Research and Innovative Technology Administration 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice announces that the Volpe Center no longer intends to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a data collection effort to help in the evaluation of a five-year demonstration project focused on improving rail safety by analyzing information on close calls and other unsafe occurrences in the rail industry.

In accordance with the requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval for a new information collection related to the use of and satisfaction with the nation's transportation system. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information was published on February 12, 2007 (72 FR 6665) and the comment period ended on April 14, 2007. The 60-day notice produced no comments.

This notice announces that the Volpe Center intends to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve a data collection effort to help in the evaluation of a five-year demonstration project focused on improving rail safety by analyzing information on close calls and other unsafe occurrences in the rail industry. The study is conducted by the Office of Human Factors in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and is designed to identify safety issues and propose corrective actions based on voluntary reports of close calls submitted to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Because of the innovative nature of this program, the FRA is implementing an evaluation to determine whether the program is succeeding, how it can be improved, and what is needed to expand the program throughout the railroad industry. This collection is necessary to obtain the data needed to carry out the evaluation. This notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Data Confidentiality Provisions: The Volpe Center will not release to FRA or any other public or private entity any information that might reveal the identity of individuals or organizations mentioned in the evaluation survey questionnaires. The respondents will not be asked to identify themselves.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval for a new information collection related to state funding of public transit. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. A Federal Register notice, with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following collection of information, was published on November 11, 2006 (70 FR 51409) and the comment period ended on January 12, 2007. The 60-day notice produced no comments.

The purpose of this Federal Register notice is to inform the public of current U.S. statutes and regulations that may be applicable to a hydrogen economy and to request comments on their interface . This notice describes and indexes several statutory and regulatory provisions of each major Federal agency and discusses possible applications of these provisions to aspects of a hydrogen economy, including construction and certification of transportation/ports infrastructure, the use of fuel cells to power automobiles and generate electricity for homes and businesses, and effects on public safety and health. The notice also describes the regulatory jurisdictions of each Federal agency in the context of a hydrogen economy. In addition, public comments are invited on a Web site that was created to depict the regulatory framework of a hydrogen economy. The Web site is located at https://hydrogen.gov/regulations.html. Comments will be used to improve the Web site.