Notice2022-17888
Request for Information for the Interstate Rail Compacts Program
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 19, 2022
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Railroad Administration
Abstract
On November 5, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The BIL provides historic appropriations for the railroad transportation grant programs administered by FRA and authorizes new programs to enhance rail safety and to repair, restore, improve, and expand the nation's rail network. A new program established under the BIL is the Interstate Rail Compacts Grant Program (the Program), which provides financial assistance to existing interstate rail compacts (IRCs) to strengthen their capability to advance intercity passenger rail service within their regions. The BIL requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish the Program; this responsibility is delegated to FRA. In this RFI, FRA seeks comments on the Program.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 160 (Friday, August 19, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 160 (Friday, August 19, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51190-51192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-17888]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA-2022-0064]
Request for Information for the Interstate Rail Compacts Program
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: On November 5, 2021, President Biden signed into law the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law (BIL). The BIL provides historic appropriations for
the railroad transportation grant programs administered by FRA and
authorizes new programs to enhance rail safety and to repair, restore,
improve, and expand the nation's rail network. A new program
established under the BIL is the Interstate Rail Compacts Grant Program
(the Program), which provides financial assistance to existing
interstate rail compacts (IRCs) to strengthen their capability to
advance intercity passenger rail service within their regions. The BIL
requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish the Program; this
responsibility is delegated to FRA. In this RFI, FRA seeks comments on
the Program.
DATES: Written comments on this RFI must be received on or before
September 19, 2022. FRA will consider comments filed after this date to
the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to docket number FRA-2022-0064 and be
submitted at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Search by using the docket
number and follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number (FRA-2022-0064) for this RFI.
Note: All comments received, including any personal information,
will be posted without change to the docket and will be accessible to
the public at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. You should not include
information in your comment that you do not want to be made public.
Input submitted online via <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> is not
immediately posted to the site. It may take several business days
before your submission is posted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information related to
this RFI, please contact Wynne Davis, Supervisory Transportation
Analyst, Program Development and Strategy Division, by email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7c2b0512121952381d0a150f3c181308521b130a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7126081f1f145f351007180231151e055f161e07">[email protected]</span></a> or by telephone: 202-493-6122.
[[Page 51191]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Program allows FRA to provide financial assistance to existing
IRCs, which are established in law by member States passing identical
or near identical legislation, to develop and advance intercity
passenger rail service. The Program can fund the technical and
administrative functions of IRCs in addition to supporting coordination
and promotion activities for rail services within a region.
IRCs have a history of promoting intercity passenger rail projects
within their regions and encouraging policies that foster the efficient
development of intercity passenger rail projects. IRCs have also served
as a means of regional coordination of rail projects sponsored by the
departments of transportation in their member States. Furthermore, as
investment in intercity passenger rail from State and Federal
governments over the past decade has created increasingly robust rail
networks, a greater need has emerged for increased cooperation across
state lines to coordinate intercity passenger rail services and project
delivery. Certain regions have also expressed a desire for strong
leadership to represent regional needs. IRCs present an opportunity to
fulfill these needs. The Program is designed to support IRCs by
providing financial assistance to facilitate their administrative and
technical functions and encourage IRCs to build greater organizational
capacity.
Information Requested
FRA is seeking input on how the Program can best support existing
IRCs so they are able to take a more central role in advancing the
development of intercity passenger rail service. Additionally, although
only established IRCs are eligible for financial assistance under the
Program, FRA is considering whether offering other types of assistance
outside of the Program, such as technical support, to States interested
in developing IRCs would be beneficial. Therefore, in addition to
questions about the Program, FRA is seeking comments about how it may
be able to assist States in those endeavors.
FRA requests that responses to the RFI be organized by the topics
outlined below, including references, as applicable, to the numbered
questions. Respondents are encouraged to address in their responses any
topic they believe to be relevant to the Program and not limited to
addressing only those topics and questions outlined below.
Program Eligible Activities
Under the Program, financial assistance is available to established
IRCs for--
<bullet> Cost of Administration;
<bullet> Systems Planning, including the impact on freight
operations and ridership; \1\
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\1\ Systems planning is a high-level planning process that
occurs prior to project specific planning studies and identifies
potential solutions to transportation challenges. Regional rail
plans are an example of a systems planning study and identify a
network of corridors that may have the potential to support
intercity passenger rail service within a region.
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<bullet> Promotion of Intercity Passenger Rail Operations;
<bullet> Preparation of applications for competitive Federal grant
programs; and
<bullet> Operations Coordination.
1. What administrative costs need funding?
2. How would IRCs use funding for systems planning studies?
3. What promotional activities for intercity passenger rail
operations require funding?
4. What preparation activities for Federal grant programs require
funding?
5. What operations coordination activities require funding?
6. Of the eligible activities listed above, are there activities
that are particularly important or helpful to support an IRC's work?
7. What deliverables should FRA require for tasks associated with
these activities?
8. How should FRA measure performance for these activities?
Sequencing of Eligible Activities
FRA anticipates that established IRCs at various stages of
development may focus on different activities based on issues relevant
to the compact, and their capacities. Longer-established, more active
compacts may have a greater need to focus on operations coordination
while newly-developed compacts may focus more on securing
administrative and technical staff and establishing the basic
parameters of the compact, such as a mission statement and bylaws. The
eligible activities allow for range of endeavors to provide support to
IRCs at different stages of development.
Providing a framework to sequence the eligible activities could
assist IRCs in identifying key actions to support the development of
intercity passenger rail within their region. For example, encouraging
the development of a regional rail planning study as a first
deliverable could be helpful, because regional rail plans can act as a
roadmap to determine how and when corridors services should be
implemented. A regional rail plan can still provide this benefit in
instances where State departments of transportation have advanced more
detailed corridor planning studies, because the analysis completed in a
regional rail plan can describe network benefits of operating a region
of connected corridors. Some eligible activities, such as the cost of
administration, would not be tied to a sequencing framework as these
costs are required to support the interstate rail compact throughout
the lifecycle of the grant.
9. Would providing a framework for the sequencing of eligible
activities be helpful? If so, what should the sequencing framework look
like?
10. What are the potential drawbacks of establishing a sequencing
framework for eligible activities?
11. What are the potential benefits of establishing a sequencing
framework for eligible activities?
IRC Development and Dormant IRCs
As mentioned above, FRA is considering assisting States interested
in establishing an IRC to better coordinate developing intercity
passenger rail service within a region. Although FRA is unable to offer
financial assistance to establish an IRC, FRA is considering providing
other types of assistance, such as technical assistance, for this
purpose.
Additionally, FRA recognizes that restarting the activities of a
dormant IRC is a significant undertaking and the authorized activities
of the IRC may no longer reflect present day needs and priorities. FRA
is considering how it may assist in these endeavors as well.
Feedback from stakeholders and the public on the below questions
will assist FRA in this regard.
12. In what instances should States consider establishing an IRC?
13. What are the specific issues States are seeking to resolve
through the establishment of an IRC?
14. What States should consider establishing an IRC?
15. What issues or challenges make it difficult to establish an
interstate compact or IRC?
16. How can FRA most effectively facilitate establishing a new IRC?
17. How can FRA best facilitate coordination of project development
among States to achieve better service and performance than project
development conducted by individual States?
18. In what instances should States consider resuming activities
under a dormant IRC?
19. In what instances should States consider legislative action to
expand the
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authorized activities an interstate compact can undertake?
20. What type of assistance from FRA would be helpful in restarting
the work of a dormant IRC?
Issued in Washington, DC.
Paul Nissenbaum,
Associate Administrator, Office of Railroad Policy and Development.
[FR Doc. 2022-17888 Filed 8-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
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