83142 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 245 / Monday, December 21, 2020 / Notices 

Respondents: Approximately 650 

respondents annually. 

Frequency: On occasion. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: Approximately 2 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

Approximately 35,466 hours annually. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on December 

15, 2020. 

David F. Cushing, 

Manager, Airports Financial Assistance 

Division, APP–500. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27997 Filed 12–18–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

[Docket No. MARAD–2019–0093] 

Deepwater Port License Application: 

Texas GulfLink LLC; Extension of Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement 

Comment Period 

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of extension of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement 

comment period. 

SUMMARY: By Federal Register notice of 

Friday, November 27, 2020, titled 

Notice of Availability; Notice of Virtual 

Public Meetings; Request for Comments, 

the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 

in coordination with the U.S. Coast 

Guard (USCG), announced the 

availability of the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Texas 

GulfLink LLC (GulfLink) deepwater port 

license application for the export of 

crude oil from the United States to 

nations abroad. Publication of this 

notice announced a 45-day comment 

period, requested public participation in 

the environmental impact review 

process, provided information on how 

to participate in the environmental 

impact review process, and announced 

the two virtual public meetings and an 

informational open house website for 

the DEIS. 

The notice advised that the comment 

period for Texas GulfLink would end on 

January 11, 2021. MARAD and USCG 

have determined that an extension of 

the public comment period to January 

22, 2021 for the GulfLink application is 

necessary to allow the public and 

interested parties a full 45 days to 

review the application and provide 

written feedback to the agencies. This 

extension is due to delays in getting the 

DEIS fully posted on the project’s 

docket at www.regulations.gov. This 

notice announces the extension of the 

comment period and new comment 

period end date. 

DATES: Comments or related material on 

the Texas GulfLink deepwater port 

license application must be received by 

January 22, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The public docket for the 

Texas GulfLink deepwater port license 

application is maintained by the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, Docket 

Management Facility, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590. The license application is 

available for viewing at the 

Regulations.gov website: http://

www.regulations.gov under docket 

number MARAD–2019–0093. 

We encourage you to submit 

comments electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. If you submit your 

comments electronically, it is not 

necessary to also submit a hard copy. If 

you cannot submit material using http:// 

www.regulations.gov, please contact 

either Mr. Patrick Clark, USCG or 

Linden Houston, MARAD, as listed in 

the following FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document, 

which also provides alternate 

instructions for submitting written 

comments. Additionally, if you go to the 

online docket and sign up for email 

alerts, you will be notified when 

comments are posted. Anonymous 

comments will be accepted. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http://

www.regulations.gov and will include 

any personal information you have 

provided. The Federal Docket 

Management Facility’s telephone 

number is 202–366–9317 or 202–366– 

9826, the fax number is 202–493–2251. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Patrick Clark, U.S. Coast Guard, 

telephone: 202–372–1358, email: 

Patrick.W.Clark@uscg.mil or Mr. Linden 

Houston, Maritime Administration, 

telephone: 202–366–4839, email: 

Linden.Houston@dot.gov. For questions 

regarding viewing the Docket, call 

Docket Operations, telephone: 202–366– 

9317 or 202–366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Request for Comments 

We request public comment on this 

proposal. The comments may relate to, 

but are not limited to, the 

environmental impact of the proposed 

action. All comments will be accepted. 

You may submit comments directly to 

the Federal Docket Management Facility 

during the public comment period (see 

Dates). We will consider all comments 

and material received during the 

extended scoping period. 

The license application, comments 

and associated documentation, as well 

as the DEIS and Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (when published), are 

available for viewing at the Federal 

Docket Management System (FDMS) 

website: http://www.regulations.gov 

under docket number MARAD–2019– 

0093. 

Public comment submissions should 

include: 

• Docket number MARAD–2019– 

0093. 

• Your name and address. 

Submit comments or material using 

only one of the following methods: 

• Electronically (preferred for 

processing) to the Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) website: 

http://www.regulations.gov under 

docket number MARAD–2019–0093. 

• By mail to the Federal Docket 

Management Facility (MARAD–2019– 

0093), U.S. Department of 

Transportation, West Building, Ground 

Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

• By personal delivery to the room 

and address listed above between 9:00 

a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• By fax to the Federal Docket 

Management Facility at 202–493–2251. 

Faxed, mailed or hand delivered 

submissions must be unbound, no larger 

than 81⁄2 by 11 inches and suitable for 

copying and electronic scanning. The 

format of electronic submissions should 

also be no larger than 81⁄2 by 11 inches. 

If you mail your submission and want 

to know when it reaches the Federal 

Docket Management Facility, please 

include a stamped, self-addressed 

postcard or envelope. 

Regardless of the method used for 

submitting comments, all submissions 

will be posted, without change, to the 

FDMS website (http://

www.regulations.gov) and will include 

any personal information you provide. 

Therefore, submitting this information 

to the docket makes it public. You may 

wish to read the Privacy and Use Notice 

that is available on the FDMS website 

and the Department of Transportation 

Privacy Act Notice that appeared in the 

Federal Register on April 11, 2000 (65 

FR 19477), see Privacy Act. You may 

view docket submissions at the Federal 

Docket Management Facility or 

electronically on the FDMS website. 

Privacy Act 

The electronic form of all comments 

received into the FDMS can be searched 

by the name of the individual 

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 245 / Monday, December 21, 2020 / Notices 83143 

1 49 U.S.C. 30101, et seq. 

2 49 U.S.C. 30112, 30115. 

3Letter to C. Urmson, Google (Feb. 4, 2016), 

https://www.nhtsa.gov/interpretations/googlecompiled-response-12-nov-15-interp-request-4-feb16-final. 

4For purposes of this notice, the term ‘‘test 

conditions and procedures’’ refers to the 

preparatory steps NHTSA takes prior to measuring 

the performance of a motor vehicle or item of motor 

vehicle equipment when checking for FMVSS 

compliance. NHTSA designs test conditions and 

procedures both to ensure that vehicle performance 

is measured under realistic driving conditions 

(representative of the real-world situation posing 

the safety risk), and to eliminate or control variables 

that reduce the objectivity of the compliance test. 

Test procedures are incorporated into the regulatory 

text alongside the performance requirement with 

which they are associated. NHTSA’s Enforcement 

office publishes test procedures on NHTSA’s 

website to provide more detail into how NHTSA 

conducts a compliance test. https://www.nhtsa.gov/ 

vehicle-manufacturers/test-procedures. 

submitting the comment (or signing the 

comment, if submitted on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

The Department of Transportation 

Privacy Act Statement can be viewed in 

the Federal Register published on April 

11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, pages 

19477–78) or by visiting http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1501, et seq., 49 CFR 

1.93(h). 

Dated: December 16, 2020. 

By Order of the Maritime Administrator. 

T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr., 

Secretary, Maritime Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28044 Filed 12–18–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2020–0119] 

Notice Regarding the Applicability of 

NHTSA FMVSS Test Procedures to 

Certifying Manufacturers 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of interpretation; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The National Traffic and 

Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act) 

prohibits the sale, manufacture for sale, 

import or introduction into interstate 

commerce of a motor vehicle or item of 

motor vehicle equipment, unless fully 

compliant with all applicable Federal 

motor vehicle safety standards 

(FMVSS). The FMVSS set a threshold of 

performance that a vehicle or equipment 

item must attain, at a minimum, to meet 

the need for safety. The Safety Act also 

requires a manufacturer or distributor of 

a motor vehicle or motor vehicle 

equipment to certify that the vehicle or 

equipment complies with applicable 

FMVSS. This notice reestablishes 

NHTSA’s longstanding position that the 

FMVSS test conditions and procedures 

apply to NHTSA’s compliance testing, 

and that manufacturers are not required 

to ensure that their vehicles are 

designed in such a manner as to ensure 

that the vehicles are capable of being 

tested pursuant to such standards as a 

condition of self-certification. This 

notice also discusses NHTSA’s 

enforcement with respect to vehicles 

with novel or innovative designs that 

preclude them from being tested for 

FMVSS compliance using NHTSA’s 

FMVSS test procedures. This notice 

supersedes prior contrary statements the 

Agency has made—including those in 

NHTSA’s 2016 letter of interpretation to 

Google, Inc.—stating that manufacturers 

could not validly certify FMVSS 

compliance unless NHTSA could verify 

compliance using the FMVSS test 

procedures. 

DATES: NHTSA is inviting public 

comment on this document. The 

comment closing date is January 20, 

2021. NHTSA will post a public 

response to major concerns raised in the 

comments. 

You may submit comments to the 

docket number identified in the heading 

of this document by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• 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: 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, between 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. To be 

sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 366–9322 before 

coming. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

Regardless of how you submit your 

comments, please be sure to mention 

the docket number of this document. 

Instructions: For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments and additional 

information on the rulemaking process, 

see the Public Participation section of 

this document. 

Note that all comments received will 

be posted without change to http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. Please 

see the Privacy Act discussion below 

regarding documents submitted to the 

agency’s dockets. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http://

www.regulations.gov or the street 

address listed above. Follow the online 

instructions for accessing the dockets. 

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 organization, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’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://www.dot.gov/ 

privacy.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Koblenz or Kerry Kolodziej, 

Office of Chief Counsel, Telephone: 

202–366–2992, Facsimile: 202–366– 

3820. The mailing address for these 

officials is: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The National Traffic and Motor 

Vehicle Safety Act 1 (the Safety Act) 

requires that motor vehicles meet two 

separate requirements before they may 

be sold or otherwise introduced into 

interstate commerce in the United 

States: (1) they must be compliant with 

the FMVSS, and (2) they must be 

certified as compliant by a manufacturer 

exercising reasonable care.2 In a 2016 

letter of interpretation to Google, Inc.,3

NHTSA stated, without substantive 

discussion, that manufacturers could 

not validly certify vehicles as compliant 

with FMVSS unless the vehicles were 

capable of being tested using the test 

procedures associated with those 

standards.4 This interpretation imposed 

major design restrictions on motor 

vehicles, because it effectively required 

manufacturers not only to certify that a 

motor vehicle complies with the 

substantive requirements of all 

applicable FMVSS, but also to design 

the vehicle in such a way that NHTSA 

would be able to conduct each element 

of each test procedure specified within 

each applicable regulation. 

It should be noted the 2016 Google 

interpretation addressed a situation 

involving a novel, theoretical design of 

a vehicle that lacked driving controls, 

including the absence of a steering 

wheel and a brake pedal. Heretofore, the