Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2024 / Notices 3983 

6. Hazardous Waste: Comprehensive 

Environmental Response, Compensation 

and Liability Act [42 U.S.C. 103]; 

Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act of 1976 [42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.]. 

7. Social and Economic: NEPA 

implementation [23 U.S.C. 109(h)]; Civil 

Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000(d)– 

2000(d)(1)]. 

8. Executive Orders: E.O. 12898 

Federal Actions to Address 

Environmental Justice and Low-Income 

Populations; E.O. 11988 Floodplain 

Management. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning 

and Construction. The regulations 

implementing Executive Order 12372 

regarding intergovernmental consultation on 

Federal programs and activities apply to this 

program.) 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). 

Antonio Johnson, 

Director of Planning, Environmental and 

Right of Way, Federal Highway 

Administration, California Division. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01053 Filed 1–19–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–RY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0180] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Renewal of an Approved 

Information Collection: Practices of 

Household Goods Brokers 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

FMCSA announces its plan to submit 

the Information Collection Request (ICR) 

described below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for its 

review and approval and invites public 

comment. FMCSA requests OMB’s 

renewed approval to the ICR titled 

‘‘Practices of Household Brokers,’’ 

which applies to household goods 

(HHG) brokers who are procured by the 

public (HHG shippers) to arrange the 

transportation of the shipper’s 

household goods by HHG motor 

carriers. This renewal updates wage 

related costs that have changed since 

the last approval and revises the 

previous information collection total 

respondent hourly and cost burden. 

DATES: Comments on this notice must be 

received on or before March 22, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Docket Number FMCSA– 

2023–0180 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 

Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Dockets 

Operations, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, West Building, Ground 

Floor, Washington, DC 20590–0001 

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

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

To be sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 366–9317 or (202) 366– 

9826 before visiting Dockets Operations. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

To avoid duplication, please use only 

one of these four methods. See the 

‘‘Public Participation and Request for 

Comments’’ portion of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 

instructions on submitting comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Donnice Wagoner, Commercial 

Enforcement and Investigations 

Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 

6th Floor MC–SEI, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590– 

0001; (202) 366–8045; 

donnice.wagoner@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Instructions 

All submissions must include the 

Agency name and docket number. For 

detailed instructions on submitting 

comments, see the Public Participation 

heading below. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to https://www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

notice (FMCSA–2023–0180), indicate 

the specific section of this document to 

which your comment applies, and 

provide a reason for each suggestion or 

recommendation. 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 FMCSA can 

contact you if there are questions 

regarding your submission. If you want 

us to notify you that we received your 

comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard, or print the acknowledgement 

page that appears after submitting 

comments online. 

To submit your comment online, go to 

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ 

FMCSA-2023-0180/document, click on 

this notice, click ‘‘Comment,’’ and type 

your comment into the text box on the 

following screen. 

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. 

Comments received after the comment 

closing date will be included in the 

docket and will be considered to the 

extent practicable. 

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. 

Background 

As a result of Title IV, Subtitle B of 

the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU) (Pub. 

L. 109–59) and a petition for rulemaking 

from the American Moving and Storage 

Association (AMSA), FMCSA amended 

then-existing regulations for brokers in 

a final rule titled, ‘‘Brokers of 

Household Goods Transportation by 

Motor Vehicles,’’ (75 FR 72987, Nov. 29, 

2010), amending 49 CFR part 371 by 

providing additional consumer 

protection responsibilities for brokers of 

HHG. 

Section 4212 of SAFETEA–LU directs 

the Secretary of Transportation to 

require HHG brokers to provide 

shippers with information throughout 

the various stages of their interactions 

with shippers. The following phases 

summarize the information collection 

required by the HHG broker at the 

various contractual stages by 49 CFR 

371. 

I. First Phase: ‘‘Prospecting’’ 

When a HHG shipper is looking to 

procure a HHG broker’s services, the 

broker must collect the following 

information and display it on its 

websites and solicitation materials: 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
3984 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2024 / Notices 

• Its physical address (§ 371.107a); 

• Its U.S. DOT license numbers 

(§ 371.107b); 

• A statement indicating it will not 

transport the shipper’s goods but will 

only arrange for goods to be transported 

by a registered motor carrier 

(§ 371.107c); 

• If the broker chooses to publish 

rates on its website or solicitation 

materials, the broker must also publish 

a statement that the rates are based on 

a motor carrier’s publicly available rates 

(§ 371.107d); 

• If broker chooses to publish a list of 

motor carriers it works with, the list 

must be a list only of carriers with 

which brokers have agreements 

(§ 371.107e); and 

• Brokers must publish information 

regarding their cancellation policies, 

including information on deposits and 

refunds (§ 371.117a). 

For the exact text of regulations see 

section 12 part I of this document. 

II. Second Phase: ‘‘Contact’’ 

When an HHG shipper makes a 

reasonable request seeking additional 

information about broker services, the 

HHG broker must collect the following 

information and distribute it to the HHG 

shipper: 

• A list of carriers it has agreements 

with (§ 371.109a); and 

• A statement indicating the broker is 

not a carrier and that the broker is only 

arranging transportation of shipper’s 

goods (§ 371.109b). 

For the exact text of regulations see 

Section 12 Part II. 

III. Third Phase: ‘‘Estimate’’ 

When an HHG shipper requests an 

estimate, the broker must collect the 

following information and provide it to 

the shipper: 

• FMCSA’s published information 

material: (1) ‘‘Ready to Move? Tips for 

a Successful Interstate Move’’ and (2) 

‘‘Your Rights and Responsibilities When 

You Move (2022 Update)’’ (§ 371.111a1, 

2, and 3); 

• A written estimate based on a 

physical survey of household items 

(§ 371.113a) and published carrier rates 

(§ 371.113b); and 

• If applicable, a ‘‘Waiver’’ receipt 

showing shipper waived their right to a 

physical survey of their household 

items (§ 371.113b). 

The broker must obtain a signed 

document showing that FMCSA’s 

published information material was 

received by the shipper (§ 371.111c). For 

the exact text of regulations see section 

12 part III. 

IV. Fourth Phase: ‘‘Agreement’’ 

Should the shipper find the 

estimate(s) and broker services 

reasonable and wish to book the 

broker’s services, the two parties must 

enter into an agreement. At this point it 

is standard practice for shippers to pay 

a deposit or full payment. Before a 

deposit is collected, the broker must 

collect the following information and 

distribute it to the HHG shipper: 

• An agreement document with 

required specifications as laid out by 

regulation § 371.115; and 

• An agreement document which 

highlights the broker’s and/or motor 

carrier’s refund policy for cancelation of 

agreements (§ 371.117a). 

For the exact text of regulations see 

section 12 part IV. 

V. Fifth Phase: ‘‘Delivery’’ 

After the broker confirms delivery of 

the household goods by the carrier, the 

broker must collect the following 

information and distribute it to the HHG 

shipper: 

• A receipt with transaction data, 

including cancelation details if the 

agreement was canceled as laid out by 

49 CFR 371.3. 

The complete collection of 

information, required by the referenced 

regulations, assists shippers in their 

business dealings with interstate HHG 

brokers. The information collected is 

used by prospective shippers to make 

informed decisions about contracts, 

services ordered, executed, and settled. 

The HHG broker is often the primary 

contact for individual shippers and in 

the best position to educate shippers 

and prepare them for a successful move. 

The information collection is intended 

to combat deceptive business practices; 

the information helps enforcement 

personnel better protect consumers by 

verifying that shippers are receiving 

information as required by regulations. 

FMCSA revises the total annual 

burden to 86,488 hours. This is an 

increase of 13,680 annual burden hours 

from the currently approved 72,808 

burden estimate. The increase is due to 

the following: 

(1) FMCSA’s records for household 

goods brokers increased from 652 

brokers to 1,256 brokers. 

Title: Practices of Household Goods 

Brokers. 

OMB Control Number: 2126–0048. 

Type of Request: Renewal of currently 

approved collection. 

Respondents: Brokers of Household 

Goods. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

1,256. 

Estimated Time per Response: Varies. 

Expiration Date: May 31, 2024. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

86,488. 

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 

ICR. 

Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 

1.87. 

Thomas P. Keane, 

Associate Administrator, Office of Research 

and Registration. 

[FR Doc. 2024–01080 Filed 1–19–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket No. FRA–2023–0002–N–24] 

Proposed Agency Information 

Collection Activities; Comment 

Request 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its 

implementing regulations, this notice 

announces that FRA is forwarding the 

Information Collection Request (ICR) 

abstracted below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and comment. The ICR describes 

the information collection and its 

expected burden. On July 21, 2023, FRA 

published a notice providing a 60-day 

period for public comment on the ICR. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before February 

21, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed ICR 

should be sent within 30 days of 

publication of this notice to 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Find the particular ICR by selecting 

‘‘Currently under Review—Open for 

Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1