Federal Transit Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the allocation of $277.5 million under the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program (Emergency Relief Program) to States, Territories, and public transportation agencies affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Within the $277.5 million announced in this notice, FTA is allocating $233.3 million for response, recovery, and rebuilding projects and $44.2 million for project elements or stand-alone projects that increase the resilience of the affected transit systems to future disasters. Such resilience investments shall be subject to specific conditions cited in this notice.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for approximately $25.79 million of funding under the Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance #20.500). As required by federal transit law and subject to funding availability, funds will be awarded competitively to support comprehensive planning associated with new fixed guideway and core capacity improvement projects.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for $84,450,000 in competitive grants under the fiscal year (FY) 2018 Low or No Emission Grant Program (Low-No Program; Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number: 20.526). In addition to $55 million authorized by federal transit law, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 authorizes an additional $29,450,000 for the Low-No Program for FY 2018. As required by Federal transit law, funds will be awarded competitively for the purchase or lease of low or no emission vehicles that use advanced technologies for transit revenue operations, including related equipment or facilities. Projects may include costs incidental to the acquisition of buses or to the construction of facilities, such as the costs of related workforce development and training activities, and project administration expenses. FTA may award additional funding that is made available to the program prior to the announcement of project selections.

This notice announces final environmental actions taken by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for a project between the Town of Dyer and the City of Hammond, both located in Lake County, Indiana. The purpose of this notice is to announce publicly the environmental decisions by FTA on the subject project and to activate the limitation on any claims that may challenge this final environmental action.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects with Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 appropriations for the Low or No Emission Grants Program (Low-No Program). Federal transit law authorized $55 million for competitive allocations in FY 2017. On April 27, 2017, FTA published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcing the availability of $55 million in competitive funding under the Low-No Program. These program funds will provide financial assistance to purchase or lease low or no emission vehicles that use advanced technologies, including related equipment or facilities, for transit revenue operations.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is issuing this notice to inform other Federal agencies that FTA intends to authorize Pierce Transit to convey certain property in Gig Harbor, Washington (Property) to the City of Gig Harbor to use as a community service facility if no Federal agency expresses an interest in acquiring the Property for a Federal government use.

This notice announces the intention of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the revisions of the following information collection: Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) seeks public comment regarding the current and near-future status of automated transit buses and related technologies. FTA seeks comments in particular from parties involved in the development, demonstration, deployment, and evaluation of currently available or near-market ready automated buses; systems and components that support bus automation; and ancillary systems that support non-driving bus operator functions (e.g., wheelchair securement, occupant detection, passenger information assistance, fare payment, etc.). For purposes of this notice, ``bus'' is defined broadly to consider a range of sizes, vehicle platforms and configurations, and passenger capacities, and could include both traditional and novel vehicle designs (e.g., full-size city buses, articulated buses, small shuttles, etc.). ``Bus'' includes bus rapid transit.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the revisions of the following information collection: Clean Fuel Cell Grant Program.

This rulemaking rescinds certain transportation planning regulations pertaining to the establishment of the metropolitan planning area (MPA) boundaries, the designation of metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), and the coordination among MPOs. The amendments contained in this rule carry out the statutory mandate to rescind the final rule published on December 20, 2016, on this topic.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announce the selection of projects for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Positive Train Control (PTC) Grant Program. A total of $197.01 million in the PTC grant funding, authorized under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, will be provided to 17 projects in 13 states. On July 29, 2016, FTA and FRA published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcing the availability of Federal funding for the PTC Grant Program. These funds will provide financial assistance to states, local governments, and public agencies for the implementation of positive train control systems to improve safety. Funds allocated in this announcement must be obligated in a grant by September 30, 2018.

This notice provides information on proposed changes and clarifications to the National Transit Database (NTD) reporting requirements. All proposed changes and clarifications are proposed to be effective for report year 2017 (beginning in September 2017).

This SNPRM provides interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions to the FHWA and FTA joint regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 4(f) requirements. The FHWA, FRA, and FTA (hereafter referred to as ``the Agencies'') propose these revisions after the enactment of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which requires a rulemaking to address programmatic approaches in environmental reviews and makes other changes to existing law that should be addressed in a rulemaking. In this SNPRM the Agencies also propose to add FRA to regulations governing environmental impact and related procedures and the parks, recreation areas, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic site, making those regulations FRA's NEPA implementing procedures and FRA's Section 4(f) implementing regulations, respectively. This SNPRM proposes to modify the FHWA/FTA Environmental Impact and Related Procedures due to changes to the environmental review process made by the FAST Act and to modify the Parks, Recreation Areas, Wildlife and Waterfowl Refuges, and Historic Sites regulations due to new exceptions created by the FAST Act. Lastly, the Agencies request comments regarding the current FHWA and FTA definition of ``existing operational right-of-way'' in their respective categorical exclusion sections. The Agencies seek comments on the proposals in this document.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describe the nature of the information collection and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on June 19, 2017.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the establishment of the Pilot Program for Nonprofit Cooperative Procurements (Pilot Program) and solicits expressions of interest from eligible nonprofit entities to participate. The Pilot Program is aimed at increasing innovation, promoting efficiency, and demonstrating the effectiveness of cooperative procurement contracts for rolling stock and related equipment administered by eligible nonprofit entities.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is proposing new, experimental procedures to encourage increased project management flexibility, more innovation in project funding, improved efficiency, timely project implementation, and new project revenue streams. A primary goal is to address impediments to the greater use of public- private partnerships (P3s) and private investment in public transportation capital projects (Private Investment Project Procedures or PIPP). FTA anticipates using the lessons learned from these experimental procedures to develop more effective approaches to including private participation and investment in project planning, project development, finance, design, construction, maintenance, and operations.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for approximately $226.5 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 funds under Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program (CFDA#20.526). As required by federal transit law and subject to funding availability, funds will be awarded competitively to assist in the financing of capital projects to replace, rehabilitate, purchase or lease buses and related equipment, and to rehabilitate, purchase, construct or lease bus-related facilities. Projects may include costs incidental to the acquisition of buses or to the construction of facilities, such as the costs of related workforce development and training activities, and project administration expenses. FTA may award additional funds if they are made available to the program prior to the announcement of project selections.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has initiated the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the West Santa Ana Branch (WSAB) Transit Corridor Project (Project) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Project is a proposed light rail transit (LRT) line that would extend approximately 20 miles and connect downtown Los Angeles to southeast Los Angeles County, serving the cities and communities of Arts District, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, unincorporated Florence-Graham community of Los Angeles County, Vernon, Huntington Park, Bell, Cudahy, South Gate, Downey, Paramount, Bellflower, Cerritos, and Artesia.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the revisions of the following information collection: Survey of FTA Stakeholders.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995), this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describe the nature of the information collection and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on March 14, 2017 (82 FR 13923).

This notice announces final environmental actions taken by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for projects in Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts; King County, Washington; and Elgin, Illinois. The purpose of this notice is to announce publicly the environmental decisions by FTA on the subject projects and to activate the limitation on any claims that may challenge these final environmental actions.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describe the nature of the information collection and their expected burdens. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collections of information was published on March 14, 2017.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the intention of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the revisions of the following information collection: Charter Service Operations.

This action withdraws an FTA advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), The National Public Transportation Safety Plan, the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan, and the Public Transportation Safety Certification Training Program; Transit Asset Management. FTA has issued separate notices of proposed rulemakings for the several rules included in the ANPRM, under different RIN numbers. Accordingly, FTA is not using RIN 2132-AB20 for any of the notices of proposed rulemakings and therefore the ANPRM is withdrawn.

Section 5334(h) of the Federal Transit Laws, as codified, 49 U.S.C. 5301, et seq., permits the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (the ``FTA'') to authorize a recipient of FTA funds to transfer land or a facility to a public body for any public purpose with no further obligation to the Federal Government if, among other things, no Federal agency is interested in acquiring the asset for Federal use. Accordingly, FTA is issuing this Notice to advise Federal Agencies that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation intends to transfer a building to the City of Rice Lake (the ``City''). This transfer also includes a 31% interest in the real property. The building is located at 326 South Main Street, Rice Lake, Wisconsin (hereinafter the ``Building'').