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

34250 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices

conditions will be imposed, where

appropriate, in a subsequent decision.

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR

1152.29(e)(2), CSXT shall file a notice of

consummation with the Board to signify

that it has exercised the authority

granted and fully abandoned the line. If

consummation has not been effected by

CSXT’s filing of a notice of

consummation by May 26, 2001, and

there are no legal or regulatory barriers

to consummation, the authority to

abandon will automatically expire.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

‘‘WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.’’

Decided: May 18, 2000.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik,

Director, Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–13172 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P