36098 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 126 / Monday, July 2, 2007 / Notices 

officials, an environmental study area 

for the U.S. 64 and U.S. 601 corridor 

improvements was developed. This 

study area was presented to the public 

at a July 2001 Citizens Informational 

Workshop, at which time public input 

on this study area was received. In 

September 2001, NCDOT assembled an 

interagency project team to obtain input 

on the purpose and need and 

preliminary study alternatives. In July 

2003, another Citizens Informational 

Workshop was held by NCDOT, 

showing the preliminary study 

alternatives to the public and seeking 

public input. In January 2004, the 

interagency project team considered the 

public input in selecting the detailed 

study alternatives for the project. A 

newsletter was mailed to the area 

residents and project stake holders in 

March 2004, showing the location of the 

U.S. 64 and U.S. 601 detailed study 

alternatives being considered. Due to 

extensive coordination with the 

resource agencies, local officials, and 

the public during the EIS process, no 

additional scoping meetings will be 

conducted for the DEIS. 

To ensure that the full range of issues 

related to the proposed action is 

addressed and all significant issues are 

identified, comments and suggestions 

are invited from all interested parties. 

Comments and questions concerning the 

proposed action should be directed to 

the FHWA at the address provided 

above. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway Research 

Planning and Construction. The regulations 

implementing Executive Order 12372 

regarding intergovernmental consultation on 

Federal programs and activities apply to this 

program.) 

Issued on: June 26, 2007. 

Clarence W. Coleman, 

Operations Engineer Raleigh, North Carolina. 

[FR Doc. E7–12724 Filed 6–29–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Supplemental Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (SDEIS): Arkansas 

River Valley Intermodal FAcilities, 

Russellville, Arkansas (Pope County) 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration, DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a 

SDEIs. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) in a joint 

venture with the Arkansas State 

Highway and Transportation 

Department (AHTD) and the River 

Valley Regional Intermodal Facilities 

Authority (RVRIFA), is issuing this 

notice to advise the public of its intent 

to prepare a SDEIS for developing a 

regional intermodal facility in the 

Arkansas River Valley. The U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers (USACE) is 

functioning as a Cooperating Agency for 

this project and plans to adopt the River 

Valley Regional Intermodal Facilities 

Environmental Impact Statement upon 

completion. This project is intended to 

improve regional and national 

transportation, to serve existing 

industry, and to provide 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Randal Looney, Environmental 

Specialist, Federal Highway 

Administration —Arkansas Division 

Office 700 West Capitol Avenue, Room 

3130, Little Rock, AR 72201–3298. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. 

Department of Transportation Federal 

HIghway Administration (FHWA), in 

cooperation with the Arkansas State 

Highway and Transportation 

Department (AHTD) and the River 

Valley Regional Intermodal Facilities 

Authority (RVRIFA), intends to prepare 

a Supplemental Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the 

Arkansas River Valley Intermodal 

Facilities projects. The U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers (USACE) will serve as a 

Cooperating Agency for this project. An 

SDEIS will be prepared to further refine 

the Purpose and Need and Alternatives 

Analysis sections that were presented in 

the original Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) approved and released 

for public review in March 2006. This 

additional information will be used to 

ensure that the Purpose and Need for 

the project is described completely and 

that the methods and screening criteria 

used during the alternatives 

development process to identify all 

reasonable alternatives for the project 

are fully explained and disclosed. 

The Arkansas River Valley Intermodal 

Facilities (ARVIF) project is proposed to 

include access to the national railway 

grid through the Class I Union Pacific 

Railroad 9UPRR), possibly through the 

Class III short line Dardanelle 

Russellville Railroad (DRRR), and local 

roadway access to Interstate 40 (I–40) 

using existing highway connections via 

State Highway 7 and/or the proposed 

improved State Highway 247. A 

slackwater harbor would be constructed 

along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas 

River Navigation System (MKARNS) to 

connect the intermodal facilities to the 

U.S. Inland Waterway System. 

Additional services at the intermodal 

facility would include on-site rail/truck 

transfers, truck/water transfers, rail/ 

water transfers, fright tracking, a foreign 

trade sub-zone, warehousing, 

distribution, consolidation, just-in-time 

inventory services, and material storage 

capabilities. 

There are currently three public ports/ 

terminals along the Arkansas segment of 

the MKARNS located in Pine bluff, 

Little Rock, and Fort Smith. There are 

no public use facilities within 30 miles 

of the study area, however there are 

three private docks within 30 miles of 

the study area including the following: 

Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel, the Port of 

Dardanelle; and Oakley Port. 

The NEPA process to support this 

intermodal facility was initiated by the 

development of an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) with a defined purpose 

and need and supporting alternatives. 

The EA was approved for public 

dissemination by FHWA in November 

2002, however it was determined that 

further study would be required and a 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) would not be issued by FHWA 

for the project. Further study in the 

subsequent DEIS released for review in 

March 2006 included a revised purpose 

and need for the project and a 

description of proposed reasonable 

alternatives identified using screening 

criteria based on social, environmental, 

and economic impacts of the proposed 

project. The reasonable alternatives 

were developed, screened, and carried 

forward for detailed analysis in the DEIS 

based on their ability to address the 

project purpose and need while 

avoiding adverse impacts to known and 

sensitive resources. The USACE-Little 

Rock District plans to adopt the FHWA 

ARVIF EIS for their portion of the 

project involving slackwater harbor 

previously studied under a separate EA/ 

FONSI issued by the USACE-Little Rock 

District in January 2000. FHWA is 

considered the Lead Agency for the 

ARVIF EIS. 

Local, State, and Federal Agencies, 

Native American Tribes, private 

organizations, citizens, and interest 

groups will have an opportunity to 

provide input into the development of 

the SDEIS and identify any issues that 

should be addressed. Notices of public 

meetings or public hearings relating to 

the SDEIS will be given through various 

forums providing the time and place of 

the meeting along with other relevant 

information. The SDEIS will be 

available for public and agency review 

and comment prior to the public 

hearings. 

To ensure that the full range of issues 

related to this proposed action are 

identified and taken into account, 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 126 / Monday, July 2, 2007 / Notices 36099 

comments and suggestions are invited 

from all interested parties. Comments 

and questions concerning the proposed 

action and SDEIS should be directed to 

FHWA at the address provided above. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway 

Planning and Construction. The 

regulations implementing Executive 

Order 12372 regarding 

intergovernmental consultation on 

Federal programs and activities apply to 

this proposed action.). 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48. 

Issued on: June 20th, 2007. 

Sandra L. Otto, 

Division Administrator, FHWA, Little Rock, 

Arkansas. 

[FR Doc. 07–3198 Filed 6–29–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–M 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2007–26653] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Vision 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to exempt 27 individuals from 

the vision requirement in the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 

(FMCSRs). The exemptions will enable 

these individuals to operate commercial 

motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate 

commerce without meeting the 

prescribed vision standard. The Agency 

has concluded that granting these 

exemptions will provide a level of safety 

that is equivalent to, or greater than, the 

level of safety maintained without the 

exemptions for these CMV drivers. 

DATES: The exemptions are effective July 

2, 2007. The exemptions expire on July 

2, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Mary D. Gunnels, Chief, Physical 

Qualifications Division, 202–366–4001, 

FMCSA, Room W64–224, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 

DC 20590–0001. Office hours are from 

8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

You may see all the comments online 

through the Document Management 

System (DMS) at http://dmses.dot.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

dms.dot.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 DMS is available 

24 hours each day, 365 days each year. 

If you want acknowledgment that we 

received your comments, please include 

a self-addressed, 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 DOT’s 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, or 

other entity). You may review DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement in the 

Federal Register (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 

2000). This statement is also available at 

http://dms.dot.gov. 

Background 

On February 26, 2007, FMCSA 

published a notice of receipt of 

exemption applications from certain 

individuals, and requested comments 

from the public (72 FR 8417). That 

notice listed 28 applicants’ case 

histories. The 28 individuals applied for 

exemptions from the vision requirement 

in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10), for drivers who 

operate CMVs in interstate commerce. 

FMCSA was provided additional 

medical information by Mr. Donald V. 

Ports’ ophthalmologist indicating that 

an error was made in the documentation 

previously provided as part of his 

application. Based on this information, 

FMCSA determined that Mr. Ports meets 

the current guidelines for visual acuity 

of at least 20/40 in each eye, therefore, 

he does not require a vision exemption. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, 

FMCSA may grant an exemption for a 2- 

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 statute also 

allows the Agency to renew exemptions 

at the end of the 2-year period. 

Accordingly, FMCSA has evaluated the 

28 applications on their merits and 

made a determination to grant 

exemptions to 27 of them. The comment 

period closed on March 28, 2007. 

Vision and Driving Experience of the 

Applicants 

The vision requirement in the 

FMCSRs provides: 

A person is physically qualified to 

drive a commercial motor vehicle if that 

person has distant visual acuity of at 

least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye 

without corrective lenses or visual 

acuity separately corrected to 20/40 

(Snellen) or better with corrective 

lenses, distant binocular acuity of a least 

20/40 (Snellen) in both eyes with or 

without corrective lenses, field of vision 

of at least 70° in the horizontal meridian 

in each eye, and the ability to recognize 

the colors of traffic signals and devices 

showing standard red, green, and amber 

(49 CFR 391.41(b)(10)). 

FMCSA recognizes that some drivers 

do not meet the vision standard, but 

have adapted their driving to 

accommodate their vision limitation 

and demonstrated their ability to drive 

safely. The 27 exemption applicants 

listed in this notice are in this category. 

They are unable to meet the vision 

standard in one eye for various reasons, 

including amblyopia, macular scar, 

retinal detachment, corneal scarring, 

prosthesis, corneal opacity, optic nerve 

injury, persistent hyperplastic primary 

vitreous, aphakia, cataract, exotropia, 

maculopathy and loss of vision due to 

trauma. In most cases, their eye 

conditions were not recently developed. 

All but seven of the applicants were 

either born with their vision 

impairments or have had them since 

childhood. The seven individuals who 

sustained their vision conditions as 

adults have had them for periods 

ranging from 4 to 28 years. 

Although each applicant has one eye 

which does not meet the vision standard 

in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10), each has at 

least 20/40 corrected vision in the other 

eye, and in a doctor’s opinion, has 

sufficient vision to perform all the tasks 

necessary to operate a CMV. Doctors’

opinions are supported by the 

applicants’ possession of valid 

commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) or 

non-CDLs to operate CMVs. Before 

issuing CDLs, States subject drivers to 

knowledge and skills tests designed to 

evaluate their qualifications to operate a 

CMV. All these applicants satisfied the 

testing standards for their State of 

residence. By meeting State licensing 

requirements, the applicants 

demonstrated their ability to operate a 

commercial vehicle, with their limited 

vision, to the satisfaction of the State. 

While possessing a valid CDL or nonCDL, these 27 drivers have been 

authorized to drive a CMV in intrastate 

commerce, even though their vision 

disqualified them from driving in 

interstate commerce. They have driven 

CMVs with their limited vision for 

careers ranging from 4 to 28 years. In the 

past 3 years, two of the drivers have had 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES