Department of Transportation August 2, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces the Twentieth Public Meeting of members of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network. CIREN is a collaborative effort to conduct research on crashes and injuries at six Level I Trauma Centers across the United States linked by a computer network. The current CIREN model utilizes two types of centers, medical and engineering. Medical centers are based at Level I Trauma Centers that admit large numbers of people injured in motor vehicle crashes. These teams are led by trauma surgeons and emergency physicians and also include a crash investigator and project coordinator. Engineering centers are based at academic engineering laboratories that have experience in motor vehicle crash and human injury research. Engineering teams partner with trauma centers to enroll crash victims into the CIREN program. Engineering teams are led by mechanical engineers, typically trained in the area of impact biomechanics. Engineering teams also include trauma/emergency physicians, a crash investigator, and a project coordinator. Either type of team typically includes additional physicians and/or engineers, epidemiologists, nurses, and other researchers. The CIREN process combines prospective data collection with professional multidisciplinary analysis of medical and engineering evidence to determine injury causation in every crash investigation conducted. Researchers can review data and share expertise, which may lead to a better understanding of crash injury mechanisms and the design of safer vehicles. The six centers will give presentations on current research based on CIREN data. Topics include thoraco-lumbar fractures in frontal crashes, risk of pelvic fractures in motor vehicle collisions, trauma system adoption of Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN) Systems, lower extremity injury patterns sustained in frontal crashes, evaluation of brain lesion location sustained in motor vehicle crashes, and major vascular injuries. The final agenda will be posted to the CIREN Web site that can be accessed by going to the NHTSA homepage https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/, click on Vehicle Safety Research on the right side of the top toolbar, and then click on Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) in the box on the left. The agenda will be posted one week prior to the meeting.

FMCSA provides notice of the Agency's policy concerning review of applications for operating authority registration, and suspension, amendment or revocation of existing operating authority registration. Motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders must demonstrate a willingness and ability to comply with applicable statutes and regulations in order to obtain and maintain operating authority registration. This notice outlines FMCSA's policy for evaluating motor carriers', brokers' and freight forwarders' willingness and ability to comply with these requirements.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace at Ontonagon, MI. Additional controlled airspace is necessary to accommodate new Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAP) at Ontonagon County- Schuster Field Airport. Also, this action would rename the airport. The FAA is taking this action to enhance the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations for SIAPs at the airport.

This action proposes to amend Class E airspace at Guthrie, IA. Decommissioning of the Guthrie Center non-directional radio beacon (NDB) at Guthrie County Regional Airport, Guthrie, IA, has made this action necessary for the safety and management of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) operations at the airport. Geographic coordinates of the airport would also be adjusted.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 48 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 exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is 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, PHMSA invites comments on two information collections that we will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal. The information collections relate to the pipeline integrity management requirements for gas transmission pipeline operators and the response plan requirements for operators of onshore oil pipelines. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information collection was published in the Federal Register on May 9, 2012, (77 FR 27279) under Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0094. No comments were received. The purpose of this notice is to allow the public an additional 30 days to submit comments to OMB on the information collection described below.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc. Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by cases of on-ground failure of the screw cap or end cap of hydraulic accumulators on other airplane models, resulting in high-energy impact damage to adjacent systems and structure. This proposed AD would require inspecting for a part number and replacing the affected parking brake hydraulic accumulator, and relocating the parking brake accumulator, on the subject airplanes. We are proposing this AD to prevent failure of the screw caps and/or end caps of the parking brake hydraulic accumulator, which could result in damage to the airplane's primary structures, with potential adverse effect on the airplane's controllability.

This rule 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.