18298 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 

FAA Order 1050.1E, Appendix A, 

Section 13.2a describes the FAA policy 

to conserve resources such as energy, 

and the requirement ‘‘to identify any 

proposed major changes in stationary 

facilities or the movement of aircraft 

and ground vehicles that would have a 

measurable effect on local supplies of 

energy or natural resources.’’ 

FAA Order 1050.1E, Appendix A, 

Section 14.5e states that for ‘‘air traffic 

airspace actions where the study area is 

larger than the immediate vicinity of an 

airport, incorporates more than one 

airport, or includes actions above 3,000 

feet [Above Ground Level—AGL], noise 

modeling will be conducted using [the 

Noise Integrated Routing System— 

NIRS].’’ 

The FAA developed the AEDT 2a to 

model aircraft noise, fuel burn, and 

emissions for air traffic airspace and 

procedure actions for which the use of 

NIRS is currently required. AEDT 2a has 

the capability to model aircraft 

performance based on fleet mix, airport 

configuration, and operations schedule. 

These data are used to compute aircraft 

noise, fuel burn and emissions 

simultaneously. By standardizing these 

data, AEDT 2a will help FAA 

stakeholders make more informed 

decisions on specific environmental 

impacts of aviation. 

Policy Statement 

Effective March 21, 2012, AEDT 2a is 

the required tool for noise, fuel burn, 

and emissions modeling of air traffic 

airspace and procedure actions where 

the study area is larger than the 

immediate vicinity of an airport, 

incorporates more than one airport, or 

includes actions above 3,000 feet AGL. 

Consistent with current FAA policy and 

practice, the use of AEDT 2a is not 

required for projects whose analysis 

began before the effective date of this 

policy. In the event AEDT 2a is updated 

after the environmental analysis process 

if underway, the updated version may, 

but need not, be used to provide 

additional disclosure concerning noise, 

fuel burn, and emissions. 

FAA–AEE has approved AEDT 2a as 

an ‘‘equivalent methodology’’ to EDMS 

for developing aircraft-only emissions 

inventories when required for air traffic 

airspace and procedure actions. 

FAA–AEE has approved AEDT 2a to 

analyze fuel burn to inform the 

discussion of energy impacts and to 

assist in assessing greenhouse gas 

emissions for air traffic airspace and 

procedure actions. 

FAA–AEE has issued AEDT 2a to 

replace NIRS as the required tool to 

analyze noise and fuel burn for air 

traffic airspace and procedure actions. 

This policy statement is issued to 

ensure consistency and quality of 

analysis performed to comply with 

requirements under the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), as amended, 42 United States 

Code (U.S.C.) §§ 4321 et seq. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 21, 

2012. 

Lourdes Q. Maurice, 

Executive Director, Office of Environment and 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7354 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA 2012–0074] 

Improvements to the Compliance, 

Safety, Accountability (CSA) Motor 

Carrier Safety Measurement System 

(SMS) 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice; request for public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces planned 

improvements to the Carrier Safety 

Measurement System (SMS) which was 

implemented in December 2010 as part 

of the Agency’s broader Compliance, 

Safety, Accountability (CSA) initiative. 

A preview of these improvements will 

be available to motor carriers and law 

enforcement on March 27, 2012. The 

system changes are scheduled to be 

available to the public in July 2012. 

There will be additional opportunity for 

public comment on the changes after the 

preview period ends in July 2012. 

The improvements to SMS announced 

in this notice are based on ongoing 

analysis and feedback from enforcement 

personnel, the motor carrier industry, 

and other stakeholders. The changes 

more effectively identify and prioritize 

high-risk and other unsafe motor 

carriers for enforcement interventions 

designed to reduce commercial motor 

vehicle crashes and hazardous materials 

incidents. 

Starting on March 27, 2012, FMCSA 

will provide motor carriers with the 

ability to preview how the 

improvements impact their individual 

safety data in SMS. These 

improvements include: (1) Changes to 

the SMS methodology that identify 

higher risk carriers while addressing 

industry biases; (2) better applications 

of SMS results for Agency interventions 

by more accurately identifying safety 

sensitive carriers (i.e., carriers 

transporting people and carriers hauling 

hazardous materials (HM)), so that such 

firms can be selected for CSA 

interventions at more stringent levels; 

and, (3) more specific fact-based 

displays of SMS results on the SMS 

Web site. 

The data preview may be found at 

http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/. During the 

data preview period, the Agency 

requests comments on the impacts of 

the changes. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 29, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Federal Docket 

Management System Number FMCSA– 

2012–0074 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 1- 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

(M–30), U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 

Floor, Room 12–140, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Same as mail 

address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. The telephone 

number is 202–366–9329. 

To avoid duplication, please use only 

one of these four methods. All 

submissions must include the Agency 

name and docket number for this notice. 

See the ‘‘Public Participation’’ heading 

below for instructions on submitting 

comments and additional information. 

Note that all comments received, 

including any personal information 

provided, will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov. Please 

see the ‘‘Privacy Act’’ heading below. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov at any time or to 

Room W12–140 on the ground floor of 

the DOT Headquarters Building at 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 

ET, Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

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 Privacy Act System of 

Records Notice for the DOT Federal 

Docket Management System published 

in the Federal Register on January 17, 

2008 (73 FR 3316), or you may visit 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 18299 

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

E8-785.pdf. 

Public Participation: The http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site is 

generally available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. You can get 

electronic submission and retrieval help 

and guidelines under the ‘‘help’’ section 

of the http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site. Comments received after the 

comment closing date will be included 

in the docket, and will be considered to 

the extent practicable. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Bryan Price, Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration, 1000 Liberty 

Avenue, Suite 1300, Pittsburgh, PA 

15222, Telephone 412–395–4816, EMail: bryan.price@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

December 2010, FMCSA implemented 

SMS to identify high-risk motor carriers 

for on-site investigations consistent with 

Section 4138 of the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient, Transportation 

Equity Act, and Public Law 109–59 

(Aug.10, 2005) (SAFETEA–LU). 

SMS is also used to identify and 

prioritize motor carriers for less 

resource intensive interventions, such 

as automated warning letters, and serves 

as a principal factor in roadside 

inspection software designed to 

recommend motor carriers with known 

performance and compliance problems 

for additional inspections. Furthermore, 

SMS now provides motor carriers and 

other safety stakeholders with regularly 

updated safety performance data 

available through the public Web site 

http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS. 

Select intervention efficiency and 

effectiveness concepts from the 

intervention component of the CSA 

model were also implemented 

nationally in December 2010. These 

concepts include: 

1. Automated Warning Letters; 

2. Focused Compliance Reviews; 

3. Direct Notices of Violation (NOV); 

4. Investigation of Red Flag Driver 

Violations during all Compliance 

Reviews; and 

5. Selection of drivers for examination 

during carrier investigations based on 

an internal selection system (the Driver 

Safety Management System). 

Elements of the CSA model that 

remain to be implemented in future 

phases include more comprehensive 

implementation of the full suite of CSA 

interventions (e.g., off-site investigations 

and cooperative safety plans (CSPs)) and 

the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM) recommending an improved 

approach to safety fitness 

determinations of motor carriers. 

The Agency also uses this notice to 

discuss its evaluation of crash weighting 

in SMS. FMCSA is looking at various 

options within SMS to identify carriers 

that have the greatest risk of future 

crashes. As part of this effort, FMCSA 

has been looking at methods for 

determining crash preventability and 

accountability, and how crashes would 

be weighted in SMS. The increased 

weighting would identify carriers that 

are causing crashes, and prioritize them 

for intervention. In researching this 

issue, FMCSA identified several areas 

where additional data and further study 

are needed before moving forward with 

a proposal on the weighting of crashes 

in SMS. These areas include evaluating 

the uniformity and consistency of police 

accident reports; determining a process 

for assessing crashes in a uniform and 

consistent manner; creating a process 

for accepting public input into the 

process; and determining the actual 

effect on SMS’s ability to identify 

carriers that have a high risk of crashes. 

As a result, the Agency is conducting 

additional research and analysis to 

determine the feasibility of different 

weighting for crashes in SMS based on 

an objective set of criteria. 

Safety Measurement System 

SMS quantifies the safety 

performance of motor carriers using data 

available in FMCSA’s motor carrier 

database, the Motor Carrier Management 

Information System (MCMIS). This 

database includes violations found 

during roadside inspections, traffic 

enforcement, and the intervention 

process. SMS currently groups these 

data into seven Behavioral Analysis 

Safety Improvement Categories 

(BASICs): Unsafe Driving, Fatigued 

Driving (Hours-of-Service), Driver 

Fitness, Controlled Substances and 

Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Cargo 

Related, and Crash History. For further 

detailed information on the current 

structure of SMS, see the SMS 

Methodology at http:// 

csa.fmcsa.dot.gov. 

SMS currently has sufficient data to 

assess the safety performance of 

approximately 200,000 of the 525,000 

active interstate and intrastate HM 

motor carriers in FMCSA’s census files 

(approximately 38 percent). FMCSA’s 

analysis showed that the 200,000 

carriers assessed in the March 2011 run 

of SMS were involved in over 90% of 

the crashes reported to FMCSA from 

April to June 2011. Of those 200,000 

carriers, over 50,000 exceeded the 

intervention threshold in at least one 

BASIC and were identified for Agency 

interventions. Additionally, these 

50,000 carriers (approximately 10 

percent of the total active population) 

were responsible for 45% percent of the 

recorded crashes. FMCSA’s analysis, 

therefore, found very strong associations 

between future crash risk and high 

percentiles in the Unsafe Driving, 

Fatigued Driving (Hours of Service), and 

Crash BASICs of SMS. 

Independent evaluation of SMS data 

by the University of Michigan 

Transportation Research Institute 

(UMTRI) determined that crash rates 

were higher for motor carriers identified 

with safety problems in SMS’s seven 

BASICs. In particular, UMTRI found 

that motor carriers falling above 

FMCSA’s intervention threshold in the 

Unsafe Driving BASIC had crash rates 

that were more than three times greater 

than the crash rate for motor carriers 

without any BASICs above FMCSA’s 

intervention threshold. Similarly, 

UMTRI found that the crash rate for 

motor carriers above FMCSA’s 

intervention threshold in the Fatigued 

Driving (Hours of Service) BASIC was 

nearly three times greater than the crash 

rate for motor carriers without any 

BASICs above FMCSA’s intervention 

threshold. Details on the full UMTRI 

report can be found at http:// 

csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/UMTRI.aspx. 

From the start of CSA, FMCSA 

expected to modify SMS as new data 

and additional analyses became 

available. To date, FMCSA has made a 

number of enhancements to SMS based 

on feedback from State partners, 

industry, and safety advocates. 

Moving forward, FMCSA plans to 

apply a systematic approach to making 

improvements to SMS, prioritizing and 

releasing packages of improvements as 

needed, and providing an SMS preview 

period for law enforcement and motor 

carriers prior to implementation. These 

improvements are the Agency’s 

response to findings from its ongoing 

analyses of data, input from law 

enforcement, the motor carrier industry, 

and other safety stakeholders. This 

package of SMS enhancements includes: 

1. Strengthening the Vehicle 

Maintenance BASIC by moving cargo/ 

load securement violations from the 

Cargo-Related BASIC to the Vehicle 

Maintenance BASIC; 

2. Simultaneously renaming the 

Cargo-Related BASIC the HM BASIC, 

which will better identify HM-related 

safety problems and change how HM 

carriers are classified to allow for 

increased intervention scrutiny; 

3. Better aligning SMS with 

Intermodal Equipment Provider (IEP) 

regulations; 

4. Aligning violations that are 

included in SMS with the Commercial 

Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) 

inspection levels by eliminating the 

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18300 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 

only inspections and driver violations 

from vehicle-only inspections; 

5. Improving the identification of 

passenger carriers; and 

6. Modifying the SMS Web site 

display to: 

a. Change current terminology, 

including the terms ‘‘Insufficient Data’’ 

and ‘‘Inconclusive,’’ to fact-based 

definitions that clarify the carrier’s 

status in each BASIC; 

b. Distinguish between crashes with 

injuries and crashes with fatalities. 

Individual motor carriers will have an 

opportunity to preview their 

performance data so that they can 

determine the impact of SMS 

improvements on their company’s 

information in advance of the public 

release. The Agency also seeks 

comments on the impacts of these 

changes. To view their company’s data, 

motor carriers will have to enter their 

Personal Identification Number (PIN). 

Motor carriers that do not have a PIN, 

or those that have forgotten their PIN, 

can go to the following web address for 

assistance: https://li-public.fmcsa.dot.

gov/LIVIEW/PKG_PIN_START.

PRC_INTRO. 

Following the preview period, 

FMCSA may further refine the new 

methodology before implementation 

and release of the revised SMS results 

to the public. The Agency addresses 

each of these improvements in turn 

below. 

Incorporate Cargo/Load Securement 

Violations Into the Vehicle Maintenance 

BASIC 

Motor carrier industry and 

enforcement stakeholders have noted 

that motor carriers predominantly 

operating open deck trailers (e.g., 

flatbeds) have significantly higher 

Cargo-Related BASIC percentiles than 

those for other groups of operators, 

because load securement issues for 

these types of carriers are more readily 

apparent during roadside inspections. 

Based on this potential bias, FMCSA has 

not made the Cargo-Related BASIC 

performance data available to the 

public. 

While cargo/load securement 

violations comprise 82% of violations 

recorded in the Cargo-Related BASIC, 

they comprise just 4% of violations 

when included in the Vehicle 

Maintenance BASIC. FMCSA compared 

the flatbed bias of the current CargoRelated BASIC with a modified Vehicle 

Maintenance BASIC. The analysis 

determined that while the Cargo-Related 

BASIC identified 66% of flatbed carriers 

(as identified by industry and FMCSA 

field staff) as above the intervention 

threshold in that BASIC, the modified 

Vehicle Maintenance BASIC identified 

only 21% of these carriers as above the 

intervention threshold. FMCSA also 

examined the carriers identified above 

the intervention threshold (i.e., those in 

the 80th percentile) in the current 

Cargo-Related and Vehicle Maintenance 

BASICs and compared them to carriers 

identified under the proposed new 

Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. Carriers 

identified under the new Vehicle 

Maintenance BASIC had over a 20% 

higher crash rate. The analysis showed 

that this approach (1) identifies carriers 

with a higher crash risk for Agency 

interventions and (2) effectively 

addresses the bias associated with 

carriers that haul open trailers while 

still holding all carriers accountable for 

all cargo securement violations. 

Change the Cargo-Related BASIC to the 

HM BASIC and Change How HM 

Carriers Are Identified 

The presence of HM can greatly 

exacerbate the consequences of crashes 

and cargo spills. Because the current 

Cargo-Related BASIC includes both HM 

violations and load securement 

violations, some motor carriers with HM 

compliance issues do not rise above the 

FMCSA’s intervention threshold due to 

the relative weight of general cargo 

securement violations. 

FMCSA consulted with enforcement 

subject matter experts to identify and 

apply severity weightings to the 239 HM 

violations contained in the CargoRelated BASIC and 112 additional HM 

safety-based violations attributable to 

the motor carrier. The Agency then 

conducted effectiveness testing to 

compare the Cargo-Related BASIC with 

a new BASIC for carriers transporting 

HM requiring placards to determine 

which configuration better identified 

carriers with a high risk of future HM 

safety violations. The analysis found 

that the new HM BASIC better 

identified carriers that would commit 

future HM violations than the current 

Cargo-Related BASIC. 

In addition, FMCSA plans to change 

how carriers are classified as HM 

carriers to allow increased intervention 

scrutiny. In August 2011, the criteria for 

identifying carriers subject to the more 

stringent HM intervention thresholds 

were changed to any carrier with HM 

activity (i.e., a placarded HM 

inspection, review, or permit) in the 

past two years rather than identifying 

carriers based on the HM commodities 

noted on the MCS–150 registration 

form. Under these criteria, it was 

determined that some carriers 

inadvertently transport placarded HM 

loads or that an extremely small 

percentage of their loads involved 

placarded HM. FMCSA conducted an 

analysis to establish new criteria for 

excluding carriers that transport HM as 

a minimal part of their business. These 

criteria took two forms: (1) requiring 

HM activity within the last 24 months, 

excluding carriers that have not 

transported HM in over a year, and (2) 

requiring that placardable HM 

inspections constitute a sizable 

proportion of the carrier’s total 

inspections. This change resulted in 

exclusion of approximately 11,500 of 

the 24,000 carriers currently subject to 

HM thresholds, while still 

encompassing 94% of the placardable 

HM inspections recorded in the past 24 

months. 

FMCSA is applying the new criteria to 

focus intervention resources on carriers 

involved in the transportation of HM 

requiring placards. For a carrier to be 

subject to the HM threshold, that carrier 

must have at least two inspections on a 

vehicle transporting HM requiring 

placards, within the past 24 months, 

with one inspection occurring within 

the past 12 months, and making up at 

least five percent of the motor carrier’s 

total inspections. In addition, any motor 

carrier that has an FMCSA HM safety 

permit or that has been identified as a 

carrier of placarded quantities of HM 

from an investigation in the last 24 

months will be subject to the increased 

intervention scrutiny. 

The methodology applies a more 

stringent intervention threshold for 

these carriers transporting HM. The 

Agency created a new HM BASIC that 

includes only HM-related violations and 

inspections on carriers involved in the 

transportation of HM requiring placards. 

This change allows the Agency to better 

identify HM-related safety issues for 

CSA interventions. 

Apply Carrier-Based Violations on 

Intermodal Equipment Provider (IEP) 

Trailers to the Vehicle BASIC 

Currently, SMS does not include any 

roadside violations on an intermodal 

chassis when there is an associated IEP. 

FMCSA chose not to include these 

violations in the first versions of SMS 

because FMCSA was still in the process 

of identifying those violations 

attributable to the motor carrier and 

those attributable to the IEP. Section 

390.44 of title 49, Code of Federal 

Regulations, states that an IEP will not 

be held responsible for such violations 

because a motor carrier indicated 

pursuant to 49 CFR 392.7(b) that the 

chassis components, parts, or 

accessories had no safety defects at the 

time of the pre-trip inspection. Because 

of this, some of the violations found 

during a roadside inspection will be the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 18301 

responsibility of the motor carrier. For 

example, when an IEP interchanges a 

chassis with a motor carrier, the driver 

is required under 49 CFR 392.7(b) to 

conduct a pre-trip inspection to 

determine if that chassis is in good 

working order. If defects are found 

during the pre-trip inspection, the 

driver has the opportunity to alert the 

IEP of such defects. The IEP, in turn, is 

required to either repair the defect or 

replace the equipment prior to the 

driver’s departure. Violations that 

should have been detected during a pretrip inspection but are later found 

during a roadside inspection become the 

responsibility of the motor carrier and 

thus should be applied in SMS. 

FMCSA worked collaboratively with 

law enforcement officials and industry 

personnel, both on the motor carrier and 

IEP sides, to identify the violations that 

could reasonably be found during a pretrip inspection of an IEP chassis. A copy 

of the violation attribution decision 

process and associated violations can be 

found on our web site at 

www.fmcsa.dot.gov/documents/ 

rulesregs/IEP/Visio-ViolationAttribution-07182011_508.pdf. 

In cases where (1) the driver 

conducted a pre-trip inspection, and 

(2) the violation is considered pre-trip 

detectable, the violation is attributed to 

the motor carrier. FMCSA applied this 

rule to the past 24 months of roadside 

inspections, resulting in approximately 

22,000 violations included in the SMS 

Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. 

Eliminate Vehicle Violations From 

‘‘Driver-Only’’ Inspections and Driver 

Violations From ‘‘Vehicle-Only’’ 

Inspections 

Currently, SMS includes Level 3 

(Driver-Only) inspections in the Vehicle 

Maintenance BASIC only when vehicle 

violations are noted on the inspection 

report. Industry and enforcement 

personnel expressed concern that many 

vehicle violations fall outside the scope 

of the inspection and could bias the 

Vehicle Maintenance BASIC data. This 

bias is created by the fact that driveronly inspections count against the 

Vehicle BASIC assessments when 

vehicle violations are documented but 

do not count as a clean inspection 

toward the Vehicle BASIC when vehicle 

violations are not noted. Moreover, 

CVSA policy is that items not indicated 

in the inspection procedure for a 

particular level inspection, for example, 

a Level 3 (Driver-Only) inspection, 

should not be included on the 

inspection report. 

FMCSA is therefore removing vehicle 

violations found during driver-only 

inspections and driver violations found 

during vehicle-only inspections to bring 

SMS into alignment with existing CVSA 

policies regarding protocol for different 

inspection levels. 

FMCSA evaluated the extent to which 

inspectors are citing vehicle violations 

during driver-only inspections to 

confirm that this problem merits the 

attention that stakeholders have 

suggested. Approximately 139,000 

violations, or 2.6 percent of all vehicle 

violations used in SMS, are vehicle 

violations cited during a driver-only 

inspection. While very few driver 

violations are ever documented in 

vehicle-only inspections, this change 

will also be made to ensure that only 

violations within the scope of a 

particular type of inspection are 

included in SMS. 

When a vehicle violation is 

discovered during a Level 3 inspection, 

FMCSA strongly encourages the 

roadside inspector to convert the 

inspection to a Level 2 inspection where 

documentation of vehicle violations is 

appropriate. If the roadside inspector is 

not certified to conduct Level 2 

inspections, the roadside inspector can 

still address the unsafe condition 

through State citations or warnings. 

Identify Motor Carriers Transporting 

Passengers and Apply a More Stringent 

Passenger Carrier Intervention 

Threshold 

Motor carriers subject to the passenger 

carrier intervention threshold in SMS 

are held to a significantly higher 

standard than non-passenger carriers. 

Enforcement stakeholders support 

updating the definition of passenger 

carrier within SMS to better focus 

FMCSA resources on carriers involved 

in passenger transportation. 

FMCSA is revising the definition of 

carriers subject to the lower passenger 

carrier intervention thresholds within 

SMS. The new criteria add all for-hire 

carriers that operate 9–15 passenger 

capacity vehicles and private carriers 

that operate 16-plus passenger capacity 

vehicles, as these carriers are under 

FMCSA’s authority. The new criteria 

exclude carriers that operate only 1–8 

passenger capacity vehicles and private 

carriers that operate only 1–15 

passenger capacity vehicles (effectively 

removing many carriers operating 

limousines, vans, taxis, etc.), as 

operation of these vehicles is generally 

outside most of FMCSA’s regulations. 

The new criteria also remove carriers 

where less than 2% of their respective 

fleets are passenger vehicles, in order to 

exclude carriers that do not haul 

passengers as a significant part of their 

business. FMCSA determined how 

many carriers would be subject to the 

passenger carrier intervention threshold 

under these new criteria. This change 

would remove 4,200 carriers, while 

adding 5,700 carriers. 

Eliminate the Use of the Terms 

‘‘Inconclusive’’ and ‘‘Insufficient Data’’ 

and Distinguish Crash Data 

Since April 2010, the BASIC summary 

on SMS online (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/ 

sms) has used the term ‘‘inconclusive,’’ 

to describe carriers that have enough 

inspections to be assessed but too few 

violations to warrant being considered 

for FMCSA interventions, and the term 

‘‘insufficient data’’ to describe carriers 

that do not have enough inspections to 

produce a robust measure to even be 

assessed. Stakeholders have asked 

FMCSA to offer more specific fact-based 

descriptions, as the terms 

‘‘inconclusive’’ and ‘‘insufficient data’’ 

are perceived to be difficult to 

understand. 

FMCSA is providing a preview of the 

new terminology and the approach to 

presenting the crash data. The Agency 

encourages carriers to give feedback on 

the new terms before they are 

implemented publicly. For example, 

rather than displaying ‘‘insufficient 

data,’’ the site will display a fact-based 

description such as ‘‘< than 5 

inspections,’’ and rather than displaying 

‘‘inconclusive,’’ the site will contain a 

description such as ‘‘no violations 

within 1 year.’’ 

Also, in the ‘‘Summary of Activities’’ 

section of a motor carrier’s information 

on SMS Online, FMCSA displays a 

count of recordable crashes broken into 

‘‘fatality/injury’’ and ‘‘tow- away.’’ In 

response to stakeholder requests, 

FMCSA is separating the combined 

fatality/injury category into distinct 

categories: Fatality, injury, and towaway crashes. 

Implementation 

As of the publication of this notice, 

motor carriers will be able to preview 

how these changes will affect their data 

and SMS results. During the SMS 

preview, motor carriers will have the 

opportunity to review the accuracy of 

SMS data, provide feedback, and if 

necessary, take action to improve their 

safety performance. During the March 

2012 SMS Preview, motor carriers 

should: 

• View their operational information 

to determine if they are now subject to 

placardable HM or passenger carrier 

intervention thresholds. 

• View the new HM BASIC to review 

applicable violations. 

• View the Vehicle Maintenance 

BASIC to determine how cargo/load 

securement violations previously 

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18302 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices 

recorded in the Cargo-Related BASIC 

impact their Vehicle Maintenance 

percentiles, and to see which IEPrelated violations have been recorded. 

• Verify that vehicle violations found 

during driver-only inspections and 

driver violations found during vehicleonly inspections have been removed 

from their Vehicle Maintenance BASIC 

data. 

• Review alternative terminology for 

‘‘insufficient data’’ and ‘‘inconclusive’’ 

in the BASIC summary. 

• View the ‘‘Summary of Activities’’ 

section of SMS Online to see the new 

breakout between injury crashes and 

fatal crashes. 

FMCSA will collect, assess, and 

address feedback during the SMS 

Preview, and may further refine the 

enhancements prior to public 

implementation in July 2012. 

Request for Comments 

FMCSA requests comments on the 

above improvements to SMS. 

Commenters are requested to provide 

supporting data wherever appropriate. 

Issued on: March 22, 2012. 

William Bronrott, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7360 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2012–0043] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Diabetes Mellitus 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of applications for 

exemption from the diabetes mellitus 

requirement; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces receipt of 

applications from 16 individuals for 

exemption from the prohibition against 

persons with insulin-treated diabetes 

mellitus (ITDM) operating commercial 

motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate 

commerce. If granted, the exemptions 

would enable these individuals with 

ITDM to operate CMVs in interstate 

commerce. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 26, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

bearing the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket No. FMCSA– 

2012–0043 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• 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: West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

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

through Friday, except Federal 

Holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Instructions: Each submission must 

include the Agency name and the 

docket numbers for this notice. Note 

that all comments received will be 

posted without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. Please 

see the Privacy Act heading below for 

further information. 

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 

Federal Docket Management System 

(FDMS) is available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. If you want 

acknowledgment 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. 

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: 

Background 

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

FMCSA may grant an exemption from 

the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations 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. The 16 individuals listed in this 

notice have recently requested such an 

exemption from the diabetes prohibition 

in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(3), which applies to 

drivers of CMVs in interstate commerce. 

Accordingly, the Agency will evaluate 

the qualifications of each applicant to 

determine whether granting the 

exemption will achieve the required 

level of safety mandated by the statutes. 

Qualifications of Applicants 

Ross J. Brown 

Mr. Brown, age 59, has had ITDM 

since 2010. His endocrinologist 

examined him in 2011 and certified that 

he has had no severe hypoglycemic 

reactions resulting in loss of 

consciousness, requiring the assistance 

of another person, or resulting in 

impaired cognitive function that 

occurred without warning in the past 12 

months and no recurrent (2 or more) 

severe hypoglycemic episodes in the 

last 5 years. His endocrinologist certifies 

that Mr. Brown understands diabetes 

management and monitoring, has stable 

control of his diabetes using insulin, 

and is able to drive a Commercial Motor 

Vehicle (CMV) safely. Mr. Brown meets 

the vision requirements of 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10). His ophthalmologist 

examined him in 2011 and certified that 

he does not have diabetic retinopathy. 

He holds a Class A Commercial Driver’s 

License (CDL) from Michigan. 

Bert R. Duncan, II 

Mr. Duncan, 49, has had ITDM since 

2004. His endocrinologist examined him 

in 2011 and certified that he has had no 

severe hypoglycemic reactions resulting 

in loss of consciousness, requiring the 

assistance of another person, or 

resulting in impaired cognitive function 

that occurred without warning in the 

past 12 months and no recurrent (2 or 

more) severe hypoglycemic episodes in 

the last 5 years. His endocrinologist 

certifies that Mr. Duncan understands 

diabetes management and monitoring, 

has stable control of his diabetes using 

insulin, and is able to drive a CMV 

safely. Mr. Duncan meets the vision 

requirements of 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10). 

His optometrist examined him in 2011 

and certified that he does not have 

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