Federal Highway Administration July 24, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 1301 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59; 119 Stat. 1144) established a program to provide grants to States for Projects of National and Regional Significance (PNRS) to improve the safe, secure, and efficient movement of people and goods throughout the United States and to improve the health and welfare of the national economy. Section 1301 requires the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to establish regulations on the manner in which the proposed projects will be evaluated and rated, in order to determine which projects shall receive grant funding. This proposed rule would establish the required evaluation and rating guidelines for proposed projects. If this rule were adopted, a proposed project would become eligible to be funded under this program only if the Secretary finds that the project meets the requirements of the rule. In making such findings, the Secretary will evaluate and rate each project as ``highly recommended,'' ``recommended,'' or ``not recommended'' based on the results of preliminary engineering, the project justification criteria, and the degree of non-Federal financial commitment.