Section 1413 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), signed into law on December 4, 2015, required the Secretary to designate national alternative fueling corridors. (23 U.S.C. 151). In accordance with 23 U.S.C. 151(a), corridor designations must identify near- and long-term needs for, and location of, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and hydrogen, propane, and natural gas fueling infrastructure at strategic locations along major national highways to improve the mobility of passenger and commercial vehicles that employ these technologies across the United States. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) must solicit nominations for corridors from State and local officials and involve a range of stakeholders (23 U.S.C. 151(b) and (c)).
The Secretary must update and re-designate the corridors not later than five years after the date of establishment of the corridors, and every five years thereafter. Because of the rapidly evolving state of vehicle technology and infrastructure related to the use of alternative fuels, it is important to update the corridor networks on a continuing basis. The FHWA has determined that annual updates are appropriate to reflect these changes. This includes annual requests for nominations, as well as periodic updates of corridor designations from previous rounds to reflect the changes in corridor status that have occurred since the original designation.
The FAST Act also directs FHWA to review designated corridors every five years to identify standardization needs and to set an aspirational goal for achieving strategic deployment of alternative fueling infrastructure by fiscal year 2020. Accordingly, the DOT issued a report that established a 2020 vision to ensure a user-centric experience. This vision will require a safe, reliable, effective, and high-performance system that aligns with DOT's vision for the National Highway System (NHS)1 and strengthens U.S. energy security, economic vitality, and quality of life.
The table below summarizes the results of the first four rounds of nominations:
REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS (DATE ISSUED) | NOMINATIONS RECEIVED |
INTERSTATES DESIGNATEDb | US & STATE HIGHWAYS DESIGNATED | NUMBER OF NEW STATESc | NHS MILGEAGE COVEREDd | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 (2016) | July 2016a | 34 | 59 | 16 | 36 | 86,266 |
2 (2017) | September 2017e | 24 | 25 | 25 | 8 | 22,665 |
3 (2018) | October 2018e | 21 | 16 | 35 | 2 | 16,235 |
4 (2019) | October 2019e | 21 | 19 | 24 | 3 | 20,056 |
TOTAL | 100 | 119 | 100 | 49 | 145,222 |
a 81 FR 47852 (July 22, 2016), available at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-07-22/pdf/FR-2016-07-22.pdf
b Represents segments/portions of Interstates
c Plus the District of Columbia
d Includes some double counting for multiple fuel corridor segments
e Distributed through FHWA Division Offices
The FHWA will designate nominated highway corridors as either "corridor-ready" or "corridor-pending." Corridor-ready segments currently contain a sufficient number of fueling facilities to allow for corridor travel with the designated alternative fuel. Corridors that do not have sufficient alternative fuel facilities to support alternative fuel vehicle travel are designated as corridor-pending. The table below describes the requirements for designations by fuel type. The FHWA will work with State and local agencies to bring corridors designated as corridor-pending up to the corridor-ready stage.
The FHWA supports the expansion of the national network of alternative fuel corridors and has established a process outlining the necessary steps and information for the 2020/Round 5 corridor designations in this request. The FHWA has created an Alternative Fuels Corridor website to provide information on the previous rounds of corridor designations and to keep stakeholders and the public informed on future designations. In addition, FHWA has developed specifications for Signing for Designated Alternative Fuel Corridors in compliance with The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) for Streets and Highways that is available on the Alternative Fuel Corridors website.
Fuel/ Technology |
Corridor-Readya NHS Segment has... | Corridor-Pendingb NHS Segment has... |
---|---|---|
EV Chargingc | Public DC Fast Charging no greater than 50 miles between one station/site and the next on corridor, and no greater than 5 miles off the highway. Additionally, each DC Fast Charging site should have both J1772 combo (CCS) and CHAdeMO connectors. | Public DC Fast Charging stations separated by more than 50 miles. Location of station/site- no greater than 5 miles off the highway. |
Hydrogend | Public hydrogen stations no greater than 100 miles between one station and the next on the corridor, and no greater than 5 miles off the highway. | Public hydrogen stations separated by more than 100 miles. Location of station- no greater than 5 miles off the highway. |
Propanee | Public, primary propane stations no greater than 150 miles between one station and the next on the corridor, and no greater than 5 miles off the highway. | Public, primary propane stations separated by more than 150 miles. Location of station- no greater than 5 miles off the highway. |
CNG | Public fast fill, 3,600 psi CNG stations no greater than 150 miles between one station and the next on the corridor, and no greater than 5 miles off the highway. | Public, fast fill, 3,600 psi CNG stations separated by more than 150 miles. Location of station- no greater than 5 miles off the highway. |
LNG | Public LNG stations no greater than 200 miles between one station and the next on the corridor, and no greater than 5 miles off the highway. | Public LNG stations separated by more than 200 miles. Location of station- 5 miles or less off the highway. |
The first four rounds of corridor designations were announced by FHWA in November 2016, March 2018, April 2019 and June 2020. This fifth round of corridor designations may provide State or local agencies an opportunity to nominate additional corridors, extend currently designated corridors, and/or nominate a different fuel(s) along an already designated corridor. It is not FHWA's intention to require formal updates on the first four rounds of corridor designations through this current request for nominations, however #3 below discusses optional input that can be provided related to changes from past designations. The following guidelines are provided to clarify the interface between previous designations and this current request for nominations:
After the completion of the first four rounds of designations, FHWA has identified several areas of interest for the fifth round of corridor designations that State or local agencies should consider when planning/preparing their nominations. The following are the FHWA areas of interest:
Any State or local agency is invited to nominate an alternative fuel corridor for designation. For the purposes of this solicitation, an eligible corridor is an Interstate highway (e.g. I-10, I-80, I-95, etc.). Or if a non-Interstate highway that is on the NHS is being nominated, then a compelling case should be made as to why it should be considered for designation (see language above on the limitation of nominating US highways/State roads in round 5). It is the intention of FHWA to first focus on the build-out of alternative fueling/charging infrastructure along Interstate corridors, and then on other components of the NHS. This decision was made based on the size of the NHS compared to the limited resources available to make designation determinations. Corridors within a single State and multistate corridors are eligible, with the goal of connecting communities, cities, and regions to develop a national network of alternative fuel facilities. A State or local agency interested in submitting a nomination for an alternative fuel corridor designation should develop no more than a 25-page narrative nomination containing the following elements/information (requested station information may be displayed in a table):
NOTE#1 - The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fueling Station Locator (Station Locator) at https://www.afdc.energy.gov/stations is the required data source for corridor designations.
NOTE#2 - For nominations that will include input related to changes from past designations, please provide the relevant information from #9-12 above.
Information to be Included in Nominations (GIS Shapefiles):
The following GIS Shapefile information shall be submitted, along with the narrative portion, for each designation proposal. Please DO NOT include alternative fuel station information in the shapefile. This will be done by NREL/FHWA during the analysis process. Include the following fields and input for each centerline corridor in the shapefile:
Corridor Planning/Analysis Tools and Resources to Assist with Nomination:
The following information sources and/or tools are available for use to assist with the development of the designation nomination:
Points of Contact
For questions regarding the information contained in this request, please contact:
Diane Turchetta
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
202-493-0158 or diane.turchetta@dot.gov
Mike Scarpino
U.S. Department of Transportation
Volpe Center
617-494-3373 or michael.scarpino@dot.gov
Stephen Costa
U.S. Department of Transportation
Volpe Center
617-494-3852 or stephen.costa@dot.gov
For questions regarding GIS/shapefile information, please contact:
Sara Secunda
U.S. Department of Transportation
Volpe Center
617-494-3601 or Sara.Secunda@dot.gov
Submittal Information
To submit your nominations and shapefiles, please email Sara Secunda at Sara.Secunda@dot.gov and instructions will be provided on how to upload these files.
Timeline
The deadline for this solicitation is COB Wednesday February 24, 2021
1 For additional information on the NHS see: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/. Section 111 of Title 23 United States Code prohibits Interstate rest areas built after January 1, 1960 from offering commercial services such as fuel and food on the Interstate right-of-way. In light of this provision, an alternative fuel facility can be located on an Interstate right-of-way, but a fee may not be charged for the fuel or other use of the facility.