Federal Highway Administration June 25, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 5207 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established the Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP). The general objective of the STEP is to improve understanding of the complex relationship between surface transportation, planning and the environment. SAFETEA-LU provides $16.875 million per year for fiscal years (FY) 2006-2009 to implement this new cooperative research program. STEP is the primary source of funds to conduct all Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) research on planning and environmental issues. In addition, Congress mandated several special studies and STEP will be the funding source for those projects. STEP will also address priorities identified in the U.S. Department of Transportation Research and Development Strategic Plan (section 508 of title 23 U.S.C.) including those related to highway safety benefits and congestion reduction. The purpose of this notice is to announce revisions to the STEP implementation strategy for FY 2008 and to request suggested lines of research for the FY 2008 STEP via the STEP Web site at https:// www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/step/index.htm.