Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 18, 2018 / Notices 64929 

conditions of the road and traffic during 

the weather event will allow drivers to 

take their time and use caution as 

appropriate under the conditions at that 

time, rather than feeling pressure to 

comply with the HOS rules that are 

most appropriate for normal driving 

conditions. ABA/IDFA further adds that 

the exemption perhaps most 

importantly will allow families to stock 

supplies at their regular neighborhood 

stores and avoid the need for residents 

to drive unnecessarily looking for 

emergency supplies of essential food 

staples in advance of or during a 

disaster situation. 

Regarding an equivalent level of 

safety, ABA/IDFA details the following 

in their application regarding HOS 

compliance following the exemption 

from 49 CFR 395.3: A weather ‘‘trigger’’ 

would start a 72-hour HOS exemption 

period leading up to an anticipated 

storm, which creates two possible 

scenarios following the exemption 

period: (1) FMCSA grants a wide-scale 

HOS exemption period for the impacted 

area or a State government declares a 

state of emergency and suspends the 

HOS requirements, or (2) the storms 

impact on the region is too insignificant 

to warrant an HOS exemption on either 

the State or Federal level. In the case of 

the first scenario, the HOS requirements 

for that period are already suspended 

and concerns of equivalent safety will 

have already been considered in 

existing regulations In the second 

scenario, the applicants propose an 

equivalent level of safety as follows: (1) 

For the 11 hour driving time limit, for 

every 2 hours a driver surpasses this 

limit, an additional hour will be added 

to the original 10-hour rest limit to be 

completed between runs following the 

exemption period; and (2) for the 60/70 

hour limits, should a driver surpass 

these normal limits during the 

exemption period, two additional hours 

will be added to the original 34-hour off 

duty period required following the 

exemption period. In order to verify 

compliance, the hours would continue 

to be documented through the use of 

electronic logging devices pursuant to 

the current rules in 49 CFR part 395, 

subpart B. The requested exemption is 

for 5 years. A copy of ABA/IDFA’s 

application for exemption is available 

for review in the docket for this notice. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27345 Filed 12–17–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0367] 

Hours of Service of Drivers: 

Association of American Railroads and 

American Short Line and Regional 

Railroad Association; Application for 

Exemption 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it has 

received an application from the 

Association of American Railroads and 

American Short Line and Regional 

Railroad Association (AAR/ASLRRA) 

requesting a limited exemption from the 

maximum driving time requirements of 

the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations 

for drivers of property-carrying vehicles. 

The applicants request the exemption to 

enable affected railroad employees, 

subject to the HOS rule, to respond to 

an unplanned event that occurs outside 

of or extends beyond the employee’s 

normal work hours. FMCSA requests 

public comment on AAR/ASLRRA’s 

application for exemption. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 17, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Federal Docket 

Management System Number FMCSA– 

2018–0367 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. See the Public 

Participation and Request for Comments 

section below for further information. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building, Ground Floor, Room W12– 

140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. E.T., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Each submission must include the 

Agency name and the docket number for 

this notice. Note that DOT posts all 

comments received without change to 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information included in a 

comment. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to www.regulations.gov at 

any time or visit Room W12–140 on the 

ground level of the West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. The on-line FDMS is available 

24 hours each day, 365 days each year. 

Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 

U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments 

from the public to better inform its 

rulemaking process. DOT posts these 

comments, without edit, including any 

personal information the commenter 

provides, to www.regulations.gov, as 

described in the system of records 

notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can 

be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Pearlie Robinson, FMCSA Driver and 

Carrier Operations Division; Office of 

Carrier, Driver and Vehicle Safety 

Standards; Telephone: (202) 366–4225; 

Email: MCPSD@dot.gov. If you have 

questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, contact Docket 

Services, telephone (202) 366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

FMCSA encourages you to participate 

by submitting comments and related 

materials. 

Submitting Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

notice (FMCSA–2018–0367), indicate 

the specific section of this document to 

which the comment applies, and 

provide a reason for suggestions or 

recommendations. You may submit 

your comments and material online or 

by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but 

please use only one of these means. 

FMCSA recommends that you include 

your name and a mailing address, an 

email address, or a phone number in the 

body of your document so the Agency 

can contact you if it has questions 

regarding your submission. 

To submit your comment online, go to 

www.regulations.gov and put the docket 

number, ‘‘FMCSA–2018–0367’’ in the 

‘‘Keyword’’ box, and click ‘‘Search.’’ 

When the new screen appears, click on 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ button and type your 

comment into the text box in the 

following screen. Choose whether you 

are submitting your comment as an 

individual or on behalf of a third party 

and then submit. If you submit your 

comments by mail or hand delivery, 

submit them in an unbound format, no 

larger than 81⁄2 by 11 inches, suitable for 

copying and electronic filing. If you 

submit comments by mail and would 

like to know that they reached the 

facility, please enclose a stamped, selfVerDate Sep<11>2014 00:45 Dec 18, 2018 Jkt 247001 PO 00000 Frm 00121 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\18DEN1.SGM 18DEN1

amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES
64930 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 242 / Tuesday, December 18, 2018 / Notices 

addressed postcard or envelope. FMCSA 

will consider all comments and material 

received during the comment period. 

II. Legal Basis 

FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 

31136(e) and 31315 to grant exemptions 

from certain Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Regulations. FMCSA must 

publish a notice of each exemption 

request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 

381.315(a)). The Agency must provide 

the public an opportunity to inspect the 

information relevant to the application, 

including any safety analyses that have 

been conducted. The Agency must also 

provide an opportunity for public 

comment on the request. 

The Agency reviews safety analyses 

and public comments submitted, and 

determines whether granting the 

exemption would likely achieve a level 

of safety equivalent to, or greater than, 

the level that would be achieved by the 

current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). 

The decision of the Agency must be 

published in the Federal Register (49 

CFR 381.315(b)) with the reasons for 

denying or granting the application and, 

if granted, the name of the person or 

class of persons receiving the 

exemption, and the regulatory provision 

from which the exemption is granted. 

The notice must also specify the 

effective period (up to 5 years) and 

explain the terms and conditions of the 

exemption. The exemption may be 

renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)). 

III. Request for Exemption 

The Association of American 

Railroads and American Short Line and 

Regional Railroad Association (AAR/ 

ASLRRA) contend that the HOS 

prohibitions on driving after a 14-hour 

period on duty, and after 60 or 70 hours 

on duty in a 7- or 8-day week without 

the required off-duty period, inhibit a 

railroad’s ability to respond 

expeditiously to certain types of 

emergency situations. For this reason 

AAR/ASLRAA is requesting that a 

railroad employee responding to an 

unplanned event that affects interstate 

commerce, service or the safety of 

railway operations, including passenger 

rail operations, and that occurs outside 

of or extends beyond the employee’s 

normal shift, be exempt from the 

provisions in 49 CFR part 395.3(a) and 

(b). Unplanned events include some of 

the following: A derailment; a rail 

failure or other report of dangerous track 

condition; a disruption to the electric 

propulsion system; a bridge-strike; a 

disabeled vehicle on the track; a train 

collision; weather and storm-related 

events; a matter of national security; or 

a matter concerning public safety; a 

blocked grade crossing, etc. The 

applicants request the exemption be 

granted for five years. If the exemption 

is granted it would cover 21,000 drivers 

and 11,000 commercial motor vehicles 

(CMVs). 

In their application, AAR/ASLRRA 

compare the work of railroad employees 

responding to an emergency situation to 

that of utility employees responding to 

an emergency situation. The HOS rules 

do not apply to a driver of a utility 

service vehicle as defined in 49 CFR 

395.2. In the same respect that utility 

employees use any CMV to repair and 

maintain pertinent services, railroad 

employees use vehicles as mobile 

supply facilities, transporting personnel, 

equipment and material needed for the 

driver to use at worksites within a 

region. Like utility employees, railroad 

employees will have unpredictable 

work hours when needed to address 

operational emergencies. 

AAR/ASLRRA contend that the work 

done by these employees supports the 

railroad’s effort to restore essential 

interstate commerce passenger rail 

operations and, in the event of a grade 

crossing incident, restore road and 

pedestrian access to the public. The 

applicants assert that there is no 

principled distinction between railroad 

employees responding to an unplanned 

event and those who operate utility 

service vehicles. 

According to AAR/ASLRRA railroads 

work with local officials who have 

authority to declare an emergency in the 

case of unplanned events. However, the 

process is not well-defined and there are 

no assurances that a request made 

during off-hours would be reviewed in 

a timely manner. For example, one of 

AAR’s member railroads has an internal 

process that often involves coordination 

among multiple jurisdictions due to the 

nature of the interstate railroad system. 

Despite the railroad’s best efforts, a 

delay in response from a designated 

official outside of the normal work day 

can reportedly cause up to a five to 

seven-hour delay in the railroad’s efforts 

to resolve the unplanned event. 

According to the applicants, this type of 

delay can have a crippling impact on 

the rail network, expecially in congested 

areas of the country like the Northeast 

Corridor and Chicago. 

IV. Method To Ensure an Equivalent or 

Greater Level of Safety 

AAR/ASLRRA explained that ‘‘the 

requested exemption will allow railroad 

employees to respond timelier to 

unplanned events to restore rail service 

without incurring extended blocked 

crossings, cascading effects to traffic on 

the rail network, delays to passenger rail 

operations, and delayed customer 

service. Additionally, railroads will be 

able to improve public safety to 

motorists and pedestrians, if they are 

able to expeditiously clear blocked 

grade crossings.’’ 

The applicants propose to provide 

any employee required to drive within 

the terms of the requested exemption 

additional time off-duty in excess of the 

10 consecutive hours required by 

395.3(a)(1). For ease of recordkeeping, 

the applicants propose that: 

• Any employee responding to an 

unplanned event that exceeds his/her 14 

hours of duty time for 5 hours or less 

be given 5 additional consecutive hours 

off-duty for a total of 15 consecutive 

hours off-duty before driving again; 

• Any employee responding to an 

unplanned event that exceeds his/her 14 

hours of duty time for 5 hours up to a 

maximum of 10 hours be given 10 

additional consecutive hours off-duty 

for a total of 20 consecutive hours offduty before driving again; and 

• Any employee who exceeds 60 or 

70 hours on duty in a 7- or 8-day week 

due to responding to an unplanned 

event be given 34 hours of rest as 

prescribed in section 395.3 (c) prior to 

driving again. 

A copy of the application for 

exemption is available for review in the 

docket for this notice. 

Issued on: December 7, 2018. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27341 Filed 12–17–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0347] 

Commercial Driver’s License 

Standards: Application for Exemption; 

Navistar, Inc. (Navistar) 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that 

Navistar, Inc. (Navistar) has requested 

an exemption for one commercial motor 

vehicle (CMV) driver from the Federal 

requirement to hold a U.S. commercial 

driver’s license (CDL). Navistar requests 

an exemption for Mr. Jerome Douay, a 

Product Engineer Senior Manager with 

MAN Truck & Bus AG (MAN) in 

Munich, Germany, who holds a valid 

German commercial license. MAN is 


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