Notice2023-20745
Notice of Availability of Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transit Projects; Request for Comments
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
September 25, 2023
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Transit Administration
Abstract
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of and requests comments on a Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transit Projects.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65768-65769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20745]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No.: FTA-2023-0006]
Notice of Availability of Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse
Gas Emissions From Transit Projects; Request for Comments
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the
availability of and requests comments on a Programmatic Assessment of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transit Projects.
DATES: Comments must be received by November 24, 2023. Late filed
comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: The Programmatic Assessment is available through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> under docket number FTA-2023-0006.
You may submit comments to Docket No. FTA-2023-0006 by any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and
follow the 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 8:30 a.m. and 4:30
p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: (202) 493-2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name (Federal Transit
Administration) and the Docket Number of this notice at the beginning
of your comments. Note that 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: Megan Blum, Office of Environmental
Programs, (202) 366-0463, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#abe6cecccac585e9c7dec6ebcfc4df85ccc4dd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="206d4547414e0e624c554d60444f540e474f56">[email protected]</span></a>, or Alexandra Brun, Office
of Environmental Programs, (202) 366-7469, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#62230e071a030c0610034c2010170c22060d164c050d14"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c283aea7baa3aca6b0a3ec80b0b7ac82a6adb6eca5adb4">[email protected]</span></a>; Mark
Montgomery, Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366-1017,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e5a884978ecba88a8b91828a8880979ca5818a91cb828a93"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8bc6eaf9e0a5c6e4e5ffece4e6eef9f2cbefe4ffa5ece4fd">[email protected]</span></a>. Office hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires Federal
agencies to disclose and analyze the environmental effects of their
proposed actions. In January 2023, the Council on
[[Page 65769]]
Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued the National Environmental Policy
Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate
Change (88 FR 1196) (CEQ guidance) to assist agencies in analyzing
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change effects of their
proposed actions under NEPA. The CEQ guidance provides a framework for
agencies to consider the effects of a proposed action on climate
change, as indicated by its estimated GHG emissions. It also advises
agencies to assess the effects of climate change on their proposed
actions.
The CEQ guidance acknowledges that incorporation by reference is of
great value in considering GHG emissions or the implications of climate
change for the proposed action and its environmental effects. The CEQ
guidance also notes that an agency may decide that it would be useful
and efficient to provide an aggregate analysis of GHG emissions or
climate change effects in a programmatic analysis and then incorporate
that analysis by reference into future NEPA reviews. FTA considers it
practicable to assess the effects of GHG emissions and climate change
for transit projects at a programmatic level, where possible.
The Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from
Transit Projects (Programmatic Assessment) is a NEPA streamlining tool
that creates greater efficiency by: (1) reporting on whether certain
types of proposed transit projects merit detailed analysis of their GHG
emissions at the project-level; and (2) providing a source of data and
analysis for FTA and its project sponsors to reference in future
environmental documents for projects where detailed, project-level GHG
analysis would provide only limited information beyond what is
collected and considered in the Programmatic Assessment. The
Programmatic Assessment is intended to update and supersede FTA's
January 2017 Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from
Transit Projects (82 FR 5636).
The Programmatic Assessment presents results from an analysis to
estimate direct and indirect GHG emissions generated from the
construction, operations, and maintenance phases for a sample of bus
rapid transit, streetcar rail, light rail, commuter rail, and heavy
rail projects, as well as an estimate of personal vehicle emissions
displaced due to transit's ``ridership effect.'' Emissions estimates
were calculated using FTA's Transit Greenhouse Gas Estimator, version
3.0 (<a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/environmental-programs/ftas-transit-greenhouse-gas-emissions-estimator">https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-guidance/environmental-programs/ftas-transit-greenhouse-gas-emissions-estimator</a>), which is an Excel-based tool that allows users to calculate
partial lifecycle GHG emissions estimates by transit mode based on
limited data inputs. The CEQ guidance also indicates that project
proponents should place potential GHG emissions and their impacts in
appropriate context. In order to provide additional context for the GHG
estimates included in the Programmatic Assessment, the net social
benefits of reduced operational emissions resulting from each transit
project in the sample were estimated.
The Programmatic Assessment provides a reference for FTA and its
project sponsors to use in future NEPA documents to describe the
effects of proposed transit investments on partial lifecycle GHG
emissions. The Programmatic Assessment's results can inform transit
project proponents who are considering the GHG emissions of future
transit investments or who might independently want to evaluate the GHG
emissions benefits and cost of such investments.
FTA requests comments on the Programmatic Assessment, which is
available in the docket. FTA will respond to comments received on the
Programmatic Assessment in a second Federal Register notice to be
published after the comment period closes. That second notice will also
announce the availability of a final Programmatic Assessment that
reflects any changes implemented as a result of comments received.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 40 CFR 1507.3; 49 CFR
1.81(a)(5).
Felicia L. James,
Associate Administrator for Planning and Environment.
[FR Doc. 2023-20745 Filed 9-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P
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