Major Capital Investment Projects

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

49 CFR Part 611

[Docket No. 99-5474]

RIN 2132-AA63

Major Capital Investment Projects

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Proposed rule; notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: On April 7, 1999, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) describing the

procedures that FTA proposes to use to evaluate and rate candidate

projects for capital investment grants and loans for new fixed guideway

systems and extensions to existing systems (``new starts'') (64 FR

17062-71). The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)

requires FTA to issue regulations covering the evaluation and rating of

such projects. The docket for this NPRM is open for public comment

until July 6, 1999; FTA invites public comment, and included a number

of questions in the NPRM soliciting specific comment. In order to

encourage public comment, FTA intends to host three workshops on the

NPRM. This notice announces the dates, times, locations and procedures

for those workshops.

DATES: The three workshops are scheduled as follows:

1. May 24, 1999, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (local time); Toronto,

Ontario.

2. June 3, 1999, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (local time); San

Francisco, CA.

3. June 8, 1999, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (local time); Washington,

DC.

ADDRESSES: The Toronto, Ontario workshop will be held in the Essex

Ballroom at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St. West,

Toronto, Ontario, MSH 2M9, in conjunction with the 1999 APTA Commuter

Rail/Rapid Transit Conference. The San Francisco, CA workshop will be

held at: Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth Street,

Oakland, California (adjacent to the Lake Merritt BART station). The

Washington, DC workshop will be held at: U.S. Department of

Transportation, room 3200-3204, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC

20590. Written material submitted at the workshops will be placed in

the rulemaking docket. Interpreters and alternative-format information

are available upon request; requests should be made by May 17 for any

of the workshops.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Day, Office of Policy

Development, FTA, (202) 366-4060.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 7, 1999, FTA issued a Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to carry out the requirements of Section

3009(e)(5) of TEA-21 (64 FR 17062-71). This statute directs FTA to

issue regulations that define the process that FTA will use to evaluate

candidate new starts under the criteria contained in 49 U.S.C. 5309.

When issued, the Final Rule will set forth the approach FTA will use to

evaluate candidate projects in terms of their justification and local

financial commitment, as required under 49 U.S.C. 5309(e). Consistent

with 49 U.S.C. 5309(e)(6), as amended by Section 3009(e) of TEA-21,

these procedures will also be used to approve candidate projects for

entry into preliminary engineering and final design. These procedures

will also be used to evaluate projects in order to make recommendations

for funding in the annual report to Congress required by 49 U.S.C.

5309(o)(1).

Notice of Meeting and Meeting Procedures

FTA believes that the public will benefit from an opportunity for

dialog concerning the NPRM on evaluation of major capital investment

projects, or new starts. Therefore, FTA is holding three public

workshops, as follows: May 24, 1999; Toronto, Ontario, in conjunction

with the 1999 APTA Commuter Rail/Rapid Transit Conference; June 3,

1999; San Francisco, CA; June 8, 1999; Washington, DC. Information

gathered at the workshops will be included in the rulemaking docket and

evaluated in conjunction with the development of the Final Rule. This

notice establishes the general procedures set forth below to facilitate

the workshops.

The workshops are intended to solicit public views and information

on the proposed rule. Therefore, they will be conducted in an informal

and nonadversarial manner.

The San Francisco, CA and Washington, DC workshops will last 3\1/2\

hours, beginning at 9:00 a.m.; the Toronto, Ontario workshop will last

3 hours, beginning at 2:00 p.m. The format will consist of an overview

of the NPRM, including relevant background information, by FTA

officials. A general question-and-answer session will follow.

Seating will be limited by available room size and will be made

available on a first-come, first-served basis, with some seats reserved

as necessary for speakers, interpreters and persons requiring their

services, and others requiring specific accommodations. For those who

cannot attend, a tape recording, transcript, or other record of the

workshops will be available in the rulemaking docket after the

workshops.

We will try to accommodate all attendees who wish to speak during

the question-and-answer period. Speakers will be accommodated on a

first-come, first-served basis; however, FTA reserves the right to

exclude some speakers or limit their time in order to provide equal

opportunity to all who wish to speak.

All statements and materials received at the workshop will become

part of the rulemaking docket.

Issued: May 7, 1999.

Gordon J. Linton,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 99-12034 Filed 5-12-99; 8:45 am]

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