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

FWHA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared for proposed transportation improvements between the Provo Airport and the University Avenue Interchange on I-15 in Utah County, Utah.

This document announces the second meeting of the Motorcyclist Advisory Council to the Federal Highway Administration (MAC-FHWA). The purpose of this meeting is to advise the Secretary of Transportation, through the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, on infrastructure issues of concern to motorcyclists, including (1) Barrier design; (2) road design, construction, and maintenance practices; and (3) the architecture and implementation of intelligent transportation system technologies, pursuant to section 1914 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).

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 February 13, 2007. 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 that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, Interstate 73 between Interstate 81 near the City of Roanoke and the Virginia/North Carolina State line south of the Town of Martinsville, in Roanoke, Franklin, and Henry Counties and the City of Roanoke, State of Virginia. Those actions grant approvals for the project.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that an environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared for the Cidra- Cayey Connector in the east center area of Puerto Rico. The purpose of the EIS is to provide information and analyses for decisions on the project in accordance with the policies and purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act.

This notice announces that the FHWA and the State of California, acting by and through its Department of Transportation (State), propose to enter into a MOU pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 326. The MOU would transfer to the State the FHWA's authority and responsibility for determining whether certain designated activities within the geographic boundaries of the State, as specified in the proposed MOU, are categorically excluded from preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (NEPA). The MOU also would assign to the State the responsibility for carrying out certain other environmental review, consultation, and related activities for those CE Federal-aid Highway Program projects within the State. The public is invited to comment on any aspect of the proposed MOU, including the types of projects for which CE decision-making authority would be assigned to the State and the scope of the environmental review, consultation, and other activities that would be assigned.

The FHWA proposes to revise its regulation that establishes the general requirements for quality assurance procedures for construction on all Federal-aid highway projects on the National Highway System (NHS).\1\ Specifically, the FHWA proposes to require accreditation of laboratories that conduct crash tests on roadside hardware by an accrediting body that is recognized by the National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation (NCLA) or is a signatory to an International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), an Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) MRA, or another comparable accreditation body approved by FHWA. The objective of this proposed rule is to improve the agency's ability to determine that crash test laboratories are qualified to conduct and evaluate tests intended to determine the crashworthiness of roadside safety features. Laboratory accreditation is widely recognized as a reliable indicator of technical competence.