Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 6 / Wednesday, January 9, 2013 / Notices 1917 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Commercial Space Transportation 

Advisory Committee—Public 

Teleconference 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Commercial Space 

Transportation Advisory Committee 

Teleconference. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, notice is 

hereby given of a teleconference of the 

Business/Legal Working Group (BLWG) 

of the Commercial Space Transportation 

Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). 

DATES: The teleconference will take 

place on Friday, January 25, 2013, from 

11 a.m. to 12 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard 

Time. 

ADDRESSES: The teleconference call-in 

number and passcode will be posted by 

approximately one week prior to the 

teleconference date at the following 

Web site link: http://www.faa.gov/ 

about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ 

ast/advisory_committee/. Individuals 

who participate in the teleconference 

should contact Paul Eckert, Designated 

Federal Officer (DFO), by email 

approximately 15 minutes before the 

call begins, using the email address 

provided in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Eckert, Office of Commercial Space 

Transportation (AST), 800 

Independence Avenue SW., Room 331, 

Washington, DC 20591, telephone (202) 

267–8055; Email paul.eckert@faa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of this call is to discuss how to 

respond to a request to COMSTAC by 

the FAA Office of Commercial Space 

Transportation (FAA/AST), regarding 

how best to conduct a review of the 

Office’s methodology for calculation of 

Maximum Probable Loss (MPL). The 

FAA/AST request to COMSTAC took 

place following a 2012 Government 

Accountability Office (GAO) report 

titled ‘‘Commercial Space Launches— 

FAA Should Update How It Assesses 

Federal Liability Risk.’’ This report 

included a recommendation calling for 

FAA/AST to carry out periodic reviews 

of its MPL methodology. GAO further 

stated that FAA/AST should consider 

using external experts in the course of 

an MPL review. 

The MPL represents an estimate of the 

maximum probable cost of damage to 

life and property, in the event of a 

launch mishap. MPL calculation has 

considerable significance, because the 

figure is used to determine the financial 

responsibility requirements of each 

launch license or experimental permit 

holder. While AST believes its current 

MPL methodology has been effective, 

GAO’s recommendation to conduct a 

review of the methodology is prudent 

given the growth of the commercial 

space transportation industry and the 

amount of time that has passed since 

MPL modification. 

In addition to or in lieu of 

teleconference participation, interested 

members of the public may submit 

relevant written statements for 

COMSTAC to consider, in compliance 

with advisory committee procedures. 

Statements may address the issues 

mentioned above or additional issues 

that may be relevant for the U.S. 

commercial space transportation 

industry. Interested parties wishing to 

submit written statements regarding the 

January 25, 2013 teleconference should 

contact Paul Eckert, DFO (the Contact 

Person listed below) in writing (i.e., by 

mail or email) by January 18, 2013. 

Written statements should be supplied 

in the following formats: one hard copy 

with original signature or one electronic 

copy via email. 

Individuals who plan to participate 

and need special assistance should 

inform the Contact Person listed below 

in advance of the meeting. 

Complete information regarding 

COMSTAC is available on the FAA Web 

site at: http://www.faa.gov/about/ 

office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/ 

advisory_committee/. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 2, 

2013. 

George C. Nield, 

Associate Administrator for Commercial 

Space Transportation. 

[FR Doc. 2013–00279 Filed 1–8–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

[Docket No. FHWA–2013–0001] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Request for Comments for a 

New Information Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: FHWA invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget’s 

(OMB) approval for a new information 

collection, which is summarized below 

under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We 

published a Federal Register Notice 

with a 60-day public comment period 

on this information collection on June 

28, 2012. We are required to publish 

this notice in the Federal Register by 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Please submit comments by 

February 8, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments 

within 30 days to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 725 

17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, 

Attention DOT Desk Officer. You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including: (1) 

Whether the proposed collection is 

necessary for the FHWA’s performance; 

(2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burden; (3) ways for the FHWA to 

enhance the quality, usefulness, and 

clarity of the collected information; and 

(4) ways that the burden could be 

minimized, including the use of 

electronic technology, without reducing 

the quality of the collected information. 

All comments should include the 

Docket number FHWA 2013–0001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

James A. Cheatham, 

james.cheatham@dot.gov, 202–366– 

6221, Office of Planning, Environment, 

and Realty, Federal Highway 

Administration, Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Office hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Assessment of Transportation 

Planning Agency Needs, Capabilities, 

and Capacity. 

Background: FHWA will collect 

information on the current state of the 

practice, data, methods, and systems 

used by state, metropolitan, regional, 

local, and tribal transportation planning 

entities to support their required 

planning process in accordance with 

Title 23 United States Code 134 and 

135. This includes, but is not limited to, 

information to support transportation 

research, capacity building, data 

collection, planning, travel modeling, 

and performance management. This also 

includes information about how data is 

shared between planning agencies and 

how it is processed and used in the 

planning context. Questionnaires will 

be sent to State DOT headquarters and 

districts, Metropolitan Planning 

Organizations, Regional Planning 

Organizations, and Tribal Governments. 

FHWA anticipates that one 

representative from each agency will 

take approximately 30 minutes to 

complete up to 4 questionnaires each 


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