E7-12687. Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for Renewal of Currently Approved Information Collection

AGENCY:

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION:

Notice of request for renewal of currently approved information collection.

SUMMARY:

The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for renewal of an existing information collection that is summarized below under Supplementary Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES:

Please submit comments by August 31, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number FHWA-2007-28580 by any of the following methods:

Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.

Fax: [phone].

Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.

Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Connie Yew, [phone], Office of Infrastructure, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Preparation and Execution of the Project Agreement and Modifications.

OMB Control Number: 2125-0529.

Background: Formal agreements between State Transportation Departments and the FHWA are required for Federal-aid highway projects. These agreements, referred to as “project agreements” are written contracts between the State and the Federal government that define the extent of work to be undertaken and commitments made concerning a highway project. Section 1305 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21, Pub. L. 105-178) amended 23 U.S.C. 106(a) and combined authorization of work and execution of the project agreement for a Federal-aid project into a single action. States continue to have the flexibility to use whatever format is suitable to provide the statutory information required, and burden estimates for this information collection are not changed.

Respondents: There are 56 respondents, including 50 State Transportation Departments, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

Frequency: On an on-going basis as project agreements are written.

Estimated Average Annual Burden per Response: There is an average of 476 annual agreements per respondent. Each agreement requires 1 hour to complete.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 26,656 hours.

Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized, including the use of electronic technology, without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

Issued on: June 25, 2007.

James R. Kabel,

Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.