22058 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 71 / Thursday, April 12, 2012 / Notices 

Dated: April 6, 2012. 

Brian Robinson, 

Executive Secretary, Shipping Coordinating 

Committee, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8830 Filed 4–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–09–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

[Docket No. FHWA–2012–0033] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Request for Comments for a 

New Information Collection 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public 

comments about our intention to request 

the Office of Management and Budget’s 

(OMB) approval for a new information 

collection, which is summarized below 

under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. We 

are required to publish this notice in the 

Federal Register by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. 

DATES: Please submit comments by June 

11, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by DOT Docket ID 2012–0033 

by any of the following methods: 

Web Site: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: Go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. 

Department of Transportation, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

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

except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Ferroni, 202–366–9237, Office of 

Natural Environment, Federal Highway 

Administration, Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: Possible Inclusion of Specific 

Pavement Types in the FHWA Traffic 

Noise Model: Regulatory and Procedural 

Changes. 

Background: The Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) has been 

actively involved in what today the 

highway noise industry refers to as 

‘‘quieter pavements.’’ In 2003, the 

FHWA entered into the Quiet Pavement 

Pilot Program with the Arizona 

Department of Transportation, cosponsored the 2004 International Scan 

on ‘‘Quieter Pavement Systems in 

Europe,’’ and funded several national 

workshops, trainings and informational 

outreach pieces on this topic. In 2005, 

the FHWA began funding the 

‘‘Pavement Effects Implementation 

Study’’ (PEI) to see how more specific 

pavement types could be incorporated 

into the FHWA Traffic Noise Model 

(FHWA TNM). The incorporation of 

specific pavement types into TNM 

would require State Departments of 

Transportation to use these more 

specific pavement types in TNM and 

would result in additional regulatory 

and procedural changes. 

The PEI currently is out of funding 

but an interim report will soon be 

released. Before additional time, effort 

and funding are put into completing the 

PEI, it is important to conduct a userneed analysis to determine whether our 

stakeholders, primarily State 

Departments of Transportation, still 

want us to complete this research, 

knowing that it would result in 

regulatory and procedural changes. The 

information would cover the topics of 

being required to use a more specific 

pavement type(s), being required to 

maintain the specific pavement type 

selected, and being required to call a 

project, a Type I project, if the original 

pavement is replaced or overlaid with a 

louder pavement. 

Respondents: Approximately 60 

entities. 

Frequency: Once. 

Estimated Average Burden per 

Response: Approximately 30 minutes. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: Approximately 30 hours. 

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 FHWA’s performance; 

(2) the accuracy of the estimated 

burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to 

enhance the quality, usefulness, and 

clarity of the collected information; and 

(4) ways that the burden could be 

minimized, including the use of 

electronic technology, without reducing 

the quality of the collected information. 

The agency will summarize and/or 

include your comments in the request 

for OMB’s clearance of this information 

collection. 

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995; 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended; 

and 49 CFR 1.48. 

Issued on: April 2, 2012. 

Juli Huynh, 

Chief, Management Programs and Analysis 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8847 Filed 4–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2012–0091] 

Notice of Fiscal Year 2012 Cooperative 

Agreement Solicitation for 

Applications; Specialized Heavy 

Vehicle Inspection (SHVI) Study 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice; request for applications. 

SUMMARY: This notice is to inform the 

public of a FY 2012 cooperative 

agreement opportunity being offered by 

the FMCSA in cooperation with the 

Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) to State agencies responsible 

for large truck roadside safety 

inspections. The FMCSA announces 

this cooperative agreement opportunity 

based on authorities provided for in the 

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, 

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy of 

Users (Pub. L. 109–59). The cooperative 

agreement opportunity is to support the 

FMCSA and the FHWA to collect data 

for a Specialized Heavy Vehicle 

Inspection (SHVI) Study. 

DATES: Applications are due by May 4, 

2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Please contact the following FMCSA 

staff with questions or information on 

this cooperative agreement opportunity: 

Luke Loy, luke.loy@dot.gov, 202–366– 

0676. FMCSA staff may be reached at 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are 

from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., EST, Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background and Purpose 

In an effort to better understand the 

safety performance of heavier vehicles, 

the FMCSA and the FHWA are 

partnering to implement the Specialized 

Heavy Vehicle Inspection (SHVI) Study 

Cooperative Agreement. The SHVI 

Study Cooperative Agreement will 

provide funding to State agencies 

responsible for large truck roadside 

safety inspections. The purpose of the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 71 / Thursday, April 12, 2012 / Notices 22059 

Study is to collect safety data from 

roadside inspections on vehicles 

exceeding certain weight levels to 

determine if there are any associations 

between higher vehicle weights and 

motor carrier safety violations, 

particularly those with out-of-service 

conditions. 

Detailed information on applicant 

expectations and the application 

process for these cooperative 

agreements will be provided in a Notice 

of Funding Availability to be released 

April 16, 2012 or soon thereafter. The 

FMCSA intends to enter into these 

cooperative agreements by June 1, 2012 

or as soon thereafter as administratively 

practicable. 

The FMCSA uses the standard grant 

application form and quarterly reporting 

process. The FMCSA requires the 

Standard Form 424 (Application for 

Federal Assistance). Applicants for this 

cooperative agreement will be expected 

to also complete a Project Narrative and 

Budget Narrative to support their 

application. FMCSA uses 

GrantSolutions, a grants management 

information technology system, to 

provide all cooperative agreement 

documents electronically to its financial 

processing office. GrantSolutions is a 

comprehensive grants management 

system provided by the Grants Center of 

Excellence (COE). The Grants COE 

serves as one of three consortia leads 

under the Grants Management Line of 

Business E-Gov initiative offering 

government-wide grants management 

system support services. Electronic 

signature of grant documents in 

GrantSolutions is the Agency’s preferred 

method for executing grant agreement. 

Additional information will be provided 

to grantees during the grant award 

process. Grantees will, however, be 

required to submit the completed 

Automated Clearing House (ACH) 

Vendor Payment Form (SF–3881) 

directly to FMCSA’s financial 

processing office by U.S. Postal Service, 

courier service or secure fax. All SHVI 

Study cooperative agreement 

applications must be submitted 

electronically through Grants.gov. 

Application Information for FY 2012 

Grants 

Eligible Entities: State agencies with 

the responsibility to conduct large truck 

roadside safety inspections. 

Evaluation Factors: The following 

evaluation factors will be used in 

reviewing the applications for all 

FMCSA discretionary grants: 

(1) Prior performance—Completion of 

identified programs and goals per the 

project plan. 

(2) Effective Use of Prior Grants— 

Demonstrated timely use and expensing 

of available funds. 

(3) Ability of the applicant to support 

the strategies and activities in the 

proposal for the entire project period of 

performance. 

(4) Use of innovative approaches in 

executing a project plan to address 

identified safety issues. 

(5) Feasibility of overall program 

coordination and implementation based 

upon the project plan. 

Application Due Date: May 4, 2012. 

Applications submitted after due 

dates may be considered on a case-bycase basis and are subject to availability 

of funds. 

Issued on: April 5, 2012. 

Kelly Leone, 

Associate Administrator, Research and 

Information Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8772 Filed 4–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2011–0324] 

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 eleven 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 

April 12, 2012. The exemptions expire 

on April 12, 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 February 13, 2012, FMCSA 

published a notice of receipt of 

exemption applications from certain 

individuals, and requested comments 

from the public (77 FR 7657). That 

notice listed eleven applicants’ case 

histories. The eleven 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 

eleven 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 

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