Department of Transportation March 9, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Transportation, through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R), will begin testing Global Positioning System/Global Navigation Satellite System (``GPS/GNSS'') receivers this April pursuant to the DOT Adjacent Band Compatibility Study (``the Study'') test plan published with this notice. Device testing will take place at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) facility in New Mexico. The Study provides for testing categories of receivers that include aviation (non-certified), cellular, general location/navigation, high precision, timing, networks, and space-based receivers. DOT seeks to include a broad range of devices used in rail, aviation, motor vehicle, maritime, and space transportation safety systems, among a number of other applications of GPS/GNSS. The goal of the Study is to evaluate the adjacent radio frequency band power levels that can be tolerated by GPS/GNSS receivers, and advance the Department's understanding of the extent to which such power levels impact devices used for transportation safety purposes, among other GPS/GNSS applications. The Study will involve testing of receivers provided by government agencies. In addition, to maximize diversity in the devices tested and breadth of relevant data collected for analysis in the Study, the Department requests voluntary participation in this Study by any interested GPS/GNSS device manufacturers or other parties whose products incorporate GPS/GNSS devices. Such participation could involve provision of GPS/GNSS receivers to DOT for use in testing, provision of data on receiver design to facilitate data collection pursuant to the test plan, and/or on-site commitment and support from manufacturers and other entities providing GPS/GNSS receivers for testing. DOT expects that any onsite commitment and support would take approximately one work week.

FMCSA announces that the Division of Motor Vehicles, Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), has applied for an exemption from provisions of 49 CFR 383.75(a)(8)(v) that require third-party commercial driver license (CDL) testers to initiate and maintain a bond in an amount determined by the State to be sufficient to pay for re- testing drivers in the event that the third party or one or more of its examiners is involved in fraudulent activities related to conducting skills testing of CDL applicants. FMCSA requests public comment on IDT's application for exemption.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the hearing requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 36 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from the hearing 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.

This document announces a decision by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that certain model year (MY) 2012 Fisker Karma passenger cars (PCs) 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 they are substantially similar to vehicles originally manufactured for importation into and sale in the United States that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards (the U.S. certified version of the 2012 Fisker Karma PC), and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.

This notice announces the availability of the Federal Transportation Administration's (FTA) Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Annual List of Certifications and Assurances for FTA Grants and Cooperative Agreements, which can be found at FTA's Web site, www.fta.dot.gov/ certs. This notice provides a condensed list of the pre-award Certifications and Assurances that may apply to an Applicant to FTA for federal assistance and the Award that may be made in FY 2016. This notice also describes both the Applicant and FTA's responsibilities with respect to the Certifications and Assurances and highlights the differences between the FY 2016 Certifications and Assurances and those published for FY 2015. Each Applicant to FTA for federal assistance must submit the Certifications and Assurances that apply to it and any Award for which it seeks federal assistance during FY 2016. An Applicant to FTA typically acts through its authorized representative (You). You, as the Applicant's Authorized Representative, must have the authority to sign the Applicant's Certifications and Assurances and to bind your Applicant's compliance with the Certifications and Assurances you select on its behalf. Your Certifications and Assurances must be affirmed by your Applicant's attorney. This notice provides instructions on how and when you should submit your Applicant's Certifications and Assurances for FY 2016.

We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for all Airbus Model A300 series airplanes; Model A300 B4-600, B4-600R, and F4- 600R series airplanes, and A300 C4-605R Variant F airplanes (collectively called Model A300-600 series airplanes); and Model A310 series airplanes. This AD was prompted by reports of cracked aluminum support struts of the trimmable horizontal stabilizer (THS) caused by stress corrosion. This AD requires inspections to identify the part number of each support strut, repetitive inspections for cracking of the THS support strut ends, installation of reinforcing clamps on strut ends, and replacement of support struts, if necessary. We are issuing this AD to detect and correct cracked THS support struts, which could lead to the rupture of all four support struts making the remaining structure unable to carry limit loads, which could result in loss of the THS and reduced control of the airplane.