Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project Selections, 5295-5301 [2012-2243]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Transit Administration Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project Selections Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded under Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA– 21). The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to help finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT’s over-the-road bus accessibility rule, published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1998. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate FTA Regional Office for grant-specific issues; or Blenda Younger, Office of Program Management, 202–366–4345, for general information about the OTRB Program. Contact information for FTA Regional Offices can be found at https:// www.fta.dot.gov/. srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 18:06 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 A total of $8.8 million was made available for the program in FY 2011: $6.6 million for intercity fixed-route providers and $2.2 million for all other providers, such as commuter, charter, and tour operators. A total of 136 applicants requested $40.9 million. Project selections were made on a discretionary basis, based on each applicant’s responsiveness to statutory project selection criteria published in the July 13, 2011 Notice of Funding Availability. Project Implementation: Due to the high demand for the funds available, most successful applicants received less funding than they requested. The selected projects will provide funding for the incremental cost of adding at least one new lift to vehicles, retrofitting vehicles, and not to exceed $2,250 to provide training. FTA did not fund reimbursements for lifts or retrofits purchased before this announcement. Each of the following 97 awardees, as well as the 39 applicants who were not selected for funding, will receive a letter that explains how funding decisions were made. Grantees selected for competitive discretionary funding should work with their FTA regional office to finalize the electronic grant application in FTA’s Transportation Electronic Awards Management System (TEAM) for the projects identified in Tables I and II. A discretionary project identification SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 5295 number has been assigned to each project for tracking purposes and must be used in the TEAM application. Awardees who are new to FTA should contact their regional office immediately for guidance about becoming an FTA grantee. Regional office contact information can be found at https:// www.fta.dot.gov/. The grant applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certification under labor protection requirements pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5333(b). After referring applications to affected employees represented by a labor organization, DOL will issue a certification to FTA. Terms and conditions of the certification will be incorporated in the FTA grant agreement under the Special Warranty Provisions of the Department of Labor Guidelines ‘‘Section 5333(b), Federal Transit Law’’ at 29 CFR 215.7. The grantee must comply with all applicable Federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other Federal requirements in carrying out the project supported by the FTA grant. Funds allocated in the announcement must be obligated in a grant by September 30, 2014. Issued in Washington, DC, this 27th day of January, 2012. Peter Rogoff, Administrator. BILLING CODE P E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1 VerDate Mar<15>2010 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices 17:04 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4725 E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1 EN02FE12.001</GPH> srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 5296 VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:04 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4725 E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1 5297 EN02FE12.002</GPH> srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices VerDate Mar<15>2010 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices 17:04 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 PO 00000 Frm 00072 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4725 E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1 EN02FE12.003</GPH> srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 5298 VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:04 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4725 E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1 5299 EN02FE12.004</GPH> srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices [FR Doc. 2012–2243 Filed 2–1–12; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE C VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:09 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1 EN02FE12.005</GPH> srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 5300 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 22 / Thursday, February 2, 2012 / Notices DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [Docket No. NHTSA–2012–0005; Notice 1] Ford Motor Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT. ACTION: Receipt of petition. AGENCY: Ford Motor Company 1 (Ford) has determined that certain model year 2011 Ford E–150, E–250, E–350 and E– 450 motor vehicles manufactured between May 12, 2011 and May 25, 2011, do not fully comply with paragraph S5.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 205, Glazing Materials. Ford has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports (dated August 22, 2011). Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule at 49 CFR part 556), Ford has petitioned for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. This notice of receipt of Ford’s petition is published under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition. Affected are approximately 4,532 model year 2011 Ford E–150, E–250, E– 350 and E–450 trucks manufactured between May 12, 2011 and May 25, 2011 at Ford’s Ohio assembly plant are affected. NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, these provisions only apply to the 4,532 2 subject vehicles that Ford no srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: 1 Ford Motor Company is a motor vehicle manufacturer incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware. 2 Ford’s petition, which was filed under 49 CFR part 556, requests an agency decision to exempt Ford as a vehicle manufacturer from the notification and recall responsibilities of 49 CFR part 573 for the 4,532 affected vehicles. However, a decision on this petition cannot relieve vehicle distributors and VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:09 Feb 01, 2012 Jkt 226001 longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. Ford described the noncompliance as the formation of air bubbles in the windshields when subjected to high temperatures specified in paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS No. 205. Paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS No. 205 requires in pertinent part: S5.1 Glazing materials for use in motor vehicles must conform to ANSI/SAE Z26.1– 1996 unless this standard provides otherwise. S5.1.1 Multipurpose passenger vehicles. Except as otherwise specifically provided by this standard, glazing for use in multipurpose passenger vehicles shall conform to the requirements for glazing for use in trucks as specified in ANSI/SAE Z26.1–1996 * * * Ford expressed its belief that only approximately 100 of the 4,532 subject vehicles may actually develop air bubbles in their windshields. Ford argues that paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS No. 205 specifies meeting the requirements of ANSI Z26.1–1996 Section 5.4 Boil, Test 4. The affected paragraph 5.4.3 ‘‘Interpretation of Results’’ states ‘‘The glass itself may crack in this test, but no bubbles or other defects shall develop more than 13 mm from the outer edge of the specimen or from any cracks that may develop.’’ Although the affected windshields may develop air bubbles, Ford believes this condition does not present a risk to motor vehicle safety for the reasons described below. The initiation of the air bubbles will most likely occur when the vehicle is parked in the sun with ambient temperatures greater than 80 °F, and they occur very early in the life of the vehicle. This was the case for the initial vehicles that exhibited the condition while still at the assembly plant, that was experiencing high seasonal temperatures at the time. Of the 41 field reports of the condition that had occurred as of August 16, 2011, only one occurred subsequent to delivery to a customer. All other field reports were found during pre-delivery vehicle preparation. The appearance of the air bubbles is a slow process, and there are no reports of air bubbles affecting the entire windshield. If bubbles do occur in the driver vision zone, the vision zone is initially only partially affected. This condition would be noticed by the customer prior to a significant spread of the air bubbles, and the customer would dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of the noncompliant vehicles under their control after Ford notified them that the subject noncompliance existed. PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 5301 seek repair under Ford’s normal 3/36 warranty. Ford is not aware of accidents or injuries attributed to this condition. In summation, Ford believes that the described noncompliance of its vehicles to meet the requirements of FMVSS No. 225 is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that its petition, to exempt from providing recall notification of noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and remedying the recall noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120 should be granted. Comments: Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be submitted by any of the following methods: a. By mail addressed to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M–30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. b. By hand delivery to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M–30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal Holidays. c. Electronically: by logging onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site at https:// www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Comments may also be faxed to 1 (202) 493–2251. Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish to receive confirmation that your comments were received, please enclose a stamped, selfaddressed postcard with the comments. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to https:// www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Documents submitted to a docket may be viewed by anyone at the address and times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for accessing the dockets. DOT’s complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in the E:\FR\FM\02FEN1.SGM 02FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5295-5301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2243]



[[Page 5295]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program Announcement of Project 
Selections

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded 
under Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus 
(OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the 
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB 
Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of 
over-the-road buses to help finance the incremental capital and 
training costs of complying with DOT's over-the-road bus accessibility 
rule, published in the Federal Register on September 24, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate FTA Regional Office 
for grant-specific issues; or Blenda Younger, Office of Program 
Management, 202-366-4345, for general information about the OTRB 
Program. Contact information for FTA Regional Offices can be found at 
https://www.fta.dot.gov/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A total of $8.8 million was made available 
for the program in FY 2011: $6.6 million for intercity fixed-route 
providers and $2.2 million for all other providers, such as commuter, 
charter, and tour operators. A total of 136 applicants requested $40.9 
million. Project selections were made on a discretionary basis, based 
on each applicant's responsiveness to statutory project selection 
criteria published in the July 13, 2011 Notice of Funding Availability.
    Project Implementation: Due to the high demand for the funds 
available, most successful applicants received less funding than they 
requested. The selected projects will provide funding for the 
incremental cost of adding at least one new lift to vehicles, 
retrofitting vehicles, and not to exceed $2,250 to provide training. 
FTA did not fund reimbursements for lifts or retrofits purchased before 
this announcement. Each of the following 97 awardees, as well as the 39 
applicants who were not selected for funding, will receive a letter 
that explains how funding decisions were made.
    Grantees selected for competitive discretionary funding should work 
with their FTA regional office to finalize the electronic grant 
application in FTA's Transportation Electronic Awards Management System 
(TEAM) for the projects identified in Tables I and II. A discretionary 
project identification number has been assigned to each project for 
tracking purposes and must be used in the TEAM application. Awardees 
who are new to FTA should contact their regional office immediately for 
guidance about becoming an FTA grantee. Regional office contact 
information can be found at https://www.fta.dot.gov/.
    The grant applications will be sent to the U.S. Department of Labor 
(DOL) for certification under labor protection requirements pursuant to 
49 U.S.C. 5333(b). After referring applications to affected employees 
represented by a labor organization, DOL will issue a certification to 
FTA. Terms and conditions of the certification will be incorporated in 
the FTA grant agreement under the Special Warranty Provisions of the 
Department of Labor Guidelines ``Section 5333(b), Federal Transit Law'' 
at 29 CFR 215.7.
    The grantee must comply with all applicable Federal statutes, 
regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other Federal 
requirements in carrying out the project supported by the FTA grant. 
Funds allocated in the announcement must be obligated in a grant by 
September 30, 2014.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 27th day of January, 2012.
Peter Rogoff,
Administrator.
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[FR Doc. 2012-2243 Filed 2-1-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE C

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