[Federal Register: March 1, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 40)]
[Notices]
[Page 10586]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01mr06-134]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
[FHWA Docket No. FHWA-2006-23612]
Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative
Research Program (STEP)
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Section 5207 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established
the Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative
Research Program (STEP). The general objective of the STEP is to
improve understanding of the complex relationship between surface
transportation, planning and the environment. SAFETEA-LU provides
$16.875 million per year for fiscal years (FY) 2006-2009 to implement
this new cooperative research program. Due to obligation limitations,
rescissions, and congressional designation of Title V Research in
SAFETEA-LU, it is anticipated that approximately $11.9 million of the
$16.875 million authorized will be available each fiscal year. The
purpose of this notice is to: (1) Announce the creation of an FHWA Web
site to provide information regarding the STEP; and (2) to solicit
public input on the implementation strategy for this program.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 17, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Felicia Young, Office of Interstate
and Border Planning, (202) 366-1263, Felicia.young@fhwa.dot.gov; or
Grace Reidy, Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366-6226; Federal
Highway Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.
Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
You may submit or retrieve comments online through the Document
Management System (DMS) at: http://dms.dot.gov/submit. The DMS is
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. Electronic submission
and retrieval help and guidelines are available under the help section
of the Web site.
An electronic copy of this notice may be downloaded from the Office
of the Federal Register's home page at http://www.archives.gov and the Government Printing Office's Web site at http://www.access.gpo.gov.
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in a Federal Register published on April
11, 2000 (70FR 19477), or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.
Background
Section 5207 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L.
109-59, Aug. 10 2005), established the Surface Transportation
Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP), and
provided $16.875 million per year for FY2006-FY2009 to implement this
new program. The general objective of the STEP is to improve
understanding of the complex relationship between surface
transportation, planning and the environment.
The FHWA anticipates that approximately $11.9 million of the
$16.875 million authorized will be available each year. STEP will also
be the sole source of funds available to conduct all FHWA research on
planning and environmental issues. In addition, Congress mandated
several special studies (i.e. Report on Non Motorized Transportation
Pilot Program (Section 1807 of SAFETEA-LU); and the Annual Report for
the Surface Transportation Project Delivery Pilot Program (Section
6005(h) of SAFETEA-LU)). STEP will be the funding source for those
projects as well.
Section 5207 of SAFETEA-LU identifies certain characteristics of
STEP regarding program contents and administration. Regarding the
program content, STEP may include research to:
Develop more accurate models for evaluating transportation
control measures and system designs for use by State and local
governments to meet environmental requirements;
Improve understanding of transportation demand factors;
Develop indicators of economic, social, and environmental
performance of transportation systems to facilitate alternatives
analysis;
Meet additional priorities determined through the
transportation research and development strategic planning process
identified in section 5208 of SAFETEA-LU;
Refine the scope and research emphases through outreach
and in consultation with stakeholders.
In administering the program, the USDOT and FHWA will ensure, to
the maximum extent practicable, that:
The best projects and researchers are selected based on
merit, open solicitations, and selection by a panel of appropriate
experts;
Qualified, permanent core staff with ability to manage a
large multiyear budget is used;
Stakeholders are involved in governance of program;
There is no duplication with the Future Strategic Highway
Research Program (Section 5210 of SAFETEA-LU), which will be
administered by the National Research Council of the National Academy
of Sciences.
The FHWA has had some initial meetings with major stakeholder
groups and Federal agency partners to begin receiving input on the
governance and strategic direction of STEP, and will continue these
discussions in the future.
The FHWA is issuing this notice to: (1) Announce the creation of an
FHWA Web site to provide information regarding the STEP; and (2) to
solicit public input on the implementation strategy for this program.
The Web site URL for the STEP is http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/step/index.htm.
The FHWA will use this Web site as a major mechanism for
informing the public regarding the status of the STEP.
We invite the public to visit this Web site to obtain additional
information regarding the STEP as well as information regarding the
process for forwarding comments to FHWA regarding the STEP
implementation strategy.
Authority: Section 5207 of Pub. L. 109-59.
Issued on: February 6, 2006.
J. Richard Capka,
Acting Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-2829 Filed 2-28-06; 8:45 am]
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