Department of Transportation June 27, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document announces the reopening of the comment period for the above-referenced NPRM, which proposed the adoption of a new airworthiness directive (AD) that would apply to certain Zodiac Seats California LLC seating systems. The NPRM proposed to require removing affected seating systems. This reopening of the comment period is necessary to ensure that all interested persons have ample opportunity to submit any written relevant data, views, or arguments regarding the proposed requirements of the NPRM.

PHMSA is seeking public comment on a PHMSA-authored report titled: ``Background for Regulating the Transportation of Carbon Dioxide in a Gaseous State,'' which is available in the docket at PHMSA-2016-0049. The report evaluates existing and potential future gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines and outlines PHMSA's approach for establishing minimum pipeline safety standards for the transportation of carbon dioxide in a gaseous state to fulfill the requirements of section 15 of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (the Act). The Act requires the Secretary of Transportation to ``prescribe minimum safety standards for the transportation of carbon dioxide by pipeline in a gaseous state.'' PHMSA is seeking to better understand the possible effects of the regulatory scenarios presented within the report, as well as the locations and extent of gaseous carbon dioxide pipelines, and is requesting feedback on the validity and applicability of these effects and the location and extent of these pipelines. As PHMSA does not currently regulate these pipelines, its ability to reach out and locate operators of gaseous carbon dioxide pipelines has been limited and it is unclear if PHMSA's current information is comprehensive.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is seeking nominations for individuals to serve as members for two-year terms on the Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS). TRACS provides information, advice, and recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) and FTA Administrator in response to tasks assigned to the committee. TRACS does not exercise program management responsibilities and makes no decisions directly affecting the programs on which it provides advice. The Secretary may accept or reject a recommendation made by TRACS and is not bound to pursue any recommendation from TRACS.

FMCSA amends the civil penalties listed in its regulations to ensure that the civil penalties assessed or enforced by the Agency reflect the statutorily mandated ranges as adjusted for inflation. Pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Act), FMCSA is required to promulgate a catch-up adjustment through an interim final rule. Pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, FMCSA finds that good cause exists for immediate implementation of this interim final rule because prior notice and comment are unnecessary, per the specific provisions of the 2015 Act.

The FHWA and FTA propose revisions to the transportation planning regulations to promote more effective regional planning by States and metropolitan planning organizations (MPO). The goal of the proposed revisions is to result in unified planning products for each urbanized area (UZA), even if there are multiple MPOs designated within that urbanized area. Specifically it would result in MPOs developing a single metropolitan transportation plan, a single transportation improvement program (TIP), and a jointly established set of performance targets for the entire urbanized area and contiguous area expected to become urbanized within a 20-year forecast period for the transportation plan. If multiple MPOs are designated within that urbanized area, they would jointly prepare these unified planning products. To accomplish this, the proposed revisions clarify that the metropolitan planning area must include the entire urbanized area and contiguous area expected to become urbanized within 20 years. These proposed revisions would better align the planning regulations with statutory provisions concerning the establishment of metropolitan planning area (MPA) boundaries and the designation of MPOs. This includes the statutory requirement for the MPA to include an urbanized area in its entirety, and the exception provision to allow more than one MPO to serve a single MPA if warranted by the size and complexity of the MPA. The rulemaking would establish clearer operating procedures, and reinstate certain coordination and decisionmaking requirements for situations where there is more than one MPO serving an MPA. The proposed rule includes a requirement for unified planning products for the MPA including jointly established performance targets within an MPA, and a single metropolitan transportation plan and TIP for the entire MPA in order to result in planning products that reflect the regional needs of the entire urbanized area. These unified planning products would be jointly developed by the multiple MPOs in such MPAs where more than one MPO is designated. The FHWA and FTA propose to phase in implementation of these proposed coordination requirements and the proposed requirements for MPA boundary and MPO boundaries agreements over 2 years.