Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration April 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt fifty-five individuals from its rule prohibiting persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. The exemptions will enable these individuals to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

The FMCSA announces its decision to grant Volvo Trucks North America, Inc.'s (Volvo) application for an exemption for three of its drivers to enable them to test-drive commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the United States without a commercial driver's license (CDL) issued by one of the States. Volvo had requested that the exemption cover three Swedish engineers and technicians who will test drive CMVs for Volvo within the U.S. They stated the exemption is needed to support a Volvo field test to meet future air quality standards, and to test- drive Volvo prototype vehicles to verify results in ``real world'' environments. Each of these drivers holds a valid CDL issued in Sweden, but lacks the U.S. residency necessary to obtain a CDL issued by one of the States in the U.S. The FMCSA believes the knowledge and skills testing and training program that drivers must undergo to obtain a Swedish CDL ensures that these drivers will achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption.

The FMCSA invites public comment on its intent to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revise two (2) information collections (ICs) entitled, ``Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program'' (2126-0010) and ``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection'' (2126-0025). These revised ICs are necessary to ensure that motor carriers and the States comply with changes made by various provisions of the Safe Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), that will be implemented in a separate final rule. On November 20, 2006, the agency published a Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period to solicit the public's views on three information collections. The agency received one comment, which contained no substantive remarks pertaining to any of the information collections, and consequently was not incorporated into our supporting statement. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and implementing regulations.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the new Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. This information collection involves the assessment of FMCSA's strategic decision to integrate its Information Technology (IT) with its business processes using portal technology to consolidate its systems and databases and launch a modernization initiative to create the FMCSA COMPASS Portal. The information to be collected will be used to assess the satisfaction of Federal, State and industry customers with the FMCSA COMPASS Portal. The Agency published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR in October 2006 (71 FR 61824, Oct. 19, 2006). The Agency did not receive any comments from the public that were responsive to this notice.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 16 individuals. 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 will 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.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is reopening until May 21, 2007, the comment period on its December 21, 2006 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) concerning inspection, repair and maintenance responsibilities for intermodal equipment providers and motor carriers operating container chassis. The FMCSA is also announcing a series of public listening sessions to obtain additional feedback on the Agency's NPRM from motor carriers, representatives of the intermodal transportation industry, and interested parties. The listening sessions are intended to provide all interested parties an opportunity to respond to the issues associated with this rulemaking. All oral comments will be transcribed and placed in the public docket identified at the beginning of this notice.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces that its Information Collection Request (ICR) described below has been sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes a proposed collection activity involving all motor carriers who operate small passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and its expected cost and burden. A Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR was published on December 8, 2006. FMCSA received four comments to this docket, but only one of those comments addressed the information collection process set forth in this notice. This comment was considered during the development of the survey for this information collection.

FMCSA previously announced its decision to renew Isuzu Motors America, Inc.'s (Isuzu) exemption for 19 of its drivers to enable them to test-drive commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in the United States without a commercial driver's license (CDL) issued by one of the States. Following the renewal one comment to the public docket was received. The Agency has considered the comment and continues to believe the knowledge and skills testing and training program that drivers must undergo to obtain a Japanese CDL ensures that each of these 19 drivers will achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety achieved without the exemption. The Agency therefore declines to rescind or change the terms of the exemption.

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 review and approval. The ICR describes a proposed collection activity and its expected cost and burden. The Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR was published on June 19, 2006 (71 FR 35324). Four comments were received in response to the notice. Two individuals supported the proposed information collection and two commented on matters outside of the scope of the proposed information collection. These comments are addressed in the ICR that will be submitted to OMB.