Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 102 / Friday, May 25, 2001 / Proposed Rules 28875

Street, NW., Washington, D.C. 20036,

(202) 857–3800.

Federal Communications Commission.

John A. Karousos,

Chief, Allocations Branch, Policy and Rules

Division, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 01–13244 Filed 5–24–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA–2001–9600; Notice 1]

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety

Standards; FMVSS No. 121, Air Brake

Systems

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Denial of petition for

rulemaking, Motor & Equipment

Manufacturers Association—Heavy

Duty Brake Manufacturers Council

SUMMARY: On January 16, 2001, the

Heavy Duty Brake Manufacturers

Council (HDBMC) of the Motor &

Equipment Manufacturers Association

petitioned NHTSA to delay the

implementation date for transmittal of

antilock braking system (ABS)

malfunction signals from trailers to

tractors and trucks that are equipped to

tow trailers. These requirements are

specified in S5.1.6.2(b) for trucks and

tractors, and S5.2.3.2 for trailers, of

FMVSS No. 121, Air Brake Systems. The

petitioner cites difficulties of its

member companies in obtaining suitable

computer chips at a reasonable cost to

perform the ABS malfunction signal

communications. However, the agency

believes that the member companies’

failure to reach suitable business

arrangements with their supplier and a

holder of a patent on this technology

has resulted in this situation. The

agency notes that nearly five years of

lead time was provided to meet these

requirements. The current difficulties

cited by the petitioner normal

commercial problems, not a lack of

available technology. This petition is

denied.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Jeff Woods, Office of Crash Avoidance

Standards, National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

Telephone (202) 366–6206; fax (202)

366–4329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA

has been petitioned by the Heavy Duty

Brake Manufacturers Council (HDBMC)

to delay implementation of the in-cab

warning lamp requirements in FMVSS

No. 121. These requirements became

effective March 1, 2001. The HDBMC

petition dated January 16, 2001, asked

for a one-year extension to March 1,

2002. The requirements apply to airbraked vehicles that tow or are towed by

other air-braked vehicles, such as

tractors, trucks, trailers, and converter

dollies. The in-cab warning lamp

provides the driver with an indication

on the truck instrument panel that there

is a malfunction in the ABS of a towed

vehicle, so that the driver can identify

such malfunctions and have them

corrected. The requirements for ABS

malfunction signaling between towed

and towing vehicles were originally

adopted in a final rule issued on March

10, 1995 (60 FR 13216). These

requirements underwent slight revisions

and were finalized in their present form

in a final rule issued on May 31, 1996

(61 FR 27288).

In 1997, the industry formed the PLC–

4–TRUCKS consortium to develop a

system to transmit the trailer ABS

malfunction signals between towing and

towed vehicles. The industry believed

that the systems commercially-available

at that time did not meet all of the

industry’s needs, which include the

ability of the system to be incorporated

into the ABS electronic control units

installed on the subject vehicles; the

availability of a system that is not

proprietary and thus any manufacturer

could produce the needed components;

and the ability of the system to work

within the existing wiring common

among heavy-duty tractors and trailers.

The PLC–4–TRUCKS system that was

developed by the consortium uses

computer chips manufactured by

Intellon Corporation that provide

spread-spectrum data communications

capability over a power line, or power

line carrier (PLC). These chips, which

are used in other commercial

applications, were adapted to heavyduty truck use and through the PLC–4–

TRUCKS consortium, a communications

protocol was developed. As HDBMC

states in their petition, Alan Lesesky of

VES Corporation was granted a patent in

October, 2000, which covers the use of

spread-spectrum data communications

on tractor-trailer applications, and

subsequently VES filed a lawsuit against

Intellon alleging patent infringement

issues. Prior to filing the lawsuit, VES

offered licensing agreements to the

manufacturers of heavy-duty ABS

systems to enable them to use this

technology. As stated in the petition, the

HDBMC believes that the licensing fees

proposed by VES are commercially

unreasonable and inconsistent with past

licensing arrangements for products

covered by Society of Automotive

Engineers (SAE) or NHTSA standards.

NHTSA notes that as early as 1998,

the agency was prepared to initiate

rulemaking to mandate one of the

commercially-available systems for the

purpose of communicating trailer ABS

warning lamp signals, to ensure that the

industry would comply with the March

1, 2001 compliance date. However, the

agency was assured by the industry that

the PLC–4–TRUCKS solution was

indeed that way that the industry

wanted to go and that such a mandate

was unnecessary. The agency heeded

the industry’s recommendations and

subsequently did not begin the

rulemaking process for such a mandate.

NHTSA contacted VES and Intellon

attorneys for an update on the lawsuit

by VES against Intellon. The attorney for

VES indicated that one of the HDBMC

member companies, Eaton Corporation,

had negotiated and signed a licensing

agreement with VES to use the spreadspectrum technology for trailer ABS

warning lamp purposes. The VES

attorney indicated that he believed other

ABS manufacturers would follow suit.

The agency believes that if suitable

licensing agreements are made between

the ABS manufacturers and VES, then

the lawsuit would be terminated so that

manufacturing the PLC–4–TRUCKS

system with the Intellon computer chips

could resume.

The agency therefore denies the

petition for a one-year extension of the

March 1, 2001, compliance date for

trailer ABS malfunction signals. The

technology is available to transmit the

trailer ABS malfunction signals. The

agency believes that this issue is a

business matter that the ABS suppliers

need to work out with appropriate

parties, including Intellon, VES, and the

vehicle manufacturers to whom they

sell their products. The agency notes

that it was prepared to mandate one of

the older, commercial systems on the

market, but the agency was persuaded

not to do so. Under these circumstances

the fact that the vehicle manufacturers

do not want to pay the amount proposed

by VES is not an adequate basis to

extend the effective date. Further, the

agency notes that the cost of ABS in

general has decreased significantly (i.e.,

a factor of two or three) compared to

ABS costs prior to the tractor ABS

mandate of March 1, 1997, and that the

cost to incorporate the trailer ABS

malfunction signaling would only

amount to a small increase in the cost

of current ABS equipment.

28876 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 102 / Friday, May 25, 2001 / Proposed Rules

Issued on May 21, 2001.

Stephen R. Kratzke,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 01–13184 Filed 5–24–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–U

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[Docket No. 010–427105–1105–01; I.D.

011001F]

RIN 0648–AJ82

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;

Update of Regulations Governing

Council Operations

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule, request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to update

regulations governing the operation of

Regional Fishery Management Councils

(Councils) under the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This

proposed rule would make amendments

by codifying recent administrative and

policy changes, and by making editorial

changes for readability, clarity, and

uniformity. The intent of this proposed

rule is to update Council regulations to

reflect current policies and procedures.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before June 25, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

William T. Hogarth, Acting Assistant

Administrator, NMFS, 1315 East–West

Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Comments on this document will not be

accepted if submitted via email or the

Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard Surdi, F/SF5, NMFS, 301–713–

2337. This Federal Register document is

also accessible via the Internet at the

Office of the Federal Register website at

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su—docs/

aces/aces 140.tml.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Currently, regulations pertaining to

general provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act related to Council

operations are contained in title 50 of

the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

NMFS is proposing to update part 600

(Regional Fishery Management

Councils, subpart B, and Council

Membership, subpart C), to codify

important provisions of the recently

withdrawn Council Operations and

Administration Handbook (Handbook),

which was a reference guide that

compiled various requirements of the

Magnuson-Stevens Act and other

applicable law, as well as policy

guidance. Some of the guidance

contained in the Handbook consisted of

regulations that were removed from title

50 of the CFR at the time the Handbook

was developed. NMFS is proposing to

reinstate some of those former

regulations because they are not

contained elsewhere and they are

necessary for the Councils to function.

Other proposed additions and revisions

reflect necessary policy changes that

were not contained in the Handbook,

and were not previously in regulation.

Proposal

1. The topic of compensation for

Council staff (not Council members)

would be added at § 600.120, noting that

Council pay rates must be consistent

with the pay rates established for

General Schedule Federal employees or

the alternative personnel management

system for the U.S. Department of

Commerce (62 FR 67434; December 24,

1997). The Councils have the discretion

to adjust pay rates and pay increases for

cost of living (COLA) and other

adjustments, but no pay adjustment may

exceed the applicable percentage of

salary for COLA and locality pay

available to Federal employees in the

same geographic area. In addition, the

regulations would prohibit salary

increases funded in lieu of life and

medical/dental policies, a former

regulation that was contained in the

Handbook. Other additions at § 600.120

that reinstate former regulations include

fair hiring practices and the hiring of an

independent legal counsel.

2. The topic of payment for unused

sick and annual leave would be added

at § 600.120. It would provide that

unused sick leave may be accumulated

to a maximum as established by the

Council. It also provides for the

distribution of accumulated funds for

unused sick leave to the employee upon

his or her retirement, or their estate

upon his or her death, as established in

the Council’s Statement of Organization,

Practices, and Procedures (SOPP). Each

Council may pay for unused annual

leave upon separation, retirement, or

death of an employee.

3. A requirement would be added

under § 600.125 regarding agreements,

including grants, contracts, or

cooperative agreements. Councils may

not independently enter into agreements

in which they will receive funds, and all

such agreements must be approved and

entered into by NOAA on behalf of the

Council. A policy that was contained in

the Handbook regarding the receipt of

gifts or contributions would also be

added at § 600.125.

4. Policies in the Handbook regarding

meeting notification, meeting closures,

and voting procedures that were also

former regulations would be added at

§ 600.135.

5. A policy that was contained in the

Handbook regarding the disposition of

records that was also a former regulation

would be added at § 600.150.

6. A policy contained in the

Handbook regarding responding to

Freedom of Information Act requests

that was also a former regulation would

be added at § 600.155.

7. The constituent states of the eight

Regional Fishery Management Councils

are represented by ‘‘principal state

officials’’ designated by their Governors.

Each principal state official under

section 302(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens

Act is currently required to be

employed, on a full-time basis, in a

position related to the development of

fisheries management policies for that

state. The proposed rule would amend

the language at § 600.205 so that a

designee of that official would not have

to be a full-time employee of the state,

with the aforementioned

responsibilities, but must be a resident

of the state and knowledgeable and

experienced in the fishery resources of

the geographic area of concern to the

Council. This would grant greater

flexibility to the principal state official

in selecting a designee, who may have

the expertise and ability to serve, but

might not be a full-time state employee.

8. Section 302(d) of the MagnusonStevens Act establishes GS-15, step 7

General Schedule as a Council

member’s daily pay rate. This proposed

rule would remove § 600.245(a) which

is inconsistent with the statutory

provision.

Classification

This action has been determined to be

not significant for purposes of E.O.

12866.

The Chief Counsel for Legislation and

Regulation of the Department of

Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel

for Advocacy of the Small Business

Administration that this proposed rule,

if adopted, would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities in the fishing

industry. This proposed rule does not

affect any small entities. Rather, it

establishes procedures or guidelines for