11994 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 53 / Friday, March 20, 2009 / Notices 

2The memorandum is available at: http:// 

www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/The_Energy_

Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007/ (last 

accessed March 12, 2009). 

3 49 U.S.C. 32902(a). 

4 549 U.S. 497 (2007). 

5 68 FR 52922 (September 8, 2003). 

underlying reasoning in the Code of 

Federal Regulations. 

On January 26, 2009, President 

Obama issued a memorandum 

concerning the completion of the 

rulemaking.2 In light of the requirement 

in EPCA to prescribe CAFE standards 

for 18 months in advance,3 i.e., by 

March 30, 2009 for MY 2011, and in 

order to provide additional time to 

obtain new information and consider 

anew the appropriate approach to 

establishing future CAFE standards, the 

President requested NHTSA to complete 

its rulemaking in two phases: (1) 

standards for MY 2011, and (2) 

standards for MY 2012 and beyond. The 

President further requested that NHTSA 

consider, as part of both phases, 

whether any provisions regarding 

preemption are consistent with the 

EISA, the Supreme Court’s decision in 

Massachusetts v. EPA and other 

relevant provisions of law and the 

policies underlying them. 

Massachusetts v. EPA,4 was a case 

involving a 2003 order of the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

denying a petition for rulemaking to 

regulate greenhouse gas emissions from 

motor vehicles under the Clean Air 

Act.5 The Court ruled that greenhouse 

gases are ‘‘pollutants’’ under the Clean 

Air Act and that the Act therefore 

authorizes EPA to regulate greenhouse 

gas emissions from motor vehicles if 

that agency makes the necessary 

findings and determinations under 

section 202 of the Act. 

The Court considered EPCA briefly, 

stating 

[T]hat DOT sets mileage standards in no 

way licenses EPA to shirk its environmental 

responsibilities. EPA has been charged with 

protecting the public’s ‘‘health’’ and 

‘‘welfare,’’ 42 U.S.C. § 7521(a)(1), a statutory 

obligation wholly independent of DOT’s 

mandate to promote energy efficiency. See 

Energy Policy and Conservation Act, § 2(5), 

89 Stat. 874, 42 U.S.C. § 6201(5). The two 

obligations may overlap, but there is no 

reason to think the two agencies cannot both 

administer their obligations and yet avoid 

inconsistency. 

549 U.S. at 537. 

In keeping with the President’s 

remarks on January 26 regarding the 

need for new national policies to 

address the closely intertwined issues of 

energy independence, energy security 

and climate change, and for the 

initiation of serious and sustained 

domestic and international action to 

address them, NHTSA will develop 

CAFE standards for MY 2012 and 

beyond after collecting new 

information, conducting a careful 

review of technical and economic 

inputs and assumptions and standard 

setting methodology. It is reasonable to 

anticipate that this process will lead to 

changes, given the further review and 

analysis that will be conducted 

pursuant to the President’s request, and 

given the steady evolution in technical 

and policy factors potentially relevant to 

the next CAFE rulemaking. NHTSA may 

consider numerous factors, including, 

but not limited to, energy and climate 

change needs and policy choices 

regarding goals and approaches to 

achieving them, developments in 

domestic legislation and international 

negotiations regarding those goals and 

approaches, technologies for reducing 

fuel consumption, the capacity and 

condition of the automotive industry, 

fuel prices, and climate change science 

and damage valuation. 

The goal of the review and reevaluation will be to ensure that the 

approach used for MY 2012 and 

thereafter produces CAFE standards that 

contribute, to the maximum feasible 

extent, consistent with the legal 

requirements of EPCA/EISA, to meeting 

the energy and environmental 

challenges and goals outlined by the 

President. We intend to craft our 

program with the goal of creating the 

maximum incentives for innovation, 

providing reasonable flexibility to the 

regulated parties, and meeting the goal 

of making substantial and continuing 

reductions in the consumption of fuel 

sufficient to achieve at least 35 mpg not 

later than model year 2020. To that end, 

we are committed to ensuring that the 

CAFE program for beyond MY 2011 is 

based on the best scientific, technical, 

and economic information available, 

and that such information is developed 

in close coordination with the 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Department of Energy and other federal 

agencies and our stakeholders, 

including the public and the vehicle 

manufacturers. 

In response to the President’s request 

that NHTSA consider whether any 

provisions regarding preemption are 

consistent with EISA, the Supreme 

Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. 

EPA and other relevant provisions of 

law and the policies underlying them, 

NHTSA is reconsidering its views 

regarding preemption under EPCA of 

state standards regulating motor vehicle 

tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide. 

Accordingly, the agency will neither 

include any discussion of preemption in 

the preamble to forthcoming final rule 

establishing CAFE standards for MY 

2011 nor include any provisions 

addressing preemption in the 

amendments made by that rule to the 

Code of Federal Regulations. This 

course of action will permit the agency 

to address the issue of preemption in a 

deliberate, comprehensive manner in 

the context of its forthcoming 

rulemaking to establish CAFE standards 

for 2012 and later model years. 

Issued on: March 16, 2009. 

Stephen R. Kratzke, 

Associate Administrator for Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. E9–6061 Filed 3–17–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[U.S. DOT Docket Number NHTSA–2009– 

0048] 

Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation. 

ACTION: Request for public comment on 

proposed collection of information. 

SUMMARY: Before a Federal agency can 

collect certain information from the 

public, it must receive approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB). Under procedures established 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, before seeking OMB approval, 

Federal agencies must solicit public 

comment on proposed collections of 

information, including extensions and 

reinstatement of previously approved 

collections. 

This document describes one 

collection of information for which 

NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 19, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

[identified by DOT Docket No. NHTSA– 

2009–0048] by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility: 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 53 / Friday, March 20, 2009 / Notices 11995 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Telephone: 1–800–647–5527. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and docket 

number for this proposed collection of 

information. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

Please see the Privacy Act heading 

below. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78) or you may visit http:// 

DocketInfo.dot.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. or the street 

address listed above. Follow the online 

instructions for accessing the dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Complete copies of this request for 

collection of information may be 

obtained at no charge from Dennis 

Flemons, NHTSA 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W53–448 NVS–412, 

Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Flemons 

telephone number is (202) 366–5389. 

Please identify the relevant collection of 

information by referring to its OMB 

Control Number. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

before an agency submits a proposed 

collection of information to OMB for 

approval, it must first publish a 

document in the Federal Register 

providing a 60-day comment period and 

otherwise consult with members of the 

public and affected agencies concerning 

each proposed collection of information. 

The OMB has promulgated regulations 

describing what must be included in 

such a document. Under OMB’s 

regulation (at 5CFR 1320.8(d)), an 

agency must ask for public comment on 

the following: 

i. Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

ii. The accuracy of the agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used; 

iii. How to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; 

iv. How to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

In compliance with these 

requirements, NHTSA asks for public 

comments on the following proposed 

collections of information: 

Title: Fatality Analysis Reporting 

System (FARS). 

OMB Control Number: 2127–0006. 

Form Number: HS214, HS 214A, 

HS214B, HS 214C. 

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal 

Government. 

Abstract: Under both the Highway 

Safety Act of 1966 and the National 

Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 

1966, the National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA) has the 

responsibility to collect accident data 

that support the establishment and 

enforcement of motor vehicle 

regulations and highway safety 

programs. These regulations and 

programs are developed to reduce the 

severity of injury and the property 

damage associated with motor vehicle 

accidents. The Fatal Accident Reporting 

System (FARS) is a major system that 

acquires national fatality information 

directly from existing State files and 

documents. Since FARS is an on-going 

data acquisition system, reviews are 

conducted yearly to determine whether 

the data acquired are responsive to the 

total user population needs. The total 

user population includes Federal and 

State agencies and the private sector. 

Changes in the forms usually involve 

clarification adjustments to aid the user 

population in conducting more precise 

analyses, to remove ambiguity for the 

respondents and to differentiate data by 

data collection year. These changes are 

annual and do not affect the reporting 

burden of the respondent (State 

employees utilize existing State 

highway safety related files). 

Other changes may involve removing 

outdated data elements introducing new 

data elements or redesigning data 

elements to capture higher quality data 

and to respond more to the needs of the 

user population. These changes are less 

frequent and affect burden very 

gradually. Advances in technology and 

systems design are incorporated to 

minimize the burden on the 

respondents. 

Estimated Annual Burden: 82,407 

hours. 

Number of Respondents: 53. 

Comments are invited on: Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the Department, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; the accuracy of 

the Department’s estimate of the burden 

of the proposed information collection; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including the use of 

automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Marilena Amoni, 

Associate Administrator, National Center for 

Statistics and Analysis. 

[FR Doc. E9–6040 Filed 3–19–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Finance Docket No. 35227] 

Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, 

LLC—Acquisition and Operation 

Exemption—Middletown & New Jersey 

Railway Co., Inc. 

Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, 

LLC (Middletown), a noncarrier, has 

filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR 1150.31 to acquire and 

operate 6.5 miles of rail line owned by 

Middletown & New Jersey Railway Co., 

Inc., between milepost 0.0 at 

Middletown, NY, and milepost 6.5 at 

Slate Hill, NY. 

This transaction is related to a 

concurrently filed verified notice of 

exemption in STB Finance Docket No. 

35228, Regional Rail, LLC.— 

Continuance in Control Exemption— 

Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, 

LLC., wherein Regional Rail, LLC seeks 

to continue in control of Middletown, 

upon Middletown becoming a Class III 

rail carrier. 

The transaction is expected to be 

consummated on or shortly after April 

5, 2009 (the effective date of the 

exemption). 

Middletown certifies that its projected 

annual revenues as a result of the 

transaction will not result in its 

becoming a Class II or Class I rail carrier 

and further certifies that its projected 

annual revenue will not exceed $5 

million. 

Pursuant to the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 

No. 110–161, § 193, 121 Stat. 1844 

(2007), nothing in this decision 

authorizes the following activities at any