Department of Transportation August 18, 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice details the application requirements and procedures for the states of Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming to obtain Special Transportation Circumstances (STC) directed grant funding for eligible rail Capital Projects. The funding has been made available for the program by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019; Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022; Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023; and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2022 and 2023 supplemental Appropriations) (together, the Appropriations Acts). The opportunities described in this notice are available under Assistance Listing number 20.325, ``Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements.'' Alaska, South Dakota, and Wyoming must each submit applications for projects meeting the requirements of this notice to receive directed funding. Should FRA identify additional available funding after the release of this NOFO, FRA may elect to award such additional funding to a project submitted for funding under this NOFO, as permitted by law.

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its implementing regulations, FRA seeks approval of the Information Collection Request (ICR) summarized below. Before submitting this ICR to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified in the ICR.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for a new information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on February 13, 2023. The collection involves questioning, via email, telephone or other means, foreign entities to determine what collaborative opportunities exist. The information to be collected is necessary to accomplish the statutory requirements of Title 49 United States Code to ``provide technical assistance on any other aspect of aviation safety that the Administrator determines is likely to enhance international aviation safety''. The information collection will be used to inform the FAA's International Strategy, which is the agency's mechanism for fulfilling its international role.

This proposed rule would incorporate various changes required by the United States Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of November 2015. This proposed rule would provide regulatory clarity to applicants seeking licenses for space flight operations involving government astronauts by adding two new subparts to the human space flight regulations containing requirements for operators with government astronauts with and without safety-critical roles on board vehicles. The proposed rule would also require an operator to demonstrate any government astronauts on board can perform their role in safety-critical tasks. This proposed requirement would maintain public safety by ensuring operators provide mission specific training on safety-critical tasks to government astronauts, as has been done in the NASA Commercial Crew Program. The proposed rule would also update definitions relating to commercial space launch and reentry vehicles and occupants to reflect current legislative definitions, expand applicability of permitted operations for reusable suborbital rockets to include reusable launch vehicles that will be launched into a suborbital trajectory or reentered from a suborbital trajectory, as well as implement clarifications to financial responsibility requirements in accordance with the United States Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. Finally, this proposed rule would move the templates for waiver of claims to an advisory circular.