[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 108 (Monday, June 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32236-32237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13462]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA-2010-0005-N-12]
Information Collection Requirement; Notice and Request for
Comments
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information
Collection Requirement (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected
burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following collection of information was
published on March 31, 2010 (75 FR 16228).
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 7, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Brogan, Office of Safety,
Planning and Evaluation Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 3rd Floor, Mail Stop 25,
Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202) 493-6292), or Ms. Kimberly
Toone, Office of Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 3rd Floor, Mail Stop 35,
Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202) 493-6132). (These telephone
numbers are not toll-free.).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),
Public Law 104-13, Section 2, 109 Stat. 163 (1995) (codified as revised
at 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR part
1320, require Federal agencies to issue two notices seeking public
comment on information collection activities before OMB may approve
paperwork packages. 44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.5, 1320.8(d)(1),
1320.12. On March 31, 2010, FRA published a 60-day notice in the
Federal Register soliciting comment on this ICR that the agency was
seeking OMB approval. 75 FR 16228. FRA
[[Page 32237]]
received no comments in response to this notice.
Before OMB decides whether to approve these proposed collections of
information, it must provide 30 days for public comment. 44 U.S.C.
3507(b); 5 CFR 1320.12(d). Federal law requires OMB to approve or
disapprove paperwork packages between 30 and 60 days after the 30 day
notice is published. 44 U.S.C. 3507(b)-(c); 5 CFR 1320.12(d); see also
60 FR 44978, 44983, Aug. 29, 1995. OMB believes that the 30 day notice
informs the regulated community to file relevant comments and affords
the agency adequate time to digest public comments before it renders a
decision. 60 FR 44983, Aug. 29, 1995. Therefore, respondents should
submit their respective comments to OMB within 30 days of publication
to best ensure having their full effect. 5 CFR 1320.12(c); see also 60
FR 44983, Aug. 29, 1995.
The summary below describes the nature of the information
collection requirement (ICR) and the expected burden for the ICR being
submitted for clearance by OMB as required by the PRA.
Title: Notice of Funding Availability and Solicitation of
Applications for Grants under the Railroad Safety Technology Grant
Program.
OMB Control Number: 2130-0587.
Type of Request: Regular Approval of an Emergency Clearance.
Affected Public: 40 Railroads.
Abstract: The Rail Safety Technology Program is a newly authorized
program under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA) (Pub. L.
110-432; October 16, 2008). The program was directed by Congress and
passed into law in the aftermath of a series of major rail accidents
that culminated in an accident at Chatsworth, California, in 2008.
Twenty-five people were killed and 135 people were injured in the
Chatsworth accident. This event turned the Nation's attention to rail
safety and the possibility that new technologies, such as PTC, could
prevent such accidents in the future. The RSIA ordered installation of
PTC by all Class I railroads on any of their mainlines carrying
poisonous inhalation hazard (PIH) materials and by all passenger and
commuter railroads on their main lines not later than December 31,
2015.
As part of the RSIA, Congress provided $50 million to FRA to award,
in one or more grants, to eligible projects by passenger and freight
rail carriers, railroad suppliers, and State and local Governments.
Funds will be awarded to projects that have a public benefit of
improved railroad safety and efficiency, with priority given to
projects that make PTC technologies interoperable between railroad
systems; projects that accelerate the deployment of PTC technology on
high-risk corridors, such as those that have high volumes of hazardous
material shipments; and for projects over which commuter or passenger
trains operate, or that benefit both passenger and freight safety and
efficiency.
Funds provided under this grant program may constitute a maximum of
80 percent of the total cost of a selected project, with a minimum of
20 percent of costs funded from other sources. The funding provided
under these grants will be made available to grantees on a
reimbursement basis. FRA anticipates awarding grants to multiple
eligible participants. FRA may choose to award a grant or grants within
the available funds in any amount. Funding made available through
grants provided under this program, together with funding from other
sources that is committed by a grantee as part of a grant agreement,
must be sufficient to complete the funded project and achieve the
anticipated technology development. FRA began accepting grant
applications 10 days after publication of the Notice of Funds
Availability, which was published on March 29, 2010, in the Federal
Register detailing the terms of the Railroad Safety Technology Grant
Program. Applications may be submitted until July 1, 2010. Selection
announcements will be made on or around September 3, 2010.
Form Number(s): FRA F 6180.146; SF-269; SF-270.
Annual Estimated Burden Hours: 11,385 hours.
Addressee: Send comments regarding this information collection to
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management
and Budget, 725 Seventeenth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503,
Attention: FRA Desk Officer. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to
OMB at the following address: [email protected].
Comments are invited on the following: Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will
have practical utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of
the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
A comment to OMB is best assured of having its full effect if OMB
receives it within 30 days of publication of this notice in the Federal
Register.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.
Issued in Washington, DC on June 1, 2010.
Kimberly Coronel,
Director, Office of Financial Management, Federal Railroad
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-13462 Filed 6-4-10; 8:45 am]
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