80 FR 55899 - Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 180 (September 17, 2015)

The Federal Transit Administration invites public comment about its intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval to extend the approval of the following information collection:

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 180 (Thursday, September 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55899-55900]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23293]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[FTA Docket No. FTA-2015-0024]


Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration invites public comment 
about its intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's 
(OMB) approval to extend the approval of the following information 
collection:

Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants--New Starts Section 5309

    The information collected is necessary to permit an assessment of 
program effectiveness and ensure the proper and timely expenditure of 
federal funds within the scope of the program. The Federal Register 
notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments for the Fixed 
Guideway Capital Investment Grants--New Starts Section 5309 was 
published on June 24, 2015 (Citation 80 FR 121). No comments were 
received from that notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted before October 19, 2015. A comment to 
OMB is most effective, if OMB receives it within 30 days of 
publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tia Swain, Office of Administration, 
Office of Management Planning, (202) 366-0354.

ADDRESSES: All written comments must refer to the docket number that 
appears at the top of this document and be submitted to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: FTA Desk Officer.
    Comments are invited on whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants--New Starts Section 
5309 (OMB Number: 2132-0561)
    Abstract: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) administers the 
discretionary Capital Investment Grant (CIG) grant program under 49 
U.S.C. Section 5309 that provides funding for major transit capital 
investments including rapid rail, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid 
transit, and ferries. Three types of eligible projects are outlined in 
law: smaller scaled corridor-based transit capital projects known as 
``Small Starts''; new fixed guideway transit systems and extensions to 
existing fixed guideway systems known as ``New Starts''; and projects 
to improve capacity at least 10 percent in existing fixed guideway 
corridors that are at capacity today or will be in five years, known as 
``Core Capacity''. The CIG program has a longstanding requirement that 
FTA evaluate proposed projects against a prescribed set of statutory 
criteria at specific points during the projects' development including 
when they seek to enter a subsequent phase of the process or a 
construction grant agreement. In addition, FTA must report on its 
evaluations and ratings annually to Congress.
    The Moving Ahead for Progress Act in the 21st Century (MAP-21) 
enacted on July 6, 2012, made significant changes to the CIG program, 
including creation of an entirely new category of eligible projects 
called Core Capacity. MAP-21 also reduced the number of steps in the 
CIG process projects must follow to receive funds, created a new 
congestion relief evaluation criterion FTA must use to evaluate and 
rate projects, and specified that ``warrants'' (ways projects can 
qualify for automatic ratings) should be developed and used to the 
extent practicable. The requirement for CIG

[[Page 55900]]

project ratings has been in place since 1998. Thus, the requirements 
for project evaluation and data collection for these proposed projects 
are not new. In general, the information used by FTA for CIG project 
evaluation and rating should arise as a part of the normal project 
planning process.
    FTA has been collecting project evaluation information from project 
sponsors under the existing OMB approval for this program (OMB No. 
2132-0561). However, due to the addition of the Core Capacity 
eligibility, the changes to the steps in the CIG process made by MAP-
21, and the proposed implementation of ``warrants,'' it became apparent 
that some information now required might be beyond the scope of 
ordinary planning activities.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 68,840 hours.

Matthew M. Crouch,
Associate Administrator for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-23293 Filed 9-16-15; 8:45 am]
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