Department of Transportation August 6, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), this notice announces that FHWA will submit the collection of information described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on June 5, 2014. The PRA submission describes the nature of the information collection and its expected cost and burden.

FMCSA announces its denial of 128 applications from individuals who requested an exemption from the Federal vision standard applicable to interstate truck and bus drivers and the reasons for the denials. 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 does not 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.

FMCSA announces that it has received an application from Payne and Dolan, Inc.; Zenith Tech, Inc.; and Northeast Asphalt, Inc. for an exemption from the 30-minute rest break provision of the Agency's hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The requested exemption would apply to CMV drivers of these three companies involved in the transport, placement and movement of materials and equipment needed in the day-to-day operation of road, bridge and parking lot construction and maintenance. These companies believe that compliance with the 30-minute rest break rule is extremely difficult due to several variables associated with the nature of their operations and work scheduling (e.g., work zone time, delivery and repair schedules). FMCSA requests public comment on these companies application for exemption.

NHTSA is issuing this NPRM to propose a new Federal motor vehicle safety standard to enhance the rollover structural integrity of certain types of large buses (generally, over-the-road buses (of any weight) and non-over-the-road buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 11,793 kilograms (kg) (26,000 pounds (lb)). The agency is proposing performance requirements that new large buses of these types must meet in a test in which the vehicle is tipped over from an 800 millimeter (mm) raised platform onto a level ground surface. The performance requirements would ensure that these vehicles provide a sufficient level of survival space to restrained occupants in rollover crashes. The performance requirements would also ensure that seats and overhead luggage racks remain secured and window glazing attached to its mounting during and after a rollover crash, and would ensure that emergency exits remain closed during the rollover crash and operable after the crash. This NPRM is among the rulemakings issued pursuant to NHTSA's 2007 Approach to Motorcoach Safety and DOT's Departmental Motorcoach Safety Action Plan. In addition, establishing roof strength and crush resistance requirements, to the extent warranted under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, would fulfill a statutory provision of the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2012 (incorporated and passed as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act).