Notice2024-15456
Department of Transportation Equity Action Plan Update
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
July 15, 2024
Issuing agencies
Transportation Department
Abstract
The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) invites public comment on the most meaningful activities to advance equity that should be considered as part of DOT's 2024 update to its Equity Action Plan. The responses to this RFI will help the Department of Transportation (DOT, or the Department) understand the impact of our equity activities to date and inform what equity-related activities and performance metrics we prioritize through the Plan.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 135 (Monday, July 15, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 135 (Monday, July 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57516-57518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15456]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
[DOT-OST-2024-0072]
Department of Transportation Equity Action Plan Update
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation
(DOT).
ACTION: Request for Information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) invites
public comment on the most meaningful activities to advance equity that
should be considered as part of DOT's 2024 update to its Equity Action
Plan. The responses to this RFI will help the Department of
Transportation (DOT, or the Department) understand the impact of our
equity activities to date and inform what equity-related activities and
performance metrics we prioritize through the Plan.
DATES: Comments are requested by August 14, 2024. See the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section on ``Public Participation,'' below, for more
information about written comments.
Written Comments: Responses to this RFI are voluntary Comments
should refer to the docket number above and be submitted by one of the
following methods:
<bullet> Federal Rulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public
Participation heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this
document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change
to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information
provided.
Privacy Act: Except as provided below (``confidential business
information''), all comments received into the docket will be made
public in their entirety. The comments will be searchable by the name
of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
You should not include information in your comment that you do not want
to be made public. For information on DOT's Privacy Act compliance, see
<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/privacy">https://www.transportation.gov/privacy</a>.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> or to the street
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the
dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a2e7d3d7cbd6dbe2c6cdd68cc5cdd4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2f6a5e5a465b566f4b405b01484059">[email protected]</span></a> or contact
Kristin Wood at 774-293-2726 with questions. Office hours are from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Through this Request for Information (RFI), the Department solicits
input from the public on the following question:
(1) What activities being advanced through DOT's Equity Action Plan
would be the most meaningful in advancing equity?
(a) What activities can be expanded?
(b) What new activities can DOT consider for the future?
This section includes additional background information related to
DOT's Equity Action Plan that may be helpful in responding to this
question.
The DOT Strategic Plan (available at <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/dot-strategic-plan">https://www.transportation.gov/dot-strategic-plan</a>) is a roadmap for the
Department's implementation of six strategic goals, one of which is
Equity. The Equity strategic goal states that the Department will
``reduce inequities across our transportation systems and the
communities they affect'' and ``support and engage people and
communities to promote safe, affordable, accessible, and multimodal
access to opportunities and services while reducing transportation-
related disparities, adverse community impacts, and health effects.''
In response to Executive Order (E.O.) 13985, Advancing Racial
Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal
Government (<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government</a>), the Department developed its first
Equity Action Plan (<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/actionplan">https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/actionplan</a>). It highlighted key actions that the Department will
[[Page 57517]]
undertake to expand access and opportunity to all communities while
focusing on underserved, overburdened, and disadvantaged communities.
E.O. 14091, Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/22/2023-03779/further-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/02/22/2023-03779/further-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal</a>), directs all federal agencies to update their
Equity Action Plans on an annual basis. Specifically, each update
should include: the progress made by the agency on the actions,
performance measures, and milestones highlighted in the preceding
year's Equity Action Plan; potential barriers that underserved
communities may face; strategies to address those barriers, and a
description of how the agency intends to meaningfully engage with
underserved communities. In response to E.O. 14091, the 2023 update to
DOT's Equity Action Plan (<a href="https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/2023-equity-action-plan">https://www.transportation.gov/priorities/equity/2023-equity-action-plan</a>) highlights DOT accomplishments and
updated commitments to equity. Actions in the EAP fall under five focus
areas, including four that carried over from the original Equity Action
Plan: Wealth Creation; Power of Community; Proactive Intervention,
Planning, and Capacity Building; Expanding Access; and a new
Institutionalizing Equity focus area.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL; enacted November 15, 2021
as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and Inflation Reduction
Act (IRA; enacted August 16, 2022) make historic investments in the
transportation sector, improving public safety and climate resilience,
creating jobs across the country, and delivering a more equitable
future. The Department is committed to applying an equity lens to
implementation of BIL and IRA, including through actions described in
our initial and updated Equity Action Plans.
Government-wide definitions of (a) equity, (b) underserved
communities, and (c) disadvantaged communities have been established
via Executive Order(s). DOT has adopted these government-wide
definitions for the purpose of this RFI and our Equity Action Plan:
(a) The term ``equity'' means the consistent and systematic
treatment of all individuals in a fair, just, and impartial manner,
including individuals who belong to communities that often have been
denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native
American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander persons
and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; women and
girls; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons;
persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; persons who
live in United States Territories; persons otherwise adversely affected
by persistent poverty or inequality; and individuals who belong to
multiple such communities. [Source: E.O. 14091.]
(b) The term ``underserved communities'' refers to those
populations [included in the definition of ``equity''] as well as
geographic communities that have been systematically denied the
opportunity to participate fully in aspects of economic, social, and
civic life, as defined in E.O. 13985. [Source: E.O. 14091.]
(c) The term ``disadvantaged community'' refers to a community that
experiences disproportionately high and adverse health, environmental,
climate related, economic, and other cumulative impacts. [Source: E.O.
14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad">https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/02/01/2021-02177/tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad</a>.]
In addition, DOT has adopted the following definitions of (d)
overburdened community and (2) for the purpose of this RFI and our
Equity Action Plan:
(d) The term ``overburdened community'' refers to minority, low-
income, tribal, or Indigenous populations or geographic locations in
the United States that potentially experience disproportionate
environmental and/or safety harms and risks. This disproportionality
can be a result of greater vulnerability to environmental hazards,
heightened safety risks, lack of opportunity for public participation,
or other factors. [Source: <a href="https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/ej-2020-glossary">https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/ej-2020-glossary</a>.]
(e) The term ``meaningful public involvement'' refers to a process
that proactively seeks full representation from the community,
considers public comments and feedback, and incorporates that feedback
into a project, program, or plan. [Source: <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/public-involvement">https://www.transportation.gov/public-involvement</a>.]
DOT is in the process of preparing the 2024 Equity Action Plan
update. The responses to this RFI will help the Department understand
the impact of our equity activities to date and inform what we
prioritize through this year's update to DOT's Equity Action Plan.
Through this request, the Department seeks information from
stakeholders in public agencies, academic researchers involved in the
study of equity in transportation decision-making, advocacy, community-
based organizations, and not-for-profit institutions and individuals
working in the transportation sector or the field of equity, and State,
local, Tribal, and territorial areas, and the public. A summary of
input provided to the 2023 EAP update is available at: <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/equity-RFI">https://www.transportation.gov/equity-RFI</a> and a webinar will be hosted on July
25, 2024.
Public Participation
How do I prepare and submit comments?
To ensure that your comments are filed correctly, please include
the docket number of this document DOT-OST-2024-0072 in your comments.
Please submit one copy (two copies if submitting by mail or hand
delivery) of your comments, including any attachments, to the docket
following the instructions given above under ADDRESSES. Please note, if
you are submitting comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we
ask that the documents submitted be scanned using an Optical Character
Recognition (OCR) process, thus allowing the Agency to search and copy
certain portions of your submissions.
How do I submit confidential business information?
Any submissions containing Confidential Information must be
delivered to DOT in the following manner:
<bullet> Submitted in a sealed envelope marked ``confidential
treatment requested'';
<bullet> Document(s) or information that the submitter would like
withheld from the public docket should be marked ``PROPIN'';
<bullet> Accompanied by an index listing the document(s) or
information that the submitter would like the Departments to withhold.
The index should include information such as numbers used to identify
the relevant document(s) or information, document title and
description, and relevant page numbers and/or section numbers within a
document; and
<bullet> Submitted with a statement explaining the submitter's
grounds for objecting to disclosing the information to the public.
DOT will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the
FOIA and not include them in the public docket. DOT also requests that
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submitters of Confidential Information include a non-confidential
version (either redacted or summarized) of those confidential
submissions in the public docket. If the submitter cannot provide a
non-confidential version of its submission, DOT requests that the
submitter post a notice in the docket stating that it has provided DOT
with Confidential Information. Should a submitter fail to docket either
a non-confidential version of its submission or to post a notice that
Confidential Information has been provided, we will note the receipt of
the submission on the docket, with the submitter's organization or name
(to the degree permitted by law) and the date of submission.
Will the Agency consider late comments?
DOT will consider all comments received before the close of
business on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To
the extent practicable, DOT will also consider comments received after
that date.
How can I read the comments submitted by other people?
You may read the comments received at the address given above under
Written Comments. The hours of the docket are indicated above in the
same location. You may also see the comments on the internet,
identified by the docket number at the heading of this notice, at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Please note, this RFI is a planning document and will serve as
such. The RFI should not be construed as policy, a solicitation for
applications, or an obligation on the part of the government.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2024.
Mariia Zimmerman,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.
[FR Doc. 2024-15456 Filed 7-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P
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