34800 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 105 / Wednesday, May 31, 2000 / Notices

20 minutes. Presenters may be

questioned by a panel of government

officials. Time permitting, audience

members may submit written questions

for the panel to ask the presenters.

Issued on: May 25, 2000.

Raymond P. Owings,

Associate Administrator for Research and

Development.

[FR Doc. 00–13535 Filed 5–30–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–2000–7361; Notice 1]

Freightliner Corporation; Receipt of

Application for Decision of

Inconsequential Noncompliance

Freightliner Corporation (Freightliner)

of Portland, Oregon, has determined

that some of its vehicles fail to meet the

brake release time requirements of

paragraph S5.3.4.1(b) of Federal Motor

Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No.

121, Air Brake Systems. On May 8,

1997, Freightliner filed a

noncompliance information report

pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573.5. In that

report, Freightliner indicated that it

would file a petition for inconsequential

noncompliance at a future date.

Freightliner states that a Petition for

Inconsequential Noncompliance dated

October 10, 1997 was submitted to the

agency but we have no record of it.

Subsequently, on February 29, 2000,

Freightliner resubmitted its Petition

dated October 10, 1997.

This notice of receipt of the

application is published under 49

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

represent an agency decision or other

exercise of judgement concerning the

merits of the application.

Under the requirements of S5.3.4.1(a)

of FMVSS No. 121, each truck equipped

with air brakes is required to have a

pressure reduction from 95 psi to 5 psi,

measured at each brake chamber of the

truck, in not more than 0.55 second

from the initial movement (release) of

the service brake control. In addition,

S5.3.4.1(b) requires that a truck which is

equipped to tow another air-braked

vehicle is required to have a pressure

reduction from the initial test pressure

equivalent to 95 psi in the truck’s brake

chambers, to 5 psi in not more than 0.75

second, measured in a 50-cubic-inch

test reservoir attached to the control line

coupling, upon initial movement

(release) of the service brake control.

Thus the pressure in the test reservoir

is required to drop from approximately

95 psi to 5 psi in not more than 0.75

second upon release of the service brake

control.

Number of Non-Complying Trucks

From January 1994 through April

1996, Freightliner produced

approximately 3,145 Model FLD trucks

that may not have had a quick-release

valve installed at the control line

coupling and therefore may not meet the

release timing requirements in FMVSS

No. 121. Data on the number of vehicles

of the 3,145 affected truck population

that were built without the quick release

valve are as follows. According to

Freightliner’s noncompliance

information report, a field inspection of

34 subject vehicles indicated that 5.9

percent (two trucks) did not have the

quick release valves. According to

Freightliner’s petition for

inconsequential noncompliance, an

inspection (of an unspecified number)

of trucks at the St. Thomas

Manufacturing Plant where these

vehicles were manufactured indicated

that 69 percent were manufactured

without the quick release valve.

Freightliner also said in its petition that

a field inspection of 38 subject trucks

indicated that 9 percent did not have

the quick release valve installed.

We telephoned Mr. Tony Moore of

Freightliner’s engineering department

and Mr. Larry Winslow of Freightliner’s

compliance department on April 4,

2000, to clarify the numbers of noncompliant vehicles and two other

subjects that are discussed below. The

field inspection of 38 trucks indicated

in the petition included the 34 trucks

identified in the noncompliance

information report. When asked about

the number of vehicles inspected at the

St. Thomas plant, Freightliner indicated

that it has documentation showing that

303 trucks were inspected, and 70

trucks or 23 percent did not have quick

release valves installed. Freightliner

could not locate documentation

regarding how the 69 percent number in

the petition was derived and believes

that this number is incorrect per the

documentation it now has.

Brake Release Times of Non-Complying

Trucks

FMVSS No. 121, paragraph

S5.3.4.1(b), requires that the release

timing measured in the test reservoir

from initial pressure to 5 psi shall be

0.75 second. In its petition, Freightliner

states that it conducted a test program

to predict the actual release timing of

the subject vehicles. The results are as

indicated in the table below:

[Predicted] release timing

(seconds)

Vehicle populationPercent of

population

0.76–0.80 ........ 773 24.5

0.81–0.85 ........ 1759 55.9

0.86–0.90 ........ 602 19.1

0.91–0.95 ........ 1 0.03

0.96–1.00 ........ 10 0.3

over 1.00 ......... 0 0

In the April 4, 2000 telephone

conversation, Freightliner indicated that

this prediction of release timing is based

upon the length of the air tubing from

the treadle valve to the trailer service air

line glad hand coupling. The overall

length of the air tubing varies with

tractor wheelbase and the resulting

vehicle population numbers in the table

were derived on this basis. Without the

quick release valve, the air is released

through the treadle valve. As indicated

in Freightliner’s petition, the

installation of the quick release valve

releases the air at the tractor end of the

trailer service air line.

Freightliner Rationale for

Inconsequentiality to Safety

Freightliner does not believe that

tractor glad hand timing between 0.75

and 1.00 second poses any risk or

compromises highway safety. It states

that brake application pressures at a

highway speed of 55 mph rarely exceed

20 psi, and that when comparing the

release timing from 20 psi on vehicles

that would have 0.90 and 0.75 second

release timing when tested according to

FMVSS No. 121, the actual time

differential drops to less than 0.10

second. In the April 4, 2000, telephone

conversation, Freightliner clarified that

the 0.10 second timing is the time for

the pressure to be reduced at the glad

hand coupling from 20 psi to 5 psi on

trucks with no quick release valve

installed. Freightliner also indicated

that it did not do a comparable analysis

of release timing from 20 psi with the

quick release valve installed.

Freightliner believes that glad hand

timing requirements were established

primarily for the purpose of improving

the application timing balance of

combination vehicles, not the release

timing. Freightliner cites the summary

in Docket No. 85–07, Notice 3, as

follows:

The purpose of the glad hand timing

requirements is to ensure that the air delivery

from towing vehicles to towed vehicles is fast

enough to apply the brakes of all vehicles in

the combination at approximately the same

time, thereby avoiding a reduction in the

combination stability (e.g., trailer bumping)

caused by a slow glad hand.

Freightliner states that release timing

is not mentioned, and that some

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 105 / Wednesday, May 31, 2000 / Notices 34801

1On the FDIC’s web site, draft copies of the

proposed Call Report forms will be attachments to

the Financial Institution Letter that transmits this

proposal to all institutions that file Call Reports.

Continued

commenters in the same docket

questioned NHTSA’s research in

justifying the proposed release timing

requirement. Freightliner indicates that

one commenter stated that it is difficult

to determine the effect of trailer release

timing and tractor/trailer release

differentials on compatibility and

suggested testing indicated 0.90 second

is sufficient. Freightliner also indicates

that another commenter argued that a

1.00 second release timing would be

more practical and accomplish the

objective of the proposal, and that

NHTSA stated that:

A short glad hand release time is not as

important for safety and, in fact, it is not

desirable to have the glad hand release before

the tractor brakes.

Freightliner believes that requiring

the rearmost vehicle to release last tends

to ‘‘stretch’’ out the unit (vehicle

combination) and make it more stable,

and that slower than the required

release time may actually help overall

stability.

Freightliner summarizes its petition

by stating that an estimated 280 to 2170

tractors were manufactured without

quick release valves such that the glad

hand release timing may be slightly

higher than the 0.75 second specified in

FMVSS No. 121, and that nearly all

(99.6 percent) do not exceed 0.90

second. Freightliner believes that this

timing difference of 0.0 to 0.15 second

has no discernable or measurable effect

on braking performance and thus no

detrimental effect on highway safety.

Therefore, it requests that we grant its

petition to exempt it from the

notification and remedy requirements of

the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

Comments and Docket Submissions

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views, and

arguments on Freightliner’s petition for

inconsequential noncompliance

described above. Comments should refer

to the Docket Number and be submitted

to Docket Management at the address

given above under ADDRESSES.

All comments received before the

close of business on the closing date

indicated below will be considered. The

application, supporting materials, and

comments also will be filed in the

docket. Comments received after the

closing date will also be filed and

considered to the extent possible. When

the petition is granted or denied, the

notice will be published in the Federal

Register pursuant to the authority

indicated below.

Comment closing date: June 30, 2000.

(15 U.S.C. 1417; delegation of authority

at 49 CFR 1.50 and 49 CFR 501.8)

Issued on: May 23, 2000.

Stephen R. Kratzke,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 00–13536 Filed 5–30–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

Proposed Agency Information

Collection Activities; Comment

Request

AGENCIES: Office of the Comptroller of

the Currency (OCC), Treasury; Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System (Board); and Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

requirements of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.

chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, and the

FDIC (the ‘‘agencies’’) may not conduct

or sponsor, and the respondent is not

required to respond to, an information

collection unless it displays a currently

valid Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) control number. The Federal

Financial Institutions Examination

Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies

are members, has approved the

agencies’ publication for public

comment of proposed revisions to the

Consolidated Reports of Condition and

Income (Call Report), which are

currently approved collections of

information. At the end of the comment

period, the comments and

recommendations received will be

analyzed to determine the extent to

which the FFIEC should modify the

proposed revisions prior to giving its

final approval. The agencies will then

submit the revisions to OMB for review

and approval.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before July 31, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are

invited to submit written comments to

any or all of the agencies. All comments,

which should refer to the OMB control

number(s), will be shared among the

agencies.

OCC: Written comments should be

submitted to the Communications

Division, Office of the Comptroller of

the Currency, 250 E Street, SW, Third

Floor, Attention: 1557–0081,

Washington, DC 20219. In addition,

comments may be sent by facsimile

transmission to (202) 874–5274, or by

electronic mail to

regs.comments@occ.treas.gov.

Comments will be available for

inspection and photocopying at the

OCC’s Public Reference Room, 250 E

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20219

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on business

days. Appointments for inspection of

comments may be made by calling (202)

874–5043.

Board: Written comments should be

addressed to Jennifer J. Johnson,

Secretary, Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, 20th and C

Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20551,

submitted by electronic mail to

regs.comments@federalreserve.gov, or

delivered to the Board’s mail room

between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., and to

the security control room outside of

those hours. Both the mail room and the

security control room are accessible

from the courtyard entrance on 20th

Street between Constitution Avenue and

C Street, NW. Comments received may

be inspected in room M–P–500 between

9 a.m. and 5 p.m., except as provided

in section 261.12 of the Board’s Rules

Regarding Availability of Information,

12 CFR 261.12(a).

FDIC: Written comments should be

addressed to Robert E. Feldman,

Executive Secretary, Attention:

Comments/OES, Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street,

NW, Washington, DC 20429. Comments

may be hand-delivered to the guard

station at the rear of the 550 17th Street

Building (located on F Street), on

business days between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

[FAX number: (202) 898–3838; Internet

address: comments@fdic.gov].

Comments may be inspected and

photocopied in the FDIC Public

Information Center, Room 100, 801 17th

Street, NW, Washington, DC, between 9

a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on business days.

A copy of the comments may also be

submitted to the OMB desk officer for

the agencies: Alexander T. Hunt, Office

of Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget, New

Executive Office Building, Room 3208,

Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Draft copies of the two versions of the

Call Report forms that are proposed to

replace the current four versions of the

Call Report may be obtained at the

FFIEC’s web site (www.ffiec.gov) and at

the FDIC’s web site.1 Draft copies of