Federal Highway Administration 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 highway project, Trunk Highway (TH) 1/169 in the vicinity of Eagles Nest Lake from approximately 0.1 miles west of Sixmile Road to approximately 0.1 mile east of Bradach Road in the County of St. Louis, Minnesota. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the Colorado State Highway 470 (C-470) Corridor, Kipling Parkway to I-25 project located in the southern portion of the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. Those actions grant approvals for the project.

This notice is a Request for Information (RFI) to support the FHWA in the identification of proven, market-ready innovations for potential deployment through the fourth round of the Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative in 2017-2018.

This notice provides information regarding FHWA's finding that a Buy America waiver is appropriate for the obligation of Federal-aid funds for 74 State projects involving the acquisition of vehicles and equipment on the condition that they be assembled in the U.S.

The Federal Highway Administration, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of a draft Service Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for public review and comment. The Draft LRTP outlines a strategy for improving and maintaining transportation assets that provide access to Service- managed lands nationally over the next 20 years. Preparing this document helps the Service meet transportation planning requirements under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).

This notice announces actions taken by FHWA that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, United States Highway 53 between Virginia and Eveleth, in Saint Louis County in the State of Minnesota. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

In issuing Federal-aid eligibility letters for roadside safety hardware, FHWA currently makes determinations of continued eligibility for modifications to devices tested to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 350 (NCHRP 350). In an effort to facilitate the implementation of the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH), FHWA intends to discontinue issuing eligibility letters for requests received after December 31, 2015, for modified NCHRP 350-tested devices that do not involve full scale crash testing to the MASH. Modifications to NCHRP 350-tested devices that have, in the past, been based on engineering analysis or finite element modeling will no longer receive FHWA eligibility letters. Effective January 1, 2016, all changes to NCHRP 350-tested devices will require testing under MASH in order to receive a Federal-aid eligibility letter from FHWA.

This notice provides information regarding FHWA's finding that a Buy America waiver is appropriate for the use of non-domestic fabrication of cable mesh for 8'-0'' high oxidized stainless steel cable net safety fence on Interstate 5, MP 28.7 in San Diego, California.

The FHWA is issuing this notice of cancellation to advise the public that we are no longer preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Port Manatee Connector in Manatee and Hillsborough Counties, Florida. This is formal cancellation of the Notice of Intent that was published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2009.

This notice provides information regarding FHWA's finding that a Buy America waiver is appropriate for the use of non-domestic Vanessa 30,000 series water line valves (two 42 inch, three 16 inch, and one 8 inch) for the Woodmen Road corridor improvement project, phase 2 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

This notice provides information regarding FHWA's finding that a Buy America waiver is appropriate for the use of non-domestic Voith 21/R5 propulsion units for ferry boat Pocahontas' propulsion unit replacement by Virginia DOT.

This notice announces actions taken by FHWA that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed transportation project, the Sound Transit Lynnwood Link Extension Project, located in the cities of Seattle, Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood, WA. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

On July 17, 2014, the President announced the Build America Investment Initiative, a government-wide effort to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth by engaging with state and local governments and private sector investors to encourage collaboration, expand the market for public-private partnerships (P3s) and put Federal credit programs to greater use. As part of that effort, the Presidential Memorandum tasked the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to establish the Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC), a one-stop-shop for state and local governments, public and private developers and investors seeking to utilize innovative financing and P3s to deliver transportation projects. USDOT has made significant progress in its work to expand access to USDOT credit programs, spread innovation through tools that build capacity across the country, and deliver project-focused technical assistance to help high-impact projects develop plans, navigate Federal programs and requirements, and evaluate and pursue financing opportunities. This includes an effort to provide a range of technical assistance tools to project sponsors, including a series of model contract provisions for popular P3 project types. Development of these tools fulfills a requirement under Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) that FHWA to develop public-private partnership (P3) transaction model contracts for the most popular type of P3s for transportation projects. Based on public input favoring an educational, rather than prescriptive, contract model, FHWA is publishing a series of guides describing terms and conditions typically adopted in P3 concession agreements. The FHWA values public input in the development of the model contract guides, and seeks continuing input. All documents in this series share the same Docket Number (FHWA- 2014-0006). To address the most popular types of P3s, FHWA is producing separate guides to the two most common agreements for concessionaire compensation: user tolls and availability payments (APs). For the purpose of public comment, the Toll Concessions Guide was divided into two parts. The first part, addressing the highest profile (``Core'') provisions, was published in final form on September 10, 2014. The second part (the ``Addendum''), addressing additional substantive provisions, was published in draft form on January 16, 2015. As described below, FHWA is deferring publication of the final version of the Addendum in order to obtain public comment on additional material (provided with this announcement) relevant to the concessions guides. With this notice, FHWA publishes a Draft Availability Payment Concessions P3 Model Contract Guide (``AP Concessions Guide'') so that the general public and interested stakeholders may provide comments. The AP Concessions Guide can be found on the Docket (FHWA-2014-0006) and at the following link:https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/pdfs/p3/ apguide.pdf. This model contract guide has been prepared solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as a statement of DOT or FHWA policy. In addition, a separate chapter on Labor Best Practices recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor has been added to the Docket and is available at the following link: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ipd/pdfs/p3/ laborbestpractices.pdf. This chapter discusses labor provisions recommended by the U.S. Department of Labor for all P3 concession agreements, following a collaboration with USDOT, regardless of source of funding (i.e., Federal, State, or private) or form of compensation (i.e., user tolls or APs). The FHWA intends to incorporate this chapter into the final contract guides for both user toll and AP concessions; therefore, FHWA is seeking public comment on this document prior to finalizing the Toll Concession Addendum.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public of its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement, in cooperation with the NDDOT, for a proposed highway project in Stark, Billings, and McKenzie Counties, North Dakota.

The FHWA, on behalf of Caltrans, is issuing this notice to announce actions taken by Caltrans, that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, the United States (US) 101 Express Lanes Project from Post Miles 16.00 to 52.55 on US 101, and Post Miles 23.0 to 24.1 on State Route 85 in the County of Santa Clara, State of California. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

Consistent with Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, and in particular its emphasis on burden- reduction and on retrospective analysis of existing rules, a Request for Comments was published on November 28, 2014, to solicit input on State highway safety plan development and reporting requirements, which specifically refers to the development of the State Highway Safety Plan (HSP) and Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), and the reporting requirements of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and HSP. Thirty-eight unique letters were received and this document provides a summary of the input from these letters. Given the lack of support for any significant changes in the highway safety plan development and reporting requirements, neither the FHWA nor NHTSA will change the HSP or SHSP development requirements nor change the HSIP or HSP reporting requirements at this time. However, the FHWA and NHTSA will consider the valuable information offered in the responses to inform the agencies' decisions on their respective highway safety programs.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a revision of a currently approved collection, which is summarized in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

This notice announces actions taken by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project making improvements to Interstate Highway (IH) 30 from Cooper Street to State Highway (SH) 161, in Tarrant County and Dallas County in the State of Texas. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection notice was previously published in the Federal Register on July 10, 2015 at 80 FR 39801 allowing for a 60-day public comment period. USCIS received one comment in connection with the 60-day notice.

Through this Notice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) is extending the designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months, from January 23, 2016 through July 22, 2017. The extension allows currently eligible TPS beneficiaries to retain TPS through July 22, 2017, so long as they otherwise continue to meet the eligibility requirements for TPS. The Secretary has determined that an extension is warranted because the conditions in Haiti that prompted the TPS designation continue to be met. There continue to be extraordinary and temporary conditions in that country that prevent Haitian nationals (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) from returning to Haiti in safety. Through this Notice, DHS also sets forth procedures necessary for nationals of Haiti (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) to re-register for TPS and to apply for renewal of their Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Re-registration is limited to persons who have previously registered for TPS under the designation of Haiti and whose applications have been granted. Certain nationals of Haiti (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) who have not previously applied for TPS may be eligible to apply under the late initial registration provisions if they meet (1) at least one of the late initial filing criteria, and (2) all TPS eligibility criteria (including continuous residence in the United States since January 12, 2011, and continuous physical presence in the United States since July 23, 2011). For individuals who have already been granted TPS under Haiti's designation, the 60-day re-registration period runs from August 25, 2015 through October 26, 2015. USCIS will issue new EADs with a July 22, 2017 expiration date to eligible Haiti TPS beneficiaries who timely re-register and apply for EADs under this extension. Given the timeframes involved with processing TPS re-registration applications, DHS recognizes that not all re-registrants will receive new EADs before their current EADs expire on January 22, 2016. Accordingly, through this Notice, DHS automatically extends the validity of EADs issued under the TPS designation of Haiti for 6 months, through July 22, 2016, and explains how TPS beneficiaries and their employers may determine which EADs are automatically extended and their impact on Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) and the E-Verify processes.

DHS, USCIS invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed revision of a currently approved collection of information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e. the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond), the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information collection instruments.

DHS, USCIS invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed revision of a currently approved collection of information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e. the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond), the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information collection instruments.

This final rule establishes the National Tunnel Inspection Standards (NTIS) for highway tunnels. The NTIS require tunnel owners to establish a program for the inspection of highway tunnels, to maintain a tunnel inventory, to report the inspection findings to FHWA, and to correct any critical findings found during these inspections.

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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 the second section of the Interstate 64 Peninsula Study from approximately Exit 247 in the east to approximately Exit 242 in the west in the City of Newport News and York County, Virginia. Those actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.