Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 1997 / Proposed Rules 16131

Ordering Clauses

15. Accordingly, it is ordered that

pursuant to the authority contained in

sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 301, and 303 of the

Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j),

301, and 303, notice is hereby given of

our intent to adopt the policies set forth

in this Notice and that comment is

sought on all proposals in this Notice.

16. It is ordered that, the Petition for

Rule Making, filed by Motorola Satellite

Communications, Inc. is granted to the

extent it is consistent with our

proposals.

17. It is further ordered that the

Secretary shall send a copy of this

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,

including the Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small

Business Administration in accordance

with paragraph 603(a) of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, Pub. L. 96–354, 94 Stat.

1164, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. (1981).

Federal Communications Commission

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–8562 Filed 4–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs

Administration

49 CFR Parts 192 and 195

[Docket No. PS–94; Notice 7]

RIN 2137–AB38

Qualification of Pipeline Personnel

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs

Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting;

correction.

SUMMARY: On February 21, 1997, RSPA’s

Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS)

published a notice of public meeting (62

FR 7985) that announced the first

meeting of an advisory committee to

conduct a negotiated rulemaking to

develop a proposed rule on

qualifications of pipeline employees

performing certain safety-related

functions on pipelines subject to the

pipeline safety regulations. The notice

also listed and described the

organizations represented on the

committee. This document makes two

minor revisions to the information in

that notice.

DATES: The advisory committee’s first

meeting will be held from 8:30 am to

5:00 pm on April 23–24, 1997.

ADDRESS: The advisory committee

meeting will be held in Room 10234–36

at the U.S. Department of

Transportation, Nassif Building, 400 7th

Street, SW, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Eben M. Wyman, (202) 366–0918,

regarding the subject matter of this

Notice; or the Dockets Unit, (202) 366–

4453, for copies of this document or

other material in the docket.

Correction of Publication

Room Number

On page 7985, in the second column,

the correct room number for the

advisory committee is 10234–36.

Description of Committee Members

On page 7986, at the bottom of the

second column, the text describing the

International Union of Operating

Engineers should read as follows: ‘‘This

labor organization represents the

interests of a substantial number of

pipeline workers.’’ In addition, the text

describing the International

Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

should read as follows: ‘‘This labor

organization represents approximately

21,000 pipeline construction and

maintenance workers.’’

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 31,

1997.

Richard B. Felder,

Associate Administrator for Pipeline Safety.

[FR Doc. 97–8571 Filed 4–3–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

Denial of Petition for Rulemaking;

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Denial of petition for

rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This document denies

Hawkhill Technologies’ (Hawkhill)

petition to amend Federal Motor

Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No.

108, Lamps, reflective devices, and

associated equipment, to require

programmable turn signaling on all

vehicles. The turn signal system

Hawkhill proposed would allow the

driver to preset the amount of time a

turn signal remains activated before

automatically turning off.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Chris Flanigan, Office of Safety

Performance Standards, NHTSA, 400

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20590. Mr. Flanigan’s telephone number

is: (202) 366–4918. His facsimile

number is (202) 366–4329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter

dated November 20, 1996, Hawkhill

petitioned the agency to amend FMVSS

No. 108 to require all vehicles to have

programmable turn signaling capability.

More specifically, the turn signal

systems would allow drivers to preset

the amount of time their turn signals

will remain activated before they turn

off automatically. This would be

accomplished by the driver tapping the

turn signal lever. For each time the lever

is tapped, the turn signal would stay

activated for 4.5 seconds. Hawkhill’s

contention is that this would be a

virtually cost-free upgrade for vehicles

with turn signals that are already

computer-controlled. The computercontrolled turn signal system would

simply be redesigned to account for the

new system.

Hawkhill believes that drivers are

often lax in the way they operate turn

signals. According to Hawkhill, drivers

are most lax in situations where they

have to deactivate turn signals, such as

merge, exit, and lane change maneuvers.

Hawkhill believes that its system, which

allows drivers to program their turn

signals to automatically shut off after

some chosen time interval, would

reduce the number of instances when

drivers inadvertently leave their turn

signal on after completing the driving

maneuver.

In addition, Hawkhill believes its

automatic turn signal shut-off would

reduce the instances when vehicle

operators choose not to use their turn

signals to signal maneuvers. It believes

that this occurs in maneuvers where the

turn signals are commonly activated

using the ‘‘lane change’’ feature (where

the turn signal lever is pushed just far

enough to activate the turn signal, but

is deactivated when the driver removes

his or her hand). In these situations,

Hawkhill asserts that some drivers do

not use their signals because they are

not able to concentrate on the other

tasks necessary to complete the

maneuver while holding down the

lever.

Agency Analysis

NHTSA believes there are two distinct

issues involved in these claims.

Hawkhill’s latter claim relates to drivers

who fail to use their turn signals

because of some perceived difficulty.

NHTSA is very interested in actions that

would increase the use of turn signals

to alert other drivers of an impending

maneuver. However, Hawkhill provided