Department of Transportation December 22, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Board has approved the first quarter 2007 rail cost adjustment factor (RCAF) and cost index filed by the Association of American Railroads. The first quarter 2007 RCAF (Unadjusted) is 1.208. The first quarter 2007 RCAF (Adjusted) is 0.568. The first quarter 2007 RCAF-5 is 0.540.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the products listed above. This proposed AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by an aviation authority of another country to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. The MCAI describes the unsafe condition as: ``incidences have been reported to Britten-Norman Aircraft Ltd where cracks have been found in the inner shell of the pitot/static pressure heads. This could result in incorrect readings on the pressure instrumentation, e.g. altimeters, vertical speed indicators (rate-of-climb) and airspeed indicators.'' The proposed AD would require actions that are intended to address the unsafe condition described in the MCAI.

This notice invites State and local governments and other public authorities to apply to participate in the Value Pricing Pilot (VPP) program and presents guidelines for program applications. This notice supersedes two previous notices about the VPP program under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2006 (71 FR 970), and July 17, 2006 (71 FR 40578). The primary purpose of superseding the previous notices with this new notice is to shift the focus on the types of VPP program projects being solicited to achieve consistency with the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network (DOT Congestion Initiative), announced on May 16, 2006.\1\ This national strategy contains a number of elements that involve pricing, thus warranting a reconsideration of the types of projects solicited for VPP program participation. This solicitation aligns the VPP program with the DOT Congestion Initiative by together seeking to support metropolitan areas in systemically progressing toward implementation of broad congestion pricing strategies in the near term. This notice also describes the statutory basis for the VPP program and specifies all of the steps necessary to apply for funding and, where applicable, tolling authority under the program. A new application deadline is also provided.

This notice requests public participation in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval process for the renewal of an existing PHMSA information collection. In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below has been forwarded to OMB for extension of the currently approved collection. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and the expected burden. This renewal of information complies with the integrity management rule for hazardous liquid pipelines for operators with more than 500 miles of pipeline. PHMSA published a Federal Register Notice soliciting comments on the following information collection and received none. The purpose of this notice is to allow the public an additional 30 days from the date of this notice to submit comments.