Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 232 / Wednesday, December 3, 1997 / Notices 64041

Research Program. The agenda will

include status reports on both the

agency’s research activities and on the

activities of the Advanced Air Bag

Technology Working Group. The

Advanced Air Bag Technology Working

Group was established by the MVSRAC

Crashworthiness Subcommittee with the

goal of presenting technical information

and data to the Crashworthiness

Subcommittee.

The meeting is open to the public,

and participation by the public will be

moderated by the Subcommittee

Chairperson.

A public reference file (Number 88–

01—Crashworthiness Subcommittee)

has been established to contain the

products of the Subcommittee and will

be open to the public during the hours

of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s

Technical Information Services in Room

5108 at 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590, telephone: (202)

366–2768.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita

Gibbons, Office of Research and

Development, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Room 6206, Washington, DC 20590,

telephone: (202) 366–4862, telefax: (202)

366–5930.

Issued: November 28, 1997.

Joseph N. Kanianthra,

Acting Chairperson, Crashworthiness

Subcommittee, Motor Vehicle Safety Research

Advisory Committee.

[FR Doc. 97–31743 Filed 12–2–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

Research and Development Programs

Meeting

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a

public meeting at which NHTSA will

describe and discuss specific research

and development projects. Further, the

notice requests suggestions for topics to

be presented by the agency.

DATES AND TIMES: The National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration will hold

a public meeting devoted primarily to

presentations of specific research and

development projects on December 17,

1997, beginning at 1:30 p.m. and ending

at approximately 5:00 p.m. The deadline

for interested parties to suggest agenda

topics is 4:15 p.m. on December 8, 1997.

Questions may be submitted in advance

regarding the agency’s research and

development projects. They must be

submitted in writing by December 10,

1997, to the address given below. If

sufficient time is available, questions

received after the December 10 date will

be answered at the meeting in the

discussion period. The individual,

group, or company asking a question

does not have to be present for the

question to be answered. A consolidated

list of answers to questions submitted

by December 10 will be available at the

meeting and will be mailed to requesters

after the meeting.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Clarion Inn, Detroit Metro Airport,

9191 Wickham Road, Romulus, MI

48174. Suggestions for specific R&D

topics as described below and questions

for the December 17, 1997, meeting

relating to the agency’s research and

development programs should be

submitted to the Office of the Associate

Administrator for Research and

Development, NRD–01, National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

Room 6206, 400 Seventh St., S.W.,

Washington, DC 20590. The fax number

is (202) 366–5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA

intends to provide detailed

presentations about its research and

development programs in a series of

public meetings. The series started in

April 1993. The purpose is to make

available more complete and timely

information regarding the agency’s

research and development programs.

This nineteenth meeting in the series

will be held on December 17, 1997.

NHTSA requests suggestions from

interested parties on the specific agenda

topics to be presented. NHTSA will base

its decisions about the agenda, in part,

on the suggestions it receives by close

of business at 4:15 p.m. on December 8,

1997. Before the meeting, it will publish

a notice with an agenda listing the

research and development topics to be

discussed. The agenda can also be

obtained by calling or faxing the

information numbers listed elsewhere in

this notice or from NHTSA’s Web site

under Announcements/Public Meetings

at URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/

announce/meetings/. NHTSA asks that

the suggestions be limited to six, in

priority order, so that the presentations

at the December 17 R&D meeting can be

most useful to the audience. Specific

R&D topics are listed below. Many of

these topics have been discussed at

previous meetings. Suggestions for

agenda topics are not restricted to this

listing, and interested parties are invited

to suggest other R&D topics of specific

interest to their organizations.

Additionally, if any interested parties

would like to make a presentation

regarding technical issues concerning

any of NHTSA’s research programs,

information concerning the proposed

topic and speaker should be submitted

in writing by close of business

December 8, 1997.

Specific R&D topics are:

Fiscal Year 1998 R&D Research

Efforts,

International Harmonized Research

Activities (IHRA),

On-line tracking system for NHTSA’s

research projects, and

Crash Injury Research and

Engineering Network (CIREN).

Specific Crashworthiness R&D topics

are:

Automatic lifesaving system—

improved triage, transport, and

treatment decisionmaking for automatic

collision notification technologies,

Status of advanced air bag research,

Demonstration of CD ROM for child

restraint/vehicle compatibility,

Preparation of new dummies for

assessment of advanced air bag

technology,

Status of research on restraint systems

for rollover protection,

Improved frontal crash protection

(program status, problem identification,

offset testing),

Advanced glazing research,

Vehicle aggressivity and fleet

compatibility,

Upgrade side crash protection,

Upgrade seat and occupant restraint

systems,

Child safety research (ISOFIX),

Child restraint/air bag interaction

(CRABI) dummy testing,

Truck crashworthiness/occupant

protection,

National Transportation

Biomechanics Research Center

(NTBRC),

Head and neck injury research,

Lower extremity injury research,

Thorax injury research,

Human injury simulation and

analysis,

Refinements to the Hybrid III dummy,

and

Advanced frontal test dummy.

Specific Crash Avoidance R&D topics

are:

National Advanced Driving Simulator

(NADS),

Intelligent vehicle initiative,

Status and plans for anti-lock brake

system (ABS) research,

Truck tire traction,

Human factors guidelines for crash

avoidance warning devices,

Drowsy driver monitoring,

Driver workload assessment,

Rearend collision avoidance system

guidelines,
64042 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 232 / Wednesday, December 3, 1997 / Notices

Road departure collision avoidance

system guidelines,

Intersection collision avoidance

system guidelines, and

Lane change/merge collision

avoidance system guidelines.

National Center for Statistics and

Analysis (NCSA) topic is: Special crash

investigation studies of air bag cases.

Separately, questions regarding

research projects that have been

submitted in writing not later than close

of business on December 10, 1997, will

be answered. A transcript of the

meeting, copies of materials handed out

at the meeting, and copies of the

suggestions offered by commenters will

be available for public inspection at

NHTSA’s Technical Information

Services, Room 5108, 400 Seventh St.,

S.W., Washington, DC 20590. Copies of

the transcript will then be available at

10 cents a page, upon request to

NHTSA’s Technical Information

Services. The Technical Information

Services section is open to the public

from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The

transcript will also be available on

NHTSA’s Web site under

Announcements/Public Meetings at

URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/

announce/meetings/.

NHTSA will provide technical aids to

participants as necessary, during the

Research and Development Programs

Meeting. Thus, any person desiring the

assistance of ‘‘auxiliary aids’’ (e.g., signlanguage interpreter, telecommunication

devices for deaf persons (TTDs), readers,

taped texts, braille materials, or large

print materials and/or a magnifying

device), please contact Rita Gibbons on

(202) 366–4862 or by telefax on (202)

366–5930 by close of business December

8, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita

Gibbons, Staff Assistant, Office of

Research and Development, 400

Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC

20590. Telephone: (202) 366–4862. Fax

number: (202) 366–5930.

Issued: November 26, 1997.

Raymond P. Owings,

Associate Administrator for Research and

Development.

[FR Doc. 97–31696 Filed 12–2–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs

Administration

Pipeline Safety User Fees

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs

Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that

the fiscal year 1998 user fee assessments

for pipeline facilities will be mailed to

pipeline operators on or about

December 15, 1997. The fees to be

assessed for natural gas transmission,

hazardous liquid and liquefied natural

gas (LNG) are indicated below:

Natural gas transmission pipelines:

$67.98 per mile (based on 291,765 miles

of pipeline).

Hazardous liquid pipelines: $59.59

per mile (based on 155,558 miles of

pipeline).

LNG is based on the number of plants

and total storage capacity:

Total storage capacity (bbl) Assessment/plant

<10,000 ..................................... =$1,250

10,000–100,000 ........................ =$2,500

100,000–250,000 ...................... =$3,750

250,000–500,000 ...................... =$5,000

>500,000 ................................... =$7,500

Section 60301 of Title 49, United

States Code, authorizes the assessment

and collection of pipeline user fees to

fund the pipeline safety activities

conducted under 49 U.S.C. 60101 et seq.

The Research and Special Program

Administration (RSPA) assesses each

operator of regulated interstate and

intrastate natural gas transmission

pipelines (as defined in 49 CFR Part

192), and hazardous liquid pipelines

carrying petroleum, petroleum products,

anhydrous ammonia and carbon dioxide

(as defined in 49 CFR Part 195) a share

of the total Federal pipeline safety

program costs in proportion to the

number of miles of pipeline each

operator has in service. Onshore

pipelines excluded from regulation by

49 CFR Part 195 are not included in this

mileage. Operators of LNG facilities are

assessed based on total storage capacity

(as defined in 49 CFR Part 193).

In accordance with the provisions of

49 U.S.C. 60301, Departmental

resources were taken into consideration

for determining total program costs. The

apportionment ratio between gas and

liquid pipeline programs (as shown

below) is a result of the shift of program

resources to the hazardous liquid

program because of increased emphasis

on environmental protection:

Year(s)

General program costs

(gas)

General program costs

(liquid)

1986–

1990.

80% .................. 20%.

1991–

1992.

75% .................. 25%.

Year(s)

General program costs

(gas)

General program costs

(liquid)

1993 .... 75% (3⁄4 yr.) ...... 25% (3⁄4 yr).

60% (1⁄4 yr.) ...... 40% (1⁄4 yr).

1994 .... 60% .................. 40%.

1995 .... 75% .................. 25%.

1996 .... 65% .................. 35%.

1997–

1998.

55% .................. 45%.

In accordance with the regulations of

the Department of the Treasury, user

fees will be due 30 days after the date

of assessment. Interest, penalties, and

administrative charges will be assessed

on delinquent debts in accordance with

31 U.S.C. 3717.

Issued in Washington, D.C. November 28,

1997.

Richard B. Felder,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

[FR Doc. 97–31742 Filed 12–2–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–32 (Sub-No. 65X)]

Boston and Maine Corporation—

Abandonment Exemption—in Carroll

County, NH

Boston and Maine Corporation (B&M)

has filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR part 1152 Subpart F—Exempt

Abandonments and Discontinuances to

abandon an approximately 10.80-mile

line of railroad on the Conway Branch

between milepost B–111.0 and milepost

B–121.80 in Ossipee, Carroll County,

NH. The line traverses United States

Postal Service Zip Codes 03814, 03864

and 03468.

B&M has certified that: (1) No local

traffic has moved over the line for at

least 2 years; (2) overhead traffic has

been rerouted over other lines; (3) no

formal complaint filed by a user of rail

service on the line (or by a state or local

government entity acting on behalf of

such user) regarding cessation of service

over the line either is pending with the

Surface Transportation Board (Board) or

with any U.S. District Court or has been

decided in favor of complainant within

the 2-year period; and (4) the

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7

(environmental reports), 49 CFR 1105.8

(historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.11

(transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental

agencies) have been met.

As a condition to this exemption, any

employee adversely affected by the

abandonment shall be protected under