Action
Final rule.
Summary
The FHWA, jointly with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), amends its regulation on Planning and Assistance Standards that govern the development of transportation plans and programs for urbanized (metropolitan) areas. The FTA has codified the FHWA regulations for Metropolitan Transportation Planning and Programming into their regulations at 49 CFR 613 and joins the FHWA in making this change. This change provides the New York City metropolitan area additional time to review and update its transportation plan by waiving the regulatory requirement for a triennial plan update for the New York City metropolitan area for up to three years, until September 30, 2005. This action is necessary because the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council's (NYMTC) offices were destroyed by the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, and without this waiver, Federal highway and transit funding could be disrupted after September 30, 2002, when the current plan is set to expire. Furthermore, Congress recently enacted and the President signed HR 3880 that clearly expresses its intent to provide the New York City metropolitan area with relief from certain transportation conformity and metropolitan transportation planning requirements until September 30, 2005.