Action
Notice.
Summary
On June 17, 2009, FRA issued a Notice of Funding Availability and Interim Program Guidance detailing the application requirements for obtaining funding for high-speed rail projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Department of Transportation Appropriations Acts for fiscal year (FY) 2008 and FY 2009. The Notice and Interim Guidance was published in the Federal Register on June 23, 2009. FRA is currently evaluating grant applications submitted in the first round of the application process, in accordance with evaluation criteria included in the Interim Guidance. FRA will also develop high-speed passenger rail (HSPR) safety strategy and highway-rail grade crossing guidelines for HSPR as part of a plan to address the Nation's transportation challenges by investing in an efficient, high-speed passenger rail network of 100-mile to 600- mile intercity corridors that connect communities across America. To date, FRA has received more than 30 comments on its HSPR Safety Strategy and Grade Crossing Guidelines, and FRA anticipates that the current high level of interest in high-speed rail projects will continue. For this reason, FRA is creating a combined docket for comments on the HSPR Safety Strategy and Grade Crossing Guidelines. FRA will place previously published documents and previously received comments in this docket to make these materials available to the public. This docket will be kept open indefinitely, since FRA is interested in receiving comments from all interested parties. Comments filed as soon as practicable will be of the greatest use.