Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 159 / Wednesday, August 19, 2009 / Notices 41971 

the reply comment period until 

September 14, 2009. 

Issued on: August 12, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–19888 Filed 8–18–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–1998–4334; FMCSA– 

2000–7165; FMCSA–2002–13411; FMCSA– 

2005–20560; FMCSA–2006–25246; FMCSA– 

2007–27897] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Vision 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of renewal of 

exemptions; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to renew the exemptions from 

the vision requirement in the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 44 

individuals. FMCSA has statutory 

authority to exempt individuals from 

the vision requirement if the 

exemptions granted will not 

compromise safety. The Agency has 

concluded that granting these 

exemption renewals will provide a level 

of safety that is 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 

September 13, 2009. Comments must be 

received on or before September 18, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

bearing the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA– 

1998–4334; FMCSA–2000–7165; 

FMCSA–2002–13411; FMCSA–2005– 

20560; FMCSA–2006–25246; FMCSA– 

2007–27897, using any of the following 

methods. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

on-line 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: 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. 

• 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 

http://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 http:// 

www.regulations.gov at any time or 

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., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The 

FDMS is available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. If you want 

acknowledgment that we received your 

comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard or print the acknowledgement 

page that appears after submitting 

comments on-line. 

Privacy Act: Anyone may search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or of the person signing the 

comment, if submitted on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

You may review the DOT’s complete 

Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 

Register published on April 11, 2000 

(65 FR 19476). This information is also 

available at http://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Mary D. Gunnels, Director, Medical 

Programs, (202) 366–4001, 

fmcsamedical@dot.gov, FMCSA, 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W64– 

224, Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

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

FMCSA may renew an exemption from 

the vision requirements 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. 

Exemption Decision 

This notice addresses 44 individuals 

who have requested a renewal of their 

exemption in accordance with FMCSA 

procedures. FMCSA has evaluated these 

44 applications for renewal on their 

merits and decided to extend each 

exemption for a renewable two-year 

period. They are: 

Eddie Alejandro, John W. Black, III, 

John A. Bridges, Eddie M. Brown, 

Edward G. Brown, Edwin L. Bupp, 

Charles E. Castle, Joel C. Conrad, Duane 

C. Conway, Brian W. Curtis, Roger D. 

Davidson, Sr., Richard A. Davis, Sr., 

Robin C. Duckett, Marco A. Esquivel, 

Tomie L. Estes, Raymond L. Herman, 

Jesse R. Hillhouse, Jr., Billy R. Holdman, 

Ray C. Johnson, Terry R. Jones, Randall 

H. Keil, James A. Kneece, Paul G. 

Mathes, John T. McWilliams, Robert A. 

Miller, Stuart T. Miller, James T. 

Mitchell, Andrew M. Nurnbrg, Kenneth 

R. Pedersen, Joshua R. Perkins, Ronald 

F. Prezzia, Eligio M. Ramirez, Victor C. 

Richert, Garry L. Rogers, Craig R. Saari, 

Jerry L. Schroder, Gerald J. Shamla, 

Timothy L. Shorey, William C. Smith, 

Larry D. Steiner, Robert S. Swaen, 

Anthony T. Truiolo, Gregory A. VanLue, 

Kevin W. Wunderlin. 

These exemptions are extended 

subject to the following conditions: (1) 

That each individual have a physical 

examination 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 

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 

not be consistent with the goals and 

objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 

31315. 


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41972 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 159 / Wednesday, August 19, 2009 / Notices 

1Article 3 of the agreement provides that CSXT 

‘‘* * * shall not perform any local freight service 

whatsoever at any point located on the Subject 

Trackage.’’ CSXT is, however, permitted to also use 

the trackage rights to set out bad ordered cars and 

to ‘‘double’’ trains in and out of the ICTF. 

2A redacted version of the trackage rights 

agreement between BSRR and CSXT was filed with 

the notice of exemption. The full version of the 

agreement, as required by 49 CFR 1180.6(a)(7)(ii), 

was concurrently filed under seal along with a 

motion for protective order. The motion is being 

addressed in a separate decision. 

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. 31136(e) and 

31315, each of the 44 applicants has 

satisfied the entry conditions for 

obtaining an exemption from the vision 

requirements (63 FR 66226; 64 FR 

16517; 66 FR 41656; 68 FR 44837; 70 FR 

41811; 72 FR 52421; 65 FR 33406; 65 FR 

57234; 67 FR 67234; 70 FR 7545; 72 FR 

27624; 67 FR 76439; 68 FR 10298; 70 FR 

28348; 70 FR 30997; 72 FR 180; 72 FR 

9397; 72 FR 39879; 72 FR 52419) Each 

of these 44 applicants has requested 

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, 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. 

Request for Comments 

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. 31136(e) and 

31315. However, FMCSA requests that 

interested parties with specific data 

concerning the safety records of these 

drivers submit comments by September 

18, 2009. 

FMCSA believes that the 

requirements for a renewal of an 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 

31315 can be satisfied by initially 

granting the renewal and then 

requesting and evaluating, if needed, 

subsequent comments submitted by 

interested parties. As indicated above, 

the Agency previously published 

notices of final disposition announcing 

its decision to exempt these 44 

individuals from the vision requirement 

in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10). The final 

decision to grant an exemption to each 

of these individuals was based on the 

merits of each case and only after 

careful consideration of the comments 

received to its notices of applications. 

The notices of applications stated in 

detail the qualifications, experience, 

and medical condition of each applicant 

for an exemption from the vision 

requirements. That information is 

available by consulting the above cited 

Federal Register publications. 

Interested parties or organizations 

possessing information that would 

otherwise show that any, or all of these 

drivers, are not currently achieving the 

statutory level of safety should 

immediately notify FMCSA. The 

Agency will evaluate any adverse 

evidence submitted and, if safety is 

being compromised or if continuation of 

the exemption would not be consistent 

with the goals and objectives of 49 

U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA will 

take immediate steps to revoke the 

exemption of a driver. 

Issued on: August 12, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–19890 Filed 8–18–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35285] 

CSX Transportation, Inc.—Trackage 

Rights Exemption—Birmingham 

Southern Railroad Company 

Pursuant to a written trackage rights 

agreement (the agreement) dated July 

31, 2009, Birmingham Southern 

Railroad Company (BSRR) has agreed to 

grant trackage rights described as 

‘‘generally overhead’’ to CSX 

Transportation Incorporated (CSXT) 

over the BSRR rail line between the 

crossover of CSXT and BSRR in 

Woodward, AL, approximately milepost 

6, Station 307+00, and Bessemer, AL at 

the turnout to BSRR’s Private 

Intermodal Container Facility (the 

ICTF), milepost 9, Station 10+00,1 a 

distance of approximately three miles.2

The transaction is scheduled to be 

consummated on or shortly after 

September 2, 2009, the effective date of 

the exemption (30 days after the 

exemption was filed). The purpose of 

the trackage rights is to enable CSXT to 

improve direct intermodal container 

access to and from the Mercedes Benz 

USA facility in Bessemer, AL, through 

use of the ICTF. Under the agreement, 

in addition to overhead intermodal 

service, CSXT will be permitted, as 

required, to occupy the line for 

purposes of doubling trains in and out 

of the ICTF and for setting out any bad 

ordered cars within the premises of the 

ICTF. 

As a condition to this exemption, any 

employee affected by the acquisition of 

the temporary trackage rights will be 

protected by the conditions imposed in 

Norfolk and Western Ry. Co.—Trackage 

Rights—BN, 354 I.C.C. 605 (1978), as 

modified in Mendocino Coast Ry., Inc.— 

Lease and Operate, 360 I.C.C. 653 

(1980). 

This notice is filed under 49 CFR 

1180.2(d)(8). If the notice contains false 

or misleading information, the 

exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to 

revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 

10502(d) may be filed at any time. The 

filing of a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the effectiveness of 

the exemption. Stay petitions must be 

filed by August 26, 2009 (at least 7 days 

before the exemption becomes 

effective). 

Pursuant to the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 

110–161, § 193, 121 Stat. 1844 (2007), 

nothing in this decision authorizes the 

following activities at any solid waste 

rail transfer facility: collecting, storing, 

or transferring solid waste outside of its 

original shipping container; or 

separating or processing solid waste 

(including baling, crushing, compacting, 

and shredding). The term ‘‘solid waste’’ 

is defined in section 1004 of the Solid 

Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6903. 

An original and 10 copies of all 

pleadings, referring to STB Finance 

Docket No. 35285, must be filed with 

the Surface Transportation Board, 395 E 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20423– 

0001. In addition, a copy of each 

pleading must be served on Louis E. 

Gitomer, 600 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 

301, Towson, MD 21204. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov. 

Decided: August 14, 2009. 

By the Board, Rachel D. Campbell, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Kulunie L. Cannon, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. E9–19928 Filed 8–18–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 


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