[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 139 (Thursday, July 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41258-41260]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6355]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
MORRIS K. UDALL SCHOLARSHIP AND EXCELLENCE IN NATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY FOUNDATION
[Docket No. FHWA-2006-25031]
U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution; Request for
Public Participation in National Outdoor Advertising Control Program
Assessment
AGENCIES: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT and United States
Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (U.S. Institute).
ACTION: Notice; request for public input on program assessment.
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SUMMARY: The FHWA and the U.S. Institute have initiated an assessment
of the national outdoor advertising control (OAC) program, which
implements the provisions of 23 U.S.C. 131. The goal of the assessment
is to reach out, through a neutral entity, to parties interested in OAC
to identify issues that cause controversy, perspectives of the various
stakeholders, and appropriate methods for addressing conflicts and
improving program results. The U.S. Institute, operating under an
interagency agreement with the FHWA, is responsible for carrying out
the neutral conflict assessment process. This notice describes the
first of several opportunities for public participation in the
assessment process. At this time, the public is invited to identify any
OAC issues that should be considered during the assessment. The public
also is invited to suggest persons or entities with particular
interests or expertise in outdoor advertising and the OAC program, that
the assessors should consider contacting as a part of the assessment
proceedings.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 21, 2006.
ADDRESSES:
Comments on OAC Issues
Mail or hand deliver comments about OAC issues that should be
considered in the assessment to the U.S. Department of Transportation,
Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590, or submit electronically at http://dms.dot.gov or
fax comments to (202) 493-2251. All comments should include the docket
number that appears in the heading of this document.
All comments received will be available for examination and copying
at the above address from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays. Those desiring notification of receipt
of comments must include a self-addressed, stamped postcard or may
print the acknowledgement page that appears after submitting comments
electronically. Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of DOT's 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.)
Names of Persons or Entities To Be Contacted as Part of the Assessment
Mail or hand deliver suggested names of persons or entities to be
contacted as part of the assessment to the Morris K. Udall Foundation,
U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, attn: Ms. Gail
Brooks, 130 South Scott Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701, or submit
electronically by e-mail to [email protected], or fax to (510) 670-5530.
Contact information for such persons or entities, if available to the
submitter, should be included in the submission.
Names and contact information for such persons or entities should
be provided only to the U.S. Institute as directed above in order to
protect the privacy of the persons or entities
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suggested. Do not include name and contact information with comments
about OAC issues to be filed with the DOT Document Management Facility.
Persons making comments may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement
in the Federal Register published April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70,
Pages 19477-78), or may visit http://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the FHWA: Mr. Gerald Solomon,
Office of Real Estate Services (HEPR), (202) 366-2019,
[email protected]; for legal questions, Mr. Robert Black, Office
of Chief Counsel (HCC), (202) 366-1359, [email protected]; Federal
Highway Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.
For the U.S. Institute: Dale Keyes, Senior Program Manager,
[email protected], (520) 670-5653 or Gail Brooks, Program Associate,
[email protected], (520) 670-5299; U.S. Institute for Environmental
Conflict Resolution, 130 South Scott Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701. Business
hours for the Federal Highway Administration are 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
(e.t.), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
You may submit or retrieve comments online through the Docket
Management System (DMS) at http://dms.dot.gov/submit. The DMS is
available 24 hours each day, 365 days a 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 using a
computer, modem and suitable communications software from the
Government Printing Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202)
512-1661. Internet users may reach 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.
Background
The U.S. Congress adopted the first Federal legislation pertaining
to the control of outdoor advertising signs (signs) near Federal-aid
highways in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1958. That legislation
established the voluntary Bonus Program to control outdoor advertising
signs within 660 feet of the Interstate System. The Bonus Program
provided a monetary incentive to the States to adopt programs that
controlled outdoor advertising in accordance with national standards
specified in the legislation.
In 1965, Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act (HBA), 23
U.S.C. 131, which substantially amended the original law and today
governs the Federal outdoor advertising control program. Unlike the
Bonus Program, States are required to comply with the HBA. The first
section of the HBA sets forth the basic program objectives: ``The
erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, and
devices in areas adjacent to the Interstate System and the primary
system should be controlled in order to protect the public investment
in such highways, to promote the safety and recreational value of
public travel, and to preserve natural beauty.'' The FHWA promulgated
regulations in 1973, which appear in parts 180 and 750 of title 23,
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Most provisions of the HBA and the
regulations have remained largely unchanged since their original
adoption.
Under the HBA, States are responsible for implementing the OAC
program in a manner consistent with the Federal law and regulations.
Failure by a State to maintain effective control can result in the
withholding of a portion of the State's Federal-aid highway funds. Most
States have assigned administrative responsibility for OAC to their
transportation agencies.
The HBA requires States to develop standards governing various
aspects of the program, and mandates compensation to sign owners when a
State's action in removing a sign constitutes a regulatory taking.
Pursuant to the HBA, there are areas in which signs can be legally
erected, areas where they cannot be erected, and limitations on the
size, lighting, and spacing of signs. Signs erected legally prior to
the adoption of the regulatory controls with which they do not conform
were given limited ``grandfathering'' protection as non-conforming
signs. The law affirmatively requires States to remove illegal signs,
which do not comply with applicable laws and regulations and are not
grandfathered.
Since the adoption of the HBA and the implementing regulations,
there have been substantial changes in relevant practices,
technologies, and local conditions. As a result, many of those affected
by the OAC program see an increasing gap between current Federal law
and regulations and the needs of States, local communities,
advertisers, sign owners, owners of properties on which signs are
located, interest groups, and the traveling public. Enforcement of
Federal and State laws, and the interface between OAC and local zoning
laws, create challenges across the country. These difficulties raise
questions about the effectiveness of the current national OAC program.
The FHWA wishes to better understand the nature and complexity of
the conflicts that have developed in connection with the HBA, and what
paths toward resolution are available. The FHWA requested assistance
with this effort from the U.S. Institute, which specializes in
environmental conflict assessment and resolution.
In accordance with its statutory authority, the 1998 Environmental
Policy and Conflict Resolution Act (Pub. L. 105-156, codified at 20
U.S.C. 5601 et seq.), the U.S. Institute will conduct a comprehensive
and neutral conflict assessment of the OAC program. The U.S. Institute
will serve an independent and impartial role, accountable to all the
interested parties and participants. Confidentiality of all private
conversations will be protected. The U.S. Institute will oversee the
assessment process, and has contracted with the Osprey Group, a private
conflict resolution company, to gather information and conduct other
aspects of the assessment, and to prepare the assessment report. For
more information on the U.S. Institute, please visit http://www.ecr.gov.
The goal of the OAC program neutral conflict assessment is to
identify areas of conflict, stakeholders affected by or interested in
the issues, the stakeholders' positions and proposed solutions, and
their willingness to engage in efforts to address and resolve the
issues. The assessment will be accomplished through discussions with
key stakeholders (individually or in groups) and public listening
sessions.
The assessment report prepared by the U.S. Institute and the Osprey
Group will convey findings and identify options for future action,
including whether a future collaborative problem-solving process would
be appropriate. The final product will contain a set of recommendations
from the assessors for actions by the FHWA and others to address OAC
program conflicts. After the U.S. Institute submits its assessment
report, the FHWA will place a copy of the report in the docket.
Additionally, the FHWA will announce in the Federal Register
availability of this report and ask for public comments on the report.
The OAC program assessment process will offer public participation
opportunities in several ways. The first is this request for public
comments about which issues the assessment should consider and who
should be considered for inclusion in discussion activities. There also
will be public listening sessions in several cities around the country,
at which any
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member of the public may attend and provide information. An
announcement of the dates, times, and locations of those sessions will
be posted in the docket, available as described above. After
consideration of the assessment report and public comments on it, the
FHWA will file in the same docket a summary of its review of the
results of the OAC program neutral conflict assessment.
Information on the FHWA OAC program is available online at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/out_ad.htm or by contacting the FHWA at
the address listed above. Additional OAC resources include: National
Alliance of Highway Beautification Agencies, http://www.nahba.org/;
Outdoor Advertising Association of America, http://www.oaaa.org; and
Scenic America, http://www.scenic.org/ org/.
Comments received after the comment closing date will be filed in
the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable. In
addition to late comments, the FHWA also will continue to file in the
docket relevant information that becomes available after the closing
date, and interested persons should continue to examine the docket for
new material. Names of persons or entities that the assessors should
consider contacting as part of the assessment that are received by the
U.S. Institute after the comment closing date also will be considered
to the extent practicable.
(Authority: 23 U.S.C. 131; 20 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.)
Issued on: July 13, 2006.
Christopher L. Helms,
Executive Director, Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in
National Environmental Policy Foundation.
Frederick G. Wright, Jr.,
Federal Highway Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 06-6355 Filed 7-19-06; 8:45 am]
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