Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved Information Collection: Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, 67337-67339 [E7-23078]

Agencies

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 228 (Wednesday, November 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67337-67339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23078]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2007-0054]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection: Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA 
announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review 
and approval. This information collection consists of grant application 
preparation, quarterly reports and electronic data documenting the 
results of driver/vehicle inspections performed by the States. On 
September 21, 2007, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing 
for a 60-day comment period on the ICR. One comment was received.

DATES: Please send your comments by December 28, 2007. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: All comments should reference DOT Docket No. FMCSA-2007-
0054. You may submit comments to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 Seventeenth 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: DOT/FMCSA Desk Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John E. Kostelnik, Office of Safety 
Programs, State Programs Division, Department of Transportation, 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-
5721; e-mail: Jack.kostelnik@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0010.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.

[[Page 67338]]

    Respondents: State MCSAP lead agencies and local agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 52 [50 States + Puerto Rico + 
District of Columbia = 52].
    Estimated Time per Response: 80 hours per grant application 
preparation; 8 hours per quarterly report preparation; and 1 minute per 
inspection and data upload.
    Expiration Date: November 30, 2007.
    Frequency of Response: 1 grant application annually; 4 quarterly 
reports annually; and approximately 3 million total inspection and data 
uploads annually.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 12,280 hours.
    The methods used to calculate the hours necessary to prepare grant 
applications, upload data, and prepare quarterly reports are based on 
interviews with the State and Federal personnel charged with those 
responsibilities. The information required to prepare the applications 
for grants and the subsequent reports is based on general information 
ordinarily maintained by the States in the general course of business, 
and only simple computations are required to determine burden hours. 
The grant applications and reports are submitted by the 50 States, four 
Territories, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The four 
territories of American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands and the 
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are funded at 100 percent; 
therefore they are not included in the computation of the annual 
burden. Each entity submits one grant request and four quarterly 
reports per year. In addition, about three million total inspection 
reports are uploaded each year.
    This figure reflects only 20 percent of the total estimated annual 
hours to perform the activities because MCSAP reimburses 80 percent of 
the eligible costs incurred in the administration of an approved plan 
as set forth in 49 CFR 350.303, 350.309 and 350.311. Labor hours are 
estimated and an average hourly rate for professional personnel is 
applied.
    Background: Sections 401 through 404 of the Surface Transportation 
Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA) (Pub. L. 97-424) established a program of 
financial assistance to the States to implement programs to enforce: 
(a) Federal rules, regulations, standards, and orders applicable to 
commercial motor vehicle safety; and (b) compatible State rules, 
regulations, standards and orders. This grant-in-aid program is known 
as the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). Section 402(c) 
of the STAA requires that the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary), 
on the basis of reports submitted by the States and the Secretary's own 
inspections, make a continuing evaluation of the manner in which each 
State is carrying out its approved safety enforcement plan.
    The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) further 
revised the MCSAP to broaden its purpose beyond enforcement activities 
and programs by requiring participating States to assume greater 
responsibility for improving motor carrier safety. TEA-21 required 
States to develop performance-based plans reflecting national 
priorities and performance goals, revised the MCSAP funding 
distribution formula, and created a new incentive funding program. As a 
result, States are given greater flexibility in designing programs to 
address national and State goals of reducing the number and severity of 
commercial motor vehicle (CMV) accidents.
    The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) amended 49 U.S.C. 
31102(b)(1) to modify and augment the conditions a State must meet to 
qualify for basic program funds under the MCSAP. The statute requires a 
State to document in the State Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP) 
its commitment to meet the following additional conditions:
     Deploy technology to enhance the efficiency and 
effectiveness of CMV safety programs;
     Include, in both the training manual for the licensing 
examination to drive a non-CMV and the training manual for the 
licensing examination to drive a CMV, information on best practices for 
driving safely in the vicinity of noncommercial and commercial motor 
vehicles;
     Conduct comprehensive and highly visible traffic 
enforcement and CMV safety inspection programs in high-risk locations 
and corridors; and
     Except in the case of an imminent or obvious safety 
hazard, ensure that an inspection of a vehicle transporting passengers 
for a motor carrier of passengers is conducted at a station, terminal, 
border crossing, maintenance facility, destination, or other location 
where a motor carrier may make a planned stop.
    Additionally, SAFETEA-LU provided that States may use a portion of 
MCSAP basic grant funds to conduct documented enforcement of State 
traffic laws--both laws and regulations designed to promote the safe 
operation of CMVs and laws and regulations relating to non-CMVs, when 
necessary to promote the safe operation of CMVs. Section 4106 amended 
49 U.S.C. 31102(c) to provide that a State may use a portion of MCSAP 
grant funds to conduct documented enforcement of State traffic laws.
    In order for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 
(FMCSA) to evaluate program effectiveness, it is necessary for the 
State to provide and maintain information concerning past, present and 
future program activity. The Final Rule that revised Part 350 (MCSAP) 
to comply with the congressionally-mandated provisions of TEA-21 was 
published in the Federal Register (65 FR 15092) on March 21, 2000. Part 
350 is currently being revised to implement the changes to the MCSAP 
made by SAFETEA-LU. The State's grant application, known as the 
Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), must contain the information 
required by 49 CFR 350.201, 350.211 and 350.213. This information is 
necessary to enable the FMCSA to determine whether a State meets the 
statutory and administrative criteria to be eligible for a grant. It is 
necessary that a State's work activities and accomplishments be 
reported so that the FMCSA can monitor and evaluate a State's progress 
under its approved plan and make the determinations and decisions 
required of 49 CFR 350.205 and 350.207. The FMCSA is required to 
determine whether each State's efforts meet the intended objectives of 
its plan. In the event of nonconformity with any approved plan and 
failure on the part of a State to remedy deficiencies, the FMCSA is 
required to take action to cease Federal participation in that State's 
plan.
    This information collection supports the DOT Strategic Goal of 
Safety (i.e., reducing commercial truck-related fatalities by providing 
financial and technical support to State CMV enforcement efforts).
    The FMCSA uses the information in the CVSP to determine whether a 
State has the necessary resources and authority to undertake the 
program intended by Congress. After a grant has been awarded to a 
State, a continuing and final evaluation of the State's activities is 
performed to determine whether continued funding is appropriate and if 
revisions in the State's CVSP should be made. A quarterly report in 
narrative form is submitted by the States to provide the minimum 
necessary information to assist in appropriate monitoring of a State's 
performance, compared to its CVSP, and to permit the FMCSA to determine 
whether the effort of a State is cost efficient and whether Federal

[[Page 67339]]

assistance should be continued. In addition, inspection data and 
reports are submitted electronically by the inspecting officer from the 
field to the FMCSA at the time of completion of the inspection.
    SAFETEA-LU provides that States may now conduct traffic enforcement 
activities against non-CMVs to promote the safe operation of CMVs. The 
States have been routinely conducting traffic enforcement activities on 
CMVs and have been reimbursed, provided an appropriate inspection was 
conducted at the time. Previously, non-CMV traffic enforcement was not 
an eligible MCSAP activity for reimbursement so the States have not 
captured activity levels for this type of enforcement. It is 
anticipated that the number of non-CMV enforcement activities conducted 
by the States will be minimal since SAFETEA-LU limits the amount of 
MCSAP grant funding that can be used for non-CMV traffic enforcement 
activities to no more than five percent of the basic amount the State 
receives annually.
    The quarterly report is created by the State and submitted to the 
FMCSA using inspection data and other information. The collection of 
uniform data permits analysis and comparison of State programs and 
facilitates program administration and reporting; e.g., comparison of 
the data from a single State to the national average, equipment 
violation and out-of-service trends, etc.
    The FMCSA routinely uses quarterly report information to measure 
individual and collective State program accomplishment and to assist 
with future program development.
    Description of MCSAP forms:
    a. Form MCSAP-1, Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program: The 
MCSAP-1 form is submitted with the CVSP grant application. It specifies 
the name of the applicant agency, the amount applied for, and contains 
the signatures of the responsible State authorities.
    b. Form MCSAP-2, Grant Agreement: The MCSAP-2 form is the grant 
agreement that specifies the total amount of the State Program, the 
State and Federal participating shares, the period of the grant, and 
the signatures of the responsible State official and the FMCSA Division 
Administrator. The reverse side of the MCSAP-2 contains the ``General 
Provisions for the Agreement.''
    c. Form MCSAP-2A, Grant Amendment for Fiscal Year--: The MCSAP-2A 
form is used to modify the terms of the grant. It is used to increase 
or decrease the amount of the grant, or to extend the period of the 
grant. It contains the signatures of the responsible State official and 
the FMCSA Division Administrator.
    In addition, the following documents are provided as part of the 
CVSP package:
    a. State Training Plan (optional format): This document is a 
request for commercial vehicle training courses. It is used by the 
FMCSA's National Training Center to more effectively schedule training 
courses to meet the needs of State enforcement agencies.
    b. State Certification: The CVSP must contain a State Certification 
signed by the Governor, the State Attorney General, or other specially 
designated State official. The Certification contains requirements of 
conditions that must be met by the State to receive MCSAP grant funds.
    Virtually all (99%) of the information required by the MCSAP grant 
program is submitted electronically. This includes over three million 
inspection reports, which are uploaded electronically from laptop 
computers at inspection sites in the field to the FMCSA annually. The 
near-universal use of laptops for submitting these inspection reports 
has resulted in a dramatic cut of the time burden. The annual CVSPs 
require signed certifications by State personnel and are not, 
therefore, electronically transmitted.
    The FMCSA is the only Federal agency given authority to enforce 
safety regulations applicable to commercial trucks and buses in 
interstate commerce. The type of information to be gathered from the 
States through this information collection is unique to the MCSAP. No 
duplication was identified through the rulemaking process to implement 
relevant sections of SAFETEA-LU.
    The legislative requirement is that grants be extended to the 
States predicated on annual submission of CVSPs. The FMCSA has 
determined that although monthly or bimonthly reports are not needed, a 
semiannual report would not be sufficiently frequent to allow for 
timely evaluation and changes in State program direction. Therefore, 
quarterly reports were determined to be the most appropriate, 
considering burden and Federal need. If the reports were submitted less 
frequently, the FMCSA would be unable to exercise appropriate oversight 
and administration of the program as envisioned by the Congress.
    On September 21, 2007, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice 
(72 FR 54096) allowing for a 60-day comment period on the proposed 
revision of this ICR. One comment was received from a private citizen 
that did not discuss the revised burden hours and cost aspects related 
to this ICR.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) 
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the FMCSA to enhance 
the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and 
(4) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the 
quality of the collected information.

    Issued on: November 20, 2007.
Terry Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. E7-23078 Filed 11-27-07; 8:45 am]
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