Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 201 / Tuesday, October 17, 2000 / Notices 61373

(iv) An evacuation of the general public

occurs lasting one or more hours; or

(v) One or more major transportation

arteries or facilities are closed or shut down

for one hour or more; or

(vi) The operational flight pattern or

routine of an aircraft is altered; or

(2) Fire, breakage, spillage, or suspected

radioactive contamination occurs involving

shipment of radioactive material (see also

§§ 174.45, 176.48, and 177.807 of this

subchapter); or

(3) Fire, breakage, spillage, or suspected

contamination occurs involving shipment of

infectious substances (etiologic agents); or

(4) There has been a release of a marine

pollutant in a quantity exceeding 450 L (119

gallons) for liquids or 400 kg (882 pounds)

for solids; or

(5) A situation exists of such a nature (e.g.,

a continuing danger to life exists at the scene

of the incident) that, in the judgment of the

carrier, it should be reported to the

Department even though it does not meet the

criteria of paragraph (a) (1), (2) or (3) of this

section.

(b) Except for transportation by aircraft,

each notice required by paragraph (a) of this

section shall be given to the Department by

telephone (toll-free) on 800–424–8802.

Notice involving shipments transported by

aircraft must be given to the nearest FAA

Civil Aviation Security Office by telephone at

the earliest practical moment after each

incident in place of the notice to the

Department. Notice involving etiologic agents

may be given to the Director, Centers for

Disease Control, U. S. Public Health Service,

Atlanta, GA (800) 232–0124, in place of the

notice to the Department or (toll call) on 202–

267–2675. Each notice must include the

following information:

(1) Name of reporter;

(2) Name and address of carrier

represented by reporter;

(3) Phone number where reporter can be

contacted;

(4) Date, time, and location of incident;

(5) The extent of injuries, if any;

(6) Classification, name, and quantity of

hazardous materials involved, if such

information is available;

(7) Type of incident and nature of

hazardous material involvement and whether

a continuing danger to life exists at the scene.

(c) Each carrier making a report under this

section shall also make the report required by

§ 171.16.

Section 171.16 of Title 49 of the Code of

Federal Regulations provides as follows:

§ 171.16 DETAILED HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

INCIDENT REPORTS.

(a) Each carrier who transports hazardous

materials shall report in writing, in duplicate,

on DOT Form F 5800.1 (Rev. 6/89) to the

Department within 30 days of the date of

discovery, each incident that occurs during

the course of transportation (including

loading, unloading, and temporary storage) in

which any of the circumstances set forth in

171.15(a) occurs or there has been an

unintentional release of hazardous materials

from a package (including a tank) or any

quantity of hazardous waste has been

discharged during transportation. If a report

pertains to a hazardous waste discharge:

(1) A copy of the hazardous waste manifest

for the waste must be attached to the report;

and

(2) An estimate of the quantity of the waste

removed from the scene, the name and

address of the facility to which it was taken,

and the manner of disposition of any

removed waste must be entered in Section IX

of the report form (Form F 5800.1) (Rev. 6/

89).

(b) Each carrier making a report under this

section shall send the report to the

Information Systems Manager, DHM–63,

Research and Special Programs

Administration, Department of

Transportation, Washington, DC 20590–0001;

and, for incidents involving transportation by

aircraft, a copy of the report shall also be sent

to the FAA Civil Aviation Security Office

nearest the location of the incident. A copy

of the report shall be retained for a period of

two years, at the carrier’s principal place of

business, or at other places as authorized and

approved in writing by an agency of the

Department of Transportation.

(c) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of

this section, the requirements of paragraph

(a) of this section do not apply to incidents

involving the unintentional release of a

hazardous material—

(1) Transported under one of the following

proper shipping names:

i. Consumer commodity;

ii. Battery, electric storage, wet, filled with

acid or alkali;

iii. Paint and paint related material when

shipped in packaging of five gallons or less.

(2) Prepared and transported as a limited

quantity shipment in accordance with this

subchapter .

(d) The exceptions to incident reporting

provided in paragraph (c) of this section do

not apply to:

(1) Incidents required to be reported under

§ 171.15(a);

(2) Incidents involving transportation

aboard aircraft;

(3) Except for consumer commodities,

materials in Packing Group I; or

(4) Incidents involving the transportation

of hazardous waste.

III. Basis for Preemption

Subsection (b)(1) of 49 U.S.C. 5125

provides that a non-federal requirement

concerning ‘‘(D) the written notification,

recording, and reporting of the unintentional

release in transportation of hazardous

material’’ is preempted if ‘‘it is not

substantively the same as’’ a provision of

federal transportation law or a regulation

prescribed under that law. La. R. S. § 32:1510

is a non-federal requirement relating to the

written notification and reporting of an

unintentional release in transportation of

hazardous materials that is not

‘‘substantively the same as’’ the federal

regulations.

The federal regulations in 49 CFR 171.15

and 171.16 clearly require ‘‘the carrier’’ to

fulfill the immediate reporting requirements

for hazardous material accidents. The

Louisiana statute is much broader and

requires that ‘‘each person involved in an

incident’’ make an immediate report to the

state police. There can be many persons

involved in an incident, such as the carrier,

the owner of the goods, or agents of each of

them. Thus, the Louisiana statute requires

duplicate reporting which could be confusing

to those who may have to respond to the

incident. From the standpoint of the

manufacturer of the goods, it is an

impractical regulation and will be difficult to

achieve compliance. Arrangements are made

between the manufacturer and the carrier to

make sure that the carrier has the

responsibility to make the immediate

notification required under the federal

regulations. The Louisiana requirement is

much broader than the applicable federal

requirement. Thus, La. R.S. § 32:1510 does

not ‘‘conform in every significant respect to

the Federal requirement,’’ 49 CFR 107.202(d).

As such, it is not substantively the same and

should be preempted.

ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc. requests this

preemption determination because it

received a Notice of Violation from the

Louisiana State Police identifying a violation

of La. R. S. § 32:1510. For the incident in

question, ATOFINA believed that the carrier

would make any necessary notification since

it was directly present on the scene. Thus, to

the extent that Louisiana believes that

immediate notification is necessary for

emergency response purposes, that concern

is satisfied by imposing the immediate

notification obligation on the carrier rather

than on each person involved in the incident,

some of whom may not be present at the

scene and who would be making a

notification based on second hand

information received from those at the scene.

It would be impractical and a burden on

interstate commerce to require a large

national company to comply with a

multitude of different reporting requirements

in the different state jurisdictions,

particularly those like Louisiana’s which

impose the same duty on multiple parties.

Procedures would become so cumbersome

that ultimately they would not be useful at

all. Therefore, ATOFINA Chemicals, Inc.

requests that a determination be made that

La. R. S. § 32:1510 is preempted by 49 CFR

171.15 and 171.16.

[FR Doc. 00–25589 Filed 10–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Finance Docket No. 33931]

Massachusetts Central Railroad

Corporation—Acquisition and

Operation Exemption—New York

Central Lines LLC and CSX

Transportation, Inc.

Massachusetts Central Railroad

Corporation (MCER), a Class III railroad,

has filed a notice of exemption under 49

CFR 1150.41 to acquire from New York

Central Lines LLC and CSX

Transportation, Inc. (collectively CSX)

and operate approximately 1.4 miles ±

61374 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 201 / Tuesday, October 17, 2000 / Notices

1MCER states that it currently leases the line from

CSX and operates it.

of line from milepost QBR 0.205 to

milepost QBR 1.605, in Palmer, MA.1

The earliest the transaction could be

consummated was October 6, 2000, the

effective date of the exemption (7 days

after the exemption was filed). Counsel

for MCER has been contacted by

telephone and has acknowledged that

the transaction could not be

consummated until October 6, 2000.

If the verified notice contains false or

misleading information, the exemption

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d)

may be filed at any time. The filing of

a petition to revoke does not

automatically stay the transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all

pleadings, referring to STB Finance

Docket No. 33931, must be filed with

the Surface Transportation Board, Office

of the Secretary, Case Control Unit, 1925

K Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. In addition, one copy of each

pleading must be served on James E.

Howard, Esq., One Thompson Square,

Suite 201, Charlestown, MA 02129.

Board decisions and notices are

available on our website at

‘‘WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.’’

Decided: October 10, 2000.

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, Director,

Office of Proceedings.

Vernon A. Williams,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–26653 Filed 10–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4915–00–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, invites the general public and

other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Bureau of

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms within

the Department of the Treasury is

soliciting comments concerning the

Letterhead Applications and Notices

Filed by Brewers.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before December 18,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms, Linda Barnes, 650

Massachusetts Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20226, (202) 927–8930.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the form(s) and instructions

should be directed to William H. Foster,

Regulations Division, 650 Massachusetts

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20226,

(202) 927–8374.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Letterhead Applications and

Notices Filed by Brewers.

OMB Number: 1512–0045.

Form Number: ATF F 5130.10.

Recordkeeping Requirement ID

Number: ATF REC 5130/2.

Abstract: The Internal Revenue Code

requires brewers to file a notice of intent

to operate a brewery. ATF F 5130.10 is

similar to a permit and, when approved

by ATF, is a brewer’s authorization to

operate. Letterhead applications and

notices are necessary to identify

brewery activities so that ATF may

insure that proposed operations do not

jeopardize Federal revenues. Brewers

must keep general required records for

ongoing brewery operations for a period

of 3 years. However, the brewer must

keep certain documents for an indefinite

period. Qualifying documents are the

permission to operate. So, as long as the

brewery is in operation, the brewer must

keep the pertinent qualifying

documents, including the Brewer’s

Notice and other notices and

applications.

Current Actions: The form has been

rewritten in plain language style which

makes it more easily understood. Also,

the revised form has combined many

letterhead instructions and attachments

where previously the brewer would

have to generate the attachments for the

application. The number of breweries

has increased substantially but the

burden to complete the form has been

reduced by 1 hour.

Type of Review: Extension with

changes.

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

1,750.

Estimated Time Per Respondent: 3

hours for the form and 30 minutes for

notices and applications.

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 9,625.

Request for Comments

Comments submitted in response to

this notice will be summarized and/or

included in the request for OMB

approval. All comments will become a

matter of public record. Comments are

invited on: (a) Whether the collection of

information is necessary for the proper

performance of the functions of the

agency, including whether the

information shall have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of the burden of the collection of

information; (c) ways to enhance the

quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected; (d) ways to

minimize the burden of the collection of

information on respondents, including

through the use of automated collection

techniques or other forms of information

technology; and (e) estimates of capital

or start-up costs and costs of operation,

maintenance, and purchase of services

to provide information.

Dated: October 10, 2000.

William T. Earle,

Assistant Director (Management) CFO.

[FR Doc. 00–26624 Filed 10–16–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–31–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Department of the

Treasury, as part of its continuing effort

to reduce paperwork and respondent

burden, invites the general public and

other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on proposed

and/or continuing information

collections, as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C.

3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Bureau of

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms within

the Department of the Treasury is

soliciting comments concerning the

Firearms Transaction Record, Part II

Non-Over-The-Counter.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before December 18,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments

to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms, Linda Barnes, 650

Massachusetts Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20226, (202) 927–8930.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or

copies of the form(s) and instructions

should be directed to Gary Thomas,

Chief, Firearms Programs Division, 650