Historic Preservation, Advisory Council August 24, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The FAA proposes to rule and invite public comment on the release of land at the Gillespie County Airport under the provisions of Section 125 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21).

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 May 29, 2015. Approval is needed for security reasons such as mortgages submitted by the public for recording against aircraft, engines, propellers, and spare parts locations.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a decision and order under the Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs that excludes a service agent, Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratory Testing, from providing drug and alcohol testing services in any capacity to any DOT-regulated employer for a period of 5 years. Ms. Pope and her company provided Medical Review Officer services to DOT-regulated trucking companies when Ms. Pope was not qualified to act as a Medical Review Officer. This Federal Register serves as notice to the public that DOT-regulated employers or their service agents must stop using the services of Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratory Testing for administering their DOT-regulated drug and/or alcohol testing programs.

This rulemaking is part of FRA's broader initiative to reduce the paperwork burden of its regulations. To support compliance with the Federal hours of service laws, Federal regulations have long required railroads to create and retain records regarding the hours of service of their employees who are covered by those laws (covered service employees). In general, the current regulations require covered service employees whose hours are recorded to sign the record by hand (the traditional, manual system) or ``certify'' the record using a complex computerized system (an electronic system). FRA proposes to amend these regulations to provide a third, simplified method of compliance, for certain entities. FRA proposes to allow railroads with less than 400,000 employee hours per year, and contractors and subcontractors providing covered service employees to such railroads to use an automated system, in which employees apply their electronic signatures to the automated records, which are stored in a railroad computer system. The proposed rule would not require the use of electronic or automated recordkeeping, would be better tailored to small operations, and is expected, if adopted, to decrease the burden hours spent on hours of service recordkeeping.

In accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5117(c), PHMSA is publishing the following list of special permit applications that have been in process for 180 days or more. The reason(s) for delay and the expected completion date for action on each application is provided in association with each identified application.