Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 26, 2009 / Notices 43223 

subsequent comments submitted by 

interested parties. As indicated above, 

the Agency previously published 

notices of final disposition announcing 

its decision to exempt these 23 

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 19, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator, Policy and Program 

Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–20621 Filed 8–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2007–28695] 

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 12 

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 27, 2009. Comments must be 

received on or before September 25, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

bearing the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA– 

2007–28695, 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 12 individuals 

who have requested a renewal of their 

exemption in accordance with FMCSA 

procedures. FMCSA has evaluated these 

12 applications for renewal on their 

merits and decided to extend each 

exemption for a renewable two-year 

period. They are: Dean N. Brown, 

Matthew R. Floyd, Christian L. 

Gremillion, Frank D. Konwinski, Jr., 

Christian E. Merseth, Kenneth D. 

Perkins, Terry W. Pope, Daniel T. 

Rhodes, Stephen E. Shields, Ricky J. 

Siebels, Don S. Williams, Robert L. 

Williams, Jr. 

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 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
43224 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 26, 2009 / Notices 

(3) continuation of the exemption would 

not be consistent with the goals and 

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

31315. 

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 12 applicants has 

satisfied the entry conditions for 

obtaining an exemption from the vision 

requirements (72 FR 46261; 72 FR 

54972). Each of these 12 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 

25, 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 12 

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 19, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–20620 Filed 8–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2009–0152] 

Technical Report on the Long-Term 

Effect of ABS in Passenger Cars and 

LTVs 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Request for comments on 

technical report. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces 

NHTSA’s publication of a Technical 

Report reviewing and evaluating the 

crash-reducing effectiveness of antilock 

braking technologies for passenger cars, 

pickup trucks, SUVs and vans. The 

report’s title is: The Long-Term Effect of 

ABS in Passenger Cars and LTVs. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than December 24, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Report: The technical report 

is available on the Internet for viewing 

in PDF format at http://www–nrd.

nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811182.PDF. You 

may obtain a copy of the report free of 

charge by sending a self-addressed 

mailing label to Charles J. Kahane 

(NVS–431), National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, Room W53–312, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

Comments: You may submit 

comments [identified by Docket Number 

NHTSA–2009–0152] by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

M–30, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, West Building, Ground 

Floor, Rm. W12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

You may call Docket Management at 

202–366–9826. 

Instructions: For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments, see the 

Procedural Matters section of this 

document. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

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

any personal information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation 

Division, NVS–431, National Center for 

Statistics and Analysis, National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

Room W53–312, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Telephone: 202–366–2560. E-mail: 

chuck.kahane@dot.gov. 

For information about NHTSA’s 

evaluations of the effectiveness of 

existing regulations and programs: You 

may see a list of published evaluation 

reports at http://www–nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov

/cats/listpublications.aspx?Id=226&

ShowBy=Category and if you click on 

any report you will be able to view it in 

PDF format. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Statistical 

analyses based on data for calendar 

years 1995 to 2007 from the Fatality 

Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and 

the General Estimates System (GES) of 

the National Automotive Sampling 

System (NASS) estimate the long-term 

effectiveness of antilock brake systems 

(ABS) for passenger cars and LTVs (light 

trucks and vans) subsequent to the 1995 

launch of public information programs 

on how to use ABS correctly. ABS has 

close to a zero net effect on fatal crash 

involvements. Fatal run-off-road crashes 

of passenger cars increased by a 

statistically significant 9 percent (90% 

confidence bounds: 3% to 15% 

increase), offset by a significant 13- 

percent reduction in fatal collisions 

with pedestrians (confidence bounds: 

5% to 20%) and a significant 12-percent 

reduction in collisions with other 

vehicles on wet roads (confidence 

bounds: 3% to 20%). ABS is quite 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES