3258 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 23, 2018 / Notices 

0031. The postcard will be date/time 

stamped and returned. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by DOT Docket ID Number 

DOT–OST–2014–0031 by any of the 

following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

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

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

Mail: Docket Services: 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 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Fax: 202–366–3383. 

Instructions: Identify docket number, 

DOT–OST–2014–0031, at the beginning 

of your comments, and send two copies. 

To receive confirmation that DOT 

received your comments, include a selfaddressed stamped postcard. Internet 

users may access all comments received 

by DOT at http://www.regulations.gov. 

All comments are posted electronically 

without charge or edits, including any 

personal information provided. 

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. 

Electronic Access: You may access 

comments received for this notice at 

http://www.regulations.gov, by 

searching docket DOT–OST–2014–0031. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Approval No. 2138–0009. 

Title: Report of Financial and 

Operating Statistics for Small Aircraft 

Operators. 

Form No.: BTS Form 298–C. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection for the 

financial data. 

Respondents: Small certificated (29) 

and commuter air carriers (35). 

Schedule F1 

Number of Respondents: 64. 

Number of Annual responses: 256. 

Total Burden per Response: 4 hours. 

Total Annual Burden: 1,024 hours. 

Schedule F2 

Number of Respondents: 29. 

Number of Annual responses: 116. 

Total Burden per Response: 12 hours. 

Total Annual Burden: 1,392 hours. 

Needs and Uses: Program uses for 

Form 298–C financial data are as 

follows: 

Mail Rates 

The Department of Transportation 

sets and updates the Intra-Alaska Bush 

mail rates based on carrier aircraft 

operating expense, traffic, and 

operational data. Form 298–C cost data, 

especially fuel costs, terminal expenses, 

and line haul expenses are used in 

arriving at rate levels. DOT revises the 

established rates based on the 

percentage of unit cost changes in the 

carriers’ operations. These updating 

procedures have resulted in the carriers 

receiving rates of compensation that 

more closely parallel their costs of 

providing mail service and contribute to 

the carriers’ economic well-being. 

Essential Air Service 

DOT often has to select a carrier to 

provide a community’s essential air 

service. The selection criteria include 

historic presence in the community, 

reliability of service, financial stability 

and cost structure of the air carrier. 

Carrier Fitness 

Fitness determinations are made for 

both new entrants and established U.S. 

domestic carriers proposing a 

substantial change in operations. A 

portion of these applications consists of 

an operating plan for the first year (14 

CFR part 204) and an associated 

projection of revenues and expenses. 

The carrier’s operating costs, included 

in these projections, are compared 

against the cost data in Form 298–C for 

a carrier or carriers with the same 

aircraft type and similar operating 

characteristics. Such a review validates 

the reasonableness of the carrier’s 

operating plan. 

The quarterly financial submissions 

by commuter and small certificated air 

carriers are used in determining each 

carrier’s continuing fitness to operate. 

Section 41738 of Title 49 of the United 

States Code requires DOT to find all 

commuter and small certificated air 

carriers fit, willing, and able to conduct 

passenger service as a prerequisite to 

providing such service to an eligible 

essential air service point. In making a 

fitness determination, DOT reviews 

three areas of a carrier’s operation: (1) 

The qualifications of its management 

team, (2) its disposition to comply with 

laws and regulations, and (3) its 

financial posture. DOT must determine 

whether or not a carrier has sufficient 

financial resources to conduct its 

operations without imposing undue risk 

on the traveling public. Moreover, once 

a carrier begins conducting flight 

operations, DOT is required to monitor 

its continuing fitness. 

Senior DOT officials must be kept 

fully informed and advised of all 

current and developing economic issues 

affecting the airline industry. In 

preparing financial condition reports or 

status reports on a particular airline, 

financial and traffic data are analyzed. 

Briefing papers prepared for senior DOT 

officials may use the same information. 

The Confidential Information 

Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 

of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note), requires 

a statistical agency to clearly identify 

information it collects for non-statistical 

purposes. BTS hereby notifies the 

respondents and the public that BTS 

uses the information it collects under 

this OMB approval for non-statistical 

purposes including, but not limited to, 

publication of both Respondent’s 

identity and its data, submission of the 

information to agencies outside BTS for 

review, analysis and possible use in 

regulatory and other administrative 

matters. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 16, 

2018. 

William Chadwick, Jr., 

Director, Office of Airline Information, 

Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 

[FR Doc. 2018–01183 Filed 1–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

[OMB Control No. 2900–0772] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activity: VA Cooperative Studies 

Program 

AGENCY: Veterans Health 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 

1995, this notice announces that the 

Veterans Health Administration, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, will 

submit the collection of information 

abstracted below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and comment. The PRA 

submission describes the nature of the 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 15 / Tuesday, January 23, 2018 / Notices 3259 

information collection and its expected 

cost and burden and it includes the 

actual data collection instrument. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before February 22, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

on the collection of information through 

www.Regulations.gov, or to Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, Attn: 

VA Desk Officer, 725 17th St. NW, 

Washington, DC 20503 or sent through 

electronic mail to oira_submission@

omb.eop.gov. Please refer to ‘‘OMB 

Control No. 2900–0772’’ in any 

correspondence. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Harvey-Pryor, Office of Quality, 

Privacy and Risk (OQPR), Department of 

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461– 

5870 or email cynthia.harvey-pryor@

va.gov. Please refer to ‘‘OMB Control 

No. 2900–0772’’ in any correspondence. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority: 38 U.S.C. Part 1, Chapter 5, 

Section 527 

Title: VA Cooperative Studies 

Program (CSP): 

VA Form 10–10074, CSP Customer 

Satisfaction Survey. 

VA Form 10–10074a, Meeting 

Evaluation. 

OMB Control Number: 2900–0772. 

Type of Review: Reinstatement of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: The information collected 

will be used by VA Cooperative Studies 

Program (CSP) leadership to evaluate 

their Coordinating Centers’ effectiveness 

in conducting meetings and interacting 

with participating study sites and other 

customers. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid OMB 

control number. The Federal Register 

Notice with a 60-day comment period 

soliciting comments on this collection 

of information was published at 82 FR 

51482 on November 6, 2017, pages 

51482–51483. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

Households. 

Estimated Annual Burden: 

VA Form 10–10074—83 hours. 

VA Form 10–10074a—83 hours. 

Estimated Average Burden Per 

Respondent: 

VA Form 10–10074—10 minutes. 

VA Form 10–10074a—10 minutes. 

Frequency of Response: Annually. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

VA Form 10–10074—500. 

VA Form 10–10074a—500. 

By direction of the Secretary. 

Cynthia Harvey-Pryor, 

Department Clearance Officer, Office of 

Quality, Privacy and Risk, Department of 

Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2018–01105 Filed 1–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 


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