40230 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 141 / Tuesday, July 27, 2021 / Notices 

1https://www.regulations.gov/document/FRA2020-0056-0001 (Test Program); https://

www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2020-0056- 

0002 (FRA’s approval decision); https://

www.regulations.gov/document/FRA-2020-0056- 

0004 (FRA’s published notice of approval). 

2See https://www.regulations.gov/document/ 

FRA-2020-0056-0001. 

PTC dockets are hyperlinked on FRA’s 

website at https://railroads.dot.gov/ 

train-control/ptc/ptc-annual-andquarterly-reports. All comments 

received will be posted without change 

to https://www.regulations.gov; this 

includes any personal information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gabe Neal, Deputy Staff Director, Signal, 

Train Control, and Crossings Division, 

telephone: 816–516–7168, email: 

Gabe.Neal@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In general, 

Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) 

Section 20157(h) requires FRA to certify 

that a host railroad’s PTC system 

complies with 49 CFR part 236, subpart 

I, before the technology may be operated 

in revenue service. Before making 

certain changes to an FRA-certified PTC 

system or the associated FRA-approved 

PTCSP, a host railroad must submit, and 

obtain FRA’s approval of, an RFA to its 

PTCSP under Title 49 Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) Section 236.1021. 

Under 49 CFR 236.1021(e), FRA’s 

regulations provide that FRA will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

and invite public comment in 

accordance with 49 CFR part 211, if an 

RFA includes a request for approval of 

a material modification of a signal and 

train control system. Accordingly, this 

notice informs the public that host 

railroads’ recent RFAs to their PTCSPs 

are available in their respective public 

PTC dockets, and this notice provides 

an opportunity for public comment on 

these RFAs. 

On July 16, 2021, the following 19 

host railroads jointly submitted an RFA 

to their respective PTCSPs for their 

Interoperable Electronic Train 

Management Systems (I–ETMS): Alaska 

Railroad Corporation (ARR), The Belt 

Railway Company of Chicago (BRC), 

BNSF Railway (BNSF), Peninsula 

Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCMZ), 

Canadian National Railway (CN), 

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), 

Consolidated Rail Corporation (CRSH), 

CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSX), Kansas 

City Terminal Railway (KCT), Kansas 

City Southern Railway (KCS), National 

Passenger Railroad Corporation 

(Amtrak), New Mexico Rail Runner 

Express (NMRX), Northeast Illinois 

Regional Commuter Railroad 

Corporation (Metra), Northern Indiana 

Commuter Transportation District 

(NICD), Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), 

South Florida Regional Transportation 

Authority (SFRV), Southern California 

Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink), 

Terminal Railroad Association of St. 

Louis, and Union Pacific Railroad (UP). 

Their joint RFA is available in Docket 

Numbers FRA–2010–0028, –0029, 

–0039, –0042, –0043, –0045, –0048, 

–0051, –0054, –0056, –0057, –0058, 

–0059, –0060, –0061, –0062, –0064, 

–0065, and –0070. 

Interested parties are invited to 

comment on any RFAs to railroads’ 

PTCSPs by submitting written 

comments or data. During FRA’s review 

of railroads’ RFAs, FRA will consider 

any comments or data submitted within 

the timeline specified in this notice and 

to the extent practicable, without 

delaying implementation of valuable or 

necessary modifications to PTC systems. 

See 49 CFR 236.1021; see also 49 CFR 

236.1011(e). Under 49 CFR 236.1021, 

FRA maintains the authority to approve, 

approve with conditions, or deny 

railroads’ RFAs to their PTCSPs at 

FRA’s sole discretion. 

Privacy Act Notice 

In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, 

FRA solicits comments from the public 

to better inform its decisions. DOT posts 

these comments, without edit, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides, to https://

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

See https://www.regulations.gov/ 

privacy-notice for the privacy notice of 

regulations.gov. To facilitate comment 

tracking, we encourage commenters to 

provide their name, or the name of their 

organization; however, submission of 

names is completely optional. If you 

wish to provide comments containing 

proprietary or confidential information, 

please contact FRA for alternate 

submission instructions. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams, 

Director, Office of Railroad Systems and 

Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15973 Filed 7–26–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket No. FRA–2020–0056] 

Petition for Approval Extension: 

Canadian Pacific Railway Company 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of petition for extension 

of approval of track inspection test 

program. 

SUMMARY: This document provides the 

public notice that on July 7, 2021, 

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) 

petitioned the Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA) to extend an 

existing temporary suspension of some 

visual track inspections to allow for 

continuation of a previously-approved 

Test Program designed to test track 

inspection technologies (i.e., an 

autonomous track geometry 

measurement system) and new 

operational approaches to track 

inspections (i.e., combinations of 

autonomous inspection and traditional 

visual inspections). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: YuJiang Zhang, Staff Director, Track and 

Structures Division, Office of Railroad 

Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 

SE, Washington, DC 20590, telephone 

(202) 493–6460 or email yujiang.zhang@

dot.gov; Aaron Moore, Attorney, Office 

of Chief Counsel, FRA, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, 

telephone (202) 493–7009 or email 

aaron.moore@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 

22, 2020, FRA conditionally approved 

the Test Program and CP’s petition 

under 49 CFR 211.51 to suspend 

§§ 213.233(b)(3) and 213.233(c) as 

applied to operations under the Test 

Program. A copy of the Test Program, 

FRA’s conditional approval of the Test 

Program, and a previously published 

Federal Register notice explaining 

FRA’s rational for approving the Test 

Program and related suspension are 

available for review in the docket.1

As approved, the Test Program 

includes three separate phases over the 

course of 12 months as outlined in 

Exhibit C of the Program.2 CP began the 

Test Program on August 7, 2020. 

Accordingly, the Test Program is 

currently set to expire on August 7, 

2021. 

CP is requesting to extend the Test 

Program until April 6, 2022 to complete 

the Program. CP cites the impact of 

COVID–19 as the primary reason for 

requesting the extension, noting that the 

railroad’s efforts to safeguard the health 

of its employees and variety of 

restrictions associated with COVID–19 

have ‘‘impacted logistics, training, and 

change management activities 

associated with the Test Program.’’ In 

support of its request, CP states that it 

will continue to comply with all other 

conditions and requirements of FRA’s 

July 22, 2020, approval letter. CP further 

notes that for phase 3 of the Test 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 141 / Tuesday, July 27, 2021 / Notices 40231 

1Presentations, Subcommittee reports, and other 

materials from the first two public meetings are 

available for public review on the AAPB Advisory 

Committee’s docket, DOT–OST–2018–0206. 

Program, it intends to take a more 

conservative approach than that 

provided for in FRA’s approval letter by 

continuing manual visual inspections at 

the frequency specified in phase 2 of the 

Test Program. 

A copy of the petition, as well as any 

written communications concerning the 

petition, if any, are available for review 

online at www.regulations.gov. 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in these proceedings by 

submitting written views, data, or 

comments. 

All communications concerning these 

proceedings should identify the 

appropriate docket number and may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

• Website: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Communications received by August 

26, 2021 will be considered by FRA 

before final action is taken. Comments 

received after that date will be 

considered if practicable. Anyone can 

search the electronic form of any written 

communications and comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the document, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). Under 5 

U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments 

from the public to better inform its 

processes. DOT posts these comments, 

without edit, including any personal 

information the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

See also https://www.regulations.gov/ 

privacy-notice for the privacy notice of 

regulations.gov. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

John Karl Alexy, 

Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety 

Chief Safety Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15935 Filed 7–26–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. DOT–OST–2018–0206] 

Air Ambulance and Patient Billing 

Advisory Committee Notice of Public 

Meeting 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Transportation (Department or DOT) is 

giving notice that a virtual public 

meeting of the Air Ambulance and 

Patient Billing (AAPB) Advisory 

Committee will take place on August 11, 

2021. The AAPB Advisory Committee 

will discuss the impact of the Airline 

Deregulation Act (ADA) on States’ 

ability to regulate air ambulance 

operations and whether to recommend 

that the ADA be amended as a means of 

improving the regulation of air 

ambulance providers. 

DATES: The AAPB Advisory Committee 

will hold a virtual meeting on August 

11, 2021, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., 

Eastern Daylight Time. Requests to 

attend the meeting must be received by 

August 10, 2021. Requests for 

accommodations because of a disability 

must be received by August 3, 2021. If 

you wish to speak during the meeting, 

you must submit a written copy of your 

remarks to DOT by August 3, 2021. 

Requests to submit written materials to 

be reviewed during the meeting must be 

received no later than August 3, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: The virtual meeting will be 

open to the public and held via the 

Zoom Webinar Platform. Virtual 

attendance information will be provided 

upon registration. An agenda will be 

available on the AAPB Advisory 

Committee website at https://

www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/ 

AAPB at least one week before the 

meeting, along with copies of the 

meeting minutes after the meeting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

register and attend this virtual meeting, 

please contact the Department by email 

at AAPB@dot.gov. Attendance is open to 

the public subject to any technical and/ 

or capacity limitations. For further 

information, contact Robert Gorman, 

Senior Attorney, at (202) 366–9342 or by 

email at robert.gorman@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 

(2018 FAA Act) requires the DOT 

Secretary, in consultation with the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services 

(HHS), to establish an advisory 

committee to review options to improve 

the disclosure of charges and fees for air 

medical services, better inform 

consumers of insurance options for such 

services, and protect consumers from 

balance billing. On September 12, 2019, 

the Department announced the creation 

of the AAPB Advisory Committee. 

The AAPB Advisory Committee held 

a public meeting on January 15–16, 

2020. At that meeting, the AAPB 

Advisory Committee gathered 

information about the air ambulance 

industry, air ambulance costs and 

billing, and insurance and air 

ambulance payment systems. The AAPB 

Advisory Committee also discussed 

disclosure and separation of charges, 

cost shifting, and balance billing. 

On February 4, 2020, the Department 

established three Subcommittees: (1) 

The Subcommittee on Disclosure and 

Distinction of Charges and Coverage for 

Air Ambulance Services; (2) the 

Subcommittee on Prevention of Balance 

Billing, and (3) the Subcommittee on 

State and DOT Consumer Protection 

Authorities. On January 11, 2021, the 

Subcommittees filed reports and draft 

recommendations for the full 

Committee’s review. 

The AAPB Advisory Committee held 

a second public meeting on May 27–28, 

2021. The Committee discussed the 

draft recommendations of the 

Subcommittees and developed its own 

recommendations.1 At the conclusion of 

the May 28 meeting, Committee 

members expressed an interest in 

discussing the ADA’s impact on States’ 

ability to regulate the activities of air 

ambulance services and in making 

recommendations related to the ADA, 

Public Law 95–504, as a means of 

improving the regulation of air 

ambulance providers. The Committee’s 

Designated Federal Officer (DFO) 

indicated that a supplemental 

Committee meeting would be held to 

discuss and consider this matter, if the 

Department determined that the 

Committee had authority to do so after 

a careful review of the Committee’s 

charter and the 2018 FAA Act. The 

Department has now determined that 

the Committee has the authority to 

discuss and make recommendations 

related to the ADA. While 

representatives of DOT and HHS are 

voting members of the AAPB Advisory 

Committee, those two representatives 

will abstain from voting on the merits of 

any recommendation that the 

Committee may develop regarding the 

ADA. 

II. Summary of the Agenda 

During the August 11, 2021 meeting, 

the AAPB Advisory Committee will 

deliberate the issue of whether and how 

to recommend that Congress amend the 

ADA. A more detailed agenda will be 

made available at least one week before 

the meeting at https://

www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/ 

AAPB. 


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