39498 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 

adequate corrective action when fraud is 

discovered; and imposed sanctions 

against States for noncompliance. This 

Final Rule published on May 9, 2011 

includes all the OIG’s 

recommendations. Many of the 

operational procedures suggested by the 

OIG for carrying out the 

recommendations have also been 

adopted. 

This information collection supports 

the DOT Strategic Goal of Safety by 

requiring that drivers of CMVs are 

properly licensed according to all 

applicable Federal requirements. 

The 10-year employment history 

information supplied by the CDL holder 

to the employer upon application for 

employment (49 CFR 383.35) is used to 

assist the employer in meeting his/her 

responsibilities to ensure that the 

applicant does not have a history of 

high safety risk behavior. 

State officials use the information 

collected on the license application 

form (49 CFR 383.71), the medical 

certificate information that is posted to 

the driving record and the conviction 

and disqualification data posted to the 

driving record (49 CFR 383.73) to 

prevent unqualified and/or disqualified 

CDL holders from operating CMVs on 

the nation’s highways. State officials are 

also required to administer knowledge 

and skills tests to CDL driver applicants 

(49 CFR 384.202). The driver applicant 

is required to correctly answer at least 

80 percent of the questions on each 

knowledge test to achieve a passing 

score on that test. To achieve a passing 

score on the skills test, the driver 

applicant must demonstrate that he/she 

can successfully perform all the skills 

listed in the regulations. During State 

CDL compliance reviews, FMCSA 

officials review this information to 

ensure that the provisions of the 

regulations are being carried out. 

Without the aforementioned 

requirements, there would be no 

uniform control over driver licensing 

practices to prevent unqualified and/or 

disqualified drivers from being issued a 

CDL and to prevent unsafe drivers from 

spreading their convictions among 

several licenses in several States and 

remaining behind the wheel of a CMV. 

Failure to collect this information 

would render the regulations 

unenforceable. 

This request for renewed approval 

includes one additional information 

collection item: ‘‘Driver completion of 

knowledge and skills tests [49 CFR 

384.201].’’ This section is added as a 

result of a new requirement for States to 

assure the testing of commercial 

learner’s permits follow a standardized 

testing procedure. 

Title: Commercial Driver Licensing 

and Test Standards. 

OMB Number: 2126–0011. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently-approved information 

collection. 

Respondents: Drivers with a 

commercial learner’s permit (CLP) or 

commercial driver’s license (CDL) and 

State driver licensing agencies. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

7,364,972 driver respondents and 4,746 

State respondents. 

Estimated Time per Response: Varies. 

Expiration Date: October 31, 2018. 

Frequency of Response: Varies. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

2,825,503 hours, which is the total of 

four tasks for CDL drivers (2,403,248 

hours), added to a total of eight tasks for 

State driver licensing agency CDL 

activities (422,255 hours). 

Information collection tasks and 

associated burden hours are as follows: 

IC–1.1 Driver Notification of 

Convictions/Disqualifications to 

Employer: 473,577 hours 

IC–1.2 Driver Providing Previous 

Employment History to New 

Employer: 297,758 hours 

IC–1.3 Driver Completion of the CDL 

Application Form: 40,719 hours 

IC–1.4 Driver Completion of Knowledge 

and Skills Tests: 1,591,194 hours 

IC–2.1 State Recording of Medical 

Examiner’s Certificate Information: 

80,344 hours 

IC–2.2 State Recording of the Self 

Certification of Commercial Motor 

Vehicle (CMV) Operation: 3,018 hours 

IC–2.3 State Verification of Medical 

Certification Status: 3,180 

IC–2.4 Annual State Certification of 

Compliance: 1,632 hours 

IC–2.5 State Preparing for and 

Participating in Annual Program 

Review: 10,200 hours 

IC–2.6 CDLIS/PDPS/State 

Recordkeeping: 214,548 hours 

IC–2.7 Knowledge and Skills Test 

Recordkeeping: 82,034 hours 

IC–2.8 Knowledge and Skills Test 

Examiner Certification: 27,299 hours 

Definitions: Under 49 CFR 383.5: 

Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) 

means a motor vehicle or combination 

of motor vehicles used in commerce to 

transport passengers or property if the 

motor vehicle— 

(1) Has a gross combination weight 

rating or gross combination weight of 

11,794 kilograms or more (26,001 

pounds or more), whichever is greater, 

inclusive of a towed unit(s) with a gross 

vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle 

weight of more than 4,536 kilograms 

(10,000 pounds), whichever is greater; 

or 

(2) Has a gross vehicle weight rating 

or gross vehicle weight of 11,794 or 

more kilograms (26,001 pounds or 

more), whichever is greater; or 

(3) Is designed to transport 16 or more 

passengers, including the driver; or 

(4) Is of any size and is used in the 

transportation of hazardous materials as 

defined in this section. 

Hazardous materials means any 

material that has been designated as 

hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and is 

required to be placarded under subpart 

F of 49 CFR part 172 or any quantity of 

a material listed as a select agent or 

toxin in 42 CFR part 73. 

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 

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 information 

collection. 

Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 

on: August 2, 2018. 

Kelly Regal, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Research 

and Information Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17064 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2018–0246] 

Hours of Service of Drivers: HEPACO, 

LLC; Heritage Environmental Services, 

LLC; Lewis Environmental, Inc.; and 

Moran Environmental Recovery, LLC; 

Application for Exemption 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that it has 

received a joint application from 

HEPACO, LLC; Heritage Environmental 

Services, LLC; Lewis Environmental, 

Inc.; and Moran Environmental 

Recovery, LLC, for exemption from the 

hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for 

drivers engaged in providing direct 

assistance in environmental 

emergencies or potential environmental 

emergencies. The applicants request a 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 39499 

five-year exemption from the ‘‘14-hour 

rule’’ for their drivers engaged in 

responding to environmental 

emergencies. FMCSA requests public 

comment on this application for 

exemption. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before September 10, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Federal Docket 

Management System Number FMCSA– 

2018–0246 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. See the Public 

Participation and Request for Comments 

section below for further information. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building, Ground Floor, Room W12– 

140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. E.T., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Each submission must include the 

Agency name and the docket number for 

this notice. Note that DOT posts all 

comments received without change to 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information included in a 

comment. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to www.regulations.gov at 

any time or visit 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., ET, 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. The on-line FDMS is available 

24 hours each day, 365 days each year. 

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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information concerning this notice, 

please contact Mr. Richard Clemente, 

FMCSA Driver and Carrier Operations 

Division; Telephone: (202) 366–2722; 

Email: MCPSD@dot.gov. If you have 

questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, contact Docket 

Services, telephone (202) 366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

FMCSA encourages you to participate 

by submitting comments and related 

materials. 

Submitting Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

notice (FMCSA–2018–0246), indicate 

the specific section of this document to 

which the comment applies, and 

provide a reason for suggestions or 

recommendations. 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 the Agency 

can contact you if it has questions 

regarding your submission. 

To submit your comment online, go to 

www.regulations.gov and put the docket 

number, ‘‘FMCSA–2018–0246’’ in the 

‘‘Keyword’’ box, and click ‘‘Search.’’ 

When the new screen appears, click on 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ button and type your 

comment into the text box in the 

following screen. Choose whether you 

are submitting your comment as an 

individual or on behalf of a third party 

and then submit. 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. If you 

submit comments by mail and would 

like to know that they reached the 

facility, please enclose a stamped, selfaddressed postcard or envelope. FMCSA 

will consider all comments and material 

received during the comment period 

and may grant or not grant this 

application based on your comments. 

II. Legal Basis 

FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 

31136(e) and 31315 to grant exemptions 

from certain Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). FMCSA 

must publish a notice of each exemption 

request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 

381.315(a)). The Agency must provide 

the public an opportunity to inspect the 

information relevant to the application, 

including any safety analyses that have 

been conducted. The Agency must also 

provide an opportunity for public 

comment on the request. 

The Agency reviews safety analyses 

and public comments submitted, and 

determines whether granting the 

exemption would likely achieve a level 

of safety equivalent to, or greater than, 

the level that would be achieved by the 

current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). 

The decision of the Agency must be 

published in the Federal Register (49 

CFR 381.315(b)) with the reasons for 

denying or granting the application and, 

if granted, the name of the person or 

class of persons receiving the 

exemption, and the regulatory provision 

from which the exemption is granted. 

The notice must also specify the 

effective period (up to 5 years) and 

explain the terms and conditions of the 

exemption. The exemption may be 

renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)). 

III. Request for Exemption 

The following companies are the 

applicants for this exemption: HEPACO, 

LLC; Heritage Environmental Services, 

LLC; Lewis Environmental, Inc. and 

Moran Environmental Recovery, LLC. 

The applicants’ total number of 

commercial driver’s license (CDL) 

holders is approximately 758, and their 

total number of commercial motor 

vehicles (CMVs) is approximately 840. 

All of these applicants are members of 

the Spill Control Association of America 

(SCAA). In responding to emergency 

incidents, SCAA members work 

alongside a mix of both private industry 

and public agencies, and their work 

often has a direct impact on protection 

of both public safety and the 

environment. SCAA advises that the 

applicants are contractually required to 

provide direct assistance to responsible 

parties who are experiencing 

environmental emergencies or potential 

environmental emergencies. The 

applicants define an environmental 

emergency as a sudden threat to the 

public health or the well-being of the 

environment, arising from the release or 

potential release of oil, radioactive 

materials, or hazardous chemicals into 

the air, land, or water. The applicants’ 

employees are hybrid driver/operator/ 

technicians, so the total on-duty time 

can be a challenge, especially after 

hours. Other job duties include 

industrial maintenance, spill response, 

sampling, lab packing and waste 

management. With the current driver 

shortage, obtaining drivers with these 

additional skills and experience is 

becoming more problematic. 

The applicants are requesting relief 

from 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2), commonly 

known as the ‘‘14-hour rule.’’ The 

applicants state that the HOS rules have 

always been an issue for emergency 

response companies. The national 

shortage of drivers, and in their case, 

drivers with specialized safety and 

environmental training, has been 

worsening over the last few years, 

making this a critical issue. They are 

requesting this exemption to allow their 

companies to respond to a release or 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
39500 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 154 / Thursday, August 9, 2018 / Notices 

1 49 CFR 1.87(d)(2). 

threat of a release of oil and other 

hazardous materials. The applicants are 

requesting relief from this regulation 

with the following conditions: 

• On-duty period would not exceed 

4.5 additional hours for initial response; 

• Any driver who exceeds the 14- 

hour period would in no case exceed a 

total of 8 hours drive time; 

• Drivers would not exceed 70 hours 

on duty in 8 days; 

• Drivers would be required to take 

10 hours off duty, subsequent to the 

duty day; and 

• All activities would be subject to 

the electronic logging device (ELD) rule. 

According to the applicants, there 

would be a significant challenge in 

responding to environmental 

emergencies if the exemption was not 

granted. The initial response hours are 

the most critical in an environmental 

emergency and the ability to quickly 

respond is vital. They believe that a 

tightly managed exemption actually 

provides a risk averse situation by 

discouraging potentially unmanaged 

risk taking. If the exemption is not 

granted, there could be a disruption of 

nation/regional commerce activities, 

including power restoration activities 

and protection of interstate commerce 

and infrastructure. Granting the 

exemption would mitigate public 

transportation disruptions, much as tow 

trucks do when moving wrecked or 

disabled vehicles under 49 CFR 

390.23(a)(ii)(3). 

IV. Method To Ensure an Equivalent or 

Greater Level of Safety 

The applicants believe that the 

proposed relief, and the parameters in 

which their drivers operate, would 

continue to provide the highest level of 

safety and compliance, while prudently 

responding to incidents that threaten 

public safety and the environment. 

Safety is always the primary objective 

and guiding principle of all of the 

applicant’s business activities as 

demonstrated by the following: 

• All applicants have specific policies 

on ‘‘fatigue and journey management.’’ 

• Health and safety is paramount for 

all operations dealing with 

environmental emergencies and would 

remain the case when utilizing the 

exemption. 

• Drivers who utilize this exemption 

may come back into compliance and 

restart the computation of maximum 

driving time only after 10 hours off duty 

which starts at the end of their extended 

hours period. 

• The exemption would not exempt 

drivers/carriers from the requirements 

relating to the CDL, drug/alcohol 

testing, hazardous materials, size and 

weight, or State/Federal registration and 

tax requirements. 

• The applicants understand the 

concepts of risk management and 

mitigation. 

• The applicants maintain a 

multitude of safety, security, annual 

medical surveillance, and training 

plans, as well as comprehensive drug 

and alcohol programs compliant with 

multiple DOT departments. 

• Robust preventative maintenance 

programs specific to the equipment are 

in place with each of the requesting 

applicants. 

The applicants believe an equivalent 

level of safety will be achieved if their 

drivers/companies are exempt from the 

requirements as described in this notice. 

The requested exemption is for 5 years. 

A copy of the application for exemption 

is available for review in the docket for 

this notice. 

Issued on: August 2, 2018. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17062 Filed 8–8–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

National Hazardous Materials Route 

Registry 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice; revisions to the listing of 

designated and restricted routes for 

hazardous materials. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides revisions 

to the National Hazardous Materials 

Route Registry (NHMRR) reported to the 

FMCSA as of March 31, 2018. The 

NHMRR is a listing, as reported by 

States and Tribal governments, of all 

designated and restricted roads and 

preferred highway routes for 

transportation of highway route 

controlled quantities (HRCQ) of Class 7 

radioactive materials (RAM) (HRCQ/ 

RAM) and non-radioactive hazardous 

materials (NRHMs). 

DATES: Applicable date: August 9, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Vincent Babich (202) 366–4871, or 

vincent.babich@dot.gov, Hazardous 

Materials Division, Office of 

Enforcement and Compliance, Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 

1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, 

DC 20590. Office hours are from 9 a.m. 

to 5 p.m., ET., Monday through Friday, 

except for Federal holidays. 

Legal Basis and Background 

Under 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) 

5112, sections (a)(2) and (b), States and 

Tribal governments are permitted to 

designate and limit highway routes over 

which hazardous materials (HM) may be 

transported, provided the State or Tribal 

government complies with standards 

prescribed by the Secretary of 

Transportation (the Secretary) and 

meets publication requirements in 

section 5112(c). To establish standards 

under section (b), the Secretary must 

consult with the States, and, under 

section (c), coordinate with the States to 

‘‘update and publish periodically’’ a list 

of currently effective HM highway 

routing designations and restrictions. 

The requirements that States and Tribal 

governments must follow to establish, 

maintain, or enforce routing 

designations for the transport of 

placardable quantities of NRHMs are set 

forth in title 49 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) part 397, subpart C. 

Subpart D of part 397 sets forth the 

requirements for designating preferred 

routes for HRCQ/RAM shipments as an 

alternative, or in addition, to Interstate 

System highways. For HRCQ/RAM 

shipments, section 397.101(b)(1) defines 

a preferred route as an Interstate 

Highway for which no alternative route 

is designated by the State, a route 

specifically designated by the State, or 

both. (See section 397.65 for the 

definition of ‘‘NRHM’’ and ‘‘routing 

designations.’’) 

Under a delegation from the 

Secretary,1 FMCSA has authority to 

implement 49 U.S.C. 5112. 

Currently, 49 CFR 397.73 establishes 

public information and reporting 

requirements for NRHM. States or Tribal 

governments are required to furnish 

information regarding any new or 

changed routes to FMCSA within 60 

days after establishment. Under 49 CFR 

397.103, a State routing designation for 

HRCQ/RAM routes (preferred routes) as 

an alternative, or in addition, to an 

Interstate System highway, is effective 

when the authorized routing agency 

provides FMCSA with written 

notification, FMCSA acknowledges 

receipt in writing, and the route is 

published in FMCSA’s National 

Hazardous Material Route Registry. The 

Office of Management and Budget has 

approved these collections of 

information under control number 

2126–0014, Transportation of 

Hazardous Materials, Highway Routing. 

In this notice, FMCSA is merely 

performing the ministerial function of 

updating and publishing the NHMRR 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES