Federal Highway Administration May 20, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FHWA and the State of Utah, acting by and through its Department of Transportation (State), propose a renewal of the State's participation in the State Assumption of Responsibility for Categorical Exclusions. This program allows FHWA to assign to States its authority and responsibility for determining whether certain designated activities within the geographic boundaries of the State, as specified in the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), are categorically excluded from preparation of an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. An amended MOU would renew the State's participation in the program. The MOU will be amended by incorporating the following changes: Clarifying that this assignment applies to highway projects; and including provisions for UDOT's use of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Federal Transit Administration's (FRA) CEs for highway projects. In order to use FTA or FRA's CEs, UDOT will consult with FTA or FRA, as appropriate, and report to FHWA at the end of the calendar year the instances where it applied a CE using this provision.