Department of Transportation 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt 16 individuals from its rule prohibiting persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. The exemptions will enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

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 review and approval and invite public comment. The collection involves the assessment of FMCSA's strategic decision to integrate its Information Technology (IT) with its business processes using portal technology to consolidate its systems and databases through the FMCSA Information Technology Services Survey modernization initiative. The information to be collected will be used to assess the satisfaction of Federal, State, and industry customers with the FMCSA Information Technology Services Survey Portal. The ``COMPASS Portal Customer Satisfaction Assessment,'' ICR is being changed to the ``Information Technology Services Survey Portal Customer Satisfaction Assessment,'' to reflect the need for a broader term than ``COMPASS'' for the portal.

Executive Order 12862 directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect feedback on our service delivery. By feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study.

We are revising an earlier proposed airworthiness directive (AD) for Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (Eurocopter) Model BO-105A, BO- 105C, BO-105LS A-1, BO-105LS A-3, and BO-105S helicopters, which proposed inspecting for debonding of the erosion protective shell (abrasion strip) on the leading edge of each main rotor blade. This SNPRM proposes to revise those inspection requirements by identifying specific dates of replacement of the applicable parts and identifying a specific inspection method for debonding of an abrasion strip.

The National Parks Air Tour Management Act (NPATMA) requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Park Service (NPS) to develop an air tour management plan for units of the national park system where an operator has requested authority to provide commercial air tours. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 amended various provisions of NPATMA. One provision exempted national park units with 50 or fewer annual flights from the provisions of NPATMA and requires FAA and NPS to jointly publish a list of exempt parks. This notice includes an initial list of parks that are exempt from the provisions of the NPATMA.

This action proposes special conditions for the Embraer S.A. Model EMB-550 airplane. This airplane will have novel or unusual design features, specifically distributed electrical and electronic equipment bays in pressurized areas of the airplane. Older transport category airplane electrical/electronic equipment bay installations are located in the lower lobe where the flightcrew could determine the origin of smoke or fire by a straightforward airplane flight manual procedure. In distributed electrical/electronic bay installations it is not as straightforward. The FAA has no requirement for smoke and/or fire detection in the electrical/electronic equipment bays. To ensure effective mitigation of fires, the FAA proposes these special conditions. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

This action proposes special conditions for Airbus A350-900 series airplanes. These airplanes will have novel or unusual design features associated with flight envelope protection in icing and non- icing conditions that use low speed incidence protection and an alpha- floor function that automatically advances throttles whenever the airplane angle of attack reaches a predetermined value. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards.

We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Embraer S.A. Model ERJ 190 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of cracks on the side stay of the main landing gear (MLG). This proposed AD would require repetitive measurements of the left-hand (LH) and right-hand (RH) MLG side stay support fitting to detect bushing migration, replacement of the bushing if necessary, and eventual replacement of the bushing; a detailed inspection for damage on the LH and RH MLG side stay support assembly, and related investigative and corrective actions if necessary. We are proposing this AD to prevent excessive bearing friction, which might compromise the MLG free fall extension, and cause fatigue cracking on the MLG side stay and on its support assembly, resulting in reduced structural integrity of the MLG.

The Department is publishing the following notice extending the effective date of a prior notice, dated November 13, 2012, on policies affecting the review and approval of public charter filings under 14 CFR part 380.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 11 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.

The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that we are rescinding the Notice of Intent (NOI) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed freeway improvements along Interstate 10 (I-10) from State Route (SR) 51 to the Santan Freeway within Maricopa County, Arizona. A NOI to prepare an EIS for the I-10 Corridor Improvement Study was published in the Federal Register on February 4, 2002, with a subsequent correction to the project limits published in the Federal Register on May 14, 2002.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICRs describes the nature of the information collection and their expected burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on September 24, 2012 (77 FR 58907).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 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 an ICR entitled, ``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.'' The information collected will be used to help regulate motor carriers transporting household goods (HHG) for individual shippers.

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 review and approval. The purpose of this new ICR is to broadly examine by the collection of survey data, the issue of driver harassment and determine the extent to which Electric On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) used to document drivers' hours of service could also be used by motor carriers or enforcement personnel to harass drivers and/or monitor driver productivity. The survey will also collect information on the extent to which respondents believe that the use of EOBRs may result in coercion of drivers by motor carriers, shippers, receivers and transportation intermediaries. The proposed surveys for drivers and carriers collect information related to issues of EOBR harassment of drivers by carriers. FMCSA will publish a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on EOBRs and will consider survey results concerning the EOBR use by motor carriers including countermeasures or best practices to ensure that EOBRs are not used by carriers to harass or coerce drivers prior to the issuance of a final rule.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, PHMSA invites comments on an information collection under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control No. 2137-0605, titled ``Integrity Management in High Consequence Areas for Operators of Hazardous Liquid Pipelines.'' PHMSA is preparing to request approval from OMB for a renewal of the currently approved information collection.

FMCSA announces receipt of applications from 12 individuals for exemption from the prohibition against persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. If granted, the exemptions would enable these individuals with ITDM to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

In August 2006, NHTSA established a regulation that sets forth requirements for data elements, data capture and format, data retrieval, and data crash survivability for event data recorders (EDRs) installed in light vehicles. The requirements apply to light vehicles that are manufactured on or after September 1, 2012, and are equipped with EDRs. However, the regulation does not mandate the installation of EDRs in those vehicles. This notice of proposed rulemaking would establish a new safety standard mandating the installation of EDRs in most light vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2014. The EDRs in those vehicles would be required by the new standard to meet the data elements, data capture and format, data retrieval, and data crash survivability requirements of the existing regulation. This proposal would not modify any of the requirements or specifications in the regulation for EDRs voluntarily installed between September 1, 2012 and September 1, 2014.

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 a report of a translating door handle jamming during opening of an aft door. This proposed AD would require replacing the handle shaft with a new single-piece machined handle shaft on the aft entry and service doors, and require revising the maintenance program by incorporating a new airworthiness limitation task. We are proposing this AD to prevent a migrated pin from jamming a translating door handle, which could prevent opening of the door and impede an emergency evacuation.

As authorized by 46 U.S.C. 12121, 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.