Federal Highway Administration November 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, FHWA and NHTSA are evaluating their State highway safety plan development and reporting requirements. As part of this review, this notice requests comments on actions FHWA and NHTSA could take without statutory changes to better streamline and harmonize State highway safety plan development and reporting requirements.

The FHWA is proposing to amend its regulations governing the acquisition, management, and disposal of real property for transportation programs and projects receiving funds under title 23, United States Code. The revisions are prompted by enactment of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Section 1302 of MAP-21 includes new early acquisition flexibilities that can be used by State departments of transportation (SDOT) and other grantees of title 23 Federal-aid highway program funds. This proposal is intended to develop regulations on the use of those new early acquisition flexibilities. The FHWA is also proposing to update the real estate regulations to reflect the agency's experience with the Federal-aid highway program since the last comprehensive rulemaking, which occurred more than a decade ago. The updates include clarifying the Federal-State partnership, streamlining processes to better meet current Federal-aid highway program needs, and eliminating duplicative and outdated regulatory language. This notice of proposed rulemaking provides interested parties with the opportunity to comment on proposed changes to the regulations.

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 CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX) Virginia Avenue Tunnel Project in Washington, DC. 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 a proposed freeway corridor improvement project on I-90/94 from Wisconsin Dells to Portage in Juneau, Sauk, and Columbia Counties in south-central Wisconsin.

The FHWA is issuing this revised notice to advise the public that FHWA and NDDOT will not prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed highway project in Grand Forks County, North Dakota and Polk County, Minnesota. A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published in the Federal Register on May 17, 2013.

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) procedures, this notice announces the availability of the ROD regarding the Virginia Avenue Tunnel Reconstruction Project in Washington, DC The Division Administrator, FHWA-District of Columbia signed the ROD on November 4, 2014.

The FHWA is issuing this notice of omission to advise the public that 10 comments submitted by email during the comment period for the South Mountain Freeway (Loop 202) Interstate 10 (Papago Freeway) to Interstate 10 (Maricopa Freeway) Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Section 4(f) Evaluation were inadvertently omitted from the South Mountain Freeway (Loop 202) Interstate 10 (Papago Freeway) to Interstate 10 (Maricopa Freeway) Final Environmental Impact Statement and Section 4(f) Evaluation.