Department of Transportation June 26, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to grant exemptions to Illumination Fireworks, LLC and ACE Pyro, LLC (the applicants) from the requirement that drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) must not drive a CMV following the 14th hour after coming on duty. The FMCSA renews the exemptions for drivers of approximately 50 CMVs employed by the applicants in conjunction with staging fireworks shows celebrating Independence Day during the period June 28-July 8, 2015, inclusive. During this period, the CMV drivers employed by the applicants will be allowed to exclude off-duty and sleeper-berth time of any length from the calculation of the 14 hours. These drivers will not be allowed to drive after accumulating a total of 14 hours of on-duty time, following 10 consecutive hours off duty, and will continue to be subject to the 11-hour driving time limit, and the 60- and 70-hour on-duty limits. The Agency has determined that the terms and conditions of the limited 1- year exemptions will ensure a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemptions.

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 seeks approval to revise an ICR titled, ``Licensing Applications for Motor Carrier Operating Authority,'' that is used by for-hire motor carriers of regulated commodities, motor passenger carriers, freight forwarders, property brokers, and certain Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to register their operations with the FMCSA. On April 3, 2015, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on this ICR. The agency received no comments in response to that notice.

This notice announces the availability of funding and requests grant applications for FHWA's Tribal Transportation Program Safety Funds (TTPSF). In addition, this notice identifies selection criteria, application requirements, and technical assistance during the grant solicitation period for the TTPSF. The TTPSF is authorized within the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP- 21), as extended. The FHWA will distribute these funds as described in this notice on a competitive basis in a manner consistent with the selection criteria.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Bombardier, Inc. Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of corrosion in the low-rate discharge tubes of the fire protection system leading to the forward baggage compartment, and perforation of one or more tubes. This AD requires repetitive checks for leakage of the discharge tubes of the fire protection system. This AD also mandates eventual replacement of all existing aluminum tube assemblies with new, improved corrosion-resistant stainless steel tube assemblies. We are issuing this AD to prevent perforation of the low- rate discharge tubes, which could result in insufficient fire extinguishing agent reaching the forward baggage compartment in the event of a fire, which could result in damage to the airplane and injury to the occupants.