Federal Register: December 16, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 240)
DOCID: fr16de09-113 FR Doc E9-29886
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
Docket ID: [Docket No. FHWA-2009-0133]
NOTICE: NOTICES
DOCID: fr16de09-113
DOCUMENT ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection Titled: Federal Lands Highway Program
DATES: Please submit comments by (please insert date 60 days from published date).
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for renewal of an existing information collection that is summarized below under Supplementary Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
SUMMARY:
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Title: Federal Lands Highway Program.
OMB Control #: 21250598.
[[Page 66724]]
Background: Title 23 U.S.C. 204 requires the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of each appropriate Federal land management agency to develop, to the extent appropriate, safety, bridge, pavement, and congestion management systems for roads funded under the Federal Lands Highway Program (FLHP). A management system is a process for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data to provide a strategic approach to transportation planning, program development, and project selection. Its purposes are to improve transportation system performance and safety, and to develop alternative strategies for enhancing mobility of people and goods. This data collection clearance addresses the management systems for the National Park Service (NPS) and the Park Roads and Parkways (PRP) Program; Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) Program; Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Refuge Roads (RR) Program; and Forest Service (FS) and the Forest Highway (FH) Program.
Outputs from the management systems are important tools for the development of transportation plans and transportation improvement programs, and in making project selection decisions consistent with 23 U.S.C. 204. Further, management system outputs also provide important information to the FHWA for their stewardship and oversight roles for the Park Roads and Parkways, Indian Reservation Roads, Refuge Roads, and Forest Highway Programs. The data collection required to implement these management systems supports the DOT Strategic Plan. The proposed data collection also directly supports the FHWA's Initiatives of Safety, Congestion Mitigation, and Environmental Stewardship and Streamlining that represent the three important strategic planning and performance goals for the agency.
The National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service are continuing to implement the required management systems and the associated information collections. Completion of this phasein of the management systems is expected to occur during the time period covered by this information collection, and the average annual burden estimates are based on expected increases in the overall burden over that time period. The management systems vary in complexity among the four agencies and reflect differences in the characteristics of the transportation systems involved such as size, ownership, and eligibility for inclusion in the program. These variations result in differences among the agencies in the expected number of respondents to the information collection, and in the anticipated time necessary to respond to the information collection.
Typical information that might be collected for the management systems includes:
Respondents to the information collection might be collecting and submitting information in one or more of these categories for the portion of their transportation system that is covered under the FLHP. For example, this might include the collection and submission of these types of information for State or countyowned roads that are Forest Highways or Indian Reservation Roads owned by Indian Tribal Governments. Typically, the respondents would collect information each year on a portion of their system. Burden estimates have been developed using this assumption combined with an estimate of the time needed to collect and provide the information.
Respondents: The estimated average annual number of respondents for the management systems for each of the agencies addressed by this information collection is:
NPS management systems35 States and 40 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), regional transportation planning agencies, counties, local or tribal governments.
BIA management systems35 States and 50 MPOs, regional transportation planning agencies, counties, local or tribal governments.
FWS management systems35 States and 40 MPOs, regional transportation planning agencies, counties, local or tribal governments.
FS management systems35 States and 50 MPOs, regional
transportation planning agencies, counties, local or tribal governments.
Frequency: Annual.
Estimated Average Annual Burden per Response:
NPS management systemsApproximately 40 hours per respondent.
BIA management systemsApproximately 60 hours per respondent.
FWS management systemsApproximately 20 hours per respondent.
FS management systemsApproximately 60 hours per respondent.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Total estimated average annual burden is 14,700 hours.
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized, including the use of electronic technology, without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued on: December 9, 2009.
Judith Kane,
Acting Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. E929886 Filed 121509; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 491022P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Gye Aung, 202-366-2167, Office of Federal Lands Highway, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, East Building, Room E61 339, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.