71100 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 2004 / Notices 

and Auto Safety (Advocates) expressing 

continued opposition to the FMCSA’s 

procedures for renewing exemptions 

from the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10). Specifically, Advocates 

objects to the agency’s extension of the 

exemptions without any opportunity for 

public comment prior to the decision to 

renew, and reliance on a summary 

statement of evidence to make its 

decision to extend the exemption of 

each driver. 

The issues raised by Advocates were 

addressed at length in 69 FR 51346 

(August 18, 2004). The FMCSA 

continues to find its exemption process 

appropriate to the statutory and 

regulatory requirements.

Issued on: December 2, 2004. 

Rose A. McMurray, 

Associate Administrator, Policy and Program 

Development.

[FR Doc. 04–26982 Filed 12–7–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2002–12844] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Vision

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of renewal of exemption; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This notice publishes the 

FMCSA decision to renew the 

exemptions from the vision requirement 

in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations for 22 individuals. The 

FMCSA has statutory authority to 

exempt individuals from vision 

standards if the exemptions granted will 

not compromise safety. The agency has 

concluded that granting these 

exemptions will provide a level of safety 

that will be equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level of safety maintained 

without the exemptions for these 

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 

drivers.

DATES: This decision is effective January 

17, 2005. Comments from interested 

persons should be submitted by January 

7, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 

FMCSA–2002–12844 by any of the 

following methods: 

• Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov.

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments on the DOT electronic docket 

site. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility; 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, 

Room PL–401, Washington, DC 20590–

0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on 

the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

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

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and docket 

numbers for this notice. For detailed 

instructions on submitting comments 

and additional information on the 

rulemaking process, see the Public 

Participation heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://dms.dot.gov, including any 

personal information provided. Please 

see the Privacy Act heading under 

Regulatory Notices. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http://

dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL–

401 on the plaza level of the Nassif 

Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maggi Gunnels, Office of Bus and Truck 

Standards and Operations, (202) 366–

4001, FMCSA, Department of 

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 

e.t., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public 

Participation: The DMS is available 24 

hours each day, 365 days each year. You 

can get electronic submission and 

retrieval help guidelines under the 

‘‘help’’ section of the DMS Web site. If 

you want us to notify you that we 

received your comments, please include 

a self-addressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard or print the acknowledgement 

page that appears after submitting 

comments on-line. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review the Department of 

Transportation’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78) or you 

may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

Exemption Decision 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), 

the FMCSA may renew an exemption 

from the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10), which applies to drivers 

of CMVs in interstate commerce, for a 

two year period if it finds ‘‘such 

exemption would likely achieve a level 

of safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level that would be achieved 

absent such exemption.’’ The 

procedures for requesting an exemption 

(including renewals) are set out in 49 

CFR part 381. This notice addresses 22 

individuals who have requested renewal 

of their exemptions in a timely manner. 

The FMCSA has evaluated these 22 

applications for renewal on their merits 

and decided to extend each exemption 

for a renewable two year period. They 

are: 

Thomas J. Boss, Howard F. 

Breitkreutz, Ryan J. Christensen, 

William T. Cummins, John E. Evenson, 

Leon Frieri, Steven C. Humke; Leon E. 

Jackson, Neil W. Jennings, Craig M. 

Landry, Earl E. Louk, William R. 

Mayfield, Richard E. Nordhausen, Jr., 

Tony E. Parks, Andrew H. Rusk; Henry 

A. Shelton, Richard L. Sheppard, 

Deborah A. Sigle, Richard A. Stevens, 

Kenneth E. Vigue, Jr., David G. 

Williams, Richard A. Winslow. 

These exemptions are extended 

subject to the following conditions: (1) 

That each individual have a physical 

exam every year (a) by an 

ophthalmologist or optometrist who 

attests that the vision in the better eye 

continues to meet the standard in 49 

CFR 391.41(b)(10), and (b) by a medical 

examiner who attests that the individual 

is otherwise physically qualified under 

49 CFR 391.41; (2) that each individual 

provide a copy of the ophthalmologist’s 

or optometrist’s report to the medical 

examiner at the time of the annual 

medical examination; and (3) that each 

individual provide a copy of the annual 

medical certification to the employer for 

retention in the driver’s qualification 

file and retain a copy of the certification 

on his/her person while driving for 

presentation to a duly authorized 

Federal, State, or local enforcement 

official. Each exemption will be valid 

for two years unless rescinded earlier by 

the FMCSA. The exemption will be 

rescinded if: (1) The person fails to 

comply with the terms and conditions 

of the exemption; (2) the exemption has 

resulted in a lower level of safety than 

was maintained before it was granted; or 

(3) continuation of the exemption would 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 2004 / Notices 71101

not be consistent with the goals and 

objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 

31136(e).

Basis for Renewing Exemptions 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(1), an 

exemption may be granted for no longer 

than two years from its approval date 

and may be renewed upon application 

for additional two year periods. In 

accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 

31136(e), each of the 22 applicants has 

satisfied the entry conditions for 

obtaining an exemption from the vision 

requirements (67 FR 68719 and 68 FR 

2629). Each of these 22 applicants has 

requested timely renewal of the 

exemption and has submitted evidence 

showing that the vision in the better eye 

continues to meet the standard specified 

at 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10) and that the 

vision impairment is stable. In addition, 

a review of each record of safety while 

driving with the respective vision 

deficiencies over the past two years 

indicates each applicant continues to 

meet the vision exemption standards. 

These factors provide an adequate basis 

for predicting each driver’s ability to 

continue to drive safely in interstate 

commerce. Therefore, the FMCSA 

concludes that extending the exemption 

for each renewal applicant for a period 

of two years is likely to achieve a level 

of safety equal to that existing without 

the exemption. 

Comments 

The FMCSA will review comments 

received at any time concerning a 

particular driver’s safety record and 

determine if the continuation of the 

exemption is consistent with the 

requirements at 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 

31136(e). However, the FMCSA requests 

that interested parties with specific data 

concerning the safety records of these 

drivers submit comments by January 7, 

2005. 

In the past the FMCSA has received 

comments from Advocates for Highway 

and Auto Safety (Advocates) expressing 

continued opposition to the FMCSA’s 

procedures for renewing exemptions 

from the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10). Specifically, Advocates 

objects to the agency’s extension of the 

exemptions without any opportunity for 

public comment prior to the decision to 

renew, and reliance on a summary 

statement of evidence to make its 

decision to extend the exemption of 

each driver. 

The issues raised by Advocates were 

addressed at length in 69 FR 51346 

(August 18, 2004). The FMCSA 

continues to find its exemption process 

appropriate to the statutory and 

regulatory requirements.

Issued on: December 3, 2004. 

Rose A. McMurray, 

Associate Administrator, Policy and Program 

Development.

[FR Doc. 04–26983 Filed 12–7–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

Discretionary Cooperative Agreements 

for Research Under the Crash Injury 

Research and Engineering Network 

(CIREN)

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Announcement of discretionary 

cooperative agreements to support the 

research conducted under the Crash 

Injury Research and Engineering 

Network (CIREN) and to increase its 

benefits to the public. 

SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA) 

announces discretionary Cooperative 

Agreement opportunities to provide 

funding to Level One Trauma Centers in 

support of the Crash Injury Research 

and Engineering Network (CIREN). 

NHTSA anticipates funding these 

Cooperative Agreements in annual 

installments for one base year plus 4 

one-year option years at NHTSA’s 

option and subject to available funding. 

Due to budgetary constraints and the 

levels of effort applicants may propose, 

NHTSA is uncertain as to the number of 

Cooperative Agreements that will be 

funded. However, multiple awards will 

be made under this announcement. 

These cooperative agreements will 

support projects to improve the 

prevention, treatment, and 

rehabilitation of motor vehicle crash 

injuries to reduce deaths, disabilities 

and human and economic costs. This 

Federal Register Notice solicits 

applications from Level One Trauma 

Centers. Interested applicants must 

follow the instructions in the 

application section of this Federal 

Register Notice. NHTSA will review the 

applications to determine which 

proposals will receive funding under 

this announcement.

DATES: Applications must be submitted 

to the National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration, Office of Contracts and 

Procurement (NPO–220), Attention: 

Dianne Proctor, 400 Seventh Street, 

SW., Room 5301, Washington, DC 

20590. All applications submitted must 

include a reference to NHTSA 

Cooperative Agreement Program 

Number DTNH22–05–H–01001. Only 

complete packages received on or before 

2 p.m. e.s.t. on February 8, 2005, will be 

considered for award. 

Applicants shall provide a complete 

mailing address where Federal Express 

mail can be delivered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

General administrative and 

programmatic questions may be directed 

to Dianne Proctor, Office of Contracts 

and Procurement, by e-mail at 

Diane.Proctor@nhtsa.dot.gov or by 

phone at (202) 366–9562 and Karin E. 

Eddy, Office of Contracts and 

Procurement, by e-mail at 

Karin.Eddy@nhtsa.dot.gov or by phone 

at (202) 366–9568. To allow for 

sufficient time to address questions 

appropriately, all questions must be 

submitted in writing no later 2 p.m. 

e.s.t., December 20, 2004, via e-mail to 

Karin.Eddy@nhtsa.dot.gov. Response to 

the questions will be posted on http://

www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/

nrd-50/ciren/CIREN.html by January 10, 

2005 and in the Federal Register. 

Any changes to this date will be 

posted on the Web site. Interested 

applicants are advised that no separate 

application package exists beyond the 

contents of this announcement.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Motor vehicles are the dominant 

means of travel in the United States for 

both personal and business trips and 

provide Americans with an 

extraordinary degree of mobility. Traffic 

fatalities account for more than 90% of 

all transportation-related fatalities. 

These injuries and fatalities are a major 

public health problem. More than 

40,000 people die each year as the result 

of injuries received in motor vehicle 

crashes and more than 3 million people 

are injured. Motor vehicle injuries 

comprise nearly half of all traumatic 

injury deaths. 

The large number of motor vehicle 

injuries places a considerable burden on 

the nation’s health care system. It is 

estimated that about 20 percent of all 

Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls 

are motor vehicle related, and persons 

are treated in trauma centers largely as 

the result of motor vehicle crashes. This 

care results in a significant economic 

burden on society, estimated at more 

than $17 billion a year. Because motor 

vehicle injuries often have long-term 

effects, they are a leading cause of longterm disability. 

NHTSA is an agency of the U.S. 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

NHTSA’s mission is to save lives, 

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