Federal Highway Administration February 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for renewal of an existing information collection that is summarized below under Supplementary Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, I-405 Renton Nickel Improvement Project between Tukwila and Renton in the State of Washington. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

This final rule amends the regulations governing the enforcement of commercial vehicle size and weight to incorporate provisions enacted in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU); the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and; the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006. This final rule adds various definitions; corrects obsolete references, definitions, and footnotes; eliminates redundant provisions; amends numerical route changes to the National Highway designations; and incorporates statutorily mandated weight and length limit provisions.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared for proposed highway improvements to United States Highway 14 (Highway 14) from the existing four-lane bypass of Dodge Center to the intersection of Highway 14 and Interstate 35 (I-35) in Owatonna, a distance of approximately 19 miles, in Dodge and Steele Counties, Minnesota.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for renewal of an existing information collection that is summarized below under Supplementary Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

Section 6005 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established a pilot program to allow the Secretary of Transportation to assign, and the State to assume, the Secretary's responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for one or more highway projects. The Secretary may permit not more than five States (including the States of Alaska, California, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas) to participate in the program. Upon assigning NEPA responsibilities, the Secretary may further assign to the State all or part of the Secretary's responsibilities for environmental review, consultation or other action required under any Federal environmental law pertaining to the review of a specific project. In order to be selected for the pilot program a State must submit an application to the Secretary. Section 6005 requires the Secretary to promulgate rules that establish requirements relating to information required to be contained in an application by a State to participate in the pilot program. This final rule establishes these application requirements.

The FHWA is currently conducting a reassessment of the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), which is a national highway transportation system database maintained and used primarily by the FHWA as a resource for information about the extent, condition, performance, use, and operating characteristics of the Nation's highways. This notice requests public comment on the draft HPMS Reassessment Recommendations Report, which is available in the docket and via the FHWA Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hpms/ index.htm. This draft report documents in detail various issues and proposed changes to specific HPMS data items and the associated collecting and reporting procedures based in part upon customer and data provider needs. The FHWA requests public comments on this draft report. The report would enhance and improve HPMS procedures and incorporate changing data customer needs while building a stronger partnership with the HPMS data user and provider community.

The FHWA has forwarded the information collection request described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew an information collection. We published a Federal Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information collection on November 28, 2006. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an environmental impact statement will be prepared for a proposed transportation project in Bell County, Texas.