Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 207 / Friday, October 27, 2023 / Notices 73933 

investment programs, and projects to 

prevent unlawful discrimination, and 

empower communities, including 

limited English proficient communities, 

in transportation decision-making (49 

CFR 21.5, 21.7, 21.9 and 28 CFR part 

406). DOT is also emphasizing the 

requirements of Section 504 of the 

Rehabilitation Act (28 CFR 35.104) and 

of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

(42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) for ensuring 

that transportation plans and 

investment programs do not 

discriminate on the basis of disability 

and provide equal opportunity and 

access for persons with disabilities. 

In August of 2022, FHWA conducted 

a survey of all State departments of 

transportation (State DOTs) and 

metropolitan planning organizations 

(MPOs) to better understand how these 

agencies consider equity and comply 

with Title VI in transportation planning 

and programming activities (OMB 

Control Number 2125–0665). This 

survey included questions about how 

each State DOT or MPO uses 

quantitative data or tools to analyze 

equity factors for transportation plans 

and investment programs, as well as 

how each agency provides a meaningful 

and representative role to members of 

all communities, including underserved 

and limited English proficient 

communities, in shaping these plans 

and programs (28 CFR part 407). 

Information from the survey was used to 

help the Department form an 

understanding of the state of the 

practice related to equity and civil rights 

compliance and meaningful public 

involvement in transportation planning 

and programming, and to inform 

research products and capacity-building 

activities for State DOTs and MPOs, to 

help them improve practices. 

FHWA plans to conduct follow-up 

annual surveys, beginning in 2024, to 

monitor the progress of State DOTs and 

MPOs in advancing their transportation 

planning equity and meaningful public 

involvement practices, and to identify 

ongoing research, training, and 

technical assistance needs. These 

surveys will cover similar topics as the 

2022 survey, with reworded questions 

to reduce respondent burden and to 

align with updates to the Department’s 

Equity Action Plan and other policies or 

guidance. 

Survey responses may also inform 

future revisions to existing guidance, or 

the development of new guidance, to 

DOT funding recipients on meeting the 

requirements of title VI of the Civil 

Rights Act, the National Environmental 

Policy Act, section 504 of the 

Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with 

Disabilities Act, transportation planning 

and programming, or other legal or 

regulatory requirements that relate to 

transportation equity and public 

involvement. 

FHWA plans to conduct the survey on 

a voluntary-response basis, utilizing an 

electronic survey platform. This is 

planned as an annual information 

collection, and FHWA estimates that the 

survey will take approximately one hour 

to complete. The survey will consist of 

both multiple-choice and short-answer 

question formats. 

Respondents: 52 State DOTs and 

approximately 420 MPOs. 

Frequency: Annually, beginning in 

2024. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: Approximately 60 minutes 

per respondent. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: Approximately 472 hours. 

Public Comments Invited: You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including: (1) 

Whether the proposed collection is 

necessary for the FHWA’s performance; 

(2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to 

enhance the quality, usefulness, and 

clarity of the collected information; and 

(4) ways that the burden could be 

minimized, including the use of 

electronic technology, without reducing 

the quality of the collected information. 

The agency will summarize and/or 

include your comments in the request 

for OMB’s clearance of this information 

collection. 

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as 

amended; and 49 CFR 1.48. 

Issued On: October 23, 2023. 

Jazmyne Lewis, 

Information Collection Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23694 Filed 10–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0182] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Renewal of a Currently 

Approved Information Collection: 

Generic Clearance of Customer 

Satisfaction Surveys 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

FMCSA announces its plan to submit 

the Information Collection Request (ICR) 

described below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for its 

review and approval and invites public 

comment. In order to work continuously 

to ensure that our programs are effective 

and meet our customers’ needs, FMCSA 

requests approval to renew an ICR 

titled, ‘‘Generic Clearance of Customer 

Satisfaction Surveys.’’ This ICR allows 

FMCSA to continue collecting feedback 

on our service delivery. By feedback, we 

mean information that provides useful 

insights on perceptions and opinions 

but are not statistical surveys that yield 

quantitative results that can be 

generalized to the population of study. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received on or before December 26, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Docket Number FMCSA– 

2023–0182 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Dockets 

Operations, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, West Building, Ground 

Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

To be sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 366–9317 or (202) 366– 

9826 before visiting Dockets Operations. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

To avoid duplication, please use only 

one of these four methods. See the 

‘‘Public Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 

instructions on submitting comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Roxane Oliver, FMCSA, Office of 

Analysis, Department of Transportation, 

FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 385–2324, 

Roxane.Oliver@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Instructions 

All submissions must include the 

Agency name and docket number. For 

detailed instructions on submitting 

comments, see the Public Participation 

heading below. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to https://www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
73934 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 207 / Friday, October 27, 2023 / Notices 

provided. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

notice (FMCSA–2023–0182), indicate 

the specific section of this document to 

which your comment applies, and 

provide a reason for each suggestion or 

recommendation. You may submit your 

comments and material online or by fax, 

mail, or hand delivery, but please use 

only one of these means. FMCSA 

recommends that you include your 

name and a mailing address, an email 

address, or a phone number in the body 

of your document so FMCSA can 

contact you if there are questions 

regarding your submission. 

To submit your comment online, go to 

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ 

FMCSA-2023-0182/document, click on 

this notice, click ‘‘Comment,’’ and type 

your comment into the text box on the 

following screen. 

If you submit your comments by mail 

or hand delivery, submit them in an 

unbound format, no larger than 81⁄2 by 

11 inches, suitable for copying and 

electronic filing. 

Comments received after the comment 

closing date will be included in the 

docket and will be considered to the 

extent practicable. 

Privacy Act 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), 

DOT solicits comments from the public 

to better inform its rulemaking process. 

DOT posts these comments, without 

edit, including any personal information 

the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. 

Background 

Executive Order 12862, Setting 

Customer Service Standards, and most 

recently updated E.O. 13571, requires 

the Federal Government to provide the 

‘‘highest quality service possible to the 

American people.’’ Under the order, the 

‘‘standard of quality for services 

provided to the public shall be: 

Customer service equal to the best in 

business.’’ In order to work 

continuously to ensure that our 

programs are effective and meet our 

customers’ needs, FMCSA seeks to 

renew OMB’s approval of a generic 

clearance to collect qualitative feedback 

from our customers on our service 

delivery. The surveys covered in this 

generic clearance provide a means for 

FMCSA to collect this data directly from 

our customers. By qualitative feedback, 

we mean information that provides 

useful insights on perceptions and 

opinions but are not statistical surveys 

that yield quantitative results that can 

be generalized to the population of 

study. This feedback provides insights 

into customer or stakeholder 

perceptions, experiences and 

expectations, provides an early warning 

of issues with service, or focuses 

attention on areas of communication, 

training or changes in operations that 

might improve delivery of products or 

services. These collections allow for 

ongoing, collaborative and actionable 

communications between the Agency 

and its customers and stakeholders. 

They also allow feedback to contribute 

directly to the improvement of program 

management. 

The solicitation of feedback targets 

areas such as: timeliness, 

appropriateness, accuracy of 

information, courtesy, efficiency of 

service delivery, and resolution of 

issues with service delivery. Responses 

are assessed to plan and inform efforts 

to improve or maintain the quality of 

service offered to the public. If this 

information is not collected, vital 

feedback from customers and 

stakeholders on the Agency’s services 

will be unavailable. 

The Agency will submit a planned 

collection for approval under this 

generic clearance only if it meets the 

conditions that such collections are: 

• voluntary; 

• low-burden for respondents (based 

on considerations of total burden hours, 

total number of respondents, or burden 

hours per respondent) and are low-cost 

for both the respondents and the Federal 

Government; 

• noncontroversial and do not raise 

issues of concern to other Federal 

agencies; 

• targeted to the solicitation of 

opinions from respondents who have 

experience with the program or may 

have experience with the program in the 

near future; 

• only collecting personally 

identifiable information (PII) to the 

extent necessary and not retaining it; 

• only collecting information 

intended to be used only internally for 

general service improvement and 

program management, and any release 

outside the agency must indicate the 

qualitative nature of the information; 

• not to be used for the purpose of 

substantially informing influential 

policy decisions; and 

• intended to yield only qualitative 

information. 

This type of generic clearance for 

qualitative information will not be used 

for quantitative information collections 

that are designed to yield reliably 

actionable results, such as monitoring 

trends over time or documenting 

program performance. Such data uses 

require more rigorous designs that 

address: the target population to which 

generalizations will be made; the 

sampling frame, the sample design 

(including stratification and clustering), 

the precision requirements or power 

calculations that justify the proposed 

sample size; and the expected response 

rate, methods for assessing potential 

nonresponse bias, the protocols for data 

collection, and any testing procedures 

that were or will be undertaken prior to 

fielding the study. Depending on the 

degree of influence the results are likely 

to have, such collections may still be 

eligible for submission for other 

mechanisms that are designed to yield 

quantitative results. As a general matter, 

information collections will not result 

in any new system of records containing 

privacy information and will not ask 

questions of a sensitive nature, such as 

sexual behavior and attitudes, religious 

beliefs, and other matters that are 

commonly considered private. 

Title: Generic Clearance of Customer 

Satisfaction Surveys. 

OMB Control Number: 2126–0061. 

Type of Request: Renewal of currently 

approved collection. 

Respondents: State and local agencies, 

general public and stakeholders; 

original equipment manufacturers and 

suppliers to the commercial motor 

vehicle (CMV) industry; fleets, owneroperators, state CMV safety agencies, 

research organizations and contractors; 

news organizations and safety advocacy 

groups. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

5,900 (5,000 customer satisfaction 

survey respondents + 100 listening 

sessions/stakeholder feedback forums 

respondents + 300 focus group 

respondents + 500 strategic planning 

customer satisfaction survey 

respondents). 

Estimated Time per Response: Range 

from 10 to 120 minutes. 

Expiration Date: July 31, 2024. 

Frequency of Response: Generally, on 

an annual basis. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

1,758 hours (833 hours for customer 

satisfaction surveys + 200 hours for 

listening sessions/stakeholder feedback 

forums + 600 hours for focus groups + 

125 hours for strategic planning 

customer satisfaction surveys). 

Public Comments Invited: You are 

asked to comment on any aspect of this 

information collection, including: (1) 

whether the proposed collection is 

necessary for the performance of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 207 / Friday, October 27, 2023 / Notices 73935 

FMCSA’s functions; (2) the accuracy of 

the estimated burden; (3) ways for 

FMCSA to enhance the quality, 

usefulness, and clarity of the collected 

information; and (4) ways that the 

burden could be minimized without 

reducing the quality of the collected 

information. The Agency will 

summarize or include your comments in 

the request for OMB’s clearance of this 

ICR. 

Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 

1.87. 

Thomas P. Keane, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Research 

and Registration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23744 Filed 10–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2014–0107; FMCSA– 

2014–0385; FMCSA–2014–0386; FMCSA– 

2018–0135; FMCSA–2018–0138; FMCSA– 

2021–0014] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Hearing 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to renew exemptions for eight 

individuals from the hearing 

requirement in the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for 

interstate commercial motor vehicle 

(CMV) drivers. The exemptions enable 

these hard of hearing and deaf 

individuals to continue to operate CMVs 

in interstate commerce. 

DATES: The exemptions were applicable 

on September 12, 2023. The exemptions 

expire on September 12, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Christine A. Hydock, Chief, Medical 

Programs Division, FMCSA, DOT, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W64–224, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, (202) 366– 

4001, fmcsamedical@dot.gov. Office 

hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

If you have questions regarding viewing 

or submitting material to the docket, 

contact Dockets Operations, (202) 366– 

9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation 

A. Viewing Comments 

To view comments go to 

www.regulations.gov. Insert the docket 

number (FMCSA–2014–0107, FMCSA– 

2014–0385, FMCSA–2014–0386, 

FMCSA–2021–0014, FMCSA–2018– 

0135, or FMCSA–2018–0138) in the 

keyword box and click ‘‘Search.’’ Next, 

sort the results by ‘‘Posted (NewerOlder),’’ choose the first notice listed, 

and click ‘‘Browse Comments.’’ If you 

do not have access to the internet, you 

may view the docket online by visiting 

Dockets Operations on the ground floor 

of the DOT West Building, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 

20590–0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

ET Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. To be sure someone is 

there to help you, please call (202) 366– 

9317 or (202) 366–9826 before visiting 

Dockets Operations. 

B. Privacy Act 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

31315(b)(6), DOT solicits comments 

from the public on the exemption 

requests. DOT posts these comments, 

without edit, including any personal 

information the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov. As described in 

the system of records notice DOT/ALL 

14 (Federal Docket Management 

System), which can be reviewed at 

https://www.transportation.gov/ 

individuals/privacy/privacy-act-systemrecords-notices, the comments are 

searchable by the name of the submitter. 

II. Background 

On September 6, 2023, FMCSA 

published a notice announcing its 

decision to renew exemptions for eight 

individuals from the hearing standard in 

49 CFR 391.41(b)(11) to operate a CMV 

in interstate commerce and requested 

comments from the public (88 FR 

60732). The public comment period 

ended on October 5, 2023, and no 

comments were received. 

FMCSA has evaluated the eligibility 

of these applicants and determined that 

renewing these exemptions would likely 

achieve a level of safety that is 

equivalent to, or greater than, the level 

that would be achieved by complying 

with § 391.41(b)(11). 

The physical qualification standard 

for drivers regarding hearing found in 

§ 391.41(b)(11) states that a person is 

physically qualified to drive a CMV if 

that person first perceives a forced 

whispered voice in the better ear at not 

less than 5 feet with or without the use 

of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of 

an audiometric device, does not have an 

average hearing loss in the better ear 

greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 

Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a 

hearing aid when the audiometric 

device is calibrated to American 

National Standard (formerly ASA 

Standard) Z24.5—1951. 

This standard was adopted in 1970 

and was revised in 1971 to allow drivers 

to be qualified under this standard 

while wearing a hearing aid (35 FR 

6458, 6463 (Apr. 22, 1970) and 36 FR 

12857 (July 8, 1971), respectively). 

III. Discussion of Comments 

FMCSA received no comments in this 

proceeding. 

IV. Conclusion 

Based upon its evaluation of the eight 

renewal exemption applications, 

FMCSA announces its decision to 

exempt the following drivers from the 

hearing requirement in § 391.41(b)(11). 

As of September 12, 2023, and in 

accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 

31315(b), the following eight 

individuals have satisfied the renewal 

conditions for obtaining an exemption 

from the hearing requirement in the 

FMCSRs for interstate CMV drivers (88 

FR 60734): 

Daniel Alcozer (IL) 

Alex Courtney Bertling (OR) 

Mark Howard (NY) 

David Jakubowski (CA) 

Jay Larson (TX) 

Tia Matthews (TX) 

Eduwin Pineiro (TX) 

Jason Swearington (TX) 

The drivers were included in docket 

numbers FMCSA–2014–0107, FMCSA– 

2014–0385, FMCSA–2014–0386, 

FMCSA–2021–0014, FMCSA–2018– 

0135, or FMCSA–2018–0138. Their 

exemptions were applicable as of 

September 12, 2023 and will expire on 

September 12, 2025. 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

31315(b), each exemption will be valid 

for 2 years from the effective date unless 

revoked earlier by FMCSA. The 

exemption will be revoked if the 

following occurs: (1) the person fails to 

comply with the terms and conditions 

of the exemption; (2) the exemption has 

resulted in a lower level of safety than 

was maintained prior to being granted; 

or (3) continuation of the exemption 

would not be consistent with the goals 

and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136, 49 

U.S.C. chapter 313, or the FMCSRs. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23742 Filed 10–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 


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