[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 248 (Friday, December 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71529-71531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27897]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. DOT-OST--2019-0184]
National Freight Strategic Plan: Request for Information
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The safe and efficient movement of freight is vital to the
Nation's economic growth and to the creation of well-paying jobs for
millions of Americans. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation
(FAST) Act required DOT to develop a National Freight Strategic Plan
(NFSP) that includes eleven statutorily required components to address
multimodal freight transportation. The Department of Transportation
(DOT) seeks information from the public, including stakeholders (e.g.,
State and local agencies, private owners and operators, industry trade
groups, shippers and beneficial cargo owners, etc.) to aid development
of the NFSP.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 10, 2020. DOT
will consider comments filed after this date to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket Number OST-
2019-0184 by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Search by using the docket number (provided above). Follow the
instructions for submitting comments on the electronic docket site.
Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room PL-401, Washington, DC
20590-0001.
Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 of the Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket numbers.
Note: All comments received, including any personal information,
will be posted without change to the docket and is accessible via
http://www.regulations.gov. Input submitted online via
www.regulations.gov is not
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immediately posted to the site. It may take several business days
before your submission is posted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Endorf at [email protected] or
at 202-366-4835.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The nation's freight transportation system is a complex network of
almost seven million miles of highways, railways, navigable waterways,
and pipelines. The components of this network are linked through
hundreds of seaports, airports, and intermodal facilities. This system
accommodates the movement of raw materials and finished products from
the entire spectrum of the agricultural, manufacturing, energy, retail,
and other sectors of the United States' economy.
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21; Pub.
L. 112-141) required DOT to develop a National Freight Strategic Plan
(NFSP). On October 18, 2015, DOT issued the draft NFSP (compliant with
the MAP-21 requirements) for public comment, available at
www.transportation.gov/freight and at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=DOT-OST-2015-0248. On December 4, 2015, the President
signed the FAST Act (Pub. L. 114-94) into law. Section 8001 of the FAST
Act continues the requirement that the DOT develop an NFSP, expanding
the focus to include a multimodal approach.
The FAST Act required DOT to develop a National Freight Strategic
Plan (NFSP) that included (1) an assessment of the condition and
performance of the National Multimodal Freight Network; (2) forecasts
of freight volumes for the succeeding 5-, 10-, and 20-year periods; (3)
an identification of major trade gateways and national freight
corridors that connect major population centers, trade gateways, and
other major freight generators; (4) an identification of bottlenecks on
the National Multimodal Freight Network that create significant freight
congestion, based on a quantitative methodology developed by the Under
Secretary, which shall include at a minimum--(a) information from the
Freight Analysis Framework (FAF); and (b) to the maximum extent
practicable, an estimate of the cost of addressing each bottleneck and
an operational improvements that could be implemented; (5) an
assessment of statutory, regulatory, technological, institutional,
financial, and other barriers to improved freight transportation
performance, and a description of opportunities for overcoming those
barriers; (6) a process for addressing multistate projects and
encouraging jurisdictions to collaborate; (7) strategies to improve
freight intermodal connectivity; (8) an identification of corridors
providing access to energy exploration, development, installation, or
production areas; (9) an identification of corridors providing access
to major areas for manufacturing, agriculture, or natural resources;
(10) an identification of best practices for improving the performance
of the National Multimodal Freight Network, including critical commerce
corridors and rural and urban access to critical freight corridors; and
(11) an identification of best practices to mitigate the impacts of
freight movement on communities.
A national freight strategy will be helpful to inform
infrastructure planning and to support future freight efficiencies. The
safe and efficient movement of freight is vital to the Nation's
economic growth and to the creation of well-paying jobs for millions of
Americans. In 2015, the U.S. transportation system moved approximately
49 million tons of freight per day worth more than $52 billion and DOT
estimates 13.3 million people were employed in transportation or
transportation-related industries in 2017. DOT estimates the net value
of U.S. transportation capital to be $7.7 trillion in 2016 with the
public sector owning $4.2 trillion and the private sector owning $3.5
trillion. DOT estimates that freight tonnage will increase by 44
percent between 2015 and 2045 which will place increasing strain on our
Nation's freight system. Today, that freight system moves approximately
18 billion tons of freight every year across all the modes, but
congestion has been increasing, particularly on our Nation's highways.
The trucking industry experienced almost 1.2 billion hours of delay in
2016 because of traffic congestion on the National Highway System, at a
cost of $34 billion in truck driver wages, not including wasted fuel
and increased inventory carrying costs for affected shippers and
beneficial cargo owners (BCOs). Prior to 2005, virtually all crude oil
was moved via pipeline; however, by 2011, rail shipments of crude oil
have increased substantially and increases in domestic energy
production, including increased liquefied natural gas movements will
require more interplay between pipelines, rail, and tanker/barge
movements. Air cargo transportation is particularly important for high
value commodities, such as electronics and pharmaceuticals, and the FAF
projects air cargo to be the fastest growing freight mode with annual
tonnage growth of 4.3 percent.
Rural and urban citizens and businesses depend on the safe and
efficient movement of freight. Many agricultural, energy, raw inputs,
and other natural resources to our manufacturing products originate in
rural areas, such as farm commodities, coal and other fuel inputs, and
raw materials. Approximately two-thirds of freight tonnage shipped by
rail in the U.S. originates in rural areas. Urban areas drive domestic
freight demand and depend on reliable deliveries from ports and
railroads by trucks via freight intermodal connectors to meet that
demand. To safely and efficiently deliver goods to consumers, freight
supply chains have become increasingly complex and shippers and BCOs
are reliant on the interplay between multiple transportation modes.
More than ever, transportation planning and infrastructure investment,
particularly for freight, must be considered within the broader systems
context that accounts for all modes and both public- and private-sector
actors to retain the United States' global competitive advantage.
DOT recognizes the importance of engaging with the public and
private industry to develop a clear, national vision for freight
transportation that is inclusive of both public- and private-sector
perspectives. Through State Freight Plans, all fifty States and the
District of Columbia have contemplated the importance and impacts of
freight movement to their local and regional economy and have developed
infrastructure investment plans to improve freight flows across their
States. As daily users of the system, private sector and non-public
perspectives are vital inputs for understanding operational challenges
along the freight system.
DOT seeks information directly from the public and stakeholders to
inform development of this national freight strategy. DOT seeks
comments and relevant information on any of the eleven statutorily
defined plan components (as noted above); in addition, DOT specifically
requests comments and data in response to the following questions:
1. What are the three most important challenges facing the U.S.
freight transportation system?
2. What should be long- and short-term national freight system
goals? How can States, local agencies, and private stakeholders most
effectively advance these national goals?
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3. How should DOT measure freight transportation system
performance? In your response, consider both safety and efficiency, as
well as performance thresholds across multimodal metrics (i.e., hours
of delay, infrastructure conditions, planning time index) that
represent untenable performance for the public or private sector.
Consider how performance metrics could be employed to inform DOT's
discretionary grant programs.
4. What industry freight-specific knowledge is critical to
understanding supply chains and how economic trends impact freight
logistics and cargo movements? How can such data and/or knowledge be
procured or shared amongst public and private sector partners? Are
there technological innovations, such as Blockchain and the Internet of
Things (IoT), that DOT should know about?
5. What should be considered regarding vital operational or
equipment innovations, emerging technology advances from research
communities, as well as infrastructure or facility concepts in freight
transportation?
6. What approach should the federal government use to invest in the
multimodal freight system? How would this approach apply to each
transportation mode, for freight in general, for specific industries,
or for freight assets owned by the private sector (i.e., rail,
pipelines, maritime)? What are best practices for identifying projects
that involve both public and private sector assets and for encouraging
communication between the public and private sector to complete those
projects?
7. What barriers (such as regulatory, technological, institutional,
statutory) are critical to freight efficiency that DOT should better
understand? Please consider which of these affect freight origination
and/or destination areas, as well as intermodal transfers, and describe
the root causes of the inefficiencies.
8. What information is critical to understanding the unique
infrastructure and operational freight impacts faced by local
communities? Please detail any best practices in economic development
and planning processes that support freight intensive activity or
innovative financing. Describe current and prospective infrastructure
safety enhancements that should be considered.
9. How would you define a bottleneck in your industry? (Consider
both surface and maritime transportation).
10. What else should DOT consider (including the eleven statutory
criteria listed above) or do to improve freight transportation in the
U.S.?
Public Comment
The DOT invites comments by all those interested in the draft
National Freight Strategic Plan. Comments on the draft NFSP may be
submitted and viewed at Docket Number DOT-OST-2019-0184. The web
address is: XXXXXX. Comments must be received on or before [45 days
from posting of this notice] to receive full consideration by DOT with
respect to the final NFSP. After [45 days from posting of this notice],
comments will continue to be available for viewing by the public.
Dated: December 19, 2019.
Joel Szabat,
Acting Under Secretary Transportation for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-27897 Filed 12-26-19; 8:45 am]
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