Department of Transportation November 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NHTSA has received a petition asking the agency to extend the comment period for its proposal to upgrade the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) that applies to new pneumatic tires for use on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 10,000 pounds and motorcycles. In the proposal, NHTSA established a deadline for the submission of written comments of November 29, 2010. In light of that petition and the need to ensure that all interested parties have a sufficient amount of time to fully develop their comments, the agency is extending the deadline for the submission of written comments by 30 days.

This notice announces six fact-finding informal airspace meetings to solicit information from airspace users and others, concerning a proposal to revise the Class B airspace area at Philadelphia, PA. The purpose of these meetings is to provide interested parties an opportunity to present views, recommendations, and comments on the proposal. All comments received during these meetings will be considered prior to any issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking.

This notice rescinds the Notice of Intent for preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed highway to provide a connection between U.S. Highway 49 near the town of Star to Interstate 20 near the Interchange with State Route 475 in the City of Pearl, Rankin County, Mississippi. The original Notice of Intent for this EIS process was published in the Federal Register on May 22, 2009.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects funded with Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities program funds in support of the State of Good Repair (SGR) Initiative, which was announced in the State of Good Repair Initiative Notice of Funding Availability on May 4, 2010. The SGR Initiative makes funds available to public transit providers to finance capital projects to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities, including programs of bus and bus-related projects for assistance to subrecipients that are public agencies, private companies engaged in public transportation, or private non-profit organizations. Additionally, the SGR Initiative makes funds available for Transit Asset Management systems, which is a systematic process of operating, maintaining, improving, and expanding physical assets effectively throughout their life cycles.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that 2010 Harley Davidson FL Series Motorcycles that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are eligible for importation into the United States because (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

EPA and NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, are each proposing rules to establish a comprehensive Heavy-Duty National Program that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase fuel efficiency for on-road heavy-duty vehicles, responding to the President's directive on May 21, 2010, to take coordinated steps to produce a new generation of clean vehicles. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards and EPA's proposed carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions standards would be tailored to each of three regulatory categories of heavy-duty vehicles: Combination Tractors; Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans; and Vocational Vehicles, as well as gasoline and diesel heavy-duty engines. EPA's proposed hydrofluorocarbon emissions standards would apply to air conditioning systems in tractors, pickup trucks, and vans, and EPA's proposed nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions standards would apply to all heavy-duty engines, pickup trucks, and vans. EPA is also requesting comment on possible alternative CO2-equivalent approaches for model year 2012-14 light-duty vehicles. EPA's proposed greenhouse gas emission standards under the Clean Air Act would begin with model year 2014. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption standards under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 would be voluntary in model years 2014 and 2015, becoming mandatory with model year 2016 for most regulatory categories. Commercial trailers would not be regulated in this phase of the Heavy- Duty National Program, although there is a discussion of the possibility of future action for trailers.

The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee.

This final rule adjusts for inflation the minimum and maximum civil monetary penalty amounts the FAA may impose for violations of the statutes and regulations it enforces in order to continue the deterrent effect of these penalties. The adjustments are made following a formula provided by Congress.

This action proposes to amend Class E Airspace at Newport, VT, as the Newport Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) has been decommissioned and new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) have been developed at Newport State Airport. This action would enhance the safety and airspace management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport.

FMCSA amends its regulations to require brokers that arrange the transportation of household goods in interstate or foreign commerce for consumers to comply with certain consumer protection requirements. Brokers must provide: their U.S. DOT number on their advertisements and Internet Web sites; estimates of expected moving charges and brokerage fees; FMCSA pamphlets containing tips for successful moves and the consumer's rights and responsibilities; and the broker's policies concerning deposits, cancellations, and refunds. This rulemaking is in response to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) and a petition for rulemaking from the American Moving and Storage Association. This rulemaking is intended to ensure that individual shippers who arrange for transportation of household goods through brokers receive necessary information regarding their rights and responsibilities in connection with interstate household goods moves.

This establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

FMCSA previously announced its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 37 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the vision requirement if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these exemptions will provide a level of safety that will be equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval. The FMCSA requests approval to revise and extend an information collection request (ICR) entitled, ``Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Programs (MCSAP).'' The information required consists of grant application preparation, quarterly reports and electronic data documenting the results of driver/vehicle inspections performed by the States. This ICR is being revised due to an increase in the estimated number of State inspections that will be performed annually resulting in a change to the estimated burden to perform this activity. On September 9, 2010, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR. No comment was received.

FMCSA announces receipt of applications from 46 individuals for exemption from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. If granted, the exemptions would enable these individuals to qualify as drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce without meeting the Federal vision standard.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on August 27, 2010, vol. 75, no. 166, page 52802-52803. This information collection is used to allocate slots and maintain accurate records of slot transfers at High Density Traffic Airports. The information is provided by air carriers and commuter operators, or other persons holding a slot at High Density Airports.

This notice announces a public meeting of the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee (THLPSSC). The committee will meet to consider and vote on a rulemaking to apply the Federal pipeline safety regulations to the remaining unregulated rural onshore hazardous liquid low-stress pipelines in accordance with current law.

This final rule revises the Pipeline Safety Regulations to improve the reliability and utility of data collections from operators of natural gas pipelines, hazardous liquid pipelines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. These revisions will enhance PHMSA's ability to understand, measure, and assess the performance of individual operators and industry as a whole; integrate pipeline safety data to allow a more thorough, rigorous, and comprehensive understanding and assessment of risk; and expand and simplify existing electronic reporting by operators. These revisions will improve both the data and the analyses PHMSA and others rely on to make critical, safety-related decisions, and will facilitate both PHMSA's and states' allocation of pipeline safety program inspection and other resources based on a more accurate accounting of risk.

NHTSA announces a meeting of NEMSAC to be held in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area. This notice announces the date, time and location of the meeting, which will be open to the public. The purpose of NEMSAC is to provide a nationally recognized council of emergency medical services representatives and consumers to provide advice and recommendations regarding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to the U.S. DOT's NHTSA.

National Express Corporation (NEC), a noncarrier, seeks an exemption, under 49 U.S.C. 13541, from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 14303(a)(5) and 49 CFR 1182 to acquire control of Vogel Bus Company, Inc. (Vogel), a motor passenger carrier. Expedited action has been requested.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The collection involves a certification of residency status from affected persons to establish eligibility for relocation assistance and payments. Displacing agencies will require each person who is to be displaced by a Federal or federally assisted project, as a condition of eligibility for relocation payments or advisory assistance, to certify that he or she is lawfully present in the United States. The information to be collected will be used to certify that a displaced person is lawfully present in the United States as required by Public Law 105-117 and 49 CFR 24.208. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13.

This document proposes to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, Child Restraint Systems, regarding a Hybrid III 10-year-old child test dummy that the agency seeks to use in the compliance test procedures of the standard. This document supplements a 2005 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and a 2008 SNPRM previously published in this rulemaking (RIN 2127-AJ44) regarding this test dummy. In the 2005 NPRM, in response to Anton's Law, NHTSA proposed to adopt the 10-year-old child test dummy into FMVSS No. 213 to test child restraints for older children. Subsequently, to address variation that was found in dummy readings due to chin-to-chest contact, NHTSA published the 2008 SNPRM to propose a NHTSA-developed procedure for positioning the test dummy in belt-positioning seats. Comments on the SNPRM objected to the positioning procedure, and some suggested an alternative procedure developed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Today's SNPRM proposes to use the UMTRI procedure to position the test dummy rather than the NHTSA-developed procedure. We note that the 10-year-old child dummy may sometimes experience stiff contact between its chin and upper sternal bib region which may result in an unrealistically high value of the head injury criterion (HIC) \1\ referenced in the standard. Accordingly, NHTSA proposes that the dummy's HIC measurement will not be used to assess the compliance of the tested child restraint. This SNPRM also proposes other amendments to FMVSS No. 213, including a proposal to permit NHTSA to use, at the manufacturer's option, the Hybrid II or Hybrid III versions of the 6-year-old test dummy, and a proposal to use the UMTRI procedure to position the Hybrid III 6-year- old and 10-year-old dummies when testing belt-positioning seats.

Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections. On September 3, 2010, NHTSA published a request for comment on one collection of information for which it intends to seek OMB approval (75 FR 54217). This notice reopens the comment period for this notice.