Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 13, 2012 / Notices 35465 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. DOT–OST–2012–0087] 

Advisory Committee for Aviation 

Consumer Protection 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of first meeting of 

advisory committee. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

first meeting of the Advisory Committee 

for Aviation Consumer Protection. 

DATES: The first meeting of the advisory 

committee is scheduled for June 28, 

2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 

Eastern Time. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in 

the Oklahoma City Room (located on the 

lobby level of the West Building) at the 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC. Attendance is open to the public; 

however, since access to the U.S. DOT 

headquarters building is controlled for 

security purposes, any member of the 

general public who plans to attend this 

meeting must notify the Department 

contact noted below at least five (5) 

calendar days prior to the meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

register to attend the meeting, please 

contact Lynora Simmons Kendale, 

Lynora.SimmonsKendale@dot.gov. For 

other information please contact 

Nicholas Lowry, Senior Attorney, Office 

of the Assistant General Counsel for 

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, 

nick.lowry@dot.gov, or Blane A. Workie, 

Deputy Assistant General Counsel, 

Office of the Assistant General Counsel 

for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 

SE., Washington, DC 20590, 202–366– 

9342 (phone), 202–366–7152 (fax), 

Blane.Workie@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

411 of the FAA Modernization and 

Reform Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112–95, 126 

Stat. 11 (2012)) mandates the 

establishment of an advisory committee 

for the purpose of advising the Secretary 

of Transportation on airline customer 

service improvements. More 

specifically, the Act requires the 

advisory committee to evaluate and 

provide recommendations to the 

Secretary for improving existing 

aviation consumer protection programs 

and for establishing additional such 

programs if appropriate. The Act also 

limits the committee’s membership to 

four members appointed by the 

Secretary of Transportation—one 

representative each of airlines, airports, 

non-profit public interest groups, and 

state and local governments. Section 

411 specifies that the advisory 

committee shall terminate on September 

30, 2015. 

On May 24, 2012, the Secretary 

established the advisory committee and 

announced those persons appointed as 

members of the committee. The selected 

members are as follows: (1) Lisa 

Madigan who is the attorney general of 

Illinois, who will also be the committee 

chairperson; (2) David Berg who is the 

senior vice president, general counsel 

and corporate secretary for Airlines for 

America; (3) Deborah Ale-Flint who is 

Oakland International Airport’s director 

of aviation; and (4) Charles Leocha who 

is the founder of the Consumer Travel 

Alliance. All of the committee members 

have demonstrated experience in 

dealing with consumer protection 

issues. 

A charter for the committee, drafted 

in accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as 

amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, sets forth 

policies for the operation of the advisory 

committee. It designates the 

Department’s Assistant General Counsel 

for Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings as the Committee’s 

Designated Federal Official (DFO) to 

help run the meetings of the committee. 

This charter is available on the 

Department’s Web site at http:// 

www.dot.gov/affairs/2012/dot5912.html. 

As noted above, the first meeting of 

the committee will take place on June 

28, 2012. The agenda topics for the first 

meeting will include, in a morning 

session, presentations by staff in the 

Office of the Aviation Enforcement and 

Proceedings and its Aviation Consumer 

Protection Division regarding 

organization of the offices, existing 

aviation consumer protection and civil 

rights statutory and regulatory 

requirements, and on-going and planned 

enforcement and rulemaking activities. 

In an afternoon session, we expect to 

provide an opportunity for 

presentations by representatives from 

organizations representing airlines, 

travel agents, airport operators, state and 

local governments, and consumer and 

other public interest groups. Those 

organizations wishing to make 

presentations, which should be limited 

to no more than 10 minutes, should 

notify the contact person indicated 

above no later than five (5) calendar 

days before the meeting and provide 

that person a written summary of their 

presentations to help the committee 

members prepare for the meeting. 

Efforts will be made to accommodate 

each organization that wishes to make a 

presentation. However, given time 

constraints, there is no guarantee that all 

the organizations that make such a 

request will be able to address the 

advisory committee at the June 28th 

meeting. In order to provide for a 

balanced presentation of views and to 

facilitate the orderly conduct of the 

meeting, including time for questions 

from committee members, the 

committee chairperson may impose 

rules or procedures, including the order 

of organizations that will be making 

presentations, as she deems necessary. If 

more organizations would like to make 

presentations than the time available 

permits, a schedule will be developed 

so that these organizations can present 

at the next advisory committee meeting. 

The committee will meet no more 

than four times in each 12-month period 

starting after May 24, 2012. It is 

anticipated that all meetings will be 

held in Washington, DC at the U.S. DOT 

headquarters building. The Department 

will publish notices in the Federal 

Register to announce the dates, times, 

and locations of future meetings. 

Meetings of the committee will be open 

to the public, and time will be provided 

for comments by members of the public. 

Since access to the U.S. DOT 

headquarters building is controlled for 

security purposes, we ask that any 

member of the general public who plans 

to attend the first meeting notify the 

Department contact noted above no later 

than five (5) calendar days prior to the 

meeting. Attendance will be necessarily 

limited by the size of the meeting room. 

Members of the public may present 

written comments at any time. The 

docket number referenced above has 

been established for committee 

documents including any written 

comments that may be filed. At the 

discretion of the Chairperson and time 

permitting, after completion of the 

organizational presentations in the 

afternoon of the first meeting, 

individual members of the public may 

provide oral comments at the meeting. 

Any oral comments presented must be 

limited to objectives of the committee 

and will be limited to five (5) minutes 

per person. Individual members of the 

public who wish to present oral 

comments must notify the Department 

contact noted above via email that they 

wish to attend and present oral 

comments at least five (5) calendar days 

prior to the meeting. For this initial 

meeting, no more than one hour will be 

set aside for oral comments by the 

general public. 

Persons with a disability who plan to 

attend the meeting and require special 

accommodations, such as an interpreter 

for the hearing impaired, should contact 


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35466 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 13, 2012 / Notices 

the Department contact noted above at 

least seven (7) calendar days prior to the 

meeting. Persons attending with a 

service animal should also advise us of 

that fact so that it can be taken into 

account in connection with space and 

possible allergy issues. 

Notice of this meeting is being 

provided in accordance with the FACA 

and the General Services 

Administration regulations covering 

management of Federal advisory 

committees. (41 CFR Part 102–3.) 

Issued in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2012. 

Samuel Podberesky, 

Assistant General Counsel for Aviation 

Enforcement & Proceedings, U.S. Department 

of Transportation. 

[FR Doc. 2012–14456 Filed 6–12–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Pilot Project Grants in Support of 

Railroad Safety Risk Reduction 

Programs 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability, 

Solicitation of Applications. 

SUMMARY: This notice details the 

application requirements and 

procedures for obtaining grant funding 

for pilot projects designed to eliminate 

or reduce railroad accidents caused by 

Electronic Device Distraction (EDD), by 

improving safety culture and making 

misuse socially unacceptable. 

Components of these pilot projects will 

include peer-to-peer safety training 

techniques, and other innovative 

processes. These pilot projects will be 

used to supplement and enhance 

compliance with Title 49 Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 220, 

Subpart C, Electronic Devices. The 

purpose of this subpart is to reduce 

safety risks resulting from railroad 

operating employees being distracted by 

the inappropriate use of electronic 

devices, such as mobile telephones and 

laptop computers. This subpart was 

codified in response to an increase in 

the number of accidents caused by 

misuse of personal electronic devices. 

The opportunities described in this 

notice are available under the Catalog of 

Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) 

Number 20.301 

DATES: Applications for funding under 

this solicitation are due no later than 5 

p.m., 30 days after publication in the 

Federal Register, and must be submitted 

on Grants.gov. See Section 4 for 

additional information regarding the 

application process. FRA reserves the 

right to modify this deadline. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael Fitzpatrick, Risk Reduction 

Railroad Specialist, Risk Reduction 

Program Division, Office of Railroad 

Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 

SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 493– 

6021; or Michael.Fitzpatrick@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

1. Funding Opportunity Description 

2. Award Information 

3. Eligibility Information 

4. Application and Submission Information 

5. Application Review Information 

6. Award Administration Information 

7. Payment Method 

8. Agency Contact 

Appendix 1: Administrative and National 

Policy Requirements 

Appendix 2: Additional Information on 

Award Administrations and Grant 

Conditions 

Appendix 3: Additional Information on 

Applicant Budgets 

Section 1: Funding Opportunity 

Description 

1.1 Authority 

The purpose of this notice is to detail 

the process of applying for grant 

funding for risk reduction pilot projects 

designed to eliminate or reduce railroad 

accidents caused by electronic devices 

by making misuse of electronic devices 

socially unacceptable and improving 

safety culture using peer-to-peer 

coaching techniques. Congress, in 

Section 103 of the Rail Safety 

Improvement Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110– 

432, October 16, 2008) required the 

Secretary of Transportation, by 

regulation, to require each railroad 

carrier that is either a Class I railroad, 

a railroad carrier that has inadequate 

safety performance, or a railroad carrier 

that provides intercity rail passenger or 

commuter rail passenger transportation 

to develop a railroad safety risk 

reduction program that systematically 

evaluates railroad safety risks on its 

system and manages those risks in order 

to reduce the numbers and rates of 

railroad accidents, incidents, injuries, 

and fatalities. The statute also 

authorized the Secretary to conduct 

behavior-based safety and other 

research, including pilot programs, and 

to use any such research and pilot 

programs in developing the regulations. 

1.2 Funding Approach 

At least $200,000 is available for 

awards under this solicitation. 

Section 2: Award Information 

FRA anticipates making multiple 

awards from the $200,000 available. As 

such, FRA expects applicants to tailor 

their applications and proposed project 

scopes accordingly. There are no 

minimum or maximum dollar 

thresholds for awards, and FRA may 

choose to award a grant for less than the 

amount requested in the application. 

The funding provided under these 

grants will be made available to grantees 

on a reimbursement basis. 

Section 3: Eligibility Information 

3.1 Eligible Applicants 

Eligible applicants include: 

Individual railroad(s), railroad 

association(s), rail labor organization(s), 

or a combination of a railroad and its 

attendant labor organization(s) 

developing a cooperative program 

(multiple stakeholders). 

3.2 Cost Sharing and Matching 

Applicants should specify the nonFederal match amount, if any, in their 

application. Applicants should indicate 

whether funding made available 

through grants provided under this 

program, together with committed 

funding from other sources, will be 

sufficient to complete the overall project 

or a discrete portion of the project. An 

applicant’s contribution toward the cost 

of its proposed project may be in the 

form of cash or permitted in-kind 

contributions. As part of its application, 

an applicant offering an in-kind 

contribution must provide a 

documented estimate of the monetary 

value of any such contribution. All inkind contributions must be allowable, 

reasonable, allocable, and in accordance 

with applicable Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) cost principles (see 

Appendix 1), and must not represent 

double counting of costs otherwise 

accounted for in an indirect cost rate 

pursuant to which the applicant will 

seek reimbursement. 

3.3 Eligible Projects 

FRA is seeking innovative pilot 

projects that eliminate or reduce 

accidents where the primary or 

contributing cause is distraction 

associated with the misuse of personal 

electronic devices. The selected pilot 

projects will use innovative processes 

such as peer-to-peer coaching to make 

misuse of personal electronic devices 

socially unacceptable, thereby 

improving the safety culture and 

eliminating or reducing accidents 

caused by distractions. 


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