2446 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 1998 / Notices

copies of the proposed collection and

supporting documents should be

directed to Charles S. Cunningham,

Directives Management Branch, U.S.

Department of State, Washington, DC

20520, (202) 647–0596.

Dated: December 23, 1997.

Glen H. Johnson,

Chief Information Officer, Acting.

[FR Doc. 98–1010 Filed 1–14–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–06–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–98–3306]

Trinity Trailer Mfg., Inc.; Application for

Temporary Exemption From Federal

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 224

Trinity Trailer Mfg., Inc. (formerly

Farm Bed Mfg., Inc.), of Boise, Idaho,

has applied for a three-year temporary

exemption from Motor Vehicle Safety

Standard No. 224 Rear Impact

Protection. The basis of the application

is that compliance would cause

substantial economic hardship to a

manufacturer that has tried in good faith

to comply with the standard.

This notice of receipt of the

application is published in accordance

with agency regulations on the subject

and does not represent any judgment by

the agency about the merits of the

application.

Trinity Trailer manufactures and sells

the ‘‘Eagle Bridge,’’ self-unloading bulk

trailers that have small conveyor belts at

the lower rear of the trailer to unload

potatoes and other agricultural

products. The rear shaft mount for the

conveyor belt protrudes 24 inches from

the rear of the trailer in order to drop

the cargo onto another conveyor belt

that is located at the unloading site.

Because Standard No. 224 excludes a

‘‘special purpose vehicle,’’ the applicant

had asked NHTSA on June 28, 1996, for

an interpretation that the Eagle Bridge

qualified for exclusion because it was

manufactured with ‘‘work-performing

equipment.’’ On August 22, 1997,

NHTSA replied that the Eagle Bridge

was not excluded. Paragraph S4 of

Standard No. 224 defines a special

purpose vehicle as ‘‘a trailer or semitrailer having work-performing

equipment * * * that, while the vehicle

is in transit, resides in or moves through

the area that could be occupied by the

horizontal member of the rear underride

guard * * *.’’ (Emphasis added). As

NHTSA wrote the applicant, ‘‘[t]he

small conveyor belt of the Eagle Bridge

at no time passes through the area

where the horizontal member of the rear

underride guard would be located, and

it certainly does not do so while the

vehicle is in transit.’’

The applicant received NHTSA’s

interpretation approximately seven

months before the due date for

compliance. Standard No. 224 requires,

effective January 26, 1998, that all

trailers with a GVWR of 4536 Kg or

more be fitted with a rear impact guard

that conforms to Standard No. 223 Rear

impact guards. Because of the costs

involved in re-engineering its trailers to

accommodate a rear impact guard,

Trinity Trailer has asked for an

exemption of three years. The company

presented cost estimates indicating that

the costs to conform at the end of a three

year period would be $637,720 with a

corresponding increase in the price of

its trailers of $709, as compared with a

cost to conform of $882,920 and a trailer

price increase of $2,943 at the end of a

one-year exemption. The applicant

represents that an increase of this

magnitude would effectively price its

trailers out of the market. In the absence

of an exemption, Trinity Trailer will be

forced to close because the Eagle Bridge

is its sole product. The company’s net

income for 1996 was only $137,798

which represented a decline from 1995’s

net income of $611,145. The company

manufactured 263 trailers in the 12-

month period preceding the filing of its

application.

The applicant believes that it has

made a good faith effort to meet

Standard No. 224, saying that, prior to

requesting its interpretation from

NHTSA, ‘‘hundreds of hours were spent

to find an automatically retracting rear

impact guard,’’ only to find that none

are available in the United States. Its

engineers have not been successful ‘‘in

making a moveable guard or a moveable

rear shaft and tail fins.’’ The application

contains the alternate means of

compliance that have been examined,

and sets forth the reasons for the

rejection of each. It believes that it can

achieve full compliance by the end of a

three-year exemption period.

The applicant believes that an

exemption would be in the public

interest and consistent with traffic

safety objectives because there is no

history of injuries from motor vehicle

accidents involving the rear conveyor

belt system on its trailers. Further, ‘‘the

possibility of injury to occupants of a

vehicle impacting the rear of a Trinity

trailer is minimal because of Trinity’s

wheels-back design.’’ These trailers are

used extensively by the agricultural

industry in the Pacific Northwest, and

the applicant estimates that ‘‘well over

half of all potatoes harvested in the

States of Idaho and Washington are

hauled in Trinity trailers.

Interested persons are invited to

submit comments on the petition

described above. Comments should refer

to the docket and notice number, and be

submitted to: Docket Management,

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, room PL–410, 400

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20590. It is requested but not required

that 2 copies be submitted.

All comments received before the

close of business on the comment

closing date below will be considered,

and will be available for examination in

the docket at the above address both

before and after that date, from 10 a.m.

to 5 p.m. To the extent possible,

comments filed after the closing date

will also be considered. Notice of final

action on the petition will be published

in the Federal Register pursuant to the

authority indicated below.

Comment closing date: February 4,

1998.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of

authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.4.

Issued on January 9, 1998.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 98–999 Filed 1–14–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Submission for OMB Review;

Comment Request

January 8, 1998.

The Department of the Treasury has

submitted the following public

information collection requirement(s) to

OMB for review and clearance under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

Public Law 104–13. Copies of the

submission(s) may be obtained by

calling the Treasury Bureau Clearance

Officer listed. Comments regarding this

information collection should be

addressed to the OMB reviewer listed

and to the Treasury Department

Clearance Officer, Department of the

Treasury, Room 2110, 1425 New York

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20220.

Bureau of the Public Debt (PD)

OMB Number: 1535–0023.

Form Number: PD F 4000.

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Request by Owner for Reissue of

United States Savings Bonds/Notes to

Add Beneficiary or Co-owner, Eliminate

Beneficiary or Decedent, Show Change

of Name and/or Correct Error in

Registration.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 10 / Thursday, January 15, 1998 / Notices 2447

Description: The form is used by

owners to identify securities for which

reissue is requested and to indicate the

new registration required.

Respondents: Individuals or

households.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

600,000.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 30 minutes.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Reporting Burden

Hours: 300,000 hours.

OMB Number: 1535–0042.

Form Number: PD F 2216.

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Application by Preferred

Creditor for Disposition Without

Administration Where Deceased

Owner’s Estate Includes United States

Registered Securities and/or Related

Checks in an Amount not Exceeding

$500.

Description: Used by a preferred

creditor of a decedent’s estates to

request payment of savings bonds/notes

and/or related checks not exceeding

$500, when estate is not being

administered.

Respondents: Individuals or

households, Business or other for-profit.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

5,000.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 10 minutes.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Reporting Burden

Hours: 835 hours.

OMB Number: 1535–0091.

Form Number: None.

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Regulations Governing United

States Treasury Certificates of

Indebtedness—State and Local

Government Series.

Description: These are regulations

authorizing the issuing of United States

Treasury Bonds, Notes and Certificates

of Indebtedness of the State and Local

Government Series.

Respondents: State, Local or Tribal

Government.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

1,000.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 10 minutes.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Reporting Burden

Hours: 167 hours.

OMB Number: 1535–0092.

Form Number: PD Fs 4144, 4144–1,

4144–2, 4144–3 and 4144–4.

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Subscription for Purchase and

Issue of U.S. Treasury Securities—State

and Local Government Series.

Description: The information is

necessary to establish the accounts for

owners of securities of State and Local

Government Series.

Respondents: State, Local or Tribal

Government.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

5,000.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 55 minutes.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Reporting Burden

Hours: 4,585 hours.

Clearance Officer: Vicki S. Thorpe

(304) 480–6553, Bureau of the Public

Debt, 200 Third Street, Parkersburg,

West VA 26106–1328.

OMB Reviewer: Alexander T. Hunt

(202) 395–7860, Office of Management

and Budget, Room 10226, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

Lois K. Holland,

Departmental Reports Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 98–1035 Filed 1–14–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 4810–40–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Submission for OMB Review;

Comment Request

January 9, 1998.

The Department of Treasury has

submitted the following public

information collection requirement(s) to

OMB for review and clearance under the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub.

L. 104–13. Copies of the submission(s)

may be obtained by calling the Treasury

Bureau Clearance Officer listed.

Comments regarding this information

collection should be addressed to the

OMB reviewer listed and to the

Treasury Department Clearance Officer,

Department of the Treasury, Room 2110,

1425 New York Avenue, NW.,

Washington, DC 20220.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms (BATF)

OMB Number: 1512–0090.

Form Number: ATF F 1643 (5100.18).

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Application for Amended Basic

Permit Under the Federal Alcohol

Administration Act.

Description: ATF F 1643 is completed

by persons who hold a basic permit to

operate as an importer or wholesaler,

producer, rectifier, bottler, or

warehouseman of distilled spirits, wine

or malt beverages with ATF, but who

intend to change their basic permit due

to change in name, trade name, location,

or operations.

Respondents: Business or other forprofit.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

4,000.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 1 hour.

Frequency of Response: On occasion.

Estimated Total Reporting Burden:

4,000 hours.

OMB Number: 1512–0508.

Form Number: ATF F 5300.28.

Recordkeeping Requirement ID

Number: ATF REC 5300/28.

Type of Review: Extension.

Title: Application for Registration for

Tax-Free Transactions Under 26 U.S.C.

4221 (Firearms and Ammunition).

Description: Businesses, State and

local governments, and small businesses

apply for registration to sell or purchase

firearms or ammunition tax free on this

form. ATF uses the form to determine

an applicant’s qualification.

Respondents: Businesses or other forprofit, State, Local or Tribal

Government.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

125.

Estimated Burden Hours Per

Respondent: 3 hours.

Frequency of Response: Other (onetime).

Estimated Total Reporting Burden:

375 hours.

Clearance Officer: Robert N. Hogarth

(202) 927–8930, Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco and Firearms, Room 3200, 650

Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20226.

OMB Reviewer: Alexander T. Hunt

(202) 395–7860, Office of Management

and Budget, Room 10202, New

Executive Office Building, Washington,

DC 20503.

Lois K. Holland,

Departmental Reports Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 98–1036 Filed 1–14–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–31–P

UNITED STATES INFORMATION

AGENCY

NIS College and University

Partnerships Program; Notice—

Revised Request for Proposals (RFP)

This notice amends the RFP

published on November 20, 1997,

providing for assistance awards by the

Office of Academic Programs of the

United States Information Agency to

support partnerships with (a) foreign

institution(s) of higher education from

the New Independent States in specified

fields. The RFP is amended to remove

the restriction against awards for

partnerships with state universities in

Azerbaijan. The RFP’s closing date

remains February 23, 1998. Potential

applicants should refer to the RFP

published on November 20, 1997 for full