28548 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 100 /Tuesday, May 26, 1998 / Notices

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Indian Reservation Roads

Program Administration Survey. OMB Number: 2125–0565.

Background: Title 23, United States

Code, Section 204(f) provides the

authority for the FHWA and the Bureau

of Indian Affairs (BIA) to jointly

administer the Indian Reservation Roads

(IRR) Program. In accordance with the

Government Performance and Results

Act, the FHWA is required to establish

performance measures consistent with

the overall program goals and outcomes.

In addition, Executive Order 12862

provides for surveying customers to

determine the kind and quality of

services they want and the level of

satisfaction with existing services.

Tribal governments are the IRR program

customers.

The information collected is used by

the FHWA and the BIA to improve the

administration of the IRR program. This

survey gathers information from the

tribes to assess, (1) their overall levels

of understanding of the IRR program; (2)

their involvement in the IRR program;

and (3) their satisfaction with the IRR

program administration and

accomplishments. In addition, the

survey allows tribes to propose

recommendations for improving the

operation and administration of the IRR

program. Respondents: 558 Indian tribal

governments. Estimated Average Burden per

Response: 0.5 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 279

hours.

Frequency: Biennial.

Public Comments Invited

Interested parties are invited to send

comments regarding any aspect of this

information collection, including, but

not limited to: (1) the necessity and

utility of the information collection for

the proper performance of the functions

of the FHWA; (2) the accuracy of the

estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance

the quality, utility, and clarity of the

collected information; and (4) ways to

minimize the collection burden without

reducing the quality of the collected

information. Comments submitted in

response to this notice will be

summarized and/or included in the

request for OMB’s clearance for a

renewal of this information collection.

Electronic Availability

An electronic copy of this document

may be downloaded using a modem and

suitable communications software from

the Federal Register electronic bulletin

board service (telephone number: 202–

512–1661). Internet users may reach the

Federal Register’s WWW site at:

http://www.access.gpo.gov/suldocs.

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 141(d); 23 CFR 669.

Issued on: May 13, 1998.

George S. Moore, Jr.,

Associate Administrator for Administration.

[FR Doc. 98–13905 Filed 5–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA–98–3808]

Notice of Request for Renewal of a

Currently Approved Information

Collection: Financial Responsibility,

Trucking and Freight Forwarding

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,

this notice announces the intention of

the FHWA to request the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) to

renew its clearance of the currently

approved information collection

identified below under Supplementary

Information. This information collection

provides registered motor carriers,

property brokers, and freight forwarders

a means of meeting financial security

documentation requirements.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before July 27, 1998.

ADDRESSES: All signed, written

comments should refer to the docket

number that appears in the heading of

this document and must be submitted to

the Docket Clerk, U.S. DOT Dockets,

Room PL–401, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590–0001. All

comments received will be available for

examination at the above address

between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., e.t.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays. Those desiring notification of

receipt of comments must include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or

postcard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Marian Lee, Office of Motor Carrier

Information Analysis, (202) 358–7051,

Federal Highway Administration,

Department of Transportation, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20590. Office hours are from 7:45 a.m.

to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Financial Responsibility,

Trucking and Freight Forwarding. OMB Number: 2125–0570.

Background: The Secretary of

Transportation is authorized to register

for-hire motor carriers of regulated

commodities under the provisions of 49

U.S.C. 13902, surface freight forwarders

under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13903,

and property brokers under the

provisions of 49 U.S.C. 13904. These

persons may conduct transportation

services only if they are registered

pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 13901. The

Secretary has delegated authority

pertaining to these registrations to the

FHWA. Registration remains valid only

as long as the transportation entities

maintain, on file with the FHWA,

evidence of the required levels of

insurance coverage pursuant to 49

U.S.C. 13906. Regulations governing

financial responsibility requirements are

found at 49 CFR 387.

Forms BMC–91, 91x and 82 provide

evidence of the required coverage for

bodily injury and property damage

(BI&PD) liability. Forms BMC–34 and 83

establish compliance with cargo liability

requirements. Forms BMC–84 and 85

are filed by brokers to comply with the

requirement for a $10,000 surety bond

or trust fund agreement. Forms BMC–

35, 36, and 85 cancel prior filings.

Forms BMC–90 and 32 are

endorsements which must be attached

to BI&PD and cargo insurance policies,

respectively, but are not filed with the

FHWA.

Motor carriers can also apply to selfinsure BI&PD and/or cargo liability in

lieu of filing certificates of insurance or

surety bonds with the FHWA. Form

BMC–40 is the application used to

apply for self-insurance authority.

Respondents: Motor carriers, freight

forwarders, and brokers.

Estimated Average Burden per

Response: The estimated average burden

per response for the BMC–40 is 40

hours. The estimated average burden

per response for each of the other forms

is 10 minutes per form.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: The

estimated total annual burden is 200

hours for the BMC–40 based on 5 filings

per year. The estimated total annual

burden for all of the other forms is

30,000 hours based on 180,000 filings

per year.

Frequency: Certificates of insurance,

surety bonds and trust fund agreements

are required when the transportation

entity first registers with the FHWA and

then when such coverages are replaced.

Notices of cancellation are required only

when such certificates of insurance,

surety bonds or trust fund agreements

are canceled. Form BMC–40 is generally
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 100 /Tuesday, May 26, 1998 / Notices 28549

filed only once when a carrier seeks

approval to self-insure its BI&PD and/or

cargo liability.

Public Comments Invited

Interested parties are invited to send

comments regarding any aspect of this

information collection, including but

not limited to: (1) the necessity and

utility of the information collection for

the proper performance of the functions

of the FHWA; (2) the accuracy of the

estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance

the quality, utility, and clarity of the

collected information; and (4) ways to

minimize the collection burden without

reducing the quality of the collected

information. Comments submitted in

response to this notice will be

summarized and/or included in the

request for OMB’s clearance for a

renewal of this information collection.

Electronic Availability

An electronic copy of this document

may be downloaded using a modem and

suitable communications software from

the Federal Register electronic bulletin

board service (telephone number: 202–

512–1661). Internet users may reach the

Federal Register’s WWW site at: http:/

/www.access.gpo.gov/sul docs.

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 315 and 49 CFR 1.48.

Issued on: May 13, 1998.

George S. Moore, Jr.,

Associate Administrator for Administration.

[FR Doc. 98–13906 Filed 5–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[FRA Docket No. RSGC–7]

Environmental Impact Statement: FRA

Regulation of the Use of Locomotive

Horns at Highway-Rail Grade

Crossings Nationwide

AGENCY: Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA), Department of

Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to

advise the public that an environmental

impact statement (EIS) will be prepared

for the proposed regulation covering the

sounding of locomotive horns at

highway-rail grade crossings and to

solicit input into the development of the

scope of that EIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regarding the environmental review

contact David Valenstein,

Environmental Specialist, Office of

Railroad Development, Federal Railroad

Administration (RDV 13), 400 Seventh

Street, SW (Mail Stop 20), Washington,

D.C. 20590, (telephone 202 632–3268).

For information regarding the rule

making process contact Bruce F. George,

Staff Director, Highway Rail Crossing

and Trespasser Programs, Office of

Safety, FRA, 400 Seventh Street, SW

(Mail Stop 25), Washington, D.C. 20590

(telephone 202 632–3312), or Mark H.

Tessler, Office of Chief Counsel, FRA,

400 Seventh Street, SW (Mail Stop 10),

Washington, D.C. 20590 (telephone 202

632–3171).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background 0

The Swift Rail Development Act (Pub.

L. 103–440, November 2, 1994) added

Section 20153 to title 49, United States

Code. That section directs the Secretary

of Transportation (delegated to the

Federal Railroad Administrator) to

prescribe regulations requiring that a

locomotive horn be sounded while each

train is approaching and entering upon

each public highway-rail grade crossing.

In addition, 49 U.S.C. 20153 provides

FRA the authority to except from this

requirement, categories of rail

operations or categories of grade

crossings that: (1) Are determined not to

present significant risk with respect to

loss of life or serious personal injury; (2)

for which the use of a locomotive horn

is impractical; or (3) for which

supplementary safety measures fully

compensate for the absence of the

warning provided by the locomotive

horn.

The sounding of locomotive horns at

highway-rail grade crossings is

recognized by FRA and the railroad

industry as contributing to railroad and

highway safety. Studies conducted by

FRA of circumstances where the

sounding of horns had been restricted in

eastern Florida (so-called ‘‘whistle

bans’’) have indicated an increased

incidence of collisions involving trains

and highway users where locomotive

horns were not sounded. Although the

sounding of locomotive horns at

highway-rail grade crossings is the

normal practice at most of the 162,000

public grade crossings in the U.S., FRA

is aware of approximately 2,200

crossings in 200 communities where

locomotive horns are not routinely

sounded.

In preparing for the rulemaking

process required by 49 U.S.C. 20153,

FRA established a public docket to

enable local officials and citizens to

offer their insight into the issues

surrounding whistle bans and to

comment on how FRA might best

implement 49 U.S.C. 20153. FRA also

undertook extensive research into

locomotive horns and their relationship

to grade crossing safety through the

Department of Transportation’s John A.

Volpe National Transportation Systems

Center. Some of the comments offered

by the public expressed concerns that

any regulation requiring the sounding of

locomotive horns could create adverse

environmental impacts in the form of

significantly higher community noise

levels in the vicinity of those highwayrail grade crossings where horns are

presently not sounded. Based upon a

review of these comments, and ongoing

research, FRA has concluded that the

promulgation of the regulation required

by 49 U.S.C. 20153 is a major Federal

action as this term is used in section

102(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C.

4321 et seq.) As a consequence, FRA is

initiating the preparation of an EIS as

required under NEPA and the

regulations of the President’s Council on

Environmental Quality implementing

NEPA (40 CFR S 1502).

Alternatives

FRA currently plans to analyze two

alternatives in this environmental

review, the proposed action and the

‘‘no-action’’ alternative. The proposed

action is to comply with the statutory

mandate and issue a regulation

requiring the sounding of locomotive

horns at every public highway-rail grade

crossing in the U.S., including those

where locomotive horns are presently

not sounded. Such a rule would

effectively preempt any State or local

law or regulation to the contrary. The

regulation encompassed in the proposed

action would also identify a number of

measures which the States and

communities can undertake to provide

improved safety at public highway-rail

grade crossings. In such situations

regular sounding of railroad horns

would then become unnecessary from a

safety perspective and could cease. The

regulation would also establish a

procedure for consideration by FRA of

proposals by States, communities or

other interested persons for approval of

new supplementary safety measures that

would permit designation of a quiet

zone. The environmental impacts of

requiring the sounding of locomotive

horns at public highway-rail crossings

where the horns are not presently

sounded and a consideration of the

environmental impacts associated with

the implementation of supplementary

safety measures would be a part of the

proposed action analysis.

The no-action alternative would

involve maintenance of the status quo

with respect to the sounding of

locomotive horns. This would require