRA-2010-0147. In the interim, to aid grantees 
who must immediately apply Section 24405(a) to funds granted them by 
FRA, FRA is providing Answers to Frequently Asked Questions describing 
its procedures for applying the Buy America provision in the HSIPR 
program on its Web site at http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/11.shtml.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 22, 2010.
Mark E. Yachmetz,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Policy and Development, Federal 
Railroad Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-24126 Filed 9-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P