Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Proposed Rules 88337 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

49 CFR Part 674 

[FTA Docket No. FTA 2023–0008] 

RIN 2132–AB42 

State Safety Oversight 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), United States Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

extension of comment period. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) is extending the 

comment period for the notice of 

proposed rulemaking regarding FTA’s 

State Safety Oversight program, which 

was published on November 15, 2023, 

with the original comment period 

closing on January 16, 2024. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

proposed rule published November 15, 

2023, at 88 FR 78269, is extended. 

Comments are requested by February 

15, 2024. Late-arriving comments will 

be considered to the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may file comments 

identified by docket number FTA– 

2023–0008 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Ave. 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 Ave. SE, between 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number or Regulatory 

Information Number (RIN) for this 

rulemaking. All comments received will 

be posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. For 

detailed instructions on sending 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

‘‘Public Participation’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

Docket: To access the docket and read 

background documents or comments 

received, go to: https://

www.regulations.gov. Background 

documents and comments received may 

also be viewed at the U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 

SE, Docket Operations, M–30, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

program matters, contact Loretta 

Bomgardner, Office of Transit Safety 

and Oversight, FTA, telephone (202) 

577–5896 or loretta.bomgardner@

dot.gov. For legal matters, contact 

Richard Wong, Office of the Chief 

Counsel, telephone (202) 366–4011 or 

richard.wong@dot.gov. Office hours are 

from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a letter 

submitted to the docket dated November 

16, 2023, the American Public 

Transportation Association (APTA), on 

behalf of more than 1,300 member 

organizations, requested a 30-day 

extension of the comment period for the 

State Safety Oversight notice of 

proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published 

in the Federal Register on November 15, 

2023 (88 FR 78269). 

As justification for this extension, 

APTA cited two current rulemakings for 

which FTA is seeking comments, the 

Public Transportation Safety 

Certification Training NPRM (88 FR 

73573) and the Hours of Service and 

Fatigue Risk Management ANPRM (88 

FR 74107). APTA noted that transit 

agencies, State safety oversight agencies, 

and APTA are already reviewing and 

preparing comments, and replying to a 

third would be burdensome. In 

addition, APTA notes three Federal 

holidays between the time the NPRM 

was published and comments are due, 

and that many offices, including APTA, 

will be closed between Christmas and 

New Year’s Day. APTA believes an 

extension of time would ensure that 

APTA and its members have the 

necessary time to produce a thoughtful 

response to the NPRM. 

Given the importance of public 

transportation safety and the need for a 

more fulsome dialogue on FTA’s safety 

priorities, FTA believes an extension of 

time is justified and is extending the 

comment period until February 15, 

2024. 

To ensure that comments are filed 

correctly, please follow the instructions 

in the ADDRESSES section above, 

including the docket number provided 

[FTA–2023–0008] in your comments. 

Veronica Vanterpool, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28155 Filed 12–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

49 CFR Part 675 

[FTA Docket No. FTA 2023–0018] 

RIN 2132–AB46 

Transit Worker Hours of Service and 

Fatigue Risk Management 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), United States Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking, extension of comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) is extending the 

comment period for the advance notice 

of proposed rulemaking regarding 

transit worker hours of service and 

fatigue risk management, published on 

October 30, 2023, with the original 

comment period closing on December 

29, 2023. The extension is based on 

concerns from the American Public 

Transportation Association (APTA) that 

the comment period did not provide 

sufficient time to review and provide 

comprehensive comments to the 

ANPRM due to two Federal holidays 

and the closure of many offices between 

Christmas and New Year’s Day. FTA 

recognizes that others interested in 

commenting may have similar concerns 

and agrees that the comment period 

should be extended. 

DATES: The comment period for the 

proposed rule published October 30, 

2023, at 88 FR 74107, is extended. 

Comments are requested by January 29, 

2024. FTA will consider comments 

received after that date to the extent 

practicable. 

ADDRESSES: You may file comments, 

identified by docket number FTA– 

2023–0018, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Ave. 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 Ave. SE, between 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number (FTA 2023–0018) for 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
88338 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

this rulemaking. All comments received 

will be posted without change to 

https://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

Docket: To access the docket and read 

background documents or comments 

received, go to: https://

www.regulations.gov. Background 

documents and comments received may 

also be viewed at the U.S. Department 

of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 

SE, Docket Operations, M–30, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

program matters, contact Valerie Beck, 

Office of Transit Safety and Oversight, 

FTA, telephone (202) 366–9178 or email 

FTAFitnessforDuty@dot.gov. For legal 

matters, contact Emily Jessup, Office of 

the Chief Counsel, telephone (202) 366– 

8907 or email emily.jessup@dot.gov. 

Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a letter 

submitted to the docket dated November 

29, 2023, the American Public 

Transportation Association (APTA) 

requested a 30-day extension of the 

comment period for the advance notice 

of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 30, 2023 (88 FR 74107). 

As justification for this extension, 

APTA believed that it could synthesize 

consensus comments from the industry 

by the December 29, 2023, deadline, but 

it will be nearly impossible due to two 

Federal holidays between the time the 

NPRM was published and comments are 

due, and the fact that that many offices, 

including APTA’s, will be closed 

between Christmas and New Year’s Day. 

APTA also notes that it held a webinar 

for safety coordinators to collect 

comments and plans to hold another 

one in later December to synthesize 

comments. APTA also stated that 

intends to hold a meeting for transit 

CEOs to collect their thoughts on an 

initial draft response in late December 

or early January. APTA believes an 

extension of time would ensure that 

APTA and its members have the 

necessary time to survey, draft, and vet 

consensus comments and to produce a 

more complete response to the NPRM. 

Given the importance of public 

transportation safety and the desire for 

a robust dialogue on the issues 

surrounding transit worker fatigue, and 

the likelihood that other commenters 

may have similar concerns, FTA 

believes an extension of time is justified 

and is extending the comment period 

until January 29, 2024. 

FTA is not republishing the questions 

in this document. Instead, please refer 

to the ANPRM (88 FR 74107). To ensure 

that comments are filed correctly, please 

follow the instructions in the ADDRESSES

section above and include the docket 

number provided [FTA–2023–0018] in 

your comments. 

Veronica Vanterpool, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2023–28154 Filed 12–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

50 CFR Part 17 

[Docket No. FWS–R4–ES–2023–0220; 

FF09E21000 FXES1111090FEDR 245] 

RIN 1018–BG92 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Threatened Species Status 

for Coal Darter With Section 4(d) Rule 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), propose to 

list the coal darter (Percina brevicauda), 

a small, benthic freshwater fish native to 

the Mobile River Basin in Alabama, as 

a threatened species under the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (Act). This determination also 

serves as our 12-month finding on a 

petition to list the coal darter. After a 

review of the best available scientific 

and commercial information, we find 

that listing the species is warranted. 

Accordingly, we propose to list the coal 

darter as a threatened species with a 

rule issued under section 4(d) of the Act 

(‘‘4(d) rule’’) to provide for the 

conservation of the species. If we 

finalize this rule as proposed, it would 

add this species to the List of 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and extend the Act’s protections to the 

species. 

DATES: We will accept comments 

received or postmarked on or before 

February 20, 2024. Comments submitted 

electronically using the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal (see ADDRESSES, 

below) must be received by 11:59 p.m. 

eastern time on the closing date. We 

must receive requests for a public 

hearing, in writing, at the address 

shown in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT by February 5, 2024. 

ADDRESSES:

Written comments: You may submit 

comments by one of the following 

methods: 

(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: https://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter FWS–R4–ES–2023–0220, which is 

the docket number for this rulemaking. 

Then, click on the Search button. On the 

resulting page, in the panel on the left 

side of the screen, under the Document 

Type heading, check the Proposed Rule 

box to locate this document. You may 

submit a comment by clicking on 

‘‘Comment.’’ 

(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail 

to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: 

FWS–R4–ES–2023–0220, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 

Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041– 

3803. 

We request that you send comments 

only by the methods described above. 

We will post all comments on https:// 

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see 

Information Requested, below, for more 

information). 

Availability of supporting materials: 

Supporting materials, such as the 

species status assessment report, are 

available on the Service’s website at 

https://www.fws.gov/office/alabamaecological-services, at https://

ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/9959, and at 

https://www.regulations.gov under 

Docket No. FWS–R4–ES–2023–0220. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William Pearson, Field Supervisor, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama 

Ecological Services Field Office, 1208 

Main Street, Daphne, AL 36526; 

telephone 251–441–5181. Individuals in 

the United States who are deaf, 

deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 

speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, 

TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. Please see 

Docket No. FWS–R4–ES–2023–0220 on 

https://www.regulations.gov for a 

document that summarizes this 

proposed rule. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Executive Summary 

Why we need to publish a rule. Under 

the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), a 

species warrants listing if it meets the 

definition of an endangered species (in 

danger of extinction throughout all or a 

significant portion of its range) or a 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS