Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements; Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements; Agency Information

Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501

et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request

(ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature

of the information collection and its expected burden. The Federal

Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the

following collection of information was published on April 18, 1997 [62

FR 19160].

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 26, 1997.

[[Page 45474]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Scott on (202) 366-4104.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Federal Highway Administration

Title: Developing and Recording Costs for Utility Adjustments.

OMB Number: 2125-0519.

Type of Request: Reinstatement, with change, of a previously

approved collection for which approval has expired.

Affected Public: 3,000 U.S. Utilities Companies.

Form(s): N/A.

Abstract: Under the provisions of 23 U.S.C. 123, Federal-aid

highway funds may be used to reimburse State highway agencies (SHAs)

when they have paid for the cost of relocation of utility facilities

necessitated by the construction of Federal-aid highway projects. This

reimbursement is based on actual costs incurred by a utility company as

a result of adjusting its facilities. Payment for ``costs incurred'' is

a basic tenet of the Federal-aid program. This general principle is

also established in 23 U.S.C. 121 when Federal-aid highway funds are

being used to reimburse the State highway agencies for the cost of

construction of Federal-aid highway projects. To implement these

provisions of law, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regulations,

23 CFR 645, Subpart A, require that the utility be able to document its

costs or expenses for adjusting its facilities. This record of costs

then forms the basis for payment by the SHA to the utility company and

in turn FHWA reimburses the SHA for its payments to the utility

company. A utility company's cost accounting records establish a means

of identifying the costs incurred in adjusting utility facilities. The

SHA uses these records to verify the costs to base its payments on. The

FHWA payment is based on the costs the State pays for. If the utility

did not keep a record of its costs, then there would be no

documentation of the expenses it would have incurred in adjusting its

facilities. If this should occur, there would be no basis for Federal-

aid highway fund participation in the costs and, under 23 U.S.C. 123,

the FHWA would not be able to reimburse the State for utility

adjustments. There are approximately 30,000 utility companies in the

United States. In any one year, it is estimated that about 10 percent,

or 3,000, of these utilities will be involved with reimbursable utility

adjustments on Federal-aid projects. It is further estimated that each

of these 3,000 utilities will have about 3 adjustments of its

facilities per year on Federal-aid projects. The net impact is

approximately 9,000 reimbursable utility adjustments. For a typical

adjustment, about 20 hours of staff time (16 hours professional staff;

4 hours secretarial staff) are expended to establish and maintain the

record of costs.

Estimated Annual Burden: 180,000 hours.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725-17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20503, Attention FHWA Desk Officer.

Comments are invited on: whether the proposed collection of

information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of

the Department, including whether the information will have practical

utility; the accuracy of the Departments estimate of the burden of the

proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility

and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize

the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including

the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of

information technology.

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 20, 1997.

Phillip A. Leach,

Clearance Officer, United States Department of Transportation.

[FR Doc. 97-22741 Filed 8-26-97; 8:45 am]

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