Department of Transportation September 16, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) issue this early scoping notice to advise other agencies and the public that they intend to explore, in the context of the Council on Environmental Quality's early scoping process, methods of improving transit capacity and service in the Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor of Los Angeles, California. The early scoping process is part of a planning Alternatives Analysis (AA) required by Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) Sec. 5309, that will lead to the selection of the alternatives that will be subject to the appropriate environmental process. Early scoping meetings have been planned and are announced below. The Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor is approximately 35 miles in length and includes; 26.36 miles of the Harbor Subdivision that is owned by LACMTA (BNSF Railway currently has some freight operations on the ROW), approximately 2.5 miles to the north of the LACMTA-owned portion right-of-way that would provide the connection to downtown Los Angeles, and approximately 3.5-6 miles south of the LACMTA-owned portion of the right-of-way that would provide a possible connection to the Metro Harbor Transitway, Metro Blue Line, Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line or any other destinations or transit facilities that would attract potential ridership. The Metro-owned Harbor Subdivision Line extends 26.36 miles from Harbor Junction at the north, near downtown Los Angeles just east of the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue and Watson Yard at the south, in Wilmington just east of Pacific Coast Highway (U.S. Highway 1) and Alameda Street. The Harbor Subdivision connects or runs adjacent to major destinations and transportation hubs including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Metro Blue Line, Harbor Transitway and the Port of Los Angeles. The Corridor traverses twelve jurisdictions including the cities of Los Angeles, Vernon, Huntington Park, Inglewood, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Carson and the County of Los Angeles. As it passes through these communities, it traverses residential neighborhoods, commercial and warehousing districts and industrial areas including oil fields and refineries. LAX lies to the west of the rail line along Aviation Boulevard near Century Boulevard. The conclusion of the planning Alternatives Analysis is expected to be the selection of a set of alternatives by the LACMTA and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), which is the official metropolitan planning organization for Los Angeles. The set of alternatives will then be the ``proposed action'' that are subject to an appropriate environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). If the selected set of alternatives would have significant impacts, an environmental impact statement (EIS), combined with a California environmental impact report (EIR) would be initiated with a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register and distribution of a Notice of Preparation (NOP) required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Public and agency scoping of the EIS/EIR would be conducted at that time. In particular, the purpose and need for the project, the range of alternatives to be considered in the EIS/EIR, the environmental and community impacts to be evaluated, and the methodologies to be used, would be subject to public and interagency review and comment, in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 139 and CEQA.

In accordance with rulemaking activity that is not yet complete, the FAA may use an auction to allocate leases for a certain number of slots at New York's three main airports: John F. Kennedy (JFK), Newark (EWR), and LaGuardia (LGA). If the FAA decides to conduct auctions, the number of slots to be allocated via auction will be specified in the final rule and may be supplemented by additional capacity and/or slots returned to the FAA. As specified in the proposed Congestion Management Rule for LaGuardia Airport and the proposed Congestion Management Rule for John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, FAA anticipates, if the rule is adopted, conducting an auction of slot leases at these airports once a year over a five year period.\1\ The FAA expects to conduct the first auction, if any, on January 12, 2009. This auction will be for slots at LGA, JFK, and EWR. Only certificated U.S. aircraft operators or foreign airlines may participate in these auctions.\2\

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces a public listening session to obtain feedback from interested parties on the Agency's Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) initiative, a comprehensive review, analysis, and restructuring of FMCSA's current safety fitness determination process and enforcement programs. FMCSA will use the listening session to brief participants on the direction and progress of CSA 2010 and obtain feedback from its partners and stakeholders. FMCSA also requests comments on the CSA 2010 operational model described in this notice.

Pursuant to Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 5 U.S.C. App. 2), notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 30, 2008, starting at 8 a.m. at the Federal Aviation Administration Headquarters Building, 800 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, in the Bessie Coleman Conference Center, located on the 2nd Floor. This will be the forty-eighth meeting of the COMSTAC. The proposed agenda for the meeting will include discussions of the latest international commercial launch developments and their impact on the U.S. industry and ways that the FAA can help the industry internationally; a report on program activities of the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation; and COMSTAC working group reports. An agenda will be posted on the FAA Web site at https://ast.faa.gov. Meetings of the COMSTAC Working Groups (Technology and Innovation, Reusable Launch Vehicle, Risk Management, and Space Transportation Operations) will be held on Wednesday, October 29, 2008. For specific information concerning the times and locations of the working group meetings, contact the Contact Person listed below. Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should inform the Contact Person listed below in advance of the meeting.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, Highway 199 Expressway Upgrade, in Josephine County, Oregon. Those actions grant approval for the project.