Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 226 / Tuesday, November 24, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 73119 

3This is the 2015 rate adjusted for the amount of 

inflation as measured by the change in the 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers All 

Items from October 2014 to October 2015. 

4This is the 2015 rate adjusted for the amount of 

inflation as measured by the change in the 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers All 

Items from October 2014 to October 2015. 

the nearest cent). See 37 CFR 

386.2(b)(2). 

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 386 

Copyright, Satellite, Television. 

Final Regulations 

In consideration of the foregoing, the 

Judges amend part 386 of title 37 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations as follows: 

PART 386—ADJUSTMENT OF 

ROYALTY FEES FOR SECONDARY 

TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE 

CARRIERS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 386 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 17 U.S.C. 119(c), 801(b)(1). 

■ 2. Section 386.2 is amended by adding 

paragraphs (b)(1)(vii) and (b)(2)(vii), and 

footnotes 3 and 4, to read as follows: 

§ 386.2 Royalty fee for secondary 

transmission by satellite carriers. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(vii) 2016: 27 cents per subscriber per 

month (for each month of 2016).3

(2) * * * 

(vii) 2016: 56 cents per subscriber per 

month (for each month of 2016).4

Dated: November 18, 2015. 

Suzanne M. Barnett, 

Chief Copyright Royalty Judge. 

[FR Doc. 2015–29863 Filed 11–23–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 1410–72–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R01–OAR–2015–0593; A–1–FRL– 

9939–24–Region 1] 

Air Plan Approval; ME; Repeal of the 

Maine’s General Conformity Provision 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving a State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 

submitted by the State of Maine. This 

revision removes State Regulation 

Chapter 141—Conformity of General 

Federal Actions from the SIP. The 

intended effect of this action is to 

remove the repealed State Regulation 

and leave the Federal General 

Conformity provisions in place to 

demonstrate conformity with the 

applicable SIP as required by section 

176(c) of the Clean Air Act. This action 

is being taken in accordance with the 

Clean Air Act. 

DATES: This direct final rule will be 

effective January 25, 2016, unless EPA 

receives adverse comments by 

December 24, 2015. If adverse 

comments are received, EPA will 

publish a timely withdrawal of the 

direct final rule in the Federal Register 

informing the public that the rule will 

not take effect. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID Number EPA– 

R01–OAR–2015–0593 by one of the 

following methods: 

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

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: arnold.anne@epa.gov. 

3. Fax: (617) 918–0047. 

4. Mail: ‘‘Docket Identification 

Number EPA–R01–OAR–2015–0593’’, 

Anne Arnold, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA New England 

Regional Office, Office of Ecosystem 

Protection, Air Quality Planning Unit, 5 

Post Office Square—Suite 100, (Mail 

code OEP05–2), Boston, MA 02109– 

3912. 

5. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver 

your comments to: Anne Arnold, 

Manager, Air Quality Planning Unit, 

Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

New England Regional Office, 5 Post 

Office Square—Suite 100, (Mail code 

OEP05–2), Boston, MA 02109–3912. 

Such deliveries are only accepted 

during the Regional Office’s normal 

hours of operation. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R01–OAR–2015– 

0593. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit through http://

www.regulations.gov, or email, 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected. The http://

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an email comment directly 

to EPA without going through http://

www.regulations.gov your email address 

will be automatically captured and 

included as part of the comment that is 

placed in the public docket and made 

available on the Internet. If you submit 

an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the 

electronic docket are listed in the http:// 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available at http://

www.regulations.gov or at U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

New England Regional Office, Office of 

Ecosystem Protection, 5 Post Office 

Square—Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA 

requests that if at all possible, you 

contact the contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

schedule your inspection. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays. 

In addition, copies of the state 

submittal and EPA’s technical support 

document are also available for public 

inspection during normal business 

hours, by appointment at the State Air 

Agency; the Bureau of Air Quality 

Control, Department of Environmental 

Protection, First Floor of the Tyson 

Building, Augusta Mental Health 

Institute Complex, Augusta, ME 04333– 

0017. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ariel Garcia, Air Quality Unit, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

New England Regional Office, 5 Post 

Office Square—Suite 100, (Mail code 

OEP05–2), Boston, MA 02109–3912, 

telephone number (617) 918–1660, fax 

number (617) 918–0660, email 

garcia.ariel@epa.gov. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES

73120 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 226 / Tuesday, November 24, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

1Conformity to State or Federal Implementation 

Plans of transportation plans, programs, and 

projects which are developed, funded or approved 

under Title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Laws 

are implemented under 40 CFR part 51, subpart T, 

and 40 CFR part 93, subpart A. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

EPA. 

Organization of this document. The 

following outline is provided to aid in 

locating information in this preamble. 

I. Background and Purpose 

II. State Submittal 

III. Final Action 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background and Purpose 

Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act, as 

amended (the Act), prohibits Federal 

entities from taking actions in 

nonattainment or maintenance areas 

which do not conform to the State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 

attainment and maintenance of the 

national ambient air quality standards 

(NAAQS). Therefore, the purpose of 

conformity is to: (1) Ensure Federal 

activities do not interfere with the 

emission budgets in the SIPs; (2) ensure 

actions do not cause or contribute to 

new violations; and (3) ensure 

attainment and maintenance of the 

NAAQS. Section 176(c) of the Act also 

requires EPA to promulgate criteria and 

procedures for demonstrating and 

ensuring conformity of Federal actions 

to an applicable implementation plan 

developed pursuant to Section 110 and 

Part D of the Act. EPA promulgated a 

final rulemaking on November 30, 1993 

consisting of 40 CFR part 93, subpart B 

‘‘Determining Conformity of General 

Federal Actions to State or Federal 

Implementation Plans,’’ which applied 

to Federal agencies immediately 

(hereafter referred to as the General 

Conformity rule); and 40 CFR part 51, 

subpart W ‘‘Determining conformity of 

general Federal Actions to State or 

Federal Implementation Plans’’ which 

established requirements for States in 

submitting SIPs. The general conformity 

rules, except for the 40 CFR 51.851(a) 

language requiring State submission of a 

SIP revision, were repeated at 40 CFR 

part 93, subpart B. The General 

Conformity rule establishes the criteria 

and procedures governing the 

determination of conformity for all 

Federal actions, except Federal highway 

and transit actions.1

The General Conformity rule also 

establishes the criteria for EPA approval 

of SIPs. See 40 CFR 51.851 and 93.151. 

These criteria provide that the state 

provisions must be at least as stringent 

as the requirements specified in EPA’s 

General Conformity rule, and that they 

can be more stringent only if they apply 

equally to Federal and non-Federal 

entities (§§ 51.851(b)). Following EPA 

approval of the State conformity 

provisions in a SIP revision, the 

approved State criteria and procedures 

would govern conformity 

determinations and the Federal 

conformity regulations contained in 40 

CFR part 51 and part 93 would apply 

only for the portion, if any, of the State’s 

conformity provisions that is not 

approved by EPA. Finally, all SIPapproved requirements relating to 

general conformity remain enforceable 

until the State revises its SIP to 

specifically remove them from the SIP 

and that revision is approved by EPA. 

On October 11, 1996, the State of 

Maine submitted a formal revision to its 

SIP. The SIP revision consisted of 

incorporating-by-reference 40 CFR 

51.850 through 51.860 (with the 

exception of § 51.851) thereby 

establishing general conformity criteria 

and procedures in the Maine SIP no 

more stringent than the Federal rule and 

not imposing any additional controls on 

non-Federal entities. EPA approved 

Maine’s General Conformity SIP through 

a direct final rule published in the 

Federal Register on September 23, 1997, 

(62 FR 49608–49611) and effective 

November 24, 1997. 

On June 29, 2007, the State of Maine 

submitted a second revision to its 

General Conformity SIP. This SIP 

revision consists of incorporating by 

reference 40 CFR 51.852 (Definitions), 

and 51.853 (Applicability), of 40 CFR 

part 51, subpart W, ‘‘Determining 

Conformity of General Federal Actions 

to State or Federal Implementation 

Plans,’’ as amended on July 17, 2006 in 

the Federal Register (71 FR 40420– 

40426). By incorporating by reference 

the amended General Conformity rule, 

Maine’s Chapter 141 ‘‘Conformity of 

General Federal Actions,’’ is no more 

stringent than the Federal rule and does 

not impose any additional controls on 

non-Federal entities. EPA approved 

Maine’s revision to its General 

Conformity SIP through a direct final 

rule published in the Federal Register 

on February 20, 2008 (73 FR 9203–9206) 

and effective on April 21, 2008. 

On April 5, 2010, EPA revisited the 

Federal General Conformity 

Requirements Rule to clarify the 

conformity process, authorize 

innovative and flexible compliance 

approaches, remove outdated or 

unnecessary requirements, reduce the 

paperwork burden, provide transition 

tools for implementing new standards, 

address issues raised by Federal 

agencies affected by the rules, and 

provide a better explanation of 

conformity regulations and policies. 

EPA’s April 2010 revised rule simplified 

state SIP requirements for general 

conformity, eliminating duplicative 

general conformity provisions codified 

at 40 CFR part 93, subpart B and 40 CFR 

part 51, subpart W by removing section 

51.850, and sections 51.852 through 

51.860. Finally, the April 2010 revision 

updated the Federal General Conformity 

Requirements Rule to reflect changes to 

governing laws passed by Congress 

since EPA’s 1993 rule. 

The ‘‘Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users,’’ (SAFETEA–LU) 

passed by Congress in 1995 contains a 

provision eliminating the Clean Air Act 

requirement for states to adopt general 

conformity SIPs. As a result of 

SAFETEA–LU, EPA’s April 2010 

General Conformity rule eliminated the 

Federal regulatory requirement for states 

to adopt and submit general conformity 

SIPs, instead making submission of a 

general conformity SIP a state option. 

The 2010 General Conformity 

amendments (Sections 51.851(c) as well 

as section 93.151) restated the 

requirement that in the absence of an 

EPA approved General Conformity SIP, 

Federal agencies shall use the 

provisions of 40 CFR part 93, subpart B 

to demonstrate conformity with the 

applicable implementation plan as 

required by section 176(c) of the Clean 

Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7506). 

II. State Submittal 

On August 18, 2015, the Maine 

Department of Environmental Protection 

submitted a formal SIP revision to 

remove Chapter 141–Conformity of 

General Federal Actions. Maine’s 

Chapter 141 regulation incorporated-byreference 40 CFR part 51, subpart W 

‘‘Determining Conformity of General 

Federal Actions to State or Federal 

Implementation Plans’’ as published in 

the November 30, 1993, Federal 

Register (58 FR 63247–63253) and 

amended in the July 17, 2006 Federal 

Register, (71 FR 40420–40426). As 

stated above all of the general 

conformity provisions referenced in 

Maine’s General Conformity regulation 

were deleted as duplicative on April 5, 

2010. At the time they were approved 

into the SIP, provisions of Maine’s 

General Conformity SIP were no less 

stringent then the Federal General 

Conformity regulations, nor did the SIP 

establish more stringent conformity 

criteria and procedures applying equally 

to non-Federal as well as Federal 

entities. 

As the State of Maine did not revise 

its SIP-approved Chapter 141— 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 226 / Tuesday, November 24, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 73121 

Conformity of General Federal Actions 

following EPA’s April 5, 2010 General 

Conformity amendments, the current 

State rule with a state effective date of 

April 19, 2007, does not provide any 

flexibility, or relaxation to the general 

conformity criteria and procedures as 

allowed by the amendments. 

Maine Department of Environmental 

Protection repealed Chapter 141 in July 

2015 after public notice and opportunity 

for public hearing. The removal of 

Chapter 141—Conformity of General 

Federal Actions from the SIP will leave 

the Federal General Conformity 

Regulations at 40 CFR 93.150 through 

93.165 as well as 40 CFR 51.851, in 

place for administrative and 

enforcement purposes. Once EPA 

approves the removal of Chapter 141 

from Maine’s SIP, Federal actions can 

take advantage of the flexibility 

provided by the Federal General 

Conformity Rule. Please note that if EPA 

receives adverse comment on an 

amendment, paragraph, or section of 

this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

EPA may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

III. Final Action 

EPA is approving Maine’s August 18, 

2015, SIP revision to remove Chapter 

141—Conformity of General Federal 

Actions from the SIP. EPA has evaluated 

this SIP revision and has determined 

that the State has complied with its 

administrative procedures to repeal 

Chapter 141. The appropriate public 

participation and comprehensive 

interagency consultations have been 

undertaken during development and 

adoption of this SIP revision. Finally, 

EPA has determined that removing 

Chapter 141 from the Maine SIP will 

result in Federal agencies using the 

provisions of 40 CFR part 93, subpart B 

to demonstrate conformity with the 

applicable implementation plan as 

required by section 176(c) of the Clean 

Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7506). Federal actions 

can take advantage of the flexibility 

provided by the Federal General 

Conformity Rule which includes EPA’s 

April 2010 General Conformity 

Amendments. 

EPA is publishing this action without 

prior proposal because the Agency 

views this as a noncontroversial 

amendment and anticipates no adverse 

comments. However, in the proposed 

rules section of this Federal Register 

publication, EPA is publishing a 

separate document that will serve as the 

proposal to approve the SIP revision 

should relevant adverse comments be 

filed. This rule will be effective January 

25, 2016 without further notice unless 

the Agency receives relevant adverse 

comments by December 24, 2015. 

If EPA receives such comments, then 

EPA will publish a notice withdrawing 

the final rule and informing the public 

that the rule will not take effect. All 

public comments received will then be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on the proposed rule. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period 

on the proposed rule. All parties 

interested in commenting on the 

proposed rule should do so at this time. 

If no such comments are received, the 

public is advised that this rule will be 

effective on January 25, 2016 and no 

further action will be taken on the 

proposed rule. Please note that if EPA 

receives adverse comment on an 

amendment, paragraph, or section of 

this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

EPA may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the Clean Air Act, the 

Administrator is required to approve a 

SIP submission that complies with the 

provisions of the Act and applicable 

Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 

40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP 

submissions, EPA’s role is to approve 

state choices, provided that they meet 

the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 

Accordingly, this action merely 

approves state law as meeting Federal 

requirements and does not impose 

additional requirements beyond those 

imposed by state law. For that reason, 

this action: 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to review by the Office of 

Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Is certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

• Does not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Does not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 

28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Is not subject to requirements of 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act; 

and 

• Does not provide EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address, as 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 

methods, under Executive Order 12898 

(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

In addition, the SIP is not approved to 

apply on any Indian reservation land or 

in any other area where EPA or an 

Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 

Indian country, the rule does not have 

tribal implications and will not impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

The Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides 

that before a rule may take effect, the 

agency promulgating the rule must 

submit a rule report, which includes a 

copy of the rule, to each House of the 

Congress and to the Comptroller General 

of the United States. EPA will submit a 

report containing this action and other 

required information to the U.S. Senate, 

the U.S. House of Representatives, and 

the Comptroller General of the United 

States prior to publication of the rule in 

the Federal Register. A major rule 

cannot take effect until 60 days after it 

is published in the Federal Register. 

This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean 

Air Act, petitions for judicial review of 

this action must be filed in the United 

States Court of Appeals for the 

appropriate circuit by January 25, 2016. 

Filing a petition for reconsideration by 

the Administrator of this final rule does 

not affect the finality of this action for 

the purposes of judicial review nor does 

it extend the time within which a 

petition for judicial review may be filed, 

and shall not postpone the effectiveness 

of such rule or action. Parties with 

objections to this direct final rule are 

encouraged to file a comment in 

response to the parallel notice of 

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73122 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 226 / Tuesday, November 24, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

proposed rulemaking for this action 

published in the proposed rules section 

of the Federal Register, rather than file 

an immediate petition for judicial 

review of this direct final rule, so that 

EPA can withdraw this direct final rule 

and address the comment in the 

proposed rulemaking. This action may 

not be challenged later in proceedings to 

enforce its requirements. (See section 

307(b)(2).) 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 

Incorporation by reference, 

Intergovernmental relations, Lead, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

Dated: November 5, 2015. 

H. Curtis Spalding, 

Regional Administrator, EPA New England. 

Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations is amended 

as follows: 

PART 52—APPROVAL AND 

PROMULGATION OF 

IMPLEMENTATION PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Subpart U—Maine 

§ 52.1020 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 52.1020(c), the table is 

amended by removing the entry for 

Chapter 141, ‘‘Conformity of General 

Federal Actions.’’ 

[FR Doc. 2015–29825 Filed 11–23–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

49 CFR Parts 240 and 242 

[Docket No. FRA–2015–0123] 

Best Practices for Designing Vision 

Field Tests for Locomotive Engineers 

or Conductors 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Interim interpretation with 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this interim 

interpretation to clarify provisions in its 

locomotive engineer and conductor 

qualification and certification 

regulations with respect to vision 

standards and testing. In particular, this 

document addresses further evaluation 

of persons who do not meet the vision 

threshold criteria provided for in those 

regulations, and provides best practices 

guidance for designing valid, reliable, 

and comparable vision field tests for 

assessing whether persons who do not 

meet those thresholds can perform 

safely as locomotive engineers and 

conductors. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

interpretation must be received on or 

before January 25, 2016. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered to the extent possible 

without incurring additional expense or 

delay. 

ADDRESSES: Comments related to Docket 

No. FRA–2015–0123 may be submitted 

by any of the following methods: 

• Web site: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Operations Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and docket 

number. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). See http:// 

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice 

for the privacy notice of regulations.gov 

or interested parties may review DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement in the 

Federal Register published on April 11, 

2000 (65 FR 19477). 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http://

www.regulations.gov at any time or to 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Docket Operations, M–30, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

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

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal Holidays. Anyone is able to 

search the electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). In 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT 

solicits comments from the public to 

better inform its processes. 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. See also http://

www.regulations.gov/#!privacyNotice 

for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

B.J. Arseneau, Medical Director, FRA, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493–6232; 

Alan Nagler, Senior Trial Attorney, 

FRA, Office of Chief Counsel, Mail Stop 

10, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493–6049; 

or Joseph D. Riley, Railroad Safety 

Specialist, FRA, Mail Stop 25, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590, (202) 493–6318. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

FRA is issuing this interim 

interpretation to clarify provisions in its 

locomotive engineer and conductor 

qualification and certification 

regulations related to further evaluation 

of persons who do not meet the vision 

threshold criteria in Title 49 Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) 240.121(c) 

and 242.117(h), and to provide bestpractices guidance for designing valid, 

reliable, and comparable vision field 

tests, in response to: (1) The fatal 

railroad accident that occurred near 

Goodwell, OK, on June 24, 2012; (2) 

inquiries FRA has received requesting 

clarification of the applicable regulatory 

provisions; and (3) numerous requests 

for FRA review, under the locomotive 

engineer and conductor certification 

regulations, when individuals have been 

denied recertification by a railroad 

based on a color vision or monocular 

vision deficiency. 

A. Railroad Accident Near Goodwell, 

OK 

The fatal accident that occurred near 

Goodwell, in which two Union Pacific 

Railroad (UP) trains collided head-on, 

exemplifies how important it is to 

railroad safety that each railroad 

establish valid, reliable, and comparable 

procedures to evaluate persons who do 

not meet the vision thresholds in 49 

CFR 240.121(c) or 242.117(h), and to 

strictly adhere to those procedures. The 

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