Financial Assistance To Eliminate Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing Hazards on Designated High-Speed Rail Corridors

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Highway Administration

[FRA Docket No. FRA-1998-4759]

Financial Assistance To Eliminate Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing

Hazards on Designated High-Speed Rail Corridors

AGENCIES: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of designation of high-speed corridors; solicitation of

applications for: (1) the designation of additional high-speed

corridors, and (2) for Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 funding assistance.

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SUMMARY: Section 1103(c) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st

Century (TEA-21) (Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107) modifies the program

established in 23 U.S.C. 104(d)(2) to eliminate highway-railroad grade

crossing hazards in designated high-speed rail corridors. The program

funding out of the Highway Trust Fund would be increased from $5

million a year to $5.25 million a year for FYs 1998-2003; eligible

corridors are increased from 5 to 11 with the addition of the Gulf

Coast, Keystone and Empire State Corridors and the addition of up to 3

corridors to be selected by the Secretary of Transportation

(Secretary); not less than $250,000 of available funding is for the

Minneapolis/St. Paul-Chicago segment of the Midwest Corridor; and a

general fund authorization of $15 million per year for FYs 1999-2003 is

provided for the same purpose, namely elimination of highway-railroad

grade crossing hazards in designated high-speed rail corridors.

(Funding of the general fund authorization is subject to the

appropriations process; no such appropriations have been made for FY

1999.)

In this notice, the FRA is soliciting applications from States for

designation of up to three new corridors, and applications from States

for FY 1999 funding under this program in all designated corridors. The

FRA is actively coordinating with the FHWA, which is also substantively

involved in this program and in all decisions pertaining to it.

DATES: Signed, written comments on this notice must be received by the

FRA on or before February 9, 1999. Completed applications for

additional corridor designations must be received by the FRA on or

before March 11, 1999. Completed applications for FY 1999 funding

assistance must be received by the FRA on or before March 11, 1999 or,

for any additional designated corridors, within two months following

publication of the designation in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The public is invited to submit written comments on this

notice. Written comments should refer to the docket number appearing at

the top of this notice and be submitted to the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT

Dockets, Room PL-401, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20590. All comments received will be available for

examination at the above address. Docket hours at the Nassif Building

are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding Federal

holidays. Those desiring notification of receipt of comments must

include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard.

Applications for corridor designation and applications for FY 1999

funding assistance should be submitted to: The Honorable Jolene M.

Molitoris, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, ATTN:

Section 104(d)(2) Program, RDV-11, Mail Stop 20, 1120 Vermont Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For FRA: Mr. John F. Cikota, Senior

Transportation Analyst, Program Development Division, Office of

Railroad Development (telephone: 202-493-6364; E-mail address:

John.C[email protected]), or Gareth Rosenau, Attorney, Office of Chief

Counsel, FRA, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW., Mailstop 10, Washington, DC

20590 (telephone 202-493-6054; E-mail address:

Gareth.R[email protected]). For FHWA: Mr. Lee Chimini, Intermodal

Transportation Engineer, Intermodal and Statewide Programs Division,

Office of Environment and

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Planning (telephone: 202-366-4068; E-mail address:

Leroy.C[email protected]) or Mr. Joseph Solomey, Attorney, Office of

Chief Counsel, FHWA (telephone: 202-366-1374; E-mail address:

Joseph.S[email protected]), 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

Internet users can access all comments received by the U.S. DOT

Dockets, Room PL-401, by using the universal resource locator (URL):

http://dms.dot.gov. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each

year. Please follow the instructions online for more information and

help.

An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded using a modem

and suitable communication software from the Government Printing

Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 512-1661. Internet

users may reach the Federal Register's home page at: http://

www.nara.gov/fedreg and the Government Printing Office's database at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara.

Background

Purpose

The purpose of this notice is to provide general information about

the 23 U.S.C. 104(d)(2) program to eliminate highway-railroad grade

crossing hazards in designated high-speed rail corridors (Section

104(d)(2) Program), and the FRA's plans for implementing the program.

The notice identifies the five corridors which have previously been

designated by DOT and the three corridors designated in TEA-21, and

invites any State, either singly or in conjunction with other States,

to submit an application for the designation of one of up to three new

corridors. In addition, the notice invites State governments housing a

high-speed rail corridor identified in this notice, or a high-speed

corridor designated subsequent to the issuance of this notice, to make

applications for FY 1999 funding. The FRA and the FHWA will review the

applications for corridor designation and funding, and will make joint

decisions regarding such applications. The public is invited to submit

comments on this notice.

Section 104(d)(2) Program

The section 104(d)(2) Program provides Federal funding to eliminate

highway-railroad grade crossing hazards in designated high-speed rail

corridors. Section 1103(c) of TEA-21 modifies the program by setting

aside from the Highway Trust Fund $5.25 million per year for FYs 1998-

2003; increasing the eligible corridors from 5 to 11 with the addition

of the Gulf Coast, Keystone, and Empire State corridors and the

addition of up to 3 new corridors to be selected by the Secretary;

specifying that not less than $250,000 of available annual funding is

for the Minneapolis/St Paul-Chicago segment of the Midwest Corridor;

and providing a general fund authorization of $15 million per year for

FYs 1999-2003. Funding of this general fund authorization is subject to

the appropriations process; no such appropriations have been made for

FY 1999.

Rules for Application Submissions

Applications for the designation of new high-speed rail corridors

under the Section 104(d)(2) Program, and applications for FY 1999

funding under the program shall be submitted to the address cited in

this notice, and electronically in either WordPerfect or MS Word

format. Electronic versions are to be submitted either on 3\1/2\ inch

floppy disks to the address above, or by electronic mail to

John.C[email protected]. Applications shall be submitted by the dates

indicated in this notice, and shall comply with the requirements

specified in this notice.

Amount of Funding

To fund the section 104(d)(2) Program, TEA-21 authorized for

allocation $5.25 million annually from the Highway Trust Fund. This

allocation is subject to a reduction by operation of Section 1102(f) of

TEA-21. For FY 1998, the reduction amounted to 10.9 percent of the

authorized funding; FY 1999 funding will be reduced by approximately 12

percent. Taking into account available carryover and the section

1102(f) reductions, which are being calculated as this notice goes to

press, the FRA and the FHWA project that a total of approximately $6\1/

2\ to $7 million will be made available for States' use during FY 1999.

Of that amount, section 1103(c) of TEA-21 requires that at least

$500,000 be allocated to the segment of the Chicago Hub Corridor

linking Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities ($250,000 in each of

FYs 1998 and 1999).

The FRA anticipates that these funds will be allocated as early as

possible, based on a review of applications submitted under this

notice.

Designation of Eight of the Eleven High-Speed Rail Corridors

As previously noted, the Secretary is authorized to designate

eleven high-speed rail corridors under the Section 104(d)(2) Program.

To date the DOT has designated the following five corridors:

(1) California Corridor (San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles and

San Diego);

(2) Pacific Northwest Corridor (Eugene, OR via Portland, OR and

Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC);

(3) Chicago Hub Corridor, extending from Chicago to St. Louis,

Detroit, and Milwaukee;

(4) Florida Corridor (Miami--Orlando--Tampa); and

(5) Southeast Corridor (Washington, DC--Richmond, VA (with an

extension to Newport News, VA)--Raleigh, NC--Greensboro, NC--Charlotte,

NC).

By this notice, the FRA is recognizing the following additional

corridor designations made in section 104(d)(2):

(6) Gulf Coast Corridor, designated as extending easterly and

westerly from New Orleans, LA, on routes to be determined by the

Secretary in consultation with the participating States;

(7) Keystone Corridor, between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA, via

Paoli and Lancaster, PA, over the route of the former Pennsylvania

Railroad; and

(8) Empire State Corridor, between New York City, Albany, and

Buffalo, NY, over the route of the former New York Central Railroad.

In addition, the Chicago Hub Corridor (Corridor number (3) above)

is expanded to include the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, as

set forth in section 104(d)(2).

Applications From States for Designation of Up To Three New

Corridors

Any State, either singly or in conjunction with other States, may

request the FRA to designate a corridor under section 104(d)(2). As

previously noted, applications for designation must be received by the

FRA by March 11, 1999.

Section 104(d)(2) requires that corridors selected include rail

lines where railroad speeds of 90 miles or more per hour are occurring

or can reasonably be expected to occur in the future, and that the

Secretary consider the following:

(1) The projected ridership associated with the proposed corridor;

(2) The percentage of the corridor over which trains will be able

to operate at maximum cruise speed, taking into account such factors as

topography and other traffic on the line;

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(3) The projected benefits to nonriders, such as congestion relief

on other modes of transportation servicing the corridor (including

congestion in heavily traveled air passenger corridors);

(4) The amount of State and local financial support that can

reasonably be anticipated for the improvement of the line and related

facilities; and

(5) The cooperation of the owner of the right-of-way that can

reasonably be expected in the operation of the high-speed rail

passenger service in the corridor.

Applications from States for designation of high-speed rail

corridors shall include all information which is required for the

Secretary to make a determination with reference to the statutory

considerations for corridor selection. Applications shall also include

information demonstrating compliance with the speed requirement set

forth above.

Applications for FY 1999 Funding Under the Section 104(d)(2)

Program

Eligible Applicants. Only State governments housing a designated

high-speed rail corridor are eligible to file applications for FY 1999

funding. Applications must be received by the FRA by March 11, 1999

with respect to the eight designated corridors identified in this

notice, or within two months following the date of publication of the

designation in the Federal Register.

Eligible Crossings. All highway/rail grade crossings, whether

public or private, on designated high-speed corridors are eligible for

funding.

Eligible Improvements and Allowable Costs. Work eligible for

funding includes any of the following to reduce the hazards of highway-

rail grade crossings in the designated corridors: (1) Installation or

improvement of warning devices; (2) improvement of track circuitry

which activates warning devices; (3) other crossing improvements, such

as improved crossing surfaces, improved sight distances, and crossing

illumination; (4) closure of crossings with or without attendant

highway relocations; (5) grade separation construction or

reconstruction; (6) combining crossing warning systems with advanced

train control and/or intelligent highway traffic control systems; (7)

conducting analyses to identify specific rail routes, inventorying

grade crossings, and developing crossing improvement plans; (8) project

development and engineering; (9) evaluating the safety effects,

benefits, and costs of activities funded under this program; and (10)

any combination of the above.

Matching. The Federal share of the costs of improvements funded

under section 104(d)(2) may be up to 100 percent of the costs of

engineering and construction. However, in allocating funds,

consideration will be given to the extent to which other funds are

being committed to corridor improvements in conjunction with the

section 104(d)(2) funds.

Contents of applications. Applications for FY 1999 funding shall

contain all the following items:

(1) Identifying Data.

(a) The name of the corridor for which funding is sought.

(b) The name, address, responsible party, telephone, fax number,

and e-mail address of the State agency submitting the application.

(c) The railroad route and relevant milepost locations on which the

crossings to be improved or eliminated are located.

(2) Work Description. A description of the proposed work, and

related information, in sufficient detail to provide the staff of the

FRA, working with the FHWA, with a basis for approving an allocation of

Section 104(d)(2) Program funding.

(Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 U.S.C. 20103; section 1103(c), Pub. L.

105-178, 112 Stat. 107, 122 (1998).)

Issued in Washington, DC on December 3, 1998.

Jolene M. Molitoris,

Federal Railroad Administrator.

Anthony R. Kane,

Executive Director, Federal Highway Administration.

[FR Doc. 98-32881 Filed 12-10-98; 8:45 am]

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