During this webinar, the Department of Transportation will host a public meeting of the National Freight Advisory Committee (NFAC) where NFAC members will discuss and finalize recommendations for the Department to consider in its development of the National Freight Strategic Plan (Plan).  This meeting is a continuation of the conversation from the meeting held on March 25-26 in Washington, DC.

AGENDA: The agenda will include: (1) welcome and introductions; (2) overview of the meeting format; (3) remarks from the NFAC Chair and Vice Chair; (4) NFAC members discussion on final recommendations; and (5) adjournment.

Members of the public will be able to listen to and view the webinar as observers.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Background: The NFAC was established to provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary on matters related to freight transportation in the United States, including (1) implementation of the freight transportation requirements of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21; P.L. 112-141); (2) establishment of the National Freight Network; (3) development of the Plan; (4) development of strategies to help States implement State Freight Advisory Committees and State Freight Plans; (5) development of measures of conditions and performance in freight transportation; (6) development of freight transportation investment, data, and planning tools; and (7) legislative recommendations.  The NFAC operates as a discretionary committee under the authority of the DOT, established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2. See DOT’s NFAC Web site for additional information about the committee's activities at www.dot.gov/nfac.

MAP-21 directs the DOT to develop the Plan in consultation with State department of transportations and other appropriate stakeholders.  The Plan serves as a document to outline a long-term strategy to implement the National freight policy.  The goals of the National freight policy are related to economic competitiveness and efficiency; congestion; productivity; safety, security, and resilience of freight movement; infrastructure condition; use of advanced technology; performance, innovation, competition, and accountability in the operation and maintenance of the network; and environmental impacts. [23 USC 167]

On March 25-26, 2014 the NFAC members met to discuss proposed recommendations to the DOT on the following elements of the Plan: 1) An assessment of statutory, regulatory, technological, institutional, financial, and other barriers to improved freight transportation performance (including opportunities for overcoming the barriers); 2) Best practices for improving the performance of the national freight network; and 3) Best practices to mitigate the impacts of freight movement on communities.  At the conclusion of this meeting, it was agreed that each of the six subcommittees would revise their proposed recommendations, resubmit to the DFO who would compile and redistribute to the NFAC members, and the NFAC members would reconvene at the end of the month to finalize the recommendations.