Document ID: DOT-OST-2023-0020-0001
Agency: dot
Document Type: Notice
Title: Request for Information: Equitable Transportation Community Explorer Tool and Index Methodology
Posted Date: 2023-02-21T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10642-10644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03396]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2023-0020]

Request for Information on US DOT Equitable Transportation 
Community Explorer (ETCE) Tool and Index Methodology

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation 
(DOT).

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation is issuing this request for 
information (RFI) to solicit feedback on DOT's updated Transportation 
Disadvantaged Census Tracts Tool (now named US DOT Equitable 
Transportation Community Explorer) and Index methodology that supports 
the Administration's Justice40 initiative.

DATES: Issued February 17, 2023; responses to this RFI should be 
received by March 18, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket number above and 
submitted by one of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see 
the Public Participation heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this document. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.
    Privacy Act: Except as provided below, all comments received into 
the docket will be made public in their entirety. The comments will be 
searchable by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You should not include information in 
your comment that you do not want to be made public. For information on 
DOT's compliance with the Privacy Act, please visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, please email 
[email protected] or contact Kristin Wood at 774-293-2726. Office hours 
are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday, except for 
Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Executive Order (E.O.) 14008, ``Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home 
and Abroad'', and the subsequent ``Interim Implementation Guidance for 
the Justice40 Initiative'' (M-21-28) charged each federal agency with 
creating an interim ``disadvantaged communities'' methodology to help 
each agency achieve the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of 
investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Recently, the Office of 
Management and Budget and Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued 
M-23-09, an addendum to the ``Interim Implementation Guidance for the 
Justice40 Initiative,'' (M-21-28) providing guidance on the use of the 
Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST).
    In support of the Justice40 Initiative, the Department of 
Transportation (Department) developed the interim Transportation 
Disadvantaged Census Tracts (Historically Disadvantaged Communities) 
tool. The Department is proposing to update and rebrand its current 
tool as the U.S. DOT Equitable Transportation Community Explorer 
(ETCE). The tool will serve an interactive web application that 
explores the cumulative burden disadvantage communities experience 
resulting from underinvestment in transportation in the following five 
component areas: Transportation Insecurity, Climate and Disaster Risk 
Burden, Environmental Burden, Health Vulnerability, and Social 
Vulnerability. ETCE uses newly available 2020 Census Tracts and data, 
adds additional indicators reflective of disadvantage related to lack 
of transportation investment and updates the methodology used to 
calculate disadvantage. In ETCE, individual variables and datasets are 
combined to create a score for each component (Transportation 
Insecurity, Climate and Disaster Risk Burden, Environmental Burden, 
Health Vulnerability, and Social Vulnerability). The scores from each 
component are percentile ranked and combined to create an overall index 
score. Under this methodology, a census tract will be considered 
disadvantaged if the overall index score places it in the 65th 
percentile (or higher) of all US census tracts. The 65th percentile 
cutoff was chosen to be consistent with other tools that measure 
disadvantage including CEJST.
    Applicants to DOT's discretionary programs have the option of using 
CEJST and/or ETCE when developing funding applications. State DOT's and 
Metropolitan Planning Organizations can use ETCE in developing their 
Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs (STIPs)/Transportation 
Improvement Programs (TIPs). DOT, as appropriate, will use ETCE as a 
consideration in making funding decisions and setting policy. The US 
DOT Equitable Transportation Community Explorer mapping tool, index 
methodology, and datasets are available at https://cms.dot.gov/priorities/updated-justice40-tool-and-index-rfi.

II. Key Questions for Input

    Through this request for information, DOT seeks input, information, 
and recommendations on the US DOT Equitable Transportation Community 
Explorer from a broad array of stakeholders in the public sector, 
including state, Tribal, and local governments, and territorial areas, 
and in the private sector, including

[[Page 10643]]

advocacy, not-for-profit, academic, and philanthropic organizations, as 
well as from any other interested parties. DOT will use responses to 
this RFI to consider potential updates to the US DOT Equitable 
Transportation Community Explorer. After DOT has updated the tool with 
any modifications that are deemed necessary, the tool will supersede 
the current Transportation Disadvantaged Census Tracts (Historically 
Disadvantaged Communities) tool. Respondents to this RFI do not need to 
address every question, but DOT welcomes input in the following areas:
    1. Methodology: Please refer to DOT's Justice40 website for more 
information regarding the tool's methodology (``ETCE Technical 
Documentation'' available at https://cms.dot.gov/priorities/updated-justice40-tool-and-index-rfi.). Please provide comments and specific 
recommendations for improving the methodology used to identify 
disadvantaged communities that support the Justice40 Initiative.
    2. Datasets: Data in this version of the tool provides measures in 
the areas of Transportation Insecurity, Climate and Hazard Risk, 
Environmental Burden, Health Vulnerability, and Social Vulnerability 
(available at https://cms.dot.gov/priorities/updated-justice40-tool-and-index-rfi).
    i. What recommendations for additional datasets would enhance and 
improve upon the set of indicators currently used?
    ii. Are there amenities DOT should be considering travel time and 
access to other than jobs?
    In your comments, please include why and how the data 
recommendations would improve upon the current set of data and/or 
indicators used in the tool.
    A. In your response, please include the following:
    i. Full information regarding data sources (including URL, 
government agency, and/or organization);
    ii. Intended measure--what does the dataset and/or indicator 
measure (for example, pollution exposure or emissions, health 
conditions, transportation access, etc.)?
    B. Scope--does the recommended data and/or indicator include data 
from all 50 states and territories? If not, please provide comments as 
to how to address the issue.
    C. A summary of the quality (i.e., completeness, accuracy, 
consistency, and reliability) of the data for use in the tool; and
    D. Geographic resolution of the data (i.e., census block, census 
tract, zip code, county, etc.).
    E. Is this data set publicly available?
    3. Map Usability and Accessibility: The US DOT Equitable 
Transportation Community Explorer map (available at https://cms.dot.gov/priorities/updated-justice40-tool-and-index-rfi) provides 
an online geospatial platform that gives the user the capability to 
identify the communities identified as disadvantaged. DOT is soliciting 
information regarding usability and accessibility of the geospatial 
platform as follows:
    i. What modifications can improve the usability, accessibility, or 
design of the mapping functions that display the data and results?
    ii. Are there specific features or functions that will enhance the 
usability of the interactive map by community members and 
organizations, government staff, and other stakeholders?
    iii. How do stakeholders search for a project--ex. zip code, 
address, community name, census tract number etc?
    iv. Does the tool's name reflect its purpose?
    4. Additional Feedback: DOT seeks any additional feedback on the 
updated Disadvantaged Communities Tool.
    Please note: This version of the Equitable Transportation Community 
Explorer map has been developed for illustrative purposes to 
demonstrate the proposed index methodology. It is subject to change 
following the public comment period.

III. Public Participation

How do I prepare and submit comments?

    To ensure that your comments are filed correctly, please include 
the docket number provided in (DOT-OST-2023-0020) in your comments. 
Please submit one copy (two copies if submitting by mail or hand 
delivery) of your comments, including any attachments, to the docket 
following the instructions given above under ADDRESSES. Please note, if 
you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we 
ask that the documents submitted be scanned using an Optical Character 
Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the Agency to search and copy 
certain portions of your submissions.

How do I submit confidential business information?

    Any submissions containing Confidential Information must be 
delivered to DOT in the following manner:
     Submitted in a sealed envelope marked ``confidential 
treatment requested'';
     Document(s) or information that the submitter would like 
withheld from the public docket should be marked ``PROPIN'' for 
``proprietary information'';
     Accompanied by an index listing the document(s) or 
information that the submitter would like the Departments to withhold. 
The index should include information such as numbers used to identify 
the relevant document(s) or information, document title and 
description, and relevant page numbers and/or section numbers within a 
document; and
     Submitted with a statement explaining the submitter's 
grounds for objecting to disclosing the information to the public.
    DOT will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the 
FOIA and not include them in the public docket. DOT also requests that 
submitters of Confidential Information include a non-confidential 
version (either redacted or summarized) of those confidential 
submissions in the public docket. If the submitter cannot provide a 
non-confidential version of its submission, DOT requests that the 
submitter post a notice in the docket stating that it has provided DOT 
with Confidential Information. Should a submitter fail to docket either 
a nonconfidential version of its submission or to post a notice that 
Confidential Information has been provided, we will note the receipt of 
the submission on the docket, with the submitter's organization or name 
(to the degree permitted by law) and the date of submission.

Will the Agency consider late comments?

    DOT will consider all comments received before the close of 
business on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To 
the extent practicable, the Agency will also consider comments received 
after that date.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the comments received by contacting the Dockets office 
at the address provided in the ADDRESSES section. The hours of the 
Docket office are indicated in the ADDRESSES section. You may also see 
the comments on the internet, identified by the docket number at the 
heading of this notice, at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Please note, this RFI is a planning document and will serve as 
such. The RFI should not be construed as policy, a solicitation for 
applications, or an

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obligation on the part of the government.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on February 14, 2023.
Christopher Coes,
Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Department of 
Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2023-03396 Filed 2-17-23; 8:45 am]
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