Department of Transportation November 30, 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.