Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act Correlation Study, 40828-40831 [2017-18183]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 165 / Monday, August 28, 2017 / Notices
The FHWA, on behalf of
Caltrans, is issuing this notice to
announce actions taken by Caltrans.The
actions relate to the proposed
improvement of Avenue R from the
Sierra Highway to just east of 25th
Street East within the City of Palmdale
in the County of Los Angeles, State of
California. Those actions grant licenses,
permits, and approvals for the project.
DATES: By this notice, the FHWA, on
behalf of Caltrans, is advising the public
of final agency actions subject to 23
U.S.C. 139(l)(1). A claim seeking
judicial review of the Federal agency
actions on the highway project will be
barred unless the claim is filed on or
before January 25, 2018. If the Federal
law that authorizes judicial review of a
claim provides a time period of less
than 150 days for filing such claim, then
that shorter time period still applies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
Caltrans: Quint Chemnitz, Associate
Environmental Planner, Environmental
Planning Division, California
Department of Transportation—District
7, 100 South Main Street, Los Angeles,
California, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., (213) 897–
2863, quint.chemnitz@dot.ca.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Effective
July 1, 2007, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) assigned, and
the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) assumed,
environmental responsibilities for this
project pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327.
Notice is hereby given that Caltrans has
taken final agency actions subject to 23
U.S.C. 139(l)(1) by issuing licenses,
permits, and approvals for the following
Avenue R Complete Street and Safe
Routes Project in the State of California:
The project proposes to provide a safer
corridor along Avenue R for local
students by providing a two-way leftturn lane; providing dedicated Class II
bike lanes; closing sidewalk gaps; and
providing bus turnouts along the project
reach. Improvements will be made on
Avenue R from just west of Sierra
Highway to just east of 25th Street East.
The Federal Project Identification
Number associated with the project is
ATPL–5378(038). The actions by the
Federal agencies, and the laws under
which such actions were taken, are
described in the Environmental
Assessment (EA) with a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) for the
project, approved on May 1, 2017, and
in other documents in the project
records. The EA/FONSI, and other
project records are available by
contacting Caltrans at the addresses
provided above. The EA/FONSI can be
viewed and downloaded from the
project Web site at https://
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SUMMARY:
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www.dot.ca.gov/d7/env-docs/, or
viewed at public libraries in the project
area. This notice applies to all Federal
agency decisions as of the issuance date
of this notice and all laws under which
such actions were taken, including but
not limited to:
1. Council on Environmental Quality
Regulations;
2. National Environmental Policy Act;
3. Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation Act (FAST Act);
4. Department of Transportation Act
of 1966;
5. Federal Aid Highway Act of 1970;
6. Clean Air Act Amendments of
1990;
7. Noise Control Act of 1970;
8. 23 CFR part 772 FHWA Noise
Standards, Policies and Procedures;
9. Department of Transportation Act
of 1966, Section 4(f);
10. Clean Water Act of 1977 and 1987;
11. Endangered Species Act of 1973;
12. Migratory Bird Treaty Act;
13. National Historic Preservation Act
of 1966, as amended;
14. Historic Sites Act of 1935 and
15. Executive Order 13112, Invasive
Species.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning
and Construction. The regulations
implementing Executive Order 12372
regarding intergovernmental consultation on
Federal programs and activities apply to this
program.)
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1)
Tasha J. Clemons,
Director, Program Development, Federal
Highway Administration, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. 2017–18170 Filed 8–25–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–RY–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2017–0226]
Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation Act Correlation Study
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:
On June 27, 2017, the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
published its report titled, ‘‘Improving
Motor Carrier Safety Measurement.’’
This report was commissioned by
FMCSA consistent with the
requirements of Section 5221 of the
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation
(FAST) Act. The FAST Act also requires
that the Agency develop an action plan
SUMMARY:
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to address any identified deficiencies
and submit it to Congress and the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s (DOT)
Office of Inspector General (OIG). The
purpose of this notice is to announce a
public meeting to discuss the NAS
recommendations and to solicit input to
be considered by the Agency in the
development and implementation of the
action plan.
DATES: The public meeting will take
place on Friday, September 8, 2017,
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern
Time. A copy of the agenda for the
meeting will be available in advance of
the meeting at https://
www.regonline.com/FMCSA_
Correlation_Study_Action_
PlanPublicMeeting. If all interested
participants have had an opportunity to
comment, the meeting may conclude
early.
Public Comments: Comments must be
received by September 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at
the FMCSA National Training Center,
1310 N. Courthouse Road, Suite 600,
Arlington, VA 22201–2508. Those
interested in attending this public
meeting must register at: https://
www.regonline.com/FMCSA_
Correlation_Study_Action_
PlanPublicMeeting. Participants have
the option of registering to attend in
person, or via webinar.
You may submit comments identified
by Docket Number FMCSA–2017–0226
using any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Docket Management Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation,
Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590–
0001.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: West
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–
140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
• Fax: 1–202–493–2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information about the public meeting or
for information on facilities or services
for individuals with disabilities or to
request special assistance at the
meeting, contact Ms. Sharon Worthy,
Director of External Affairs at (202) 366–
2309 or by email at Sharon.Worthy@
dot.gov, by September 1, 2017.
For information about the Correlation
Study, please contact Ms. Theresa
Rowlett, Senior Policy Advisor, Office
of Enforcement, FMCSA, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 165 / Monday, August 28, 2017 / Notices
making processes. DOT posts these
comments, without edit, including any
personal information the commenter
provides, to www.regulations.gov, as
described in the system of records
notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can
be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy.
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please
include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA–2017–0226), indicate
the specific section of this document to
which each comment applies, and
provide a reason for each suggestion or
recommendation. You may submit your
comments and material online or by fax,
mail, or hand delivery, but please use
only one of these means. FMCSA
recommends that you include your
name and mailing address, an email
address, or a phone number in the body
of your document so that FMCSA can
contact you if there are questions
regarding your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to
https://www.regulations.gov, put the
docket number, FMCSA–2017–0226, in
the keyword box, and click ‘‘Search.’’
When the new screen appears, click on
the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ button and type
your comment into the text box on the
following screen. Choose whether you
are submitting your comment as an
individual or on behalf of a third party
and then submit.
If you submit your comments by mail
or hand delivery, submit them in an
unbound format, no larger than 81⁄2 by
11 inches, suitable for copying and
electronic filing. If you submit
comments by mail and would like to
know that they reached the facility,
please enclose a stamped, self-addressed
postcard or envelope.
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20590, Telephone (202) 360–2924 or by
email at Theresa.Rowlett@dot.gov.
If you have questions regarding
viewing or submitting material to the
docket, contact Docket Services,
telephone (202) 366–9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 5221 of the FAST Act, titled
‘‘Correlation Study,’’ required FMCSA
to commission the National Research
Council of the National Academies to
conduct a study of FMCSA’s
Compliance, Safety, Accountability
(CSA) program and Safety Measurement
System (SMS). SMS is FMCSA’s
algorithm for identifying patterns of
non-compliance and prioritizing motor
carriers for interventions. FMCSA is
prohibited from publishing SMS
percentiles and alerts on the SMS Web
site for motor carriers transporting
property until the NAS Correlation
Study is complete and all reporting and
certification requirements under the
FAST Act are satisfied.
The FAST Act also required FMCSA
to submit the results of this study to
both Congress and the DOT OIG. In
addition, within 120 days of the
submission of the report to Congress
and the OIG, FMCSA must submit an
action plan to the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation;
and the House of Representatives
Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee. The OIG is required to
review the action plan and submit a
report to Congress on the
responsiveness of the FMCSA’s plan to
the NAS report’s recommendations.
Under Section 5221 of the FAST Act,
the purpose of this study is to analyze:
a. The accuracy with which the
Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement
Categories (BASICs) used by SMS:
i. Identify high risk carriers.
ii. Predict or are correlated with
future crash risk, crash severity, or other
safety indicators for motor carriers,
including the highest risk carriers.
b. The methodology used to calculate
BASIC percentiles and identify carriers
for enforcement, including the weights
assigned to particular violations and the
tie between crash risk and specific
regulatory violations, with respect to
accurately identifying and predicting
future crash risk for motor carriers.
c. The relative value of inspection
information and roadside enforcement
data.
d. Any data collection gaps or data
sufficiency problems that may exist and
the impact of those gaps and problems
on the efficacy of the CSA program.
e. The accuracy of safety data,
including the use of crash data from
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as any
documents mentioned in this preamble
as being available in the docket, to
https://www.regulations.gov. Insert the
docket number, FMCSA–2017–0226, in
the keyword box, and click ‘‘Search.’’
Next, click the ‘‘Open Docket Folder’’
button and choose the document to
review. If you do not have access to the
Internet, you may view the docket by
visiting the Docket Management Facility
in Room W12–140 on the ground floor
of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., E.T.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
Privacy Act
The Department of Transportation
(DOT) solicits comments from the
public to better inform its decision-
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crashes in which a motor carrier was
free from fault.
f. Whether BASIC percentiles for
motor carriers of passengers should be
calculated separately from for motor
carriers of freight.
g. The differences in the rates at
which safety violations are reported to
FMCSA for inclusion in the SMS by
various enforcement authorities,
including States, territories, and Federal
inspectors.
h. How members of the public use the
SMS and what effect making the SMS
information public has had on reducing
crashes and eliminating unsafe motor
carriers from the industry.
The FAST Act required the NAS also
to consider:
a. Whether the SMS provides
comparable precision and confidence,
through SMS alerts and percentiles, for
the relative crash risk of individual large
and small motor carriers.
b. Whether alternatives to the SMS
would identify high risk carriers more
accurately.
c. The recommendations and findings
of the Comptroller General of the United
States and the Inspector General of the
Department of Transportation, and
independent review team reports,
issued before the date of the FAST Act.
NAS Report Recommendations and
FMCSA Action Plan Overview
On June 27, 2017, NAS published the
report titled, ‘‘Improving Motor Carrier
Safety Measurement.’’ The report is
available at https://www.nap.edu/
catalog/24818/improving-motor-carriersafety-measurement. A copy of the
report has been placed in the docket
referenced at the beginning of this
notice. In preparing the report, NAS
collected and analyzed all the
quantitative data available to FMCSA in
its databases, which contain information
on the safety of commercial motor
carriers and drivers subject to the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations and the Hazardous
Materials Regulations. In addition, NAS
held three public meetings to engage
stakeholders from the truck and bus
industry, safety advocates, researchers,
and other government organizations.
The meeting agendas are included in an
appendix to the report.
The NAS report concluded that SMS,
in its current form, is structured in a
reasonable way and its method of
identifying motor carriers for alert status
is defensible. In addition, NAS agreed
that FMCSA’s overall approach, based
on crash prevention rather than
prediction, is sound. NAS provided
FMCSA with six recommendations to
improve the system.
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FMCSA accepts the NAS report’s
recommendations and outlines below
several high-level proposals to address
each recommendation. The proposals
summarized below are intended to
allow the public to provide input into
the development of the action plan but
do not themselves constitute the
entirety of the action plan. FMCSA is
still considering and evaluating actions
to address the recommendations.
FMCSA is also working with the NAS
to establish a Standing Committee to
oversee and provide advice relating to
the Agency’s work addressing these
recommendations. In addition to
reviewing and providing advice on the
Agency’s technical work, such as the
Item Response Theory (IRT) modeling,
NAS will advise on all
recommendations, and establish a
process for gathering stakeholder input
in the implementation of the action plan
as well.
Recommendation 1—FMCSA should
develop the suggested IRT model over
the next 2 years. If it is then
demonstrated to perform well in
identifying motor carriers for alerts,
FMCSA should use it to replace SMS in
a manner akin to the way SMS replaced
SafeStat.
FMCSA Comment
To address this recommendation,
FMCSA is securing additional expertise
and resources to develop and test the
proposed IRT statistical model. The
testing of an IRT model is consistent
with FMCSA’s continuous improvement
process of modifying and testing
changes to SMS by focusing on data
quality, data collection, and
transparency. FMCSA will evaluate
whether the new model performs well
using existing effectiveness testing
methods and/or methodologies
recommended by the NAS, and based
on that evaluation will determine the
next steps in using that model.
FMCSA is seeking comments on the
implementation of an IRT model and its
application to the SMS as well as the
process for development and testing of
the model.
Recommendation 2—FMCSA should
continue to collaborate with states and
other agencies to improve the quality of
the Motor Carrier Management
Information System (MCMIS) data in
support of SMS, focusing on carrier
exposure and crash data. The current
exposure data are missing with high
frequency, and data that are collected
are likely of unsatisfactory quality. To
improve the exposure data collected
involves not only collecting higherquality Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)
data, but also collecting this information
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by state and by month. This will enable
SMS to (partially) accommodate existing
heterogeneity in the environments
where carriers travel. Crash data are also
missing too often. Also, there is
information available from police
reports currently not represented on
MCMIS that could be helpful in
understanding the contributing factors
in a crash. Such information could help
to validate the assumptions linking
violations to crash frequency. To
address these issues, FMCSA should
support the states in collecting more
complete crash data, and in universal
adoption of the Model Minimum
Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), as
well as developing and supplying the
code needed to automatically extract the
data needed for the MCMIS crash file.
FMCSA Comments on VMT
Regarding exposure data, the Agency
agrees that more VMT data from motor
carriers would reduce the need for
FMCSA to use substitute values and
would improve the quality of the data
in SMS. FMCSA is concerned that
access to monthly and by-State VMT is
not currently feasible. Currently,
FMCSA rules require carriers to provide
updated VMT data only every two years.
FMCSA previously considered using
other sources of VMT data such as the
International Registration Plan data.
However, FMCSA does not currently
have access to that data. And even if the
Agency had access to IRP data, that
would not provide a complete data set,
as IRP carriers are not required to report
information on vehicles with a gross
vehicle weight rating of less than 26,000
pounds.
FMCSA seeks information, through
this notice, on potential sources of
improved VMT data. Additionally,
FMCSA requests input from industry
and other stakeholders about other
available sources for this data and the
costs and benefits of voluntary
submission of the data.
FMCSA expects to consider the effect
of monthly, voluntarily-submitted,
State-by-State VMT data from motor
carriers, and the impact on the system
if this information were provided by
only a portion of the regulated
community.
FMCSA Comments on Crash Data
In accordance with Section 5306 of
the FAST Act, FMCSA established a
Federal Advisory Committee to review
Post-Accident Reports for tow-away
crashes involving FMCSA-regulated
commercial motor vehicles. That
committee was charged with
recommending changes to improve the
quality and consistency of Police
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Accident Reports (PARs) data. More
than half of the committee members
represented States or State law
enforcement officials, with the
remainder representing industry, labor,
safety advocates, and other interested
parties. The FAST Act directed the
working group to review existing State
PARs to recommend best practices for
the collection of PARs data by State and
local law enforcement agencies. The
Post Accident Review Advisory
Committee recommended that all States
use the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration’s MMUCC i and that
FMCSA modify its data systems to
receive all MMUCC data from the States.
In January 2017, FMCSA’s and
NHTSA’s senior leadership agreed to
establish a workgroup to carry out the
Committee’s recommendations.
FMCSA recognizes that
implementation of this recommendation
will take additional resources for the
States for training and information
technology system changes. We are
partnering with NHTSA to encourage
States to participate in a USDOT
national crash repository (that uses the
MMUCC guidance as a framework). In
addition, FMCSA will be examining the
quality of the EDT data and comparing
it to what we receive in MCMIS.
As a result, FMCSA specifically asks
for information on issues that should be
considered FMCSA determines how to
best integrate MMUCC data.
Recommendation 3—FMCSA should
investigate ways of collecting data that
will likely benefit the recommended
methodology for safety assessment. This
includes data on carrier
characteristics—including information
on driver turnover rate, type of cargo,
method and level of compensation, and
better information on exposure.
FMCSA Comments
The Agency agrees that additional
information about carrier operations
might improve the Agency’s analysis
and identification of non-compliant
motor carriers. To confirm this, FMCSA
will use the IRT model and simulate the
impacts and value of driver turnover
rates, type of cargo, method and level of
compensation, and exposure in
identifying unsafe motor carriers before
proceeding with an information
collection. In addition, FMCSA would
conduct a cost benefit analysis to
determine how much it would cost the
industry to provide the Agency with
this additional information. Through
this notice, FMCSA is specifically
i https://www.transportation.gov/government/
traffic-records/model-minimum-uniform-crashcriteria-mmucc-0.
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seeking input on these and other data
fields to be considered and information
on the costs associated with submitting
this information.
Recommendation 4—FMCSA should
structure a user-friendly version of the
MCMIS data file used as input to SMS
without any personally identifiable
information to facilitate its use by
external parties, such as researchers,
and by carriers. In addition, FMCSA
should make user-friendly computer
code used to compute SMS elements
available to individuals in accordance
with reproducibility and transparency
guidelines.
FMCSA Comments
FMCSA agrees that there could be
benefits from making MCMIS data
available to researchers and carriers.
Through this Federal Register notice,
FMCSA seeks input on how the MCMIS
data would be used by researchers and
others to determine the best method(s)
for providing the data file.
The Agency is considering developing
the programming, screen shots, and
preview capacity so that changes from
one month to another are explained to
motor carriers to help carriers
understand the implications of
violations and crashes on their SMS
data. Input on the information that
would be helpful in reviewing SMS data
is requested through this notice.
Recommendation 5—FMCSA should
undertake a study to better understand
the statistical operating characteristics
of the percentile ranks to support
decisions regarding the usability of
public scores.
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FMCSA Comments
Like NAS, FMCSA has been unable to
quantify the impacts to motor carriers of
publicly displaying the SMS
percentiles. The Agency has only
anecdotal information about the
business impacts of the public
percentiles on the SMS Web site.
Historically, insurance companies and
shippers have been reluctant to share
data on how safety data is used to
determine rates. And, while the Agency
has been contacted by companies
advising that they lost business because
of SMS, these claims have not been
validated or assimilated into a usable
analysis.
Through this notice, FMCSA seeks
data from motor carriers, insurance
companies, and shippers regarding the
impacts of the public display of SMS
percentiles and alerts on businesses.
This information will be used to
identify next steps for this
recommendation.
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Recommendation 6—Given that there
are good reasons for both an absolute
and a relative metric on safety
performance, FMCSA should decide on
the carriers that receive SMS alerts
using both the SMS percentile ranks and
the SMS measures, and the percentile
ranks should be computed both
conditionally within safety event groups
and over all motor carriers.
FMCSA Comments
The Agency has heard from motor
carriers with increased measures or
percentiles due to an increase in
vehicles or clean inspections. Analysis
of the number of carriers that received
higher measures and percentiles
without a violation or crash indicates
this happens to a very small number of
carriers. However, FMCSA agrees that
the methodology should be revised so
that a safety event that is not a violation
or a crash is not the sole reason for an
increased measure or percentile.
In addition, FMCSA anticipates
investigating the use of a hybrid
measure that combines relative and
absolute metrics as part of its
development of the IRT model. FMCSA
seeks comment from stakeholders on
this issue, how it could be
implemented, and when such changes
would be appropriate.
Issued under the authority delegated in 49
CFR 1.87 on: August 21, 2017.
John Van Steenburg,
Assistant Administrator/Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017–18183 Filed 8–25–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
[OMB Control No. 2900–0606]
Agency Information Collection
Activity: Regulation for Submission of
Evidence
Veterans Health
Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Veterans Health
Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), is announcing an
opportunity for public comment on the
proposed collection of certain
information by the agency. Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, Federal agencies are required to
publish notice in the Federal Register
concerning each proposed collection of
information, including each proposed
extension of a currently approved
SUMMARY:
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40831
collection, and allow 60 days for public
comment in response to the notice.
DATES: Written comments and
recommendations on the proposed
collection of information should be
received on or before October 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
on the collection of information through
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) at www.Regulations.gov or to
Brian McCarthy, Veterans Health
Administration, Office of Regulatory
and Administrative Affairs (10B4),
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810
Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20420 or email to Brian.McCarthy4@
va.gov. Please refer to ‘‘OMB Control
No. 2900–0606’’ in any correspondence.
During the comment period, comments
may be viewed online through FDMS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian McCarthy at (202) 461–6345.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
PRA of 1995, Federal agencies must
obtain approval from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for each
collection of information they conduct
or sponsor. This request for comment is
being made pursuant to Section
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA.
With respect to the following
collection of information, VHA invites
comments on: (1) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of VHA’s
functions, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of VHA’s estimate of
the burden of the proposed collection of
information; (3) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (4)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
the use of other forms of information
technology.
Authority: U.S. Code: 38 U.S.C. 1729.
Title: Regulation for Submission of
Evidence—Title 38 CFR 17.101(a)(4).
OMB Control Number: 2900–0606.
Type of Review: Renewal of a
currently approved collection.
Abstract: Under the provisions of 38
CFR, Section 17.101(a)(4), entitled
‘‘Amount of Recovery or Collection—
Third Party Liability’’, a third-party
payer that is liable for reimbursing VA
for health care VA provided to Veterans
with non- service-connected conditions
continues to have the option of paying
either the billed charges as described in
Section 17.101 or the amount the health
plan demonstrates it would pay to
providers other than entities of the
United States for the same care or
services in the same geographic area. If
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 165 (Monday, August 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40828-40831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18183]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0226]
Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act Correlation Study
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On June 27, 2017, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
published its report titled, ``Improving Motor Carrier Safety
Measurement.'' This report was commissioned by FMCSA consistent with
the requirements of Section 5221 of the Fixing America's Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act. The FAST Act also requires that the Agency
develop an action plan to address any identified deficiencies and
submit it to Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT)
Office of Inspector General (OIG). The purpose of this notice is to
announce a public meeting to discuss the NAS recommendations and to
solicit input to be considered by the Agency in the development and
implementation of the action plan.
DATES: The public meeting will take place on Friday, September 8, 2017,
from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time. A copy of the agenda for the
meeting will be available in advance of the meeting at https://www.regonline.com/FMCSA_Correlation_Study_Action_PlanPublicMeeting. If
all interested participants have had an opportunity to comment, the
meeting may conclude early.
Public Comments: Comments must be received by September 27, 2017.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the FMCSA National Training
Center, 1310 N. Courthouse Road, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22201-2508.
Those interested in attending this public meeting must register at:
https://www.regonline.com/FMCSA_Correlation_Study_Action_PlanPublicMeeting. Participants have the
option of registering to attend in person, or via webinar.
You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-2017-0226
using any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington,
DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the public
meeting or for information on facilities or services for individuals
with disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting,
contact Ms. Sharon Worthy, Director of External Affairs at (202) 366-
2309 or by email at Sharon.Worthy@dot.gov, by September 1, 2017.
For information about the Correlation Study, please contact Ms.
Theresa Rowlett, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Enforcement, FMCSA,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
[[Page 40829]]
20590, Telephone (202) 360-2924 or by email at Theresa.Rowlett@dot.gov.
If you have questions regarding viewing or submitting material to
the docket, contact Docket Services, telephone (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Submitting Comments
If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this
notice (FMCSA-2017-0226), indicate the specific section of this
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material
online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of
these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and mailing
address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your
document so that FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding
your submission.
To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov,
put the docket number, FMCSA-2017-0226, in the keyword box, and click
``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on the ``Comment Now!''
button and type your comment into the text box on the following screen.
Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual or on
behalf of a third party and then submit.
If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for
copying and electronic filing. If you submit comments by mail and would
like to know that they reached the facility, please enclose a stamped,
self-addressed postcard or envelope.
Viewing Comments and Documents
To view comments, as well as any documents mentioned in this
preamble as being available in the docket, to https://www.regulations.gov. Insert the docket number, FMCSA-2017-0226, in the
keyword box, and click ``Search.'' Next, click the ``Open Docket
Folder'' button and choose the document to review. If you do not have
access to the Internet, you may view the docket by visiting the Docket
Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Privacy Act
The Department of Transportation (DOT) solicits comments from the
public to better inform its decision-making processes. DOT posts these
comments, without edit, including any personal information the
commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at
www.dot.gov/privacy.
Background
Section 5221 of the FAST Act, titled ``Correlation Study,''
required FMCSA to commission the National Research Council of the
National Academies to conduct a study of FMCSA's Compliance, Safety,
Accountability (CSA) program and Safety Measurement System (SMS). SMS
is FMCSA's algorithm for identifying patterns of non-compliance and
prioritizing motor carriers for interventions. FMCSA is prohibited from
publishing SMS percentiles and alerts on the SMS Web site for motor
carriers transporting property until the NAS Correlation Study is
complete and all reporting and certification requirements under the
FAST Act are satisfied.
The FAST Act also required FMCSA to submit the results of this
study to both Congress and the DOT OIG. In addition, within 120 days of
the submission of the report to Congress and the OIG, FMCSA must submit
an action plan to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation; and the House of Representatives Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee. The OIG is required to review the action plan
and submit a report to Congress on the responsiveness of the FMCSA's
plan to the NAS report's recommendations.
Under Section 5221 of the FAST Act, the purpose of this study is to
analyze:
a. The accuracy with which the Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement
Categories (BASICs) used by SMS:
i. Identify high risk carriers.
ii. Predict or are correlated with future crash risk, crash
severity, or other safety indicators for motor carriers, including the
highest risk carriers.
b. The methodology used to calculate BASIC percentiles and identify
carriers for enforcement, including the weights assigned to particular
violations and the tie between crash risk and specific regulatory
violations, with respect to accurately identifying and predicting
future crash risk for motor carriers.
c. The relative value of inspection information and roadside
enforcement data.
d. Any data collection gaps or data sufficiency problems that may
exist and the impact of those gaps and problems on the efficacy of the
CSA program.
e. The accuracy of safety data, including the use of crash data
from crashes in which a motor carrier was free from fault.
f. Whether BASIC percentiles for motor carriers of passengers
should be calculated separately from for motor carriers of freight.
g. The differences in the rates at which safety violations are
reported to FMCSA for inclusion in the SMS by various enforcement
authorities, including States, territories, and Federal inspectors.
h. How members of the public use the SMS and what effect making the
SMS information public has had on reducing crashes and eliminating
unsafe motor carriers from the industry.
The FAST Act required the NAS also to consider:
a. Whether the SMS provides comparable precision and confidence,
through SMS alerts and percentiles, for the relative crash risk of
individual large and small motor carriers.
b. Whether alternatives to the SMS would identify high risk
carriers more accurately.
c. The recommendations and findings of the Comptroller General of
the United States and the Inspector General of the Department of
Transportation, and independent review team reports, issued before the
date of the FAST Act.
NAS Report Recommendations and FMCSA Action Plan Overview
On June 27, 2017, NAS published the report titled, ``Improving
Motor Carrier Safety Measurement.'' The report is available at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24818/improving-motor-carrier-safety-measurement. A
copy of the report has been placed in the docket referenced at the
beginning of this notice. In preparing the report, NAS collected and
analyzed all the quantitative data available to FMCSA in its databases,
which contain information on the safety of commercial motor carriers
and drivers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and
the Hazardous Materials Regulations. In addition, NAS held three public
meetings to engage stakeholders from the truck and bus industry, safety
advocates, researchers, and other government organizations. The meeting
agendas are included in an appendix to the report.
The NAS report concluded that SMS, in its current form, is
structured in a reasonable way and its method of identifying motor
carriers for alert status is defensible. In addition, NAS agreed that
FMCSA's overall approach, based on crash prevention rather than
prediction, is sound. NAS provided FMCSA with six recommendations to
improve the system.
[[Page 40830]]
FMCSA accepts the NAS report's recommendations and outlines below
several high-level proposals to address each recommendation. The
proposals summarized below are intended to allow the public to provide
input into the development of the action plan but do not themselves
constitute the entirety of the action plan. FMCSA is still considering
and evaluating actions to address the recommendations. FMCSA is also
working with the NAS to establish a Standing Committee to oversee and
provide advice relating to the Agency's work addressing these
recommendations. In addition to reviewing and providing advice on the
Agency's technical work, such as the Item Response Theory (IRT)
modeling, NAS will advise on all recommendations, and establish a
process for gathering stakeholder input in the implementation of the
action plan as well.
Recommendation 1--FMCSA should develop the suggested IRT model over
the next 2 years. If it is then demonstrated to perform well in
identifying motor carriers for alerts, FMCSA should use it to replace
SMS in a manner akin to the way SMS replaced SafeStat.
FMCSA Comment
To address this recommendation, FMCSA is securing additional
expertise and resources to develop and test the proposed IRT
statistical model. The testing of an IRT model is consistent with
FMCSA's continuous improvement process of modifying and testing changes
to SMS by focusing on data quality, data collection, and transparency.
FMCSA will evaluate whether the new model performs well using existing
effectiveness testing methods and/or methodologies recommended by the
NAS, and based on that evaluation will determine the next steps in
using that model.
FMCSA is seeking comments on the implementation of an IRT model and
its application to the SMS as well as the process for development and
testing of the model.
Recommendation 2--FMCSA should continue to collaborate with states
and other agencies to improve the quality of the Motor Carrier
Management Information System (MCMIS) data in support of SMS, focusing
on carrier exposure and crash data. The current exposure data are
missing with high frequency, and data that are collected are likely of
unsatisfactory quality. To improve the exposure data collected involves
not only collecting higher-quality Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) data,
but also collecting this information by state and by month. This will
enable SMS to (partially) accommodate existing heterogeneity in the
environments where carriers travel. Crash data are also missing too
often. Also, there is information available from police reports
currently not represented on MCMIS that could be helpful in
understanding the contributing factors in a crash. Such information
could help to validate the assumptions linking violations to crash
frequency. To address these issues, FMCSA should support the states in
collecting more complete crash data, and in universal adoption of the
Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), as well as developing and
supplying the code needed to automatically extract the data needed for
the MCMIS crash file.
FMCSA Comments on VMT
Regarding exposure data, the Agency agrees that more VMT data from
motor carriers would reduce the need for FMCSA to use substitute values
and would improve the quality of the data in SMS. FMCSA is concerned
that access to monthly and by-State VMT is not currently feasible.
Currently, FMCSA rules require carriers to provide updated VMT data
only every two years. FMCSA previously considered using other sources
of VMT data such as the International Registration Plan data. However,
FMCSA does not currently have access to that data. And even if the
Agency had access to IRP data, that would not provide a complete data
set, as IRP carriers are not required to report information on vehicles
with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 26,000 pounds.
FMCSA seeks information, through this notice, on potential sources
of improved VMT data. Additionally, FMCSA requests input from industry
and other stakeholders about other available sources for this data and
the costs and benefits of voluntary submission of the data.
FMCSA expects to consider the effect of monthly, voluntarily-
submitted, State-by-State VMT data from motor carriers, and the impact
on the system if this information were provided by only a portion of
the regulated community.
FMCSA Comments on Crash Data
In accordance with Section 5306 of the FAST Act, FMCSA established
a Federal Advisory Committee to review Post-Accident Reports for tow-
away crashes involving FMCSA-regulated commercial motor vehicles. That
committee was charged with recommending changes to improve the quality
and consistency of Police Accident Reports (PARs) data. More than half
of the committee members represented States or State law enforcement
officials, with the remainder representing industry, labor, safety
advocates, and other interested parties. The FAST Act directed the
working group to review existing State PARs to recommend best practices
for the collection of PARs data by State and local law enforcement
agencies. The Post Accident Review Advisory Committee recommended that
all States use the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's
MMUCC \i\ and that FMCSA modify its data systems to receive all MMUCC
data from the States. In January 2017, FMCSA's and NHTSA's senior
leadership agreed to establish a workgroup to carry out the Committee's
recommendations.
FMCSA recognizes that implementation of this recommendation will
take additional resources for the States for training and information
technology system changes. We are partnering with NHTSA to encourage
States to participate in a USDOT national crash repository (that uses
the MMUCC guidance as a framework). In addition, FMCSA will be
examining the quality of the EDT data and comparing it to what we
receive in MCMIS.
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\i\ https://www.transportation.gov/government/traffic-records/model-minimum-uniform-crash-criteria-mmucc-0.
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As a result, FMCSA specifically asks for information on issues that
should be considered FMCSA determines how to best integrate MMUCC data.
Recommendation 3--FMCSA should investigate ways of collecting data
that will likely benefit the recommended methodology for safety
assessment. This includes data on carrier characteristics--including
information on driver turnover rate, type of cargo, method and level of
compensation, and better information on exposure.
FMCSA Comments
The Agency agrees that additional information about carrier
operations might improve the Agency's analysis and identification of
non-compliant motor carriers. To confirm this, FMCSA will use the IRT
model and simulate the impacts and value of driver turnover rates, type
of cargo, method and level of compensation, and exposure in identifying
unsafe motor carriers before proceeding with an information collection.
In addition, FMCSA would conduct a cost benefit analysis to determine
how much it would cost the industry to provide the Agency with this
additional information. Through this notice, FMCSA is specifically
[[Page 40831]]
seeking input on these and other data fields to be considered and
information on the costs associated with submitting this information.
Recommendation 4--FMCSA should structure a user-friendly version of
the MCMIS data file used as input to SMS without any personally
identifiable information to facilitate its use by external parties,
such as researchers, and by carriers. In addition, FMCSA should make
user-friendly computer code used to compute SMS elements available to
individuals in accordance with reproducibility and transparency
guidelines.
FMCSA Comments
FMCSA agrees that there could be benefits from making MCMIS data
available to researchers and carriers. Through this Federal Register
notice, FMCSA seeks input on how the MCMIS data would be used by
researchers and others to determine the best method(s) for providing
the data file.
The Agency is considering developing the programming, screen shots,
and preview capacity so that changes from one month to another are
explained to motor carriers to help carriers understand the
implications of violations and crashes on their SMS data. Input on the
information that would be helpful in reviewing SMS data is requested
through this notice.
Recommendation 5--FMCSA should undertake a study to better
understand the statistical operating characteristics of the percentile
ranks to support decisions regarding the usability of public scores.
FMCSA Comments
Like NAS, FMCSA has been unable to quantify the impacts to motor
carriers of publicly displaying the SMS percentiles. The Agency has
only anecdotal information about the business impacts of the public
percentiles on the SMS Web site. Historically, insurance companies and
shippers have been reluctant to share data on how safety data is used
to determine rates. And, while the Agency has been contacted by
companies advising that they lost business because of SMS, these claims
have not been validated or assimilated into a usable analysis.
Through this notice, FMCSA seeks data from motor carriers,
insurance companies, and shippers regarding the impacts of the public
display of SMS percentiles and alerts on businesses. This information
will be used to identify next steps for this recommendation.
Recommendation 6--Given that there are good reasons for both an
absolute and a relative metric on safety performance, FMCSA should
decide on the carriers that receive SMS alerts using both the SMS
percentile ranks and the SMS measures, and the percentile ranks should
be computed both conditionally within safety event groups and over all
motor carriers.
FMCSA Comments
The Agency has heard from motor carriers with increased measures or
percentiles due to an increase in vehicles or clean inspections.
Analysis of the number of carriers that received higher measures and
percentiles without a violation or crash indicates this happens to a
very small number of carriers. However, FMCSA agrees that the
methodology should be revised so that a safety event that is not a
violation or a crash is not the sole reason for an increased measure or
percentile.
In addition, FMCSA anticipates investigating the use of a hybrid
measure that combines relative and absolute metrics as part of its
development of the IRT model. FMCSA seeks comment from stakeholders on
this issue, how it could be implemented, and when such changes would be
appropriate.
Issued under the authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87 on: August
21, 2017.
John Van Steenburg,
Assistant Administrator/Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-18183 Filed 8-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
