National Freight Advisory Committee Established

The Department of Transportation (DOT) published a notice (78 FR 11727-11728) in Tuesday’s Federal Register (available on-line on Saturday) announcing the formation of the National Freight Advisory Committee (NFAC) and soliciting nominations for membership on the NFAC.

The NFAC will provide advice and recommendations to the Transportation Secretary on matters related to freight transportation to include:

• Implementation of the freight transportation requirements (§§ 1115, 1116, 1117 and 1118) of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (Pub. L. 112-141);

• Establishment of the National Freight Network {21 USC 167(c) in §1115};

• Development of a National Freight Strategic Plan{21 USC 167(f) in §1115};  

• Development of strategies to help States implement State Freight Advisory Committees (§1117) and State Freight Plans (§1118);

• Development of measures of conditions and performance in freight transportation {21 USC 167(g) in §1115};   

• Development of freight transportation investment, data, and planning tools {21 USC 167(h) in §1115};   and

• Legislative recommendations.

The Secretary of Transportation will appoint at least 25 members to the NFAC representing a broad cross section of the freight transportation community, including:

• State Departments of Transportation;

• State, local, and tribal elected officials;

• Local planning offices;

• Shippers, businesses, and economic development;

• Air cargo, freight forwarder, rail, maritime, ports, trucking, and pipelines;

• Labor unions; and

• Safety, the environment, and equity communities.

Nominations for appointment as committee members are being solicited. A sample template for nomination submissions can be found here. Nominations may be emailed to  freight@dot.gov and should be received by March 21^st, 2013.