2868 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2018 / Notices 

6. Historic and Cultural Resources: Section 

106 of the National Historic Preservation 

Act of 1966, [54 U.S.C. 306108]; 

Archeological Resources Protection Act 

of 1977 [16 U.S.C. 470(aa)–470(mm)]; 

Archeological and Historic Preservation 

Act [16 U.S.C. 469–469 c–2]; Native 

American Grave Protection and 

Repatriation Act [25 U.S.C. 3001–3013]. 

7. Land: Section 4(f) of The Department of 

Transportation Act: [49 U.S.C. 303] 

Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA) 

[7 U.S.C. 4201–4209]. Solid Waste 

Disposal Act, as amended by the 

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 

of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6901, et seq.). 

8. Social and Economic: Civil Rights Act of 

1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000(d)–2000(d)(1)]; 

Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real 

Property Acquisition Act [42 U.S.C. 61]. 

9. Wetlands and Water Resources: Clean 

Water Act [33 U.S.C 1251–1387(Sections 

319, 401, and 404)]; Flood Disaster 

Protection Act (42 U.S.C. 4012a 4106). 

10. Executive Orders: E.O. 11990 Protection 

of Wetlands; E.O. 12898, Federal Actions 

to Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low Income 

Populations; E.O. 11514 Protection and 

Enhancement of Environmental Quality; 

E.O. 11988 Floodplain Management; E.O. 

11593 Protection and Enhancement of 

Cultural Resources; E.O. 13007 Indian 

Sacred Sites; E.O. 13287 Preserve 

America; E.O. 13175 Consultation and 

Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments; E.O. 13112 Invasive 

Species. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning 

and Construction. The regulations 

implementing Executive Order 12372 

regarding intergovernmental consultation on 

Federal programs and activities apply to this 

program.) 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1) 

Issued on: January 9, 2018. 

Barbara Breslin, 

FHWA Rhode Island Division Second in Line, 

Providence, Rhode Island. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00665 Filed 1–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2016–0428] 

Hours of Service; Electronic Logging 

Devices; Limited 90-Day Waiver; Truck 

Renting and Leasing Association, Inc. 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT 

ACTION: Notice; grant of waiver. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA grants a limited 3- 

month waiver from the Federal hoursof-service (HOS) requirements for 

electronic logging devices (ELDs) to 

motor carriers and drivers operating 

property-carrying commercial motor 

vehicles (CMVs) that are rented for a 

period not exceeding 30 days. The 

Agency takes this action in response to 

a waiver request from the Truck Renting 

and Leasing Association, Inc. (TRALA). 

The Agency has determined that 

granting this waiver is in the public 

interest and will likely achieve a level 

of safety that is equivalent to the level 

that would be achieved absent the 

waiver, based on the terms and 

conditions imposed. 

DATES: This waiver is effective January 

19, 2018, through April 19, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas L. Yager, Chief, Driver and 

Carrier Operations Division, Office of 

Bus and Truck Standards and 

Operations, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 

SE, Washington, DC 20590. Email: 

MCPSD@dot.gov. Phone: (614) 942– 

6477. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Legal Basis 

The Transportation Equity Act for the 

21st Century (TEA–21) (Pub. L. 105– 

178, 112 Stat. 107, sec. 4007(a) June 9, 

1998) provides the Secretary of 

Transportation (the Secretary) the 

authority to grant waivers from any of 

the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations issued under Chapter 313 of 

Title 49 of the United States Code or 49 

U.S.C. 31136, to a person(s) seeking 

regulatory relief (49 U.S.C. 31136(e), 

31315(a)). The Secretary must make a 

determination that the waiver is in the 

public interest and that it is likely to 

achieve a level of safety that is 

equivalent to, or greater than, the level 

of safety that would be obtained in the 

absence of the waiver. Individual 

waivers may be granted only for a 

specific unique, non-emergency event, 

for a period up to three months. TEA– 

21 authorizes the Secretary to grant 

waivers without prior notice or request 

for public comment. 

The Administrator of FMCSA has 

been delegated authority under 49 CFR 

1.87(e) to carry out the functions vested 

in the Secretary by 49 U.S.C. chapter 

311, subchapters I and III, relating to 

commercial motor vehicle programs and 

safety regulations. 

Background 

TRALA is a national trade association 

representing companies that engage in 

commercial truck renting and leasing as 

well as consumer truck rentals. Its 

membership encompasses major 

independent firms such as Ryder 

System, Penske Truck Leasing, U-Haul, 

Budget, and Enterprise Truck Rental, as 

well as small and medium-size 

businesses that generally participate as 

members of four leasing group systems: 

Idealease, NationaLease, PACCAR 

Leasing company, and Mack Leasing 

System-Volvo Truck Leasing. In total, its 

nearly 500 member companies operate 

more than 5,000 commercial leasing and 

rental locations, and more than 20,000 

consumer rental locations throughout 

the United States, Mexico, and Canada. 

‘‘Renting’’ is a term of art in the vehicle 

leasing industry, generally meaning a 

transaction granting the exclusive use of 

a vehicle for 30 days or less, whereas a 

lease generally means a transaction 

granting the exclusive use of a vehicle 

for more than 30 days. 

In November 2016, TRALA submitted 

a petition requesting a 5-year exemption 

on behalf of operators of propertycarrying commercial motor vehicles 

rented for 30 days or fewer from the 

requirement that motor carriers whose 

drivers are required to keep records of 

duty status (RODS) under the HOS rules 

generally must employ ELDs beginning 

December 18, 2017, in lieu of paper 

logs, pursuant to an FMCSA rule 

published December 16, 2015 (80 FR 

78292). While TRALA stated that it 

supported the ELD mandate, it was 

concerned about unintended technical 

and operational consequences that 

would unfairly and adversely affect 

short-term rental vehicles, namely, lack 

of interoperability between the motor 

carrier’s ELD technology and the rental 

company’s platform, potentially 

precluding data transfer between the 

two systems. TRALA also raised 

concerns about data liability, 

particularly if the rental companies 

needed to bear the burden of 

safeguarding data on behalf of the motor 

carrier. 

In accordance with 49 CFR 381.315, 

FMCSA sought public comment on 

TRALA’s exemption request (82 FR 

14789 (Mar. 22, 2017)). FMCSA 

evaluated TRALA’s application and the 

public comments and granted a limited 

exception, subject to specified terms 

and conditions, but only for rentals not 

exceeding 8 days (82 FR 47306 (Oct. 11, 

2017)). 

Waiver Request 

After FMCSA granted TRALA’s 

exemption in part, TRALA filed a 

request for a 90-day waiver from the 

ELD requirement for truck rentals not 

exceeding 30 days. TRALA indicated 

that a 90-day waiver would allow rental 

companies and their customers ‘‘critical 

additional time to develop compliance 

strategies’’ to address ‘‘unique issues 

relating to the use of ELDs in short-term 

rental vehicles’’ and allow time for 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 13 / Friday, January 19, 2018 / Notices 2869 

TRALA to consider whether to petition 

for reconsideration of FMCSA’s action 

on its exemption. 

TRALA described unique challenges 

faced by operators of short-term rentals, 

namely the lack of interoperability 

between ELD device platforms, a 

situation that requires rental companies 

to address how their customers’ drivers 

might record their HOS using ELDs as 

efficiently as possible. TRALA 

described several steps its members 

have taken since FMCSA’s October 11, 

2017, decision granting a partial 

exemption for rental trucks, including 

building cloud-based portal systems 

between ELD providers and purchasers 

of ELDs. Nevertheless, TRALA states 

that additional time is required and that 

a 90-day waiver would allow its 

members to continue working through 

the issues presented by the required 

technology and the need for individual 

customer-based compliance strategies. 

TRALA stated that the waiver would 

not result in any adverse impact on 

safety as drivers of rental vehicles 

would remain subject to HOS 

regulations and the requirement to keep 

paper records of duty status under 49 

CFR 395.3 and 395.8. Furthermore, 

TRALA stated that planned enforcement 

activities would not be compromised, 

given the decision that CMVs will not 

be placed out-of-service and carriers’ 

Safety Measurement System scores will 

not be impacted for failure to employ 

ELDs through April 1, 2018. 

Finally, TRALA explained why the 

waiver would not serve as a safe harbor 

for carriers seeking to avoid compliance 

with the HOS regulations, given the 

increased cost of operating under shortterm rental arrangements. 

FMCSA Determination 

Given the obstacles to ELD 

implementation unique to short-term 

CMV rentals and the impact on carriers 

renting trucks for a period not exceeding 

30 days, FMCSA finds it is in the public 

interest to grant a limited 3-month 

waiver from the requirement that 

carriers and drivers operating rental 

CMVs in interstate commerce employ 

ELDs effective December 18, 2017. This 

waiver will avoid business disruptions 

for carriers required to employ shortterm rentals, regardless of the reason, 

and allow businesses renting CMVs to 

continue their work to reconcile the 

ELD requirement with the needs of their 

individual customers. Given the brief 

time frame during which the waiver will 

be in effect and the terms and 

conditions applicable to drivers 

operating under its provisions, FMCSA 

finds that a level of safety is likely to be 

achieved that is equivalent to the level 

that would be obtained absent the 

waiver. Because this waiver applies to 

all short-term truck rentals not 

exceeding 30 days, during a time period 

both the previous exemption and this 

waiver are in effect, this waiver 

supersedes the exemption granted to 

TRALA on October 11, 2017 (82 FR 

47306) to the extent there is any 

inconsistency. 

Terms and Conditions of the Waiver 

(1) This waiver from the requirements 

of 49 CFR 395.8(a)(1)(i) is effective from 

January 19, 2018, through April 19, 

2018. 

(2) This exemption covers rental of 

any property-carrying CMV for a period 

of 30 days or less, regardless of the 

reason for the rental. Evidence that a 

carrier has replaced one rental CMV 

with another on 30-day cycles or 

attempted to renew a rental agreement 

for the same CMV for a period beyond 

30 days will be regarded as a violation 

of the waiver. 

(3) Carriers and drivers operating 

under this waiver must comply with all 

other applicable requirements of the 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations, including the preparation 

of paper records of duty status (RODS) 

for operations which are currently 

considered to be subject to the HOS 

rules and the record retention 

requirements associated with those 

RODs and supporting documents. 

(4) Motor carriers operating under this 

waiver must have a ‘‘satisfactory’’ safety 

rating from FMCSA or be unrated; motor 

carriers with ‘‘conditional’’ or 

‘‘unsatisfactory’’ safety ratings are 

prohibited from taking advantage of the 

waiver. 

(5) Carriers operating under this 

waiver must ensure that their drivers 

carry a copy of this Federal Register 

notice in the vehicle and present it to 

motor carrier safety enforcement 

officials upon request. 

(6) Crash Notification to FMCSA 

Carriers operating under this waiver 

must notify FMCSA within 5 business 

days of any accident (as defined in 49 

CFR 390.5), involving any of the motor 

carrier’s drivers operating under the 

terms of this waiver. The notification 

must include the following information: 

(a) Identity of Waiver: ‘‘TRALA,’’ 

(b) Date of the accident, 

(c) City or town, and State, in which 

the accident occurred, or closest to the 

accident scene, 

(d) Driver’s name and license number, 

(e) Co-driver’s name and license 

number (if applicable), 

(f) Vehicle number and State license 

number, 

(g) Number of individuals suffering 

physical injury, 

(h) Number of fatalities, 

(i) The police-reported cause of the 

accident, 

(j) Whether the driver was cited for 

violation of any traffic laws or motor 

carrier safety regulations, and 

(k) The total driving time and total onduty time period prior to the accident. 

Accident notifications must be 

emailed to MCPSD@dot.gov. 

(7) FMCSA expects that any drivers 

and their employing motor carrier 

operating under the terms and 

conditions of this waiver will maintain 

their safety record. Should any safety 

problems be discovered, however, 

FMCSA will take all steps necessary to 

protect the public interest. Use of this 

waiver is voluntary, and FMCSA will 

immediately revoke the waiver for any 

interstate driver or motor carrier for 

failure to comply with the terms and 

conditions of the waiver. 

Preemption of State Requirements 

Consistent with 49 U.S.C. 31315(d), 

this waiver preempts inconsistent State 

or local requirements applicable to 

interstate commerce. 

Issued on: January 12, 2018. 

Cathy F. Gautreaux, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00843 Filed 1–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2017–0298] 

Hours of Service of Drivers: 

Application for Exemption; Motion 

Picture Association of America 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition; grant 

of application for exemption. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA grants the Motion 

Picture Association of America (MPAA) 

a five-year exemption from the 

electronic logging device (ELD) 

requirements for all commercial motor 

vehicle (CMV) drivers providing 

transportation to or from a theatrical or 

television motion picture production 

site. MPAA requested this exemption to 

allow these drivers to complete paper 

records of duty status (RODS) instead of 

using an ELD device. FMCSA has 

determined that the unique aspects of 

these drivers’ operations, combined 

with additional oversight of their paper 

RODS, is equivalent to that which 


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