Notice2024-08915
Notice of Availability of Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transit Projects
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Published
April 25, 2024
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Transit Administration
Abstract
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of a Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transit Projects (Programmatic Assessment). On September 25, 2023, FTA announced in the Federal Register the availability of the draft Programmatic Assessment and requested public comment. FTA received six comment letters and presents its responses to those comments in this notice.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 81 (Thursday, April 25, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31796-31799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08915]
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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
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the
availability of a Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
from Transit Projects (Programmatic Assessment). On September 25, 2023,
FTA announced in the Federal Register the availability of the draft
Programmatic Assessment and requested public comment. FTA received six
comment letters and presents its responses to those comments in this
notice.
DATES: The final Programmatic Assessment is effective immediately.
ADDRESSES: The final Programmatic Assessment will be made available in
the U.S. Government's electronic docket site at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FTA-2023-0006">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FTA-2023-0006</a> and on the FTA website at
<a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-programs/environmental-programs/climate-considerations">https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-programs/environmental-programs/climate-considerations</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Blum, Office of Environmental
Programs, (202) 366-0463, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#83cee6e4e2edadc1eff6eec3e7ecf7ade4ecf5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b062e2c2a256509273e260b2f243f652c243d">[email protected]</span></a>, or Alexandra Brun, Office
of Environmental Programs, (202) 366-7469, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#02436e677a636c6670632c4070776c42666d762c656d74"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b8f9d4ddc0d9d6dccad996facacdd6f8dcd7cc96dfd7ce">[email protected]</span></a>; Mark
Montgomery, Office of Chief Counsel, (202) 366-1017,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dd90bcafb6f390b2b3a9bab2b0b8afa49db9b2a9f3bab2ab"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f3be928198ddbe9c9d87949c9e96818ab3979c87dd949c85">[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 2016, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
issued the Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on
Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate
Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews (81 FR 51866) (2016
CEQ guidance), which provided a framework for agencies to consider the
effects of a proposed action on climate change, as indicated by its
estimated GHG emissions and advised agencies to assess the effects of
climate change on their proposed actions. The 2016 CEQ guidance also
acknowledged 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 2016 CEQ guidance
noted 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.
In January 2017, FTA published a Programmatic Assessment of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transit Projects (82 FR 5636) based on
the 2016 CEQ guidance framework. In January 2023, CEQ issued the
National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change (88 FR 1196) (2023 CEQ
guidance) to assist agencies in analyzing greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions and climate change effects of their proposed actions under
NEPA. The 2023 CEQ guidance continues to support a programmatic
approach for assessing GHG emissions from transit projects.
The 2024 Programmatic Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from
[[Page 31797]]
Transit Projects (Programmatic Assessment) updates and supersedes the
2017 Programmatic Assessment in accordance with the 2023 CEQ guidance.
The 2024 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 (GHG
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 2023 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.
Comments Received
On September 25, 2023, FTA announced in the Federal Register the
availability of the draft Programmatic Assessment and requested public
comment. As of the date of issuance of this notice of availability, FTA
considered all comments received in the docket. FTA received comments
from one transit agency, two state Departments of Transportation (DOT),
one trade association, one nonprofit organization, and one member of
the public. This notice discusses the comments FTA received, organized
here by topic, and provides FTA's responses to those comments.
Comment: One state DOT commented that the Programmatic Assessment
does not include GHG emissions associated with the induced VMT that can
occur if new highway capacity is constructed in lieu of transit.
Response: The Programmatic Assessment is intended to serve as a
NEPA streamlining tool for transit projects. FTA is not attempting to
quantify GHG emissions for highway projects, nor is the Programmatic
Assessment aiming to compare potential transit projects to potential
highway projects. Furthermore, highway capacity projects are not
usually considered reasonable alternatives to proposed transit projects
during the environmental review (the stage in which a transit agency
would be expected to refer to the Programmatic Assessment).
Comment: A state DOT asserted the sample size of transit projects
used in the analysis could lead to unreliable results.
Response: FTA first stresses that the use of the Programmatic
Assessment (or the GHG Estimator) as a reference and NEPA streamlining
tool is entirely voluntary. FTA also notes that the sample of transit
projects analyzed in the Programmatic Assessment included 68 transit
projects that applied for funding through the 49 U.S.C. 5309 Capital
Investment Grants (CIG) Program. This represents an increase of 32
transit projects as compared to the sample used in the 2017
Programmatic Assessment (36 transit projects). FTA believes the sample
relied upon is representative of transit project types that will seek
FTA funding and, consequently, require compliance with NEPA. In cases
in which a proposed project's characteristics and assumptions are
similar to the sample, FTA recommends that transit agencies considering
bus rapid transit, streetcar, light rail, and commuter rail projects
incorporate the Programmatic Assessment by reference into their NEPA
analyses.
Comment: A state DOT questioned the use of forecasts of automobile
VMT reductions as the metric by which transit operations and GHG
emissions be measured, pointing out that ratios of displaced automobile
VMT to transit VMT in the Programmatic Assessment ranged from 1:1 to
48:1.
Response: FTA acknowledges there are other metrics by which transit
operations can be measured. The results presented in the Programmatic
Assessment rely on an analysis that uses GHG emissions per VMT as the
metric to evaluate vehicle operations. Other metrics, such as emissions
per revenue vehicle hour, which measures operational efficiency, and
emissions per passenger- or seat-mile, which takes service productivity
into account, offer useful benchmarks. The Programmatic Assessment does
recast results to account for passenger loads for each transit mode.
Those results suggested that even during times of lower than usual
transit ridership, all transit modes can be expected to result in net
annual GHG emissions reductions when considering GHG emissions on a
per-passenger basis. Adding further information is inconsistent with
the information transit agencies provide in CIG templates--the primary
data source for the transit project sample. Additionally, the
methodology used in the Programmatic Assessment is optional and may be
tailored to a specific transit project. FTA notes that Appendix B
offers characteristics for each individual project in the sample of
transit projects referred to for the assessment. FTA also reiterates
the Programmatic Assessment's point that the ratios that the comment
identified were all for the sample heavy rail projects. Given the
limited number of projects within that heavy rail sample and the wide
variation in the estimated GHG emissions across it, the Programmatic
Assessment recommends that FTA's GHG Estimator or another locally
recommended approach be used to make project-specific GHG emissions
estimates in NEPA analyses for heavy rail projects.
Comment: A state DOT stated that findings for transit projects
other than large-scale, fixed-guideway projects are not included.
Response: FTA clarifies that the Programmatic Assessment examines
the GHG impacts of project types included in CIG templates. The
analysis presented is intended to be a voluntary NEPA streamlining
tool, providing a source of data and analysis for FTA and its project
sponsors to reference in
[[Page 31798]]
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.
Comment: A state DOT asserted that region-based electricity factors
should be used.
Response: The Programmatic Assessment methodology relies on the
best available data and tools to estimate the GHG emissions associated
with transit projects. In the Programmatic Assessment, the emissions
factors associated with electrically powered vehicles use the ``U.S.
Mix'' region from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's)
eGRID2020, which represents an average value for the country. FTA
acknowledges here and in the Programmatic Assessment that the ``U.S.
Mix'' may differ from region-specific factors. For regions with cleaner
electricity generation mixes than the U.S. Mix, this approach will
overestimate emissions for electrically powered vehicles. Likewise,
this approach will underestimate emissions for the same in regions
where electricity production is less clean than the U.S. Mix. Figure 4-
2 in the Programmatic Assessment illustrates the differences in the GHG
emissions associated with an example light rail project across
different eGRID subregions. Appendix A in the Programmatic Assessment
includes the eGRID sub-region electricity emission factors; these
factors are incorporated in the Programmatic Assessment's accompanying
Estimator Tool. Transit agencies can replicate the methodology that the
Programmatic Assessment establishes using locally available data sets,
if they choose to do so.
Comment: One state DOT requested additional clarification about the
sample projects.
Response: FTA developed the Programmatic Assessment to provide
transit agencies with an analysis of the effects of GHG emissions for
certain types of projects that they can reference in future
environmental review documents to meet NEPA requirements without
necessitating a project-specific evaluation for that impact area. The
sample of transit projects analyzed in the Programmatic Assessment
included 68 transit projects that applied for funding through the CIG
Program. Specific characteristics of those projects are in Appendix B
of the Programmatic Assessment. Additional information regarding CIG
projects is available in annual reports to Congress that FTA is
required by law to prepare (<a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/capital-investments/annual-report-funding-recommendations">https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/capital-investments/annual-report-funding-recommendations</a>).
Comment: One state DOT recommended that more details be provided to
explain the differences in results included in the draft Programmatic
Assessment relative to the results reported in the superseded 2017
Programmatic Assessment.
Response: For construction GHG emissions data, the 2017
Programmatic Assessment relied on the Infrastructure Carbon Estimator
version 1 (ICE v1). A second version of that tool, ICE v2, was
developed in the interim between the 2017 Programmatic Assessment and
the current Programmatic Assessment. The current Programmatic
Assessment relied on ICE v2. Construction GHG emission rates included
in ICE v2 are higher than those in ICE v1 due to the use of higher
quality data and modeling. Furthermore, for bus rapid transit projects
specifically, FTA reduced the period over which GHG emissions were
amortized from 50 years to 40 years to reflect minimum useful
lifespans, per FTA Circular 5010.1E, more accurately. These changes
result in GHG emissions estimates that appear higher in the current
Programmatic Assessment than in the 2017 Programmatic Assessment. FTA
will note the ICE versioning differences in a footnote in the
Programmatic Assessment and clarify the minimum useful lifespan figure
used for bus rapid transit.
Comment: One state DOT recommended additional factors be considered
when applying the GHG calculation methodology to the no action
alternatives in Appendix C.
Response: The 2023 CEQ guidance suggests that NEPA reviews identify
the current and projected future state of the affected environment
without the proposed action (i.e., the no action alternative), which
serves as the baseline for considering the effects of the proposed
action and its reasonable alternatives. In the context of the
Programmatic Assessment, the effects of the no action alternative are
represented by the GHG emissions from automobile use that is expected
to occur in the absence of the transit project (i.e., automobile VMT
displaced in the action alternative). Other than displaced automobile
VMT, data on other aspects of the no action alternative, such as
displaced GHG emissions from road maintenance and construction, were
not included. Use of the Programmatic Assessment by transit agencies is
voluntary; transit agencies that want to develop more holistic
estimates of GHG emissions for a project-specific no action alternative
may opt to do so.
Comment: One nonprofit organization: (1) requested additional
clarification on when project-specific analysis is required; and (2)
recommended that FTA work with the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) to conduct programmatic GHG-related emissions evaluations during
the long-range transportation planning process.
Response: FTA reiterates its recommendation that in cases in which
the project characteristics and assumptions are similar to the sample
of analyzed projects, transit agencies considering bus rapid transit,
streetcar, light rail, and commuter rail projects may incorporate the
Programmatic Assessment by reference into their NEPA analyses. In these
cases, no additional project-specific GHG emissions analyses would be
necessary for purposes of NEPA. Use of the Programmatic Assessment is
voluntary, and transit agencies may choose to conduct their own GHG
emissions analyses if they determine the Programmatic Assessment does
not meet their project needs. FTA will evaluate the Programmatic
Assessment and the accompanying Estimator, as appropriate, to provide
better estimates of GHG emissions for transit projects. The Estimator
is available for transit agencies that wish to have a more tailored
estimate of emissions or for which a project differs substantially from
those used to create the Programmatic Assessment.
On the second general point, during development of the 2017
Programmatic Assessment FTA worked with FHWA to discuss approaches to
considering GHG emissions consistent with the 2016 CEQ guidance. FTA
will continue to explore best practices for considering GHG emissions
at other stages during transportation project development, including
long-range transportation planning.
Comment: One trade association suggested that FTA exclude
maintenance projects from requirements for GHG assessments.
Response: FTA notes that use of Programmatic Assessment as a
reference and NEPA streamlining tool is entirely voluntary. The
Programmatic Assessment does not introduce any new requirements.
Rather, the Programmatic Assessment recommends that NEPA reviews for
new individual light rail, street car, bus rapid transit, and commuter
rail projects incorporate by reference the analysis of construction-
related, operations-related, and maintenance-related upstream and
downstream GHG emissions in cases in which the project characteristics
and
[[Page 31799]]
assumptions are similar to the sample projects analyzed The
Programmatic Assessment does not consider emissions from or provide
recommendations for projects that maintain existing systems.
Comment: One trade association suggested that FTA recognize the
critical influence of transit on energy-efficient community design.
Response: FTA revised the Programmatic Assessment to further
highlight energy-efficient community design as a benefit of transit.
The report notes that transit enables denser, more energy-efficient
land use patterns that keep GHG emissions low through fewer and/or
shorter driving trips, more trips on foot or by bicycle, and a
reduction in car ownership and use.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; 40 CFR 1507.3; 49 CFR 1.81(a)(5)
and 1.91(c).
Mark Ferroni,
Acting Associate Administrator for Planning and Environment.
[FR Doc. 2024-08915 Filed 4-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P
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