60- Day Federal Register Notice

71408

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 224 / Tuesday, November 22, 2022 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. DOT–OST–2022–0120]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: DOT Technical Assistance
PRA
Office of the Secretary (OST),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of request for comments.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces the intention of the
Office of the Secretary (OST) for a
renewal of a currently approved
information collection for the DOT
Technical Assistance PRA, which 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
January 23, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments
within 60 days to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, 725
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503,
Attention DOT Desk Officer. All
comments received are part of the
public record. Comments will generally
be posted without change. All
comments should include the Docket
number DOT–OST–2022–0082.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Please email ThrivingCommunities@
dot.gov or contact Victor Austin at 202–
366–2996. Office hours are from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday,
except for Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: DOT Technical Assistance PRA.
Background: Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law (BIL) enacted as the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (H.R.
3684, Public Law 117–58, also known as
the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or BIL)
created several new programs at the US
Department of Transportation (DOT)
that allow local governments, non-profit
organizations, tribal governments, and
other political subdivisions of state or
local governments to apply directly for
DOT discretionary grant funding. In
response to President Biden’s Executive
Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity
and Support for Underserved
Communities Through the Federal
Government and Executive Oder 14008,
Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
Abroad,DOT has included criteria in its
notices of funding opportunity to

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prioritize the needs of disadvantaged
communities for many of these new
programs.
The Thriving Communities Initiative
will include programs by which DOT
will utilize cooperative agreements and
procurements with technical assistance
and capacity building providers to
support communities seeking to
advance transformative, equitable, and
climate-friendly infrastructure projects
that benefit disadvantaged communities.
Specifically, these include the Thriving
Communities program, the Rural and
Tribal Infrastructure Assistance Pilot
Program (see § 21205 of Pub. L. 117–58),
and Asset Concession and Innovative
Finance Assistance Program (see 23
U.S.C. 611 as amended by § 71001 of
Pub. L. 117–58).
DOT will utilize a Letter of Interest
(LOI) or use a simplified in-take form
from communities interested in
receiving technical assistance and
capacity building through these
programs. Technical assistance and
capacity building is offered by the
Government at no charge and with no
required non-federal share.
Establishment of the program has two
distinct tasks: (a) contracting of
technical assistance advisors through a
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
or existing procurement vehicles; and
(b) recruitment of project sponsors who
will receive technical assistance
services. Responding to both will occur
on a voluntary basis, utilizing an
electronic platform.
For item A, eligible applicants to
provide technical assistance through the
Thriving Communities program will
request cooperative agreement funding
through an application process in
response to a published NOFO. The
application is planned as a one-time
information collection. DOT estimates
that it will take approximately 20 hours
to complete the NOFO application
process used to select capacity builders
under the Thriving Communities
program. DOT estimates the recipients
of Thriving Communities program
funding will spend another 4 hours,
annually, submitting post-award
reports. In addition, reporting
requirements will be submitted by the
select capacity building providers and
technical assistance recipients during
the implementation, and evaluation
phases.
For the Rural and Tribal Infrastructure
Assistance Pilot Program and Asset
Concession and Innovative Finance
Assistance Program, advisors and

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technical assistance providers will be
contracted using existing procurement
vehicles. Estimated time required for
these programs will be 4 hours
annually.
For item B, the intake form to be used
by communities seeking technical
assistance is estimated to take no more
than 1 hour to complete. Recipients of
technical assistance support are
estimated to spend no more than 2
hours annually providing evaluation
metrics.
Respondents to Item A (technical
assistance providers): for-profit
companies, non-profit organizations, or
other technical assistance providers.
Respondents to Item B (requestors of
technical assistance): philanthropic
entities, non-profit organizations, other
Federal agencies, state or local
governments and their agencies, and
Indian Tribes.
Frequency: Once a year.
Estimated Average Burden per
Response: Approximately 24 hours for
applicants to complete the application
process and reporting requirements and
an estimated 30 applicants.
Approximately seven hours to complete
the in-take form and evaluation metrics
and an estimated 20 project sponsors.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: Approximately 860 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 DOT’s performance;
(2) the accuracy of the estimated
burdens; (3) ways for the DOT 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; 23 U.S.C. 134 and 135; and 23
CFR chapter 1, subchapter E, part 450.
Dated: November 17, 2022.
Mariia Zimmerman,
Strategic Advisor for Technical Assistance
and Community Solutions, Office of the
Secretary, US Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. 2022–25380 Filed 11–21–22; 8:45 am]
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