Department of Transportation December 15, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces it is considering whether to amend its financial responsibility requirements for motor carriers in response to two petitions for rulemaking. The Government of Canada (Canada) petitioned FMCSA to amend these requirements to permit, as acceptable evidence of financial responsibility, a policy of insurance issued by a Canadian insurance company legally authorized to issue such policies in the Province or Territory of Canada where the motor carrier has its principal place of business. Canada believes the FMCSA's current regulations place Canada-domiciled motor carriers operating in the United States at a competitive disadvantage with U.S.-domiciled carriers. The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) petitioned FMCSA to make revisions to the MCS-90 and MCS-90B endorsements to clarify that language in the endorsements imposing liability for negligence occurring ``on any route or in any territory authorized to be served by the insured or elsewhere'' does not include liability connected with transportation within Mexico. FMCSA seeks input from the public in the form of data or other information in response to several questions posed in the ANPRM to assist the Agency in evaluating these proposals.

The FAA is adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Bombardier Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL- 600-2B16 (CL-601-3A and CL-601-3R) airplanes. This AD requires implementing a corrosion prevention and control program (CPCP) either by accomplishing specific tasks or by revising the maintenance inspection program to include a CPCP. This AD results from the determination that, as airplanes age, they are more likely to exhibit indications of corrosion. We are issuing this AD to prevent structural failure of the airplane due to corrosion.

The FAA is establishing requirements for human space flight as required by the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, including rules on crew qualifications and training, and informed consent for crew and space flight participants. The requirements should provide an acceptable level of safety to the general public and ensure individuals on board are aware of the risks associated with a launch or reentry. The rule also applies existing financial responsibility and waiver of liability requirements to human space flight and experimental permits. Experimental permits are the subject of a separate rulemaking.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations (49 CFR Part 107, Subpart B), notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein. Each mode of transportation for which a particular special permit is requested is indicated by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1Motor vehicle, 2Rail Freight, 3Cargo Vessel, 4Cargo aircraft only, 5Passenger-carrying aircraft.