37620 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 133 / Monday, July 13, 1998 / Notices

Generally, Federal Register

concerning each collection of

information. Comments on the

information collections proposed in this

notice will be considered by the FHWA

in its request for long-term approval.

With respect to the collections of

information described below, the FHWA

invites comments on: (1) Whether the

proposed information collections are

necessary for the proper performance of

the functions of the agency, including

whether the information will have

practical utility; (2) the accuracy of the

FHWA’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed information collections,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used; (3)

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and

clarity of the information to be

collected; (4) ways to minimize the

burden of these information collections

upon those who are to respond,

including the use of automated

collection techniques, and other forms

of information collections technology.

The title used to identify the

information collections proposed in this

notice and submitted for OMB’s

approval is ‘‘Motor Carrier Regulatory

Relief and Safety Demonstration

Project.’’

This Federal Register notice proposes

a voluntary pilot Project. In return for

receiving exemptions from certain

requirements of the FMCSRs, each

Project motor carrier would be required

to develop and/or furnish certain

information about its operations. It is

anticipated that the initial application

will require about one-half hour to

complete. This document is necessary to

identify those motor carriers that believe

they are eligible to participate in the

Project, and to indicate their desire to

participate in the Project. The Safety

Control Plan, outlining the safety

management measures the motor carrier

would have in place to ensure that it

would achieve the appropriate level of

operational safety during the Project,

would require approximately one and

one-half hours to prepare. This

document would be subject to

examination by the FHWA, and would

be used to assist the FHWA in ensuring

that Project participants did not neglect

those aspects of motor carrier safety

which are normally addressed by the

regulations from which they are

temporarily exempt. The Safety Control

Plan would require approximately one

and one-half hours to prepare. Further,

participating motor carriers would be

required to submit to the FHWA the

name, driver’s license number, and date

of employment of each participating

driver. The motor carrier would also be

required to advise the FHWA

immediately of any changes in this

information. These collections and

submissions of information are

necessary in order to effectively grant

Project exemption to identifiable

operators of CMVs and to permit the

performance of each to be monitored

and evaluated. It is estimated that the

reporting and recordkeeping burden for

these items would be one hour.

It is also proposed that each accident

involving Project drivers and/or Project

vehicles would be reported to the

FHWA as it occurs (within 10 or 30

business days, depending upon

severity). Each Project motor carrier

would also calculate and submit its

accident rate per million VMT on a

semi-annual basis, and advise the

FHWA if that rate exceeds 0.5. This

information is necessary in order to

identify those motor carriers whose

safety performance is declining during

the Project and would also be used to

assist in comparing the performance of

the exempt motor carriers with the

performance of those which remain

subject to the FMCSRs. The annual

reporting and recordkeeping burden for

this information collection is estimated

to be one-half hour.

The most likely respondents to this

information collection will be motor

carriers operating CMVs with a GVWR

between 10,001 pounds and 26,000

pounds, operated in interstate

commerce, have a satisfactory safety

rating or is not rated, and have an

accident rate less than 0.5 per million

VMT. The approximate number of

motor carriers currently eligible to

participate in the Project is 33,000.

Therefore, it is estimated that the total

annual reporting and recordkeeping

burden will be 275 hours.

XIII. Conclusion

The FHWA welcomes comment on

any and all aspects of these proposed

changes to the Project from all

interested parties. Upon review of

public comment, the FHWA intends to

modify the project, authorize qualified

motor carrier participation, and publish

a supplemental notice of final

determination.

(49 U.S.C. 31136 and 31141; 49 CFR

1.48)

Issued on: July 7, 1998.

Kenneth R. Wykle,

Federal Highway Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98–18539 Filed 7–10–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA–98–3983]

Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.,

Receipt of Application for Decision of

Inconsequential Noncompliance

Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc.

(Mercedes-Benz) of Montvale, New

Jersey has determined that some 1998

Mercedes-Benz M-class vehicles fail to

comply with 49 CFR 571.120, Federal

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)

No. 120, ‘‘Tire selection and rims for

vehicles other than passenger cars,’’ and

has filed an appropriate report pursuant

to 49 CFR Part 573, ‘‘Defect and

noncompliance reports.’’ MercedesBenz has also applied to be exempted

from the notification and remedy

requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301—

‘‘Motor Vehicle Safety’’ on the basis that

the noncompliance is inconsequential to

motor vehicle safety.

This notice of receipt of an

application is published under 49

U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not

represent any agency decision or other

exercise of judgment concerning the

merits of the application.

The purpose of FMVSS No. 120 is to

provide safe operation of vehicles by

ensuring that those vehicles are

equipped with tires of appropriate size

and load rating; and rims of appropriate

size and type designation. Paragraph

S5.3, Label information, of FMVSS No.

120 states that each vehicle shall show

the appropriate tire information (such

as: recommended cold inflation

pressure) and rim information (such as:

size and type designations) in the

English language. This information must

appear either on the certification label

or a tire information label, lettered in

block capitals and numerals not less

than 2.4 millimeters high, and in the

prescribed format. In addition, FMVSS

No.120 requires that the label be affixed

to the hinge pillar, the door-latch post,

the door edge that meets the latch post,

or next to the driver’s seating position.

If these locations are impractical, the

label shall be affixed to the inwardfacing surface of the door next to the

driver’s seating position. However, if all

of the preceding locations are not

practical, the manufacturer can notified,

in writing, NHTSA and request approval

for an alternate location in the same

general location.

Mercedes-Benz states that 35,357

vehicles were produced from the

beginning of production in January 1997

through April 13, 1998 that do not meet

the labeling requirements stated in the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 133 / Monday, July 13, 1998 / Notices 37621

1TE was authorized to operate the line by lease

in Tacoma Eastern Railway Co.— Lease and

Operation Exemption—City of Tacoma,

Washington, Finance Docket No. 32591 (ICC served

Nov. 3, 1994).

2A discontinuance of a railroad’s service sought

by a party other than the railroad is called an

‘‘adverse’’ discontinuance.

3Once City receives Board approval, it intends to

replace TE with the Belt Line Division of the City

of Tacoma Department of Public Utilities (Belt

Line). Beltline will file a notice of exemption

pursuant to 49 CFR 1150.31 to enable it to

commence operations without any interruption in

service to shippers on the line.

FMVSS No. 120. Mercedes-Benz

equipped the vehicles with tire

information labels that specify the tire

size, rim size, and cold inflation

pressure on the fuel filler door. The

information is formatted differently than

as required by the FMVSS No. 120. The

size of the letters and numerals are less

than the required minimum of 2.4

millimeters.

Mercedes-Benz supports its

application for inconsequential

noncompliance with the following

statements:

1. With regards to the content of the

label, all the information required by the

FMVSS No. 120 is contained in the label

including, recommended tires size, rim

size, and cold inflation pressure.

2. Although the height of the labeling

is less than the required minimum of 2.4

mm, the letters in the labels are of

sufficient size and color to be easily

read.

3. With regards to the labeling format,

Mercedes-Benz believes that placing the

English units before the metric units is

not a noncompliance that affects vehicle

safety, because consumers in the U.S.

are generally more familiar with English

units of measurement than metric units.

4. Regarding the location of the tire

information label, Mercedes-Benz

believes that consumers interested in

checking their tire pressure labels

would likely perform this check at gas

stations, convenience stores, or auto

repair facilities. In some cases, this

label’s location serves as a reminder to

check the tire pressure.

5. Based on the convenient location of

the tire information label, the reference

information in the owner’s manual, and

the maximum inflation pressure marked

on the tire, Mercedes-Benz believes that

the tire information label on the fuel

filler door is an inconsequential

noncompliance.

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views, and

arguments on the application of

Mercedes-Benz described above.

Comments should refer to the docket

number and be submitted to: U.S.

Department of Transportation, Docket

Management, Room PL–401, 400

Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC,

20590. It is requested that two copies be

submitted.

All comments received before the

close of business on the closing date

indicated below will be considered. The

application and supporting materials,

and all comments received after the

closing date, will also be filed and will

be considered to the extent possible.

When the application is granted or

denied, the notice will be published in

the Federal Register pursuant to the

authority indicated below.

Comment closing date: August 12,

1998.

(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of

authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

Issued on: July 7, 1998.

L. Robert Shelton,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 98–18537 Filed 7–10–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board

[STB Docket No. AB–548]

Tacoma Eastern Railway Company—

Adverse Discontinuance of Operations

Application—A Line of City of Tacoma,

in Pierce, Thurston and Lewis

Counties, WA

On June 23, 1998, the City of Tacoma,

WA (City) filed an application under 49

U.S.C. 10903 requesting that the Surface

Transportation Board (Board) find that

the public convenience and necessity

require and permit the discontinuance

of the operations by Tacoma Eastern

Railway Company (TE) 1 on 131.5 miles

of City rail line in Pierce, Thurston, and

Lewis Counties, WA: (1) between

milepost 2192.0, at Tacoma, and

milepost 17.7, at Chehalis; and (2)

between milepost 2192.0, at Tacoma,

and milepost 64.2, at Morton.2 The line

traverses United States Postal Service

ZIP Codes 98235, 98304, 98328, 98330,

98338, 98344, 98355, 98356, 98371,

98373–98375, 98387, 98401–98405,

98408, 98421, 98424, 98443–98446,

98501, 98531, 98532 and 98576.

City states that it has terminated the

contract pursuant to which TE has been

operating on the line because TE has not

satisfactorily performed its obligations

under the contract.3

The line does not contain federally

granted rights-of-way. Any

documentation in City’s possession will

be made available promptly to those

requesting it. City’s entire case for

discontinuance of service was filed with

the application.

In addition, City has petitioned the

Board to waive certain provisions of 49

CFR 1152.22 on the grounds that the

information required by these

provisions is not relevant to the merits

of the application or is not available to

the City because of the circumstances of

the application. Requests for waivers are

typically filed before the application

drawn in reliance on those waivers is

filed. By filing its application

contemporaneously with the waivers,

City has run the risk that the waivers

will be denied in whole or part and City

will have wasted time and effort in

filing an application based on them.

But, as City is no doubt aware, grants of

waiver petitions in applications filed by

third parties are customary. The waiver

request as to information to be

contained in the application will be

granted in a separate decision to be

served concurrently with this notice.

In an application by a third party for

a determination that the public

convenience and necessity permits a

line to be discontinued or abandoned,

the issue before the Board is whether

the public interest requires that the line

in question be retained as part of the

national rail system. By granting a third

party application, the Board withdraws

its primary jurisdiction over the line.

Questions of the disposition of the line,

including the adjudication of various

claims of ownership or other rights and

obligations, are then left to state or local

authorities; Kansas City Pub. Ser. Frgt.

Operation-Exempt.—Aban., 7 I.C.C.2d

216 (1990).

The interest of railroad employees

will be protected by the conditions in

Oregon Short Line R. Co.—

Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 91

(1979).

Any interested person may file with

the Board written comments concerning

the proposed adverse discontinuance or

protests (including the protestant’s

entire opposition case), by August 7,

1998. Because this discontinuance of

service is the functional equivalent of a

discontinuance of trackage rights rather

than an abandonment, trail use/rail

banking and public use requests are not

appropriate. Likewise, no

environmental or historical documents

are required here under 49 CFR

1105.6(c)(6) and 1105.8(b)(3).

Persons opposing the proposed

adverse discontinuance who wish to

participate actively and fully in the

process should file a protest by August

7, 1998. Persons who may oppose the

discontinuance but who do not wish to

participate fully in the process by

submitting verified statements of