Action
Notice; request for comments.
Summary
This notice requests comments on the conditions under which high speed rail projects should be eligible for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement (CMAQ) funding. Eligibility under the CMAQ program has already been granted for high speed rail improvements located within air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas. At issue is if, and under what conditions, State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) should be permitted to use the State's CMAQ allocation to fund high speed rail improvements located outside of nonattainment or maintenance areas. Several States have recently explored the possibility of using CMAQ funds for such projects prompting the need for this notice. Funding under the CMAQ program has generally been limited to expenditures within nonattainment and maintenance areas, and projects or programs located outside of such areas have not usually been eligible. However, it may be possible to realize emission reductions, the primary purpose of the CMAQ program, within nonattainment and maintenance areas even if the project is located outside of such areas. The FHWA and the FTA seek your input regarding whether, and under what conditions, these emission reductions might allow States to allocate CMAQ program funds for projects outside of nonattainment and maintenance areas to meet the statutory requirements and be eligible, and whether there are other considerations which make this proposition either more or less reasonable.