Agency Information Collection Activities: Renewed Approval of Information Collection

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Published

January 10, 2022

Issuing agencies

Transportation Department

Abstract

The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments on our intention to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an information collection in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The collection is necessary for administration of the "Discretionary Grants for Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA) Program". INFRA grants support surface transportation infrastructure projects that have a significant local or regional impact.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 6 (Monday, January 10, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1254-1256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00135]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2021-0167]

Agency Information Collection Activities: Renewed Approval of
Information Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), DOT.

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments
on our intention to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
approval for an information collection in accordance with the
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The collection is
necessary for administration of the ``Discretionary Grants for
Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA)
Program''. INFRA grants support surface transportation infrastructure
projects that have a significant local or regional impact.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by March 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: To ensure that you do not duplicate your docket submissions,
please submit them by only one of the following means:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
<bullet> Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building, Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
<bullet> Hand Delivery: West Building, Ground Floor, Room W-12-140,
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.

[[Page 1255]]

Instructions: To ensure proper docketing of your comment, please
include the agency name and docket number [DOT-OST-2021-0167] at the
beginning of your comments. All comments received will be posted
without change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal
information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information regarding this
notice, please contact the Office of the Secretary via email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c38a8d859182a4b1a2adb7b083a7acb7eda4acb5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="773e393125361005161903043713180359101801">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>, or call Paul Baumer at (202) 366-1092.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: New Collection. OMB number will be issued
after the collection is approved.
Title: Discretionary Grants for Nationally Significant Multimodal
Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA) Program.
Form Numbers: None.
Type of Review: New Information Collection Request (ICR).
Background: The Office of the Secretary (OST) within the Department
of Transportation (DOT) provides financial assistance to State and
local Governments, including U.S. territories, tribal Governments,
transit agencies, port authorities, metropolitan planning organizations
(MPOs), and other political subdivisions of State or local Governments
through the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects
Program, which was established in the Fixing American's Surface
Transportation Act of 2015 (``FAST ACT''), Public Law 114-94 Sec.
1105, and continued in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of
2021. The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (``OST'') is
referring to these grants as ``FASTLANE'' or ``INFRA'' Discretionary
Grants, depending on the year of award. The purpose of each program is
to advance projects that will have a significant impact on the Nation,
metropolitan area or a region.
This notice seeks comments on the proposed information collection,
which will collect information necessary to support the ongoing
oversight and administration of previous awards, the evaluation and
selection of new applications, and the funding agreement negotiation
stage for new awards.
The reporting requirements for the program is as follows:
To be considered to receive a INFRA grant, a project sponsor must
submit an application to DOT containing a project narrative, as
detailed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The project narrative
should include the information necessary for the Department to
determine that the project satisfies eligibility requirements as
warranted by law.
Following the announcement of a funding award, the recipient and
DOT will negotiate and sign a funding agreement. In the agreement, the
recipient must describe the project that DOT agreed to fund, which is
the project that was described in the INFRA application or a reduced-
scope version of that project. The agreement also includes a project
schedule, budget, and project-related climate change and equity
planning and policies.
During the project monitoring stage, grantees will submit reports
on the financial condition of the project and the project's progress.
Grantees will submit progress and monitoring reports to the Government
on a quarterly basis until completion of the project. The progress
reports will include an SF-425, Federal Financial Report, and other
information determined by the administering DOT Operating
Administration. This information will be used to monitor grantees' use
of Federal funds, ensuring accountability and financial transparency in
the INFRA program.
For the purposes of estimating the information collection burden
below for new applicants and awardees, the Department is assuming that
for each year 2022-2024, the Department will review approximately 250
applications in Year 1, negotiate 35 funding agreements in Year 2, and
begin quarterly project monitoring for 35 projects in Year 3. For a new
applicant in 2022, their burden will be 100 hours in 2022, 6 hours in
2023, and 20 hours in 2024. See Table 1 below:

Table 1
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Year 1 (2022) Year 2 (2023) Year 3 (2024)
Respondent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total
Hours Frequency Hours Frequency Hours Frequency
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022 Applicant (250)......................................... 100 1 ........... ........... ........... ........... 25,000
2022 Awardee (35)............................................ ........... ........... -6 1 ........... ........... 210
2022 Recipient (35).......................................... ........... ........... ........... ........... 5 4 700
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023 Applicant (250)......................................... ........... ........... 100 1 ........... ........... 25,000
2023 Awardee (35)............................................ ........... ........... ........... ........... 6 1 210
2023 Recipient (35)..........................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024 Applicant (250)......................................... ........... ........... ........... ........... 100 1 25,000
2024 Awardee (35)............................................
2024 Recipient (35)..........................................
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This Notice is separately estimating the information collection
burden for projects awarded from 2016-2021. Approximately 60 of these
projects are in the project monitoring phase in Year 1, while 40
projects are still negotiating funding agreements. In Year 2,
approximately 30 of these projects will begin project monitoring, while
approximately 20 projects will cease reporting once their projects are
completed. In Year 3, 10 projects will begin project monitoring while
20 projects will cease reporting. The individual burden for a project
awarded from 2016-2021 will depend on when they were selected, when
they completed negotiation of their funding agreement, and when their
project reaches completion. See Table 2 below:

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Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Respondent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total
Number Hrs Freq Number Hrs Freq Number Hrs Freq
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2016-2021 Awardee................................... 40 4 1 10 4 1 0 4 1 200
2016-2021 Recipient................................. 60 5 4 70 5 4 60 5 4 3800

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2016-2021 Project Closed............................ 0 0 0 20 0 0 40 0 0 ........
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The Department's estimated burden for this information collection
is the following:

For New Applications

Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 250 per year.
Frequency: Once.
Estimated Average Burden per Response: 100 hours for each new
Application.

For Funding Agreements

Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 35 in Year 1, 2 and
3.
Frequency: Once.
Estimated Average Burden per Response: 6 hours for each new Funding
Agreement.

For Project Monitoring

Expected Number of Respondents: Approximately 60 in Year 1, 70 in
Year 2, 80 in Year 3.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Estimated Average Burden per Response: 5 hours for each request for
Quarterly Progress and Monitoring Report.
Estimated Total 3-Year Burden on Respondents: 79,700 hours. (New
Applicants [75,000 hrs], New Awardees/Recipients [700 hrs] + Prior
Awardees/Recipients [4000 hrs]).
The following is detailed information and instructions regarding
the specific reporting requirements for each report identified above:

Application Stage

To be considered to receive a INFRA grant, a project sponsor must
submit an application to DOT containing a project narrative, as
detailed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The project narrative
should include the information necessary for the Department to
determine that the project satisfies eligibility requirements.
Applications must be submitted through <a href="http://www.Grants.gov">www.Grants.gov</a>. Instructions
for submitting applications can be found at <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/infragrants">https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/infragrants</a>. The application must
include the Standard Form 424 (Application for Federal Assistance),
Standard Form 424C (Budget Information for Construction Programs),
cover page, and the Project Narrative.
The application should include a table of contents, maps, and
graphics, as appropriate, to make the information easier to review. The
Department recommends that the application be prepared with standard
formatting preferences (i.e., a single-spaced document, using a
standard 12-point font such as Times New Roman, with 1-inch margins).
The project narrative may not exceed 25 pages in length, excluding
cover pages and table of contents. The only substantive portions that
may exceed the 25-page limit are documents supporting assertions or
conclusions made in the 25-page project narrative. If possible, website
links to supporting documentation should be provided rather than copies
of these supporting materials. If supporting documents are submitted,
applicants should clearly identify within the project narrative the
relevant portion of the project narrative that each supporting document
supports. At the applicant's discretion, relevant materials provided
previously to a modal administration in support of a different USDOT
financial assistance program may be referenced and described as
unchanged.
OST estimates that it takes approximately 100 person-hours to
compile an application package for a INFRA application. Since OST
expects to receive 250 applications per funding round, the total hours
required are estimated to be 25,000 hours (100 hours x 250 applications
= 25,000 hours) on a one-time basis, per funding round.

Funding Agreement Stage

DOT enters a funding agreement with each recipient. In the
agreement, the recipient describes the project that DOT agreed to fund,
which is typically the project that was described in the INFRA
application or a reduced-scope version of that project. The agreement
also includes a project schedule, budget, and project related climate
change and equity planning and policies.
OST estimates that it takes approximately 6 person-hours to respond
to provide the information necessary for funding agreements. Based on
previous rounds of INFRA awards, OST estimates that there will likely
be 35 agreements negotiated per additional funding round. The total
hours required are estimated to be 120 (6 hours x 35 agreements = 210
hours) on a one-time basis, per funding round.

Project Monitoring Stage

OST requires each recipient to submit quarterly reports during the
project to ensure the proper and timely expenditure of Federal funds
under the grant.
The requirements comply with 2 CFR part 200 and are restated in the
funding agreement. During the project monitoring stage, the grantee
will complete Quarterly Progress Reports to allow DOT to monitor the
project budget and schedule.
OST estimates that it takes approximately 5 person-hours to develop
and submit a quarterly progress report. OST expects approximately 35
projects to be awarded per funding round, while grants awarded in prior
years will reach completion during the year and would no longer need to
submit these reports. OST expects recipients and awardees from 2016-
2021 will require 3800 hours to submit project monitoring reports while
new recipients and awardees will require 700 hours from 2022-2024.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter
35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1:48.

Issued in Washington, DC.
John Augustine,
Director of the Office of Infrastructure Finance and Innovation, Office
of the Under Secretary for Transportation Policy.
[FR Doc. 2022-00135 Filed 1-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P

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