Federal Highway Administration May 28, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces that the FHWA and the Utah Department of Transportation (State) plan to renew and amend an existing MOU established pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 326 under which the FHWA has assigned to the State the FHWA's responsibility for determining whether a project is 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) and for carrying out certain other responsibilities for conducting environmental reviews, consultations, and related activities for Federal-aid highway projects. The proposed amendments include removal of language referring to existing programmatic agreements between the State and FHWA concerning categorical exclusions. This change is proposed to make the processing of these documents more clearly defined. The public is invited to comment on any aspect of the proposed MOU, including the scope of environmental review, consultation, and other activities which are assigned.

The FHWA is extending the comment period for a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and request for comments, which was published on March 28, 2014. The original comment period is set to close on May 27, 2014. The extension is based on concern expressed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) that the May 27 closing date does not provide sufficient time to review and provide comprehensive comments on the HSIP NPRM, considering all related rulemaking activities including the FHWA/FTA Statewide and Nonmetropolitan Transportation Planning; Metropolitan Transportation Planning NPRM (FHWA RIN 2125-AF52; FTA RIN 2132-AB10). The FHWA recognizes that others interested in commenting may have similar concerns and agrees that the comment period should be extended. Therefore, the closing date for comments is changed to June 30, 2014, which will provide AASHTO and others interested in commenting additional time to discuss, evaluate, and submit responses to the docket.