47108 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 1997 / Notices

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:

The IPPS records are retained and

disposed in compliance with the

General Records Schedules, National

Archives and Records Administration,

Washington, DC 20408. The following

schedules apply: General Records

Schedule 1, Civilian Personnel Records,

Pages 1 thru 22, Items 1 through 39; and

General Records Schedule 2, Payrolling

and Pay Administration Records, Pages

1 thru 6, Items 1 thru 28.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:

For personnel-related issues, contact

Chief, Strategic Planning/Systems

Division (M–10) and, for payroll-related

issues, contact Chief, Financial

Management Staff (B–35) at the

following address: U.S. Department of

Transportation, Office of the Secretary,

400 Seventh Street SW., Washington,

DC 20590.

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:

Individuals wishing to know if their

records appear in this system of records

may inquire in person or in writing to

the system manager.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES:

Same as ‘‘System Manager.’’

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:

Same as ‘‘System Manager.’’

Correspondence contesting records must

include the full name and social

security number of the individual

concerned and documentation justifying

the claims.

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:

Data are collected from the individual

employees, time and attendance clerks,

supervisors, official personnel records,

personal financial statements,

correspondence with the debtor, records

relating to hearings on the debt, and

from the Departmental Accounting and

Financial Information system of records.

EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED FOR THIS SYSTEM:

None.

Dated: August 29, 1997.

Crystal M. Bush,

Acting Manager, Information Resource

Management Division, Office of the Chief

Information Officer, Department of

Transportation.

[FR Doc. 97–23651 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–62–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Executive Committee of the Aviation

Rulemaking Advisory Committee;

Meeting

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice

to advise the public of a meeting of the

Executive Committee of the Federal

Aviation Administration Aviation

Rulemaking Advisory Committee.

DATES: The meeting will be held on

September 22, 1997, at 10:30 a.m.

Arrange for oral presentations by

September 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Federal Aviation Administration,

800 Independence Avenue, SW., MOC

Room, Room 1014, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Miss

Jean Casciano, Federal Aviation

Administration, 800 Independence

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20591,

telephone (202) 267–9683; fax (202)

267–5075; e-mail

Jean.Cascianofaa.@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–

463; 5 U.S.C. App. II), notice is hereby

given of a meeting of the Executive

Committee to be held on September 22,

1997, at the Federal Aviation

Administration, 800 Independence

Avenue, SW., MOC Room, Room 1014,

Washington, DC. The agenda will

include:

• The final report of the National

Parks Overflights Working Group

• A possible vote on the Digital

Information Working Group’s use of

electronic signatures notice of proposed

rulemaking and advisory circular

Attendance is open to the interested

public but will be limited to the space

available. The public must make

arrangements by September 8, 1997, to

present oral statements at the meeting.

The public may present written

statements to the executive committee at

any time by providing 25 copies to the

Executive Director, or by bringing the

copies to him at the meeting.

Sign and oral interpretation can be

made available at the meeting, as well

as an assistive listening device, if

requested 10 calendar days before the

meeting. Arrangements may be made by

contacting the person listed under the

heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 29,

1997.

Joseph A. Hawkins,

Executive Director, Aviation Rulemaking

Advisory Committee.

[FR Doc. 97–23636 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. 97–028; Notice 2]

Hella K.G., Hueck & Co.; Grant of

Application for Decision of

Inconsequential Noncompliance

This notice grants the application by

Hella K.G., Hueck & Company (Hella) to

be exempt from the notification and

remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C.

30118(d) and 30120(h) for

noncompliance with 49 CFR 571.108,

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard

(FMVSS) No. 108, ‘‘Lamps, Reflective

Devices and Associated equipment.’’

The basis of the application is that the

noncompliance is inconsequential to

motor vehicle safety.

Notice of receipt of the application

was published in the Federal Register

on April 18, 1997, requesting comments

on Hella’s application, with a 30-day

comment period (62 FR 19168). No

comments were received on the Notice.

Paragraph S.7.5(g) of FMVSS No. 108

requires that the lens of each

replaceable bulb headlamp shall bear

permanent marking in front of each

replaceable light source with which it is

equipped that states the HB Type, if the

light source is designed to conform to

specified subparagraphs.

Hella’s description of the

inconsequential noncompliance follows:

VAN HOOL buses of Belgium designed a

new bus (T9) which is intended to be

exported to the U.S.A. HELLA K.G. in

Germany designed and manufactured the UStype headlamps but inadvertently exchanged

the required bulb designation on the

headlamp’s lens so that an ‘‘HB 3’’ marking

appears in front of the HB 4 reflector area—

and vice versa. The total manufacturing of

these headlamps has been done in 1996 in

advance of a two years need for the intended

export of the buses. Today, only a few buses

for expositions for vehicle shows has been

exported to the U.S.A. About [a] hundred

headlamps are still on stock at HELLA, VAN

HOOL or HELLA’s representative in Belgium.

Hella supports its application for

inconsequential noncompliance with

the following:

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.

108 (FMVSS 108) requires in Section S.7.5(g)

that the relevant light source designation has

to be marked on the lens in front of the
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 172 / Friday, September 5, 1997 / Notices 47109

1City is a political subdivision of the State of

Washington.

1WSOR and WICT are commonly-controlled by

William E. Gardner. WSOR operates in the State of

Wisconsin, and WICT operates in the States of

Wisconsin and Illinois.

headlamps reflector area. This is the case but

the marking does not appear at the correct

location. We [Hella] do not see any violation

of highway safety because the bulb and

socket system have indexing features that

prevent a misuse or wrong insertion into a

headlamp where the bulb is not designed to

be used for. So, only some kind of irritation

may occur whenever a bulb has to [be]

replaced. Another important aspect will be

that the relevant vehicles are not sold to a

random experienced motorist but only to

professionals and the service of the bus will

also be done by an experienced staff.

VAN HOOL’s representative in the U.S.A.:

Distributor, ABC Coach Inc.,7469 West

Highway, Winter Garden, FL 32787 USA,

will be informed about this case. The total

number of buses involved will be 300 within

the next two years.

In November 1996 and December 1996

each two vehicles are already delivered. The

next scheduled delivery will be in April 1997

(13 buses).

Remedy action: A warning label on the

back of the headlamp housing near the bulbs

indicates the correct bulb type designation to

be used. (A retooling or labeling of the lens

with the proper markings will cause the

headlamp photometry to fail in terms of

photometric performance.)

Discussion and Decision

The National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) concurs with

the Hella statements that the HB3 and

HB4 bulb socket systems have indexing

features (a key system) that prevent a

misuse or wrong bulb insertion into a

headlamp where the bulb is not

designed to be used in that specific

headlamp, i.e., a HB3 bulb can not be

inserted into a headlamp designed to

accept a HB4 bulb and vice versa. Hella

stated that it would implement a

remedy action of a warning label on the

back of the headlamp housing near the

bulb indicating the correct bulb type

designation to be used as a replacement.

NHTSA believes that this labeling will

be useful in ameliorating the lack of

proper marking on the face of the

headlamp lens, so that information

regarding the correct replacement bulb

is clearly available to an individual

wishing to replace the bulb.

Additionally, Hella has stated in its

letter of application that the vehicles

that are equipped with the mislabeled

bulbs will not be sold to the general

public, but to a professional service

with an experienced staff. The

implication of this statement is that the

experienced staff would better

understand that the bulbs were

mislabeled.

As a result of the action being taken

by Hella, and because of the bulb and

socket key design, NHTSA has

concluded that Hella has met its burden

of persuasion that the noncompliance

herein described is inconsequential to

motor vehicle safety. Consequently,

NHTSA is granting the application for

exemption from notification of the

noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C.

30118 and from remedy as required by

49 U.S.C. 30120.

It should be noted that the agency’s

authority under the inconsequentiality

provisions is limited to providing relief

from the obligation to notify and remedy

noncompliance for items already sold to

customers. Accordingly, further sale or

distribution of such headlamps as Hella

has determined do not conform to

FMVSS No. 108, whether by Hella or its

distributors, would be a violation of 49

U.S.C. 30112(a), and render the violators

liable for civil penalties. In its letter of

application for an inconsequential

noncompliance to the agency Hella

stated that in November 1996 and

December 1996 two vehicles each, with

the mislabeled headlamps were

delivered to their customer. Hella

further stated that the next delivery was

scheduled for April 1997 (13 buses).

The total number of buses equipped

with the subject bulbs will be 300

within the next two years. NHTSA, in

an April 1997 letter to VAN HOOL

buses, Hella, and other appropriate

parties, advised that the Hella

application for inconsequential

noncompliance is applicable only to the

four buses mentioned in its letter of

application, delivered before the filing

of Hella’s application.

(49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120; delegations of

authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

Issued on: August 29, 1997.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 97–23509 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33446]

City of Anacortes—Acquisition and

Operation Exemption—The Burlington

Northern and Santa Fe Railway

Company

The City of Anacortes (City),1 a

noncarrier, has filed a verified notice of

exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to

acquire from The Burlington Northern

and Santa Fe Railway Company and to

operate approximately 3.98 miles of rail

line known as the Anacortes Branch

from its endpoint at milepost 0.0, in

Anacortes, to milepost 3.98, near

Fidalgo, in Skagit County, WA.

The transaction was scheduled to be

consummated on or after the August 20,

1997 effective date of the exemption.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to reopen the

proceeding to revoke the exemption

under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed

at any time. The filing of a petition to

revoke will not automatically stay the

transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33446, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, a copy of each

pleading must be served on Charles H.

Montange, 426 NW 162d Street, Seattle,

WA 98177.

Decided: August 28, 1997.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director,

Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–23461 Filed 9–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33450]

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.—

Corporate Family Transaction

Exemption—Wisconsin and Calumet

Railroad Company

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.

(WSOR) and Wisconsin and Calumet

Railroad Company (WICT),1 Class III

railroads, have jointly filed a verified

notice of exemption. The exempt

transaction is a merger of WICT into

WSOR.

The transaction is expected to be

consummated on or about September 1,

1997.

The proposed merger is intended to

enhance operating economies, improve

service, foster greater operating

efficiency, simplify the corporate

structure, unify accounting and billing,

and improve the financial viability of

the surviving corporation.

This is a transaction within a

corporate family of the type specifically

exempted from prior review and

approval under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3).

The parties state that the transaction