National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Pavement Condition for the National Highway Performance Program and Bridge Condition for the National Highway Performance Program; National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Freight Movement on the Interstate System, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program

AGENCY:

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION:

Final regulations; delay of effective dates.

SUMMARY:

This document announces the further extension of the effective date of the following regulations until May 20, 2017: National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Pavement Condition for the National Highway Performance program and Bridge Condition for the National Highway Performance Program, RIN 2125-AF53; and National Performance Management measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Freight Movement on the Interstate System, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, RIN 2125-AF54.

DATES:

As of March 21, 2017, the effective date of the final rules published on January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5886 and January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5970, respectively, delayed until March 21, 2017 on February 13, 2017 at 82 FR 10441, is further delayed to May 20, 2017.

The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the final rule published on January 18, 2017, at 82 FR 5886 is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of May 20, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher Richardson, Assistant Chief Counsel for Legislation, Regulations, and General Law, Office of Chief Counsel, Federal Highway Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-0761. Office hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access and Filing

A copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs), all comments received, the Final Rules, and all background material may be viewed online at http://www.regulations.gov using the docket numbers listed above. A copy of this notice will be placed on each docket. Electronic retrieval help and guidelines are available on the Web site. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. An electronic copy of this document may also be downloaded from the Office of the Federal Register's Web site at http://www.ofr.gov and the Government Publishing Office's Web site at http://www.gpo.gov.

Background

On January 20, 2017, the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff issued a memorandum entitled, “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.” This memorandum directed heads of executive departments and agencies to take certain steps to ensure that the President's appointees and designees have the opportunity to review new and pending regulations. It instructed agencies to temporarily postpone the effective dates of regulations that had been published in the Federal Register but were not yet effective until 60 days after the date of the memorandum (January 20, 2017). In accordance with that directive, the FHWA delayed the effective date of both regulations to March 21, 2017 on February 13, 2017 at 82 FR 10441. After conducting a preliminary review, the Department is delaying the effective dates of the regulations for an additional 60 days as listed below:

Waiver of Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date

Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), FHWA generally offers interested parties the opportunity to comment on proposed regulations and publishes rules not less than 30 days before their effective dates. However, the APA provides that an agency is not required to conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking or delay effective dates when the agency, for good cause, finds that the requirement is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3)). There is good cause to waive both of these requirements here as the President's appointees and designees need to delay the effective dates of these regulations to have adequate time to review new or pending regulations, and neither the notice and comment process nor delayed effective date could be implemented in time to allow for this review.

List of Subjects in 23 CFR Part 490

• Bridges
• Highway safety
• Highways and roads
• Incorporation by reference
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements