Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request, 35106-35107 [2012-14286]

Agencies

• Federal Railroad Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35106-35107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14286]



[[Page 35106]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA 2012-0006-N-5]


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its 
implementing regulations, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 
hereby announces that it is seeking approval for the new Safety 
Appliance Standards Guidance Checklist form listed below. Before 
submitting information collection requirements (ICRs) for clearance by 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA is required to solicit 
public comment on specific aspects of the activities identified below.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than August 13, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on any or all of the following 
proposed activities by mail to either: Mr. Robert Brogan, Office of 
Safety, Planning and Evaluation Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 25, Washington, DC 
20590, or Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of Information Technology, RAD-20, 
Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE. Mail Stop 35, 
Washington, DC 20590. Commenters requesting FRA to acknowledge receipt 
of their respective comments must include a self-addressed stamped 
postcard stating, ``Comments on OMB control number 2130-0565.'' 
Alternatively, comments may be transmitted via facsimile to (202) 493-
6216 or (202) 493-6479, or via email to Mr. Brogan at 
Robert.Brogan@dot.gov, or to Ms. Toone at Kimberly.Toone@dot.gov. 
Please refer to the assigned OMB control number in any correspondence 
submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in response to this 
notice in a subsequent notice and include them in its information 
collection submission to OMB for approval.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Brogan, Office of Planning 
and Evaluation Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 21, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 
(202) 493-6292) or Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of Information 
Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey 
Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202) 493-
6132). (These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
Public Law 104-13, Sec.  2, 109 Stat. 163 (1995) (codified as revised 
at 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 
1320, require Federal agencies to provide 60-days notice to the public 
for comment on information collection activities before seeking 
approval for reinstatement or renewal by OMB. 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 
5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), 1320.10(e)(1), 1320.12(a). Specifically, FRA 
invites interested respondents to comment on the following summary of 
proposed information collection activities regarding (i) Whether the 
information collection activities are necessary for FRA to properly 
execute its functions, including whether the activities will have 
practical utility; (ii) the accuracy of FRA's estimates of the burden 
of the information collection activities, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates; (iii) ways 
for FRA to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
being collected; and (iv) ways for FRA to minimize the burden of 
information collection activities on the public by automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology (e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses). See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)(I)-(iv); 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1)(I)-(iv). FRA believes that soliciting public comment will 
promote its efforts to reduce the administrative and paperwork burdens 
associated with the collection of information mandated by Federal 
regulations. In summary, FRA reasons that comments received will 
advance three objectives: (i) Reduce reporting burdens; (ii) ensure 
that it organizes information collection requirements in a ``user 
friendly'' format to improve the use of such information; and (iii) 
accurately assess the resources expended to retrieve and produce 
information requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
    Below is a brief summary of the currently approved ICRs that FRA 
will submit for clearance by OMB as required under the PRA:
    Title: Safety Appliance Concern Recommendation Report; Safety 
Appliance Standards Guidance Checklist Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0565.
    Abstract: Sample car/locomotive inspections are performed as a 
courtesy to the car manufacturers to ensure that the equipment is built 
in accordance with all applicable Federal regulations and requirements. 
Car builders that desire to have FRA review their equipment for 
compliance with safety standards are to submit their safety appliance 
arrangement drawings, prints, etc., to the FRA Office of Safety 
Assurance and Compliance for review at least 60 days prior to 
construction. The sample car inspection program is designed to provide 
assurance that rolling stock equipment is compliant within the Code of 
Federal Regulations for use on the general railroad system. Although a 
sample car inspection is not required, most builders today request FRA 
to perform the inspection. The goal of the sample car inspection 
program is to reduce risk to railroad employees and improve passenger 
safety for the general public by ensuring rolling stock is fully 
compliant with all applicable regulations.
    In an ongoing effort to conduct more thorough and more effective 
inspections of freight railroad equipment and to further enhance safe 
rail operations, FRA has developed a safety concern recommendation 
report form and a group of guidance checklist forms that facilitate 
railroad, rail car owner, and rail equipment manufacturer compliance 
with agency Railroad Safety Appliance Standards regulations. New form 
FRA F 6180.EZ is designed to reduce burden on respondents. When a 
request for sample car inspection incoming letter is provided by the 
customer, an abundant of amount of information is submitted to FRA for 
review that may require a formal on-site inspection. The information 
contained in the letter includes several paragraphs to explain the 
cited Code of Federal Regulations that the customer believes related to 
the construction of the car. Since many cars today are considered a car 
of special construction, the type of car to be reviewed, many times the 
amount of details of information are supplied to support why the 
customer believes the car submitted is the nearest car to construction. 
An abundance of factors with justification to support the car type is 
included in the request. Some examples would be a Logo, Company Name, 
and signature block, specific drawings, reflectorization, engineering 
information such as test or modeling of components. Also, the request 
may include car reporting marks, the amount of cars that would be 
constructed in the car series. In addition, the request would provide 
the location of the inspection, contact person, title, and contact 
information.

[[Page 35107]]

Currently, each request is written differently, but contains most of 
the information to process the request to completion. The F6180.EZ Form 
provides specific blocks that contain a standardized format to provide 
specific information that is in an easy to fill-in the form 
arrangement. This would greatly reduce the amount of time to complete 
the form instead of a long form letter and additional sample car 
inspection request of similar car orders would be minimized by the 
information provided previously. By having a form of this nature, the 
customer will have the information visually that would be required, to 
eliminate the potential of missing information that then causes 
additional letters to complete the incoming package. FRA could 
potentially be able to provide a cursory review of the provided 
information to ensure the package is complete without having to 
constantly compare the request letter to the supplied documents.
    The FRA region responsible for the sample car field sample car 
inspection is obliged to formally inspect the car for compliance. All 
the information in the customer request is forwarded to the region for 
review. Once the inspection is completed, the assigned inspector 
provides his report in a memorandum to the MP&E Specialist. The MP&E 
Specialist reviews the documents and provides a memo to the Regional 
Administrator who sends a response by memorandum to FRA Headquarters of 
the finding from the field inspection. The additional memorandums would 
be eliminated by the F6180.4 EZ just by a grid sign-off, reducing the 
amount of additional paperwork and filing documents.
    FRA Headquarters is responsible for gathering all the information 
from the request from the customer as well as assigning and forwarding 
the information to the Region. All the information is reviewed by the 
MP&E Specialist at Headquarters. The MP&E Specialist prepares a grid 
letter response for the MP&E Staff Director who then offers the 
response letter to the Director, Office of Safety Assurance and 
Compliance. The formal response letter is then sent to the customer 
through the Control Correspondence Management (CCM) system. The filing 
system and folders today are already large in size, and would be 
reduced by having a form that is on one piece of paper with all the 
information necessary to complete the process from the initial request 
for sample car inspection to the formal response letter provided.
    Form Number(s): New Form FRA F 6180.4EZ; current Forms FRA 
6180.4(a)-(q).
    Affected Public: Businesses.
    Respondent Universe: 130 Federal and State Inspectors.
    Frequency of Submission: Annually.

                                                Reporting Burden
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                                                                   Total annual    Average time    Total annual
                 Form                      Respondent universe       responses     per response    burden hours
                                                                      (forms)        (minutes)        (hours)
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New Form FRA F 6180.4EZ...............  130 Federal and State                 70              70              82
                                         Inspectors.
Current Form FRA F 6180.4a............  130 Federal and State                 20              60              20
                                         Inspectors.
Current Form FRA F 6180.4b............  130 Federal and State                 30              60              30
                                         Inspectors.
Current Form FRA F 6180.4c............  130 Federal and State                 20              60              20
                                         Inspectors.
Current Form FRA F 6180.4d............  130 Federal and State                  3              60               3
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4e................  130 Federal and State                 15              60              15
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4f................  130 Federal and State                  3              60               3
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4g................  130 Federal and State                 30              60              30
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4h................  130 Federal and State                  3              60               3
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4i................  130 Federal and State                  3              60               3
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4j................  130 Federal and State                  3              60               3
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4K................  130 Federal and State                 10              60              10
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4l................  130 Federal and State                  5              60               5
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4m................  130 Federal and State                  7              60               7
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4p................  130 Federal and State                  5              60               5
                                         Inspectors.
New Form FRA F 6180.4q................  130 Federal and State                  5              60               5
                                         Inspectors.
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    Total Responses: 232.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 244 hours.
    Status: Revision of a Currently Approved Collection.
    Pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5 CFR 1320.5(b), 
1320.8(b)(3)(vi), FRA informs all interested parties that it may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 6, 2012.
Rebecca Pennington,
Director, Office of Financial Management, Federal Railroad 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-14286 Filed 6-11-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P