Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 98 / Monday, May 21, 2001 / Notices 28017

Discussion

• New Special Committee, Airport

Security Access Control

—Discuss results of earlier PMC

action to establish this new

committee

—Public comment

• Special Committee 195, Flight

Information Services

Communications

• Consideration of Terms of

Reference Update, Proposed

Revision 3

• Special Committee 181, Navigation

Standards

• Consideration of nominated new

Special Committee, Dave

Nakamura, Boeing

• Special Committee 190, Application

Guidelines for DO–178B

—Chairman’s Presentation

—Committee activity update and

introduction of SC–190’s document,

Guidelines for CNS/ATM Systems

Software Integrity Assurance

• Special Committee 172, VHF AirGround Communication

• Chairman’s Report

• Two issues: (1) Retention of

Working Group papers; (2)

Document Update Process

Action Item Review

• Action Item 01–01, Report on RTCA

National Airspace Redesign activity

• Action Item 02–01, Member’s

comment on need for a Multi

Function Display Special

Committee

Closing Session (Other Business,

Document Production, Date and Place

of Next Meeting, Adjourn)

Attendance is open to the interested

public but limited to space availability.

With the approval of the chairmen,

members of the public may present oral

statements at the meeting. Persons

wishing to present statements or obtain

information should contact the person

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section. Members of the public

may present a written statement to the

committee at any time.

Dated: Issued in Washington, DC, on May

15, 2001.

James L. Peters,

FAA Special Assistant, RTCA Advisory

Committee.

[FR Doc. 01–12725 Filed 5–18–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA–2001–9688]

Notice of Request To Renew the

Approval of an Information Collection:

OMB No. 2126–0001 (Driver’s Record

of Duty Status)

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: This notice announces that

the FMCSA intends to request the Office

of Management and Budget (OMB) to

renew approval for the information

collection described below. This

information collection is necessary to

ensure that motor carriers and

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drives

comply with the maximum driving and

duty time limitations prescribed in the

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Regulations (FMCSR). This notice is

required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act.

DATES: Please submit comments by July

20, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver

comments to the U.S. Department of

Transportation, Dockets Management

Facility, Room PL–401, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, or

submit electronically at http://

dmses.dot.gov/submit. Be sure to

include the docket number appearing in

the heading of this document on your

comment. All comments received will

be available for examination and

copying at the above address from 9

a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays. If you

would like to be notified when your

comments is received, you must include

a self-addressed, stamped postcard or

you may print the acknowledgment

page that appears after submitting

comments electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Angeli Sebastian, (202) 366–4001, Chief

of Driver and Carrier Operations (MC–

PSD), Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration, U.S. Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office

hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., e.t.,

Monday through Friday, except Federal

holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Driver’s Record of Duty Status.

OMB Approval Number: 2126–0001.

Background: The paper record of duty

status (RODS) and automatic on-board

recording device are the primary

regulatory tools used by the FMCSA to

determine motor carriers’ and CMV

drivers’ compliance with the maximum

driving and duty time limitations

prescribed in the FMCSRs. These tools

are also used by States that receive

FMCSA Motor Carrier Safety Assistance

Program (MCSAP) grants to determine

regulatory compliance of CMV drivers

during the safety inspections they

perform. The information contained in

the RODS determines whether a driver

can drive a CMV on any given day based

upon the driver’s duty hours recorded

over the previous 7 to 8 days. The RODS

is an important tool to aid the FMCSA

to help ensure the safety of the general

public by reducing the number of tired

drivers on the nation’s highways.

Respondents: Motor carriers and

approximately 6.4 million CMV

interstate drivers subject to FMCRSs or

compatible State regulations.

Frequency: Daily.

Estimated Total Annual Burden:

42,464,327 hours.

Public Comments Invited

We invite you to comment on any

aspect of this information collection,

including, but not limited to (1) whether

the collection of information is

necessary for the FMCSA to meet its

goal of reducing truck crashes,

including whether the information is

useful to this goal; (2) the accuracy of

the estimated burden; (3) ways to

enhance the quality, usefulness and

clarity of the information collected; and

(4) ways to minimize the collection

burden without reducing the quality of

the information collected.

Electronic Access and Filing

You may submit or retrieve comments

online through the Docket Management

System (DMS) at http://dmses.dot.gov/

submit. Acceptable formats include: MS

Word (versions 95 to 97), MS Word for

Mac (versions 6 to 8), Rich Text File

(RTF), American Standard Code

Information Interchange (ASCII)(TXT),

Portable Document Format (PDF), and

WordPerfect (versions 7 to 8). The DMS

is available 24 hours each day, 365 days

each year. Electronic submission and

retrieval help and guidelines are

available under the help section of the

web site. You may also download an

electronic copy of this document from

the DOT Docket Management System on

the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov/

search.htm. Please include the docket

number appearing in the heading of this

document.

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended;

and 49 CFR 1.73.

28018 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 98 / Monday, May 21, 2001 / Notices

Issued on: May 15, 2001.

Brian M. McLaughlin,

Acting Deputy Administrator.

[FR Doc. 01–12619 Filed 5–18–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA–01–9332]

Exemption Application From the

Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen

and CSX Transportation, Inc.

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of application for

exemption; request for comments.

SUMMARY: The FMCSA has received a

joint application from the Brotherhood

of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) and CSX

Transportation, Inc. (CSX) for an

exemption from the hours-of-service

rules for drivers of commercial motor

vehicles engaged in interstate

commerce. Petitioners request an

exemption from the 60-hour in 7-day

and 70-hour in 8-day rules for CSX’s

signal construction gangs, comprised of

BRS members. The FMCSA seeks public

comment on the merits of the

application and whether the FMCSA

should grant or deny it.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before June 20, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You can mail or hand

deliver comments to the U.S.

Department of Transportation, Dockets

Management Facility, Room PL–401,

400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington,

DC 20590, or submit electronically at

http://dmses.dot.gov/submit. You

should include the docket number that

appears in the heading of this

document. You can examine and copy

all comments at the above address from

9 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through

Friday, except Federal Holidays. You

may also view comments on the Internet

at http://dms.dot.gov using the docket

number that appears in the heading of

this document. If you want us to notify

you that we received your comments,

please include a self-addressed,

stamped postcard, or you may print the

acknowledgment page that appears after

submitting comments electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

David Miller, (202) 366–6408.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

BRS and CSX’s Application

The CSX is a private motor carrier of

property as defined by 49 CFR part 390

and a Class I railroad as defined by 49

CFR part 1201. The BRS and CSX filed

a joint application that asks the FMCSA

for either one of two actions. The

petitioners’ first (and preferred) request

is for an interpretation that the hours-ofservice (HOS) regulations (49 CFR Part

395) do not apply to CSX railroad signal

employees driving commercial motor

vehicles (CMVs) on public roads in

interstate commerce. The alternative

request is for an exemption from the

HOS rules that would allow CSX

railroad signal employees to work their

collectively-bargained schedule, i.e., 8

consecutive days on duty at up to 12

hours per day, followed by 6

consecutive days off duty. A copy of the

joint application for exemption is in the

docket.

The FMCSA disagrees with

petitioners’ argument that the HOS

regulations ‘‘are not intended to, and do

not, apply to railroad signal employees

who are subject to HOS requirements

promulgated by Congress specifically

for application to railroad signal

employees.’’ The 1976 amendment to

the Hours of Service Act of 1907 dealing

with railroad signal employees (49

U.S.C. 21104) was intended to protect

them from being required to work

excessive hours. Nothing in Sec. 21104

suggests that Congress intended it to

supersede the HOS regulations

applicable to highway operations of

CMVs, which were based on the Motor

Carrier Act of 1935 (49 U.S.C. 31502).

The language and legislative history of

section 21104 reveal no specific intent

to protect the public from potential risks

associated with the operation of CMVs

by railroad signal personnel who are onduty for many hours. The FMCSA’s

HOS regulations, on the other hand, are

designed to protect all users of the

public highways from fatigued CMV

drivers (49 CFR Part 395). Petitioners’

argument is not supported by any

authority.

Exemption Request

The agency will, however, consider

petitioners’ request for an exemption

from Part 395 to the extent needed to

allow railroad signal employees to work

their collectively-bargained schedule,

i.e., 8 consecutive days on duty at up to

12 hours per day, followed by 6

consecutive days off duty.

According to the joint application,

CSX employs about 1,765 signalmen

who are represented by the BRS. It is

unclear exactly how many of these

employees would be affected by the

exemption requested.

The petition states that CSX signal

employees are organized into 91

construction gangs. They drive private

vehicles from their homes to a hotel or

motel close to their next job site. From

there, CSX transports signal employees

to the job site in company vehicles

driven by other members of the crew.

These drivers typically spend two to

three hours per day driving, and the rest

of their time working on railroad signal

equipment. They also move their

vehicles between job sites, which

usually takes less than four hours.

Petitioners reported that ‘‘[d]uring

1999, members of CSX’s signal

construction gangs operated

approximately 133 vehicles prior to

June 1 and approximately 177 vehicles

after June 1, at an average annual rate of

200 days per vehicle or more than

30,000 vehicle days. During that period

of time there were no fatalities related

to operation of CMVs by members of

signal construction gangs. There were

no instances of personal injury and only

24 instances of property damage related

to operation of CMVs by members of

signal construction gangs. Eleven of

those instances involved CSX vehicles

being struck by outside parties. Others

involved such things as collisions with

deer. Thus, there is minimal risk in

authorizing a modest increase in the

work week for this small group of CSX

drivers. Any such risk that may exist is

more than offset by a very substantial

off-duty period between each work

week.’’

The BRS and CSX offered additional

arguments in support of an exemption.

The entire application is available in the

docket.

On December 15, 2000, the

Association of American Railroads

(AAR) filed with the FMCSA a ‘‘petition

* * * in support of the joint petition

filed September 12, 2000, by the

Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen and

CSX Transportation, Inc.’’ Since the

AAR document is not a separate request

for exemption, but rather a body of

arguments and data in support of the

previous petition, the FMCSA will treat

it as a comment. It is also available in

the docket.

Exemption Procedure

Drivers for motor carriers that do not

operate every day of the week are

prohibited from driving after being on

duty 60 hours in any 7-day period

(§ 395.3(b)(1)). Drivers for motor carriers

that operate every day of the week may

not drive after being on duty 70 hours

in any 8-day period (§ 395.3(b)(2)). The

BRS and CSX are applying for a 2-year