Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 13691 

Interested parties or organizations 

possessing information that would 

otherwise show that any, or all, of these 

drivers are not currently achieving the 

statutory level of safety should 

immediately notify FMCSA. The 

Agency will evaluate any adverse 

evidence submitted and, if safety is 

being compromised or if continuation of 

the exemption would not be consistent 

with the goals and objectives of 49 

U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA will 

take immediate steps to revoke the 

exemption of a driver. 

Issued on: February 28, 2012. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5519 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2011–0365] 

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 thirteen 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 requirement. 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 

March 7, 2012. The exemptions expire 

on March 7, 2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elaine M. Papp, Chief, Medical 

Programs Division, (202) 366–4001, 

fmcsamedical@dot.gov, FMCSA, 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W64– 

224, 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 Federal Document 

Management System (FDMS) at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to http:// 

www.regulations.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 

FDMS is available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. If you want 

acknowledgement that we received your 

comments, please include a selfaddressed, 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 our 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, etc.). 

You may review DOT’s Privacy Act 

Statement for the FDMS published in 

the Federal Register on January 17, 

2008 (73 FR 3316), or you may visit 

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/ 

E8-785.pdf. 

Background 

On January 24, 2012, FMCSA 

published a notice of receipt of 

exemption applications from certain 

individuals, and requested comments 

from the public (77 FR 3552). That 

notice listed thirteen applicants’ case 

histories. The thirteen individuals 

applied for exemptions from the vision 

requirement in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10), for 

drivers who operate CMVs in interstate 

commerce. 

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 

thirteen applications on their merits and 

made a determination to grant 

exemptions to each of them. 

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 requirement red, green, and 

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

FMCSA recognizes that some drivers 

do not meet the vision requirement but 

have adapted their driving to 

accommodate their vision limitation 

and demonstrated their ability to drive 

safely. The thirteen exemption 

applicants listed in this notice are in 

this category. They are unable to meet 

the vision requirement in one eye for 

various reasons, including prosthesis, 

macular scar, amblyopia, congenial 

optic atrophy, ocular hypertension, 

retinal detachment, cataracts and 

corneal scaring. In most cases, their eye 

conditions were not recently developed. 

Eight of the applicants were either born 

with their vision impairments or have 

had them since childhood. The five 

individuals that sustained their vision 

conditions as adults and have had them 

for a period of 3 to 35 years. 

Although each applicant has one eye 

which does not meet the vision 

requirement 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 of these applicants satisfied the 

testing requirements for their State of 

residence. By meeting State licensing 

requirements, the applicants 

demonstrated their ability to operate a 

CMV, with their limited vision, to the 

satisfaction of the State. 

While possessing a valid CDL or nonCDL, these thirteen 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 3 to 44 years. In the 

past 3 years, none of the drivers were 

involved in crashes, and none were 

convicted of moving violations in a 

CMV. 

The qualifications, experience, and 

medical condition of each applicant 

were stated and discussed in detail in 

the January 24, 2012 notice (77 FR 

3552). 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
13692 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 

Basis for Exemption Determination 

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

FMCSA may grant an exemption from 

the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10) if the exemption is likely 

to achieve an equivalent or greater level 

of safety than would be achieved 

without the exemption. Without the 

exemption, applicants will continue to 

be restricted to intrastate driving. With 

the exemption, applicants can drive in 

interstate commerce. Thus, our analysis 

focuses on whether an equal or greater 

level of safety is likely to be achieved by 

permitting each of these drivers to drive 

in interstate commerce as opposed to 

restricting him or her to driving in 

intrastate commerce. 

To evaluate the effect of these 

exemptions on safety, FMCSA 

considered the medical reports about 

the applicants’ vision as well as their 

driving records and experience with the 

vision deficiency. 

To qualify for an exemption from the 

vision requirement, FMCSA requires a 

person to present verifiable evidence 

that he/she has driven a commercial 

vehicle safely with the vision deficiency 

for the past 3 years. Recent driving 

performance is especially important in 

evaluating future safety, according to 

several research studies designed to 

correlate past and future driving 

performance. Results of these studies 

support the principle that the best 

predictor of future performance by a 

driver is his/her past record of crashes 

and traffic violations. Copies of the 

studies may be found at Docket Number 

FMCSA–1998–3637. 

We believe we can properly apply the 

principle to monocular drivers, because 

data from the Federal Highway 

Administration’s (FHWA’s) former 

waiver study program clearly 

demonstrate the driving performance of 

experienced monocular drivers in the 

program is better than that of all CMV 

drivers collectively (See 61 FR 13338, 

13345, March 26, 1996). The fact that 

experienced monocular drivers 

demonstrated safe driving records in the 

waiver program supports a conclusion 

that other monocular drivers, meeting 

the same qualifying conditions as those 

required by the waiver program, are also 

likely to have adapted to their vision 

deficiency and will continue to operate 

safely. 

The first major research correlating 

past and future performance was done 

in England by Greenwood and Yule in 

1920. Subsequent studies, building on 

that model, concluded that crash rates 

for the same individual exposed to 

certain risks for two different time 

periods vary only slightly (See Bates 

and Neyman, University of California 

Publications in Statistics, April 1952). 

Other studies demonstrated theories of 

predicting crash proneness from crash 

history coupled with other factors. 

These factors—such as age, sex, 

geographic location, mileage driven and 

conviction history—are used every day 

by insurance companies and motor 

vehicle bureaus to predict the 

probability of an individual 

experiencing future crashes (See Weber, 

Donald C., ‘‘Accident Rate Potential: An 

Application of Multiple Regression 

Analysis of a Poisson Process,’’ Journal 

of American Statistical Association, 

June 1971). A 1964 California Driver 

Record Study prepared by the California 

Department of Motor Vehicles 

concluded that the best overall crash 

predictor for both concurrent and 

nonconcurrent events is the number of 

single convictions. This study used 3 

consecutive years of data, comparing the 

experiences of drivers in the first 2 years 

with their experiences in the final year. 

Applying principles from these 

studies to the past 3-year record of the 

thirteen applicants, none of the drivers 

were involved in a crash and none were 

convicted of moving violations in a 

CMV. All the applicants achieved a 

record of safety while driving with their 

vision impairment, demonstrating the 

likelihood that they have adapted their 

driving skills to accommodate their 

condition. As the applicants’ ample 

driving histories with their vision 

deficiencies are good predictors of 

future performance, FMCSA concludes 

their ability to drive safely can be 

projected into the future. 

We believe that the applicants’ 

intrastate driving experience and history 

provide an adequate basis for predicting 

their ability to drive safely in interstate 

commerce. Intrastate driving, like 

interstate operations, involves 

substantial driving on highways on the 

interstate system and on other roads 

built to interstate standards. Moreover, 

driving in congested urban areas 

exposes the driver to more pedestrian 

and vehicular traffic than exists on 

interstate highways. Faster reaction to 

traffic and traffic signals is generally 

required because distances between 

them are more compact. These 

conditions tax visual capacity and 

driver response just as intensely as 

interstate driving conditions. The 

veteran drivers in this proceeding have 

operated CMVs safely under those 

conditions for at least 3 years, most for 

much longer. Their experience and 

driving records lead us to believe that 

each applicant is capable of operating in 

interstate commerce as safely as he/she 

has been performing in intrastate 

commerce. Consequently, FMCSA finds 

that exempting these applicants from 

the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10) is likely to achieve a level 

of safety equal to that existing without 

the exemption. For this reason, the 

Agency is granting the exemptions for 

the 2-year period allowed by 49 U.S.C. 

31136(e) and 31315 to the thirteen 

applicants listed in the notice of January 

24, 2012 (77 FR 3552). 

We recognize that the vision of an 

applicant may change and affect his/her 

ability to operate a CMV as safely as in 

the past. As a condition of the 

exemption, therefore, FMCSA will 

impose requirements on the thirteen 

individuals consistent with the 

grandfathering provisions applied to 

drivers who participated in the 

Agency’s vision waiver program. 

Those requirements are found at 49 

CFR 391.64(b) and include the 

following: 

(1) That each individual be physically 

examined every year (a) by an 

ophthalmologist or optometrist who 

attests that the vision in the better eye 

continues to meet the requirement in 49 

CFR 391.41(b)(10) and (b) by a medical 

examiner who attests that the individual 

is otherwise physically qualified under 

49 CFR 391.41; (2) that each individual 

provide a copy of the ophthalmologist’s 

or optometrist’s report to the medical 

examiner at the time of the annual 

medical examination; and (3) that each 

individual provide a copy of the annual 

medical certification to the employer for 

retention in the driver’s qualification 

file, or keep a copy in his/her driver’s 

qualification file if he/she is selfemployed. The driver must have a copy 

of the certification when driving, for 

presentation to a duly authorized 

Federal, State, or local enforcement 

official. 

Discussion of Comments 

FMCSA received no comments in this 

proceeding. 

Conclusion 

Based upon its evaluation of the 

thirteen exemption applications, 

FMCSA exempts Daniel C. Berry (AR), 

Jeffery H. Bohr (IA), William J. Byron 

(NC), Michael P. Callihan (OH), John 

Edmondson (AL), Richard P. 

Frederiksen (WY), Stephen J. Hall (WA), 

Lonnie B. Hicks, Jr. (OK), Samuel V. 

Holder (IL), Timothy L. Klompien (MT), 

Jerry L. Pettijohn (OK), Jake Richter (KS) 

and Bradley S. Sanders (NM) from the 

vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10), subject to the 

requirements cited above (49 CFR 

391.64(b)). 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 13693 

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

and 31315, each exemption will be valid 

for 2 years unless revoked earlier by 

FMCSA. The exemption will be revoked 

if: (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 before it was granted; or 

(3) continuation of the exemption would 

not be consistent with the goals and 

objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136 and 31315. 

If the exemption is still effective at the 

end of the 2-year period, the person may 

apply to FMCSA for a renewal under 

procedures in effect at that time. 

Issued on: February 28, 2012. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5520 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

[Docket No. MARAD 2012 0029] 

Information Collection Available for 

Public Comments and 

Recommendations 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the Maritime 

Administration’s (MARAD’s) intentions 

to request extension of approval for 

three years of a currently approved 

information collection. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

on or before May 7, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita 

Jackson, Office of Maritime Workforce 

Development, Maritime Administration, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 

202–366–0284; or email: 

rita.jackson@dot.gov. Copies of this 

collection can also be obtained from that 

office. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title of Collection: Maritime 

Administration Service Obligation 

Compliance Annual Report (Formerly, 

Service Obligation Compliance Report 

and Merchant Marine Reserve/U.S. 

Naval Reserve Annual Report). 

Type of Request: Extension of 

currently approved information 

collection. 

OMB Control Number: 2133–0509. 

Form Numbers: MA–930. 

Expiration Date of Approval: Three 

years after date of approval by the Office 

of Management and Budget. 

Summary of Collection of 

Information: The Maritime Education 

and Training Act of 1980, imposes a 

service obligation on every graduate of 

the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and 

every subsidized State maritime 

academy graduate who received a 

student incentive payment. This 

mandatory service obligation is for the 

Federal financial assistance the graduate 

received as a student. In addition, this 

obligation requires the graduate to 

maintain a license as an officer in the 

merchant marine and to report annually 

on reserve status, training and 

employment. 

Need and Use of the Information: The 

information collection is necessary to 

determine if a graduate of the U.S. 

Merchant Marine Academy or 

subsidized State maritime academy 

graduate is complying with the terms of 

the service obligation. 

Description of Respondents: 

Graduates of the U.S. Merchant Marine 

Academy and every subsidized State 

maritime academy graduate who 

received a student incentive payment. 

Annual Responses: 1400. 

Annual Burden: 467 hours. 

Comments: Comments should refer to 

the docket number that appears at the 

top of this document. Written comments 

may be submitted to the Docket Clerk, 

U.S. DOT Dockets, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. Comments also 

may be submitted by electronic means 

via the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Specifically 

address whether this information 

collection is necessary for proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency and will have practical utility, 

accuracy of the burden estimates, ways 

to minimize this burden, and ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected. All 

comments received will be available for 

examination at the above address 

between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT (or 

EST), Monday through Friday, except 

Federal Holidays. An electronic version 

of this document is available on the 

World Wide Web at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78) or you 

may visit http://www.regulations.gov. 

Authority: 49 CFR 1.66. 

Dated: March 1, 2012. 

By Order of the Maritime Administrator. 

Julie Agarwal, 

Secretary, Maritime Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5527 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–81–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Maritime Administration 

[Docket No. MARAD–2012–0020] 

Requested Administrative Waiver of 

the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel 

UNCLE SAM; Invitation for Public 

Comments 

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As authorized by 46 U.S.C. 

12121, the Secretary of Transportation, 

as represented by the Maritime 

Administration (MARAD), is authorized 

to grant waivers of the U.S.-build 

requirement of the coastwise laws under 

certain circumstances. A request for 

such a waiver has been received by 

MARAD. The vessel, and a brief 

description of the proposed service, is 

listed below. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

April 6, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to 

docket number MARAD–2012–0020. 

Written comments may be submitted by 

hand or by mail to the Docket Clerk, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Docket Operations, M–30, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. You may also 

send comments electronically via the 

Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. 

All comments will become part of this 

docket and will be available for 

inspection and copying at the above 

address between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

E.T., Monday through Friday, except 

federal holidays. An electronic version 

of this document and all documents 

entered into this docket is available on 

the World Wide Web at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joann Spittle, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Maritime 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W21–203, 

Washington, DC 20590. Telephone 202– 

366–5979, Email Joann.Spittle@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As 

described by the applicant the intended 

service of the vessel UNCLE SAM is: 

Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: 

‘‘Sailing tours, day charters, and 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES