Department of Transportation December 4, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As authorized by Public Law 105-383 and Public Law 107-295, the Secretary of Transportation, as represented by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), is authorized to grant waivers of the U.S.- build requirement of the coastwise laws under certain circumstances. A request for such a waiver has been received by MARAD. The vessel, and a brief description of the proposed service, is listed below. The complete application is given in DOT docket MARAD-2007-0017 at https:// www.regulations.gov. Interested parties may comment on the effect this action may have on U.S. vessel builders or businesses in the U.S. that use U.S.-flag vessels. If MARAD determines, in accordance with Public Law 105-383 and MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388 (68 FR 23084; April 30, 2003), that the issuance of the waiver will have an unduly adverse effect on a U.S.-vessel builder or a business that uses U.S.- flag vessels in that business, a waiver will not be granted. Comments should refer to the docket number of this notice and the vessel name in order for MARAD to properly consider the comments. Comments should also state the commenter's interest in the waiver application, and address the waiver criteria given in Sec. 388.4 of MARAD's regulations at 46 CFR part 388.

The Board grants an exemption, under 49 U.S.C. 10502, from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 10902 for the acquisition by Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Railroad Corporation (IC&E), a Class II rail carrier, of approximately 18.5 miles of rail line owned by BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), a Class I rail carrier, extending from a connection with another BNSF line at milepost 1.74 near East Moline, IL, to the end of the line at milepost 20.31 at Ceffco, IL, near Albany, IL, subject to the labor protection required by 49 U.S.C. 10902(d), including a 60-day notice requirement.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) that applies to certain Cirrus Design Corporation (CDC) Models SR20 and SR22 airplanes. The earlier NPRM would have required you to inspect and, as necessary, adjust the aileron and rudder rigging and would have required you to modify, inspect, and, as necessary, adjust the rudder-aileron interconnect system. The earlier NPRM resulted from a jamming of the aileron and rudder controls on a Model SR20 airplane, which resulted in loss of rudder and aileron flight controls. Since issuance of the NPRM, CDC revised the service information as a result of comments received on the NPRM, and the FAA has determined the changes to the service information are necessary to address the unsafe condition. The changes in the revised service information include the addition of airplanes to the Applicability; a requirement to check rudder, aileron, and rudder-aileron interconnect rigging; a requirement to replace the attaching hardware and clamp at the end of the rudder- aileron interconnect arm; and an increase in work-hours to do the proposed actions. This proposed AD would require you to use the revised service information and would require you to report any out-of-rig condition found. Since these actions impose an additional burden over that proposed in the NPRM, we are reopening the comment period to allow the public the chance to comment on these additional actions.

In this final rule, we (NHTSA) address the problem of motor home and recreation vehicle trailer overloading by amending the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) on tire selection and rims. This final rule requires manufacturers of all motor homes and recreation vehicle trailers to provide information to consumers in a label that informs the consumer about the vehicle's load carrying capacity. This information is helpful both at the time the consumer is making a purchase decision and as the consumer uses his or her vehicle. We also require that the size of tires on motor homes and recreation vehicle trailers be the same as the size of the tires listed on the tire information label. In addition, this rule provides regulatory relief for dealers from a labeling requirement in the safety standard on tire selection and rims for light vehicles. The standard's requirement can currently require dealers which add even small amounts of weight to re-label the vehicles. Under today's amendment, any party that adds weight to a completed vehicle exceeding the lesser of 1.5 percent of the vehicle's gross vehicle weight rating or 100 pounds (before first sale to the retail customer) is required to disclose this extra weight on labels affixed to the vehicles. Lesser amounts of weight may be added without changing or adding labels. It is our belief that this rule complements the efforts of the recreation vehicle industry to provide consumers with information in order to help reduce overloading motor homes and recreation vehicle trailers. This rulemaking was initiated in response to a petition from Ms. Justine May.

This document amends the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108 on lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment by reorganizing the regulatory text so that it provides a more straightforward and logical presentation of the applicable regulatory requirements, which includes the agency's interpretation of the existing requirements. It also greatly reduces the need to consult relevant third-party standards by including applicable requirements directly into the main body of Standard No. 108, rather than incorporating such provisions by reference. This final rule does not impose any new substantive requirements on manufacturers. In addition, this document amends 49 CFR Part 564, Replaceable Light Source Information, by adding a newly created Appendix C, which relocates figures addressing sealed beam headlamps that currently reside in FMVSS No. 108 and a relevant Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standard there. We believe few lighting manufacturers still produce sealed beam headlamps, and their diminishing use is unlikely to draw new manufacturers of this type of lamp. Accordingly, we see no drawbacks to consolidating the information regarding sealed beam light sources with other light source information currently located in 49 CFR Part 564.