Federal Highway Administration February 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FHWA, in coordination with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), is issuing this notice of intent to solicit comment and advise the public, agencies, and stakeholders that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be prepared to study potential improvements to seven miles of Interstate 664 (I-664) and the Bowers Hill Interchange area at the confluence of I-664, I-64, I-264, U.S. Route 460, U.S. Route 58, U.S. Route 13 and Jolliff Road in the cities of Chesapeake and Suffolk, Virginia. Persons or agencies who may be affected by the proposed project are encouraged to comment on the information in this notice and the Supplementary Notice of Intent Document. All comments received in response to this Notice of Intent Document will be considered and any information presented herein, including the preliminary purpose and need, preliminary alternatives and identified impacts, may be revised in consideration of the comments.

Through this final rule, FHWA will remove a regulation from the CFR that has been rendered obsolete by the passage of subsequent legislation. The FHWA believes that because the underlying statutory authority for this regulation has substantially changed since adopted, this final rule eliminates any confusion that may be caused by its existence in the CFR.

The recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, authorizes a recipient or subrecipient of a grant provided by the DOT Secretary under Title 23 or 49, United States Code, to implement a local or other geographical or economic hiring preference relating to the use of labor for construction of a project funded by the grant subject to any applicable State and local laws, policies, and procedures. Based on this statutory authorization, FHWA is announcing a transition from its initiative announced in May 2021, which permitted, on an experimental basis, recipients and subrecipients of Federal funds for Federal-aid highway projects to utilize geographic, economic, or other hiring preferences or innovative contracting approaches not otherwise authorized by law. The May 2021 initiative was carried out as a pilot program under FHWA's existing experimental contracting authority and the legal authority in the Section 199B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, authorizing such hiring preferences ``not otherwise authorized by law.'' Now that BIL creates the legal authority for local or other geographical or economic hiring preferences, an experimental pilot program for such hiring preferences is no longer needed. In Addition, the use of such preferences going forward are subject to Section 25019 of the BIL, not Section 199B of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.

This notice provides information regarding FHWA's finding that it is appropriate to grant a Buy America waiver to the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District (District) for procurement of foreign iron and steel components for the maintenance traveler system, which is needed to allow continued inspections and routine maintenance operations after the Golden Gate Bridge Physical Suicide Deterrent System Project (Project) is constructed. The non-domestic parts include: (i) Electric motors; (ii) speed reducers; (iii) wheel chocks; (iv) a chain stopper; (v) rail clamps with hydraulic power units; (vi) pneumatic brakes; (vii) air compressors; (viii) gas cylinder stands; (ix) bearings (of various types specified in the request); (x) electric cabinet switches and handles; (xi) electrical cabinet shafts; (xii) grounding shoes; and (xiii) scissor lifts.