34248 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices

except Federal Holidays. An electronic

version of this document is available on

the World Wide Web at http://

dms.dot.gov.

Dated: May 22, 2000.

By Order of the Maritime Administrator.

Joel C. Richard,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–13242 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration

Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping

Requirements Agency Information

Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, DOT

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice

announces that the information

collection abstracted below has been

forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and

comment. Described below is the nature

of the information collection and its

expected burden. The Federal Register

notice with a 60-day comment period

soliciting comments on the following

collection was published on March 10,

2000 [65 FR 13075].

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before June 26, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Otto

A. Strassburg, Chief, Division of Marine

Insurance, Office of Insurance and

Shipping Analysis, MAR–570, Room

8117, Maritime Administration, 400

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, D.C.

20590, telephone number 202–366–

4161. Copies of this collection can also

be obtained from that office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Maritime

Administration.

Title of Collection: ‘‘Approval of

Underwriters for Marine Hull

Insurance.’’

OMB Control Number: 2133–0517.

Type of Request: Approval of an

existing information collection.

Affected Public: Foreign underwriters

of marine insurance and insurance

brokers.

Form(s): None.

Abstract: This collection of

information involves the approval of

marine hull underwriters to insure

MARAD program vessels. Foreign

applicants will be requested to submit

financial data upon which MARAD

approval would be based. In certain

cases, brokers would be required to

certify that American underwriters were

offered opportunity to compete for the

business.

Annual Estimated Burden Hours: 46

hours.

Addressee: Send comments to the

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, 725–17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20503, Attention

MARAD Desk Officer.

Comments are Invited on: Whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the Department,

including whether the information will

have practical utility; the accuracy of

the Department’s estimate of the burden

of the proposed information collection;

ways to enhance the quality, utility and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on respondents, including the use of

automated collection techniques or

other forms of information technology.

A comment to OMB is best assured of

having its full effect if OMB receives it

within 30 days of publication.

Dated: May 23, 2000.

Joel C. Richard,

Secretary, Maritime Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–13328 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2000–7291; Notice 1]

General Motors Corporation; Receipt

of Application for Determination of

Inconsequential Non-Compliance

General Motors Corporation (GM) has

applied to be exempted from the

notification and remedy requirements of

49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 ‘‘Motor Vehicle

Safety’’ for a noncompliance with

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard

(FMVSS) No. 208, ‘‘Occupant Crash

Protection,’’ on the basis that the

noncompliance is inconsequential to

motor vehicle safety. GM has filed a

report of a noncompliance pursuant to

49 CFR part 573 ‘‘Defects and

Noncompliance Report.’’

This notice of receipt of the

application is published under 49

U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not

represent any agency decision or other

exercise of judgement concerning the

merits of the application.

Description of Noncompliance

GM has identified a condition in

which the required seat belt audible

signal on some 1996–99 Model Year

Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari vans

may occasionally operate for less than

the 4 to 8 second time required. Upon

such occurrence, the signal would not

fully comply with the audible signal

portion of the S7.3 seat belt warning

provision of FMVSS No. 208. GM has

submitted a 49 CFR 573.5

noncompliance notification to the

agency which details the affected

vehicles. Pursuant to section 30118(d)

and 30120(h) of Chapter 301 and 49 CFR

part 556, and for reasons set forth, GM

requested exemption from the

notification, and remedy provisions of

49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 on the basis

that the noncompliance is

inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.

‘‘A total of 461,851 1996–99 MY

Chevrolet Astro and GMC Safari vans

were built with an audible driver seat

belt warning system that may, in a

random manner (1) operate properly, (2)

terminate the audible signal in less than

the minimum 4 second requirement, or

(3) not operate at all. The possibility of

a random noncompliance results from a

transient signal being generated at the

seat belt switch input to the audible

signal module when the ignition switch

is turned to start and the belt latch

mechanism is not fastened. The module

may interpret this transient signal input

as the seat belt latch mechanism being

fastened and thereby terminate the

audible tone. The condition is caused by

a ground voltage difference between the

seat belt switch and the signal module

creating a transient signal that the

module was not designed to filter. At

the time the subject module and

associated wiring harness were

developed, GM truck engineering did

not have a formal requirement for

electrical grounding and module input

filtering.’’

‘‘A new module and wiring harness

were implemented at the assembly plant

in January 1999, that changed this

condition. To prevent this issue in the

future, electrical grounding rules that

define specific requirements for

modules and their inputs have been

implemented to evaluate all electrical

ground designs during the design

review process. This condition is not

present in other GM vehicles with the

same signal module because the

respective component ground is

compatible with the module design in

other GM products. GM also has

reviewed its warranty is information

regarding the subject vehicle’s audible

signal. There has been no change in the

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices 34249

1The Board will grant a stay if an informed

decision on environmental issues (whether raised

by a party or by the Board’s Section of

Environmental Analysis in its independent

investigation) cannot be made before the

exemption’s effective date. See Exemption of Outof-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any

request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible

so that the Board may take appropriate action before

the exemption’s effective date.

2Each offer of financial assistance must be

accompanied by the filing fee, which currently is

set at $1000. See 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25).

occurrences of customer warranty

claims regarding the seat belt audible

signal for the 1995 vehicles, produced

prior to this issue, and the warranty

claim made on the vehicles involved.’’

Supporting Information Submitted by

General Motors

It is GM’s understanding that the

purpose of the seat belt warning

requirement is to provide a reminder to

the vehicle’s driver to wear a seat belt.

Section 7.3 of FMVSS 208 currently

allows a manufacturer two alternatives

for complying with the seat belt warning

requirements. As Option 1, S7.3(a)(1)

essentially requires (1) an audible signal

of 4 to 8 seconds, and (2) a minimum

60 second telltale light when the driver

seat belt is unbuckled and the ignition

is moved to the ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘start’’ position.

If the driver seat belt is buckled, neither

the audible signal nor the telltale light

should be activated when the ignition is

turned to the ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘start’’ position.

As Option 2, S7.3 (a)(2) essentially

requires (1) an audible signal of 4 to 8

seconds when the driver seat belt is

unlocked and the ignition is moved to

the ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘start’’ position, and (2) a

4 to 8 second telltale light whenever the

ignition is moved to the ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘start’’

position, whether or not the driver seat

belt is buckled.

The subject vehicles were designed to

Option 1 and comply with the portion

of the requirements to activate a

continuous or flashing warning light for

a minimum of 60 seconds if the ignition

is turned to the ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘start’’ position

and the driver seat belt is not buckled,

thus notifying a driver that he/she is not

buckled up. Specifically, the subject

vehicles comply with this portion of the

requirement by displaying a continuous

warning light for approximately the first

20 seconds and then a flashing light for

approximately 55 seconds if the driver

belt is not buckled. The subject vehicles,

therefore, provide a visual warning

signal that exceeds the 60 second

duration requirement of Option 2.

Furthermore, the design duration of 75

seconds for the visual signal provides a

considerable enhancement over the 4 to

8 second duration requirement allowed

by Option 2.

GM believes that the subject vehicles

provide an enhanced visual seat belt

warning indicator to remind the driver

to wear a seat belt. Under these

particular conditions, GM believes that

the noncompliance to S7.3 f FMVSS 208

is inconsequential as it relates to motor

vehicle safety, and therefore, requests

the affected vehicles exempted from the

notification, recall and remedy

provisions of Section 30120 of the

Safety Act.

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments on the petition of GM,

described above. Comments should refer

to the Docket Number and be submitted

to: Docket Management, National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

Room PL 401, 400 7th Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590. It is requested

that two copies be submitted.

All comments received before the

close of business on the closing date

indicated below will be considered. The

application and supporting materials,

and all comments received after the

closing date will also be filed and will

be considered to the extent practicable.

When the application is granted or

denied, a Notice will be published in

the Federal Register pursuant to the

authority indicated below.

Comment closing date: June 26, 2000.

(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of

authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 49 CFR 501.8)

Issued on: May 22, 2000.

Stephen R. Kratzke,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 00–13272 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–55 (Sub–No. 579X)]

CSX Transportation, Inc.—

Abandonment Exemption—in Parke

and Vermillion Counties, IN

CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) has

filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR 1152 Subpart F—Exempt

Abandonments to abandon an

approximately 1.17-mile line of its

railroad between milepost BD–191.41 at

Montezuma and milepost BD–192.58 at

Hillsdale in Parke and Vermillion

Counties, IN. The line traverses United

States Postal Service Zip Codes 47862

and 47854.

CSXT has certified that: (1) No local

traffic has moved over the line for at

least 2 years; (2) there is no overhead

traffic on the line; (3) no formal

complaint filed by a user of rail service

on the line (or by a state or local

government entity acting on behalf of

such user) regarding cessation of service

over the line either is pending with the

Surface Transportation Board (Board) or

with any U.S. District Court or has been

decided in favor of complainant within

the 2-year period; and (4) the

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7

(environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8

(historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.11

(transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental

agencies) have been met.

As a condition to this exemption, any

employee adversely affected by the

abandonment shall be protected under

Oregon Short Line R. Co.—

Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91

(1979). To address whether this

condition adequately protects affected

employees, a petition for partial

revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

must be filed. Provided no formal

expression of intent to file an offer of

financial assistance (OFA) has been

received, this exemption will be

effective on June 25, 2000, unless stayed

pending reconsideration. Petitions to

stay that do not involve environmental

issues,1 formal expressions of intent to

file an OFA under 49 CFR

1152.27(c)(2),2 and trail use/rail banking

requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be

filed by June 5, 2000. Petitions to reopen

or requests for public use conditions

under 49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by

June 15, 2000, with: Surface

Transportation Board, Office of the

Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925 K

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423.

A copy of any petition filed with the

Board should be sent to applicant’s

representative: Natalie S. Rosenberg,

Counsel, CSX Transportation, Inc., 500

Water Street J150, Jacksonville, FL

32202. If the verified notice contains

false or misleading information, the

exemption is void ab initio.

CSXT has filed an environmental

report which addresses the

abandonment’s effects, if any, on the

environment and historic resources. The

Section of Environmental Analysis

(SEA) will issue an environmental

assessment (EA) by May 31, 2000.

Interested persons may obtain a copy of

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500,

Surface Transportation Board,

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling

SEA, at (202) 565–1545. Comments on

environmental and historic preservation

matters must be filed within 15 days

after the EA becomes available to the

public.

Environmental, historic preservation,

public use, or trail use/rail banking