[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 106 (Thursday, June 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35436-35437]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12883]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA-2016-0040]
Notice and Request for Comment on Benefit-Cost Analysis Guidance
for Rail Projects
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Section 11313(b) of the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act, Public Law 114-94 (December 4, 2015),
requires the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to ``enhance the
usefulness of assessments of benefits and costs for intercity passenger
rail and freight rail projects.'' As directed by Section 11313, FRA is
issuing benefit-cost analysis (BCA) guidance (BCA Guidance) to fulfill
these requirements and is requesting comments on the BCA Guidance. The
BCA Guidance is available at https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0940.
DATES: Written Comments: Written comments on the BCA Guidance must be
received by August 1, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Comments: Comments related to Docket Number FRA-2016-0040
may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Online: Comments should be filed at the Federal
eRulemaking Portal, http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
[[Page 35437]]
online instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Lawrence, Office of Railroad
Policy and Development, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New
Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-1376.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 11313(b) of the FAST Act provides
that, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the FAST
Act, the Secretary must enhance the usefulness of assessments of
benefits and costs for intercity passenger rail and freight rail
projects by: (1) Providing ongoing guidance and training on developing
benefit and cost information for rail projects; (2) providing more
direct and consistent requirements for assessing benefits and costs
across transportation funding programs, including the appropriate use
of discount rates; (3) requiring applicants to clearly communicate the
methodology used to calculate the project benefits and costs; and (4)
ensuring that applicants receive clear and consistent guidance on
values to apply for key assumptions used to estimate potential project
benefits and costs.
The BCA Guidance addresses the four requirements specified in the
FAST Act and is intended to provide a consistent approach for
completing a BCA for intercity passenger rail and freight rail project
proposals.
In addition to serving as a valuable tool for defining and
narrowing investment alternatives, BCAs are also increasingly a
prerequisite to receive financial assistance under Federal investment
programs, including those that DOT administers. For example, the two
competitive railroad infrastructure improvement grant programs
authorized in the FAST Act specifically require the Secretary to
consider BCA as a project selection criterion (Section 11301,
Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements; and Section
11302, Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair). Moreover,
two grant programs administered by the Office of the Secretary that
contain rail project eligibilities--the Transportation Investment
Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program and the Fostering
Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term
Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) program--either require
or request (depending on the size and other characteristics of the
project) a BCA as part of the grant application process.
FRA drafted the BCA Guidance to be consistent with the DOT BCA
guidance, which covers a wide range of surface transportation projects
(e.g., highways, transit, rail, and ports) under the TIGER and FASTLANE
grant programs. The FRA BCA Guidance is intended to provide greater
granularity and specificity to benefit and cost issues associated with
intercity passenger rail and freight rail projects.
The BCA Guidance is effective upon the publication of this notice.
However, project sponsors and potential applicants for FRA financial
assistance programs should refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity
(NOFO) announcement for further instruction regarding the applicability
of the BCA Guidance to a particular application or funding program. Due
to the timing of the publication of this notice, the BCA Guidance does
not apply to applications to the Railroad Safety Infrastructure
Improvement Grant program, for which a NOFO was published in the
Federal Register on April 29, 2016, with applications due to FRA by
June 14, 2016.
As noted, written comments on the BCA Guidance must be received by
August 1, 2016. FRA will consider such comments when making potential
future revisions to the BCA Guidance. However, FRA will not publically
respond to comments received nor will FRA address every comment in
potential future revisions to the BCA Guidance.
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 26, 2016.
Sarah E. Feinberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-12883 Filed 6-1-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P