Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 71 / Friday, April 13, 2007 / Proposed Rules 18615 

Issued this 4th day of April, 2007, at 

Washington, DC. 

Rosalind A. Knapp, 

Acting General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E7–6941 Filed 4–12–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Parts 385, 386, 390, 392, 393, 

396, and Appendix G to Subchapter B 

of Chapter III 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2005–23315] 

RIN 2126–AA86 

Requirements for Intermodal 

Equipment Providers and Motor 

Carriers and Drivers Operating 

Intermodal Equipment; Reopening of 

Comment Period 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of public listening 

sessions; reopening of comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration (FMCSA) is 

reopening until May 21, 2007, the 

comment period on its December 21, 

2006 notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) concerning inspection, repair 

and maintenance responsibilities for 

intermodal equipment providers and 

motor carriers operating container 

chassis. The FMCSA is also announcing 

a series of public listening sessions to 

obtain additional feedback on the 

Agency’s NPRM from motor carriers, 

representatives of the intermodal 

transportation industry, and interested 

parties. The listening sessions are 

intended to provide all interested 

parties an opportunity to respond to the 

issues associated with this rulemaking. 

All oral comments will be transcribed 

and placed in the public docket 

identified at the beginning of this 

notice. 

DATES: Your comments must be 

submitted to the docket on or before 

May 21, 2007. 

Dates for the public listening sessions: 

April 27, 2007, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., in Norfolk, VA; May 3, 2007, from 

9:30 a,m. to 4:30 p.m., in Port Newark, 

NJ; and May 18, 2007, from 9:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., in Long Beach, CA. 

ADDRESSES: The April 27, 2007 meeting 

will be held at the Kirn Memorial 

Library, 301 East City Hall Avenue, 

Norfolk, Virginia. The May 3, 2007 

meeting will be held at The Seamen’s 

Church Institute, SCI’s Seafarers’ 

Center, 118 Export Street, Port Newark, 

New Jersey. The May 18, 2007 meeting 

will be held at the Holiday Inn Long 

Beach Airport, 2640 Lakewood 

Boulevard, Long Beach, California. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms 

Deborah M. Freund, Senior 

Transportation Specialist, Vehicle and 

Roadside Operations Division, FMCSA, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC 20590. Telephone (202) 366–4009 or 

e-mail deborah.freund@dot.gov. Office 

hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., e.t., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

If you wish to make a formal 

presentation, please contact Ms. 

Deborah Freund no later than 5 p.m., 

e.t., 2 business days before the date of 

the session you will attend. Information 

on Services for Individuals with 

Disabilities: For information on facilities 

or services for individuals with 

disabilities or to request special 

assistance at the meeting, please e-mail 

or telephone Deborah Freund. To 

request special assistance for one or 

more of the Listening Sessions, contact 

Ms. Freund no later than 5 business 

days before the date of the session. 

You may also submit comments to the 

DOT Docket Management System 

(DMS), referencing Docket Number 

FMCSA–2005–23315, using any of the 

following methods: 

• Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. 

Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments on the DOT electronic docket 

site. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. Mail: Docket 

Management Facility; U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, 

SW., Nassif Building, Room PL–401, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Room PL–401 on 

the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the Agency name and docket 

number or Regulatory Identification 

Number (RIN 2126–AA86) for this 

rulemaking. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://dms.dot.gov including any 

personal information provided. For 

additional information on submitting 

comments, see the Supplemental 

Information section of this document. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL–

401 on the plaza level of the Nassif 

Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78) or you 

may visit http://dms.dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On December 21, 2006 (71 FR 76796), 

FMCSA published an NPRM to amend 

the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations (FMCSRs) to address the 

safety of intermodal equipment (IME) 

used by motor carriers for transportation 

of intermodal containers in interstate 

commerce. As mandated by section 

4118 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU), this 

rulemaking would require intermodal 

equipment providers (IEPs) to register 

and file with FMCSA an Intermodal 

Equipment Provider Identification 

Report (Form MCS 150C); display the 

USDOT Number, or other unique 

identifier, on each intermodal container 

chassis offered for transportation in 

interstate commerce; establish a 

systematic inspection, repair, and 

maintenance program to ensure the safe 

operating condition of each intermodal 

container chassis; maintain 

documentation of the program; and 

provide a means to effectively respond 

to driver and motor carrier reports about 

intermodal container chassis 

mechanical defects and deficiencies. 

The proposed regulations would for 

the first time make IEPs subject to the 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations (FMCSRs). The agency is 

also proposing additional inspection 

requirements for motor carriers and 

drivers operating intermodal equipment. 

The intent of this rulemaking is to 

ensure that intermodal equipment used 

to transport intermodal containers is 

safe and systematically maintained. 

Improved maintenance is expected to 

result in fewer out-of-service orders and 

highway breakdowns involving 

intermodal chassis and improved 

efficiency of the Nation’s intermodal 

transportation system. To whatever 

extent inadequately maintained 

intermodal chassis are responsible for, 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with PROPOSALS
18616 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 71 / Friday, April 13, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

or contribute to, crashes, this proposal 

would also help to ensure that 

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 

operations are safer. 

Purpose of the Listening Session 

The FMCSA is committed to 

providing all interested parties an 

opportunity to discuss their 

perspectives on the pertinent issues that 

could affect any potential rulemaking 

changes. The Agency has received 

numerous comments in response to its 

NPRM but believes additional 

information could be obtained through 

these listening sessions. 

Participants at the listening sessions 

will be given the opportunity to submit 

questions that they would like to hear 

discussed by others in attendance. 

FMCSA encourages persons who have 

prepared statements to submit them to 

the public docket rather than use time 

at a listening session to read them 

aloud. Persons who wish to submit 

written comments or statements should 

submit the information to the public 

docket identified in this notice. Those 

who desire notification of receipt of 

their comments must include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard. Comments made during the 

meeting will be transcribed to preserve 

an accurate record of the discussion. 

Issued on: April 10, 2007. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Acting Associate Administrator, Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. 07–1865 Filed 4–11–07; 12:48 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 223 and 224 

[Docket No. 070402074–7074–01; I.D. No. 

032207B] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants: 90–Day Finding for a 

Petition to List Black Abalone as 

Threatened or Endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; petition finding; 

request for information. 

SUMMARY: We, the NMFS, have received 

a petition to list the black abalone 

(Haliotis cracherodii) as a threatened or 

endangered species and to designate 

critical habitat under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA). We find that the 

petition presents substantial scientific 

information indicating that the 

petitioned action may be warranted. 

This finding normally initiates a formal 

status review, but as described below in 

the Background section (see 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION), in this 

case, we had already initiated a formal 

status review on October 17, 2006. To 

ensure that the review is 

comprehensive, we are soliciting 

information pertaining to this species, 

any potential critical habitat, and 

recommendations of qualified 

individuals to peer review the agency’s 

black abalone status review report. 

DATES: Information and comments on 

this action must be received by June 12, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit 

information and/or comments by any of 

the following methods: 

• E-Mail: 

BlackAbalone.Comments@noaa.gov 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Chief, Protected Resources Division, 

Southwest Region, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, 501 West Ocean 

Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA, 

90802–4213. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

An electronic version of the petition 

can be obtained via the Internet at: 

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov or by 

submitting a request to the Assistant 

Regional Administrator, Protected 

Resources Division, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 

4200, Long Beach, CA 90802–4213. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melissa Neuman, NMFS, Southwest 

Region (562) 980–4115 or Lisa Manning, 

NMFS, Office of Protected Resources 

(301) 713–1401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Black abalone was added to NMFS’

Candidate Species list on June 23, 1999 

(64 FR 33466), transferred to NMFS’

Species of Concern list on April 15, 

2004 (69 FR 19975), and has since been 

considered for listing on the List of 

Endangered and Threatened Species 

under the ESA. The species is currently 

listed on the International Union for the 

Conservation of Nature and Natural 

Resources (IUCN) Red List of 

Threatened Species (Smith et al. 2003). 

We initiated an informal ESA status 

review of black abalone on July 15, 

2003, and conducted biological scoping 

workshops on January 29–30, 2004 and 

July 31–August 1, 2006. We formally 

announced initiation of a black abalone 

status review on October 17, 2006 (71 

FR 61021), and at that time solicited 

information from the public on the 

following topics: (1) long-term trends in 

abundance throughout the species’

range; (2) potential factors for the 

species’ decline throughout its range 

(e.g., overharvesting, natural predation, 

disease, habitat loss etc.); (3) status of 

the black abalone fishery in Mexico; (4) 

implication of low population size for 

black abalone conservation; (5) factors 

important for black abalone 

management; (6) current estimate of 

population size and available habitat; 

(7) knowledge of various life history 

parameters (size/age at maturity, 

fecundity, length of larval stage, larval 

dispersal dynamics, etc.); and (8) 

projections on population growth or 

decline and risk of extinction. On 

December 27, 2006, we received a 

petition from the Center for Biological 

Diversity (CBD) requesting that we list 

black abalone as either an endangered or 

threatened species under the ESA and 

designate critical habitat for the species 

concurrently with any listing 

determination. 

Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA (16 

U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that we 

make a finding as to whether a petition 

to list, delist, or reclassify a species 

presents substantial scientific or 

commercial information to indicate that 

the petitioned action may be warranted. 

Our joint NMFS/U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service ESA implementing regulations 

(50 CFR 424.14) define ‘‘substantial 

information’’ as the amount of 

information that would lead a 

reasonable person to believe that the 

measure proposed in the petition may 

be warranted. In determining whether 

substantial information exists for a 

petition to list a species, we consider 

several factors, including information 

submitted with and referenced in the 

petition and all other information 

readily available in our files. To the 

maximum extent practicable, this 

finding is to be made within 90 days of 

the receipt of the petition, and the 

finding is to be published promptly in 

the Federal Register. If we find that a 

petition presents substantial 

information indicating that the 

requested action may be warranted, 

section 4(b)(3)(B) of the ESA requires 

the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) 

to conduct a status review of the species 

and make a finding as to whether the 

petitioned action is warranted within 1 

year of the receipt of the petition. 


cprice-sewell on PRODPC61 with PROPOSALS