Department of Transportation September 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA is revising a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking SNPRM that applied to certain Airbus Helicopters Model EC225LP helicopters. This action revises the SNPRM by proposing to require the installation of an improved part, which would also provide a terminating action for the proposed requirements. The FAA is proposing this airworthiness directive (AD) to address the unsafe condition on these products. Since these actions would impose an additional burden over those in the SNPRM, the agency is requesting comments on this SNPRM.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Renewal Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval and invites public comment. This renewal collection of information is for the National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB), which is an online interface allowing consumers, drivers and others to file complaints against unsafe and unscrupulous companies and/or their employees, including shippers, receivers and transportation intermediaries, depending on the type of complaint. These complaints cover a wide range of activities, including but not limited to driver harassment, coercion, movement of household goods, financial responsibility instruments for brokers and freight forwarders, Americans with Disability Act (ADA), Electronic Log Device (ELD), Medical Review Officer (MRO), and Substance Abuse Practitioner (SAP) complaints. FMCSA requests approval to renew the ICR titled ``National Consumer Complaint Database'' covered by OMB Control Number 2126-0067 in order to continue to collect consumer complaint information so FMCSA can use complaint data to take enforcement action, better inform FMCSA policies for safer motor carrier operations, and improve consumer protection.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on November, 6, 2020. The collection involves a voluntary request for information on a specific safety concern. The information to be collected will be used to help the FAA in an ongoing investigation to determine the cause of a specific condition, or whether the condition is likely to exist or develop on other aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, or appliances of the same type design.

NHTSA, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, is proposing revised fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2024-2026. On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive order (E.O.) entitled, ``Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis.'' In it, the President directed that ``The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks'' (hereafter, ``the 2020 final rule'') be immediately reviewed for consistency with our Nation's abiding commitment to empower our workers and communities; promote and protect our public health and the environment; and conserve our national treasures and monuments, places that secure our national memory. President Biden further directed that the 2020 final rule be reviewed at once and that (in this case) the Secretary of Transportation consider ``suspending, revising, or rescinding'' it, via a new proposal, by July 2021. Because of the President's direction in the E.O., NHTSA reexamined the 2020 final rule under its authority to set corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards. In doing so, NHTSA tentatively concluded that the fuel economy standards set in 2020 should be revised so that they increase at a rate of 8 percent year over year for each model year from 2024 through 2026, for both passenger cars and light trucks. This responds to the agency's statutory mandate to improve energy conservation. This proposal also makes certain minor changes to fuel economy reporting requirements.

FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2021-01 to make the rail industry, including railroads and railroad employees, aware of a recently identified interface design issue relating to how positive train control (PTC) systems in use throughout the United States interface with locomotive and cab car braking systems. This recently identified interface design issue allows a train crewmember to circumvent a PTC enforcement by manually cutting out the pilot valve/ brake stand, commonly known as the cut-out valve, prior to the PTC system initiating the brakes. This interface design issue poses a significant safety risk by allowing a PTC system to be disabled and unable to initiate the brakes to prevent a train-to-train collision, over-speed derailment, incursion into an established work zones, or the movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position. This Safety Advisory recommends that all railroads operating with PTC systems immediately remind crewmembers that circumventing a PTC enforcement is subject to civil penalty or disqualification for the locomotive engineer or conductor responsible; audit the designs of PTC systems as implemented on all types of locomotives and cab cars; assess the extent to which the design of the system could allow a locomotive or cab car's PTC system to be circumvented by a crewmember; develop and implement a plan to mitigate and/or correct this design issue; and provide FRA with a schedule for completion of the identified actions.

Hankook Tire America Corporation (Hankook) has determined that certain Hankook Ventus V2 Concept 2 tires manufactured by Hankook's indirect subsidiary, Hankook Tire Manufacturing Tennessee, LP, do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles. Hankook filed a noncompliance report dated November 19, 2019, and subsequently petitioned NHTSA on December 5, 2019, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces and explains the grant of Hankook's petition.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information collection was published on May 21, 2021.

On February 2, 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted in full Mitsubishi Motors R&D (Mitsubishi) of America's petition for an exemption from the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard (theft prevention standard) for its Mitsubishi Outlander vehicle line beginning in model year (MY) 2011. On November 12, 2012, the agency granted Mitsubishi's first petition to modify its previously approved exemption for the Outlander vehicle line beginning with MY 2014. On August 1, 2019, Mitsubishi submitted a second petition to modify its previously approved exemption for the Outlander vehicle line beginning with MY 2022. On February 17, 2021, Mitsubishi submitted a third petition to modify its previously approved exemption for a confidential variant of the Outlander vehicle line beginning with MY 2023. Mitsubishi also requested confidential treatment for specific information in its petition. Therefore, no confidential information provided for purposes of this notice has been disclosed.

This notice announces a meeting of the SOCAC.

This action proposes to amend the Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet above the surface at Frankfort Dow Memorial Field, Frankfort, MI. The FAA is proposing this action as the result of airspace reviews caused by the decommissioning of the Manistee very high frequency (VHF) omnidirectional range (VOR) as part of the VOR Minimal Operational Network (MON) Program. The name and geographic coordinates of the airport would also be updated to coincide with the FAA's aeronautical database.