[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 170 (Friday, September 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52467-52469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17508]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2005-21685]


Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application 
for an Exemption From PINOVA

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

[[Page 52468]]


ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) 
requests public comment on an application for an exemption received 
from PINOVA on behalf of 29 motor carriers that transport short 
lightered wood logs and stumps from various points in North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama to PINOVA's 
plant in Brunswick, Georgia. PINOVA seeks the exemption because it 
believes compliance with the commodity-specific rule for securing logs 
and stumps prevents the company from using more efficient and effective 
cargo securement methods. PINOVA believes the alternative cargo 
securement method used by its motor carriers would maintain a level of 
safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety 
achieved without the exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
FMCSA-2005-21685 by any of the following methods:
    <bullet> Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
    <bullet> Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    <bullet> Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    <bullet> Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://dms.dot.gov including any personal 
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading for further 
information.
    Docket: For access to the docket and to read background documents 
or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov and/or Room PL-401 on 
the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of DOT's dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, or other 
entity). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 2000). This statement is also 
available at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside 
Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations, 
MC-PSV, (202) 366-0676; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107, June 9, 1998) amended 49 U.S.C. 31315 
and 31136(e) to provide authority to grant exemptions from motor 
carrier safety regulations. On December 8, 1998, the Federal Highway 
Administration's Office of Motor Carriers, the predecessor to FMCSA, 
published an interim final rule implementing section 4007 (63 FR 
67600). On August 20, 2004, FMCSA published a final rule (69 FR 51589) 
on this subject. Under this rule, FMCSA must publish a notice of each 
exemption request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 315(a)). The agency 
must provide the public with an opportunity to inspect the information 
relevant to the application, including any safety analyses that have 
been conducted. The agency must also provide an opportunity for public 
comment on the request.
    The agency reviews the safety analyses and the public comments, and 
determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level 
of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be 
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of 
the agency must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR 
381.315(b)). If the agency denies the request, it must state the reason 
for doing so. If the decision is to grant the exemption, the notice 
must specify the person or class of persons receiving the exemption, 
and the regulatory provision or provisions from which an exemption is 
granted. The notice must also specify the effective period of the 
exemption (up to two years), and explain the terms and conditions of 
the exemption. The exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)).

The Application for Exemption

    PINOVA is the world's only producer of refined pale wood rosin, 
vinsol[supreg] resin, and natural wood turpentine from long leaf yellow 
pine and slash pine lightered wood/fat wood (lightered wood). According 
to PINOVA's petition, ``[l]ightered wood material is formed when resin 
collects over a period of 50 years or more in the trunk and root system 
of mature long leaf yellow pine and slash pine trees after the trees 
have died or been cut.'' Refined pale wood rosin and Vinsol[supreg] 
resin are made from the resin found in the trunk and root system of the 
long leaf yellow pine and the slash pine, which are only found along 
the southeast coastal plain of the United States. PINOVA contracts with 
motor carriers to transport lightered wood material from various points 
in the southeast coastal plain to its Brunswick, Georgia, plant.
    PINOVA applied for an exemption on behalf of the motor carriers 
that transport lightered wood because 49 CFR 393.116(a)(3) requires 
that firewood, stumps, log debris and other such short logs be 
transported in a vehicle or container enclosed on all four sides. 
However, lightered wood logs and other lightered wood material, 
including short logs and stumps less than 4 feet in length, are 
typically transported on flatbed logging or stake trucks. This means 
the typical method of securement (i.e. flatbed logging or stake truck) 
used by PINOVA's contract carriers is now prohibited by Sec.  
393.116(a)(3).
    PINOVA requested a class exemption from 49 CFR 303.226(a)(3) for 
current and future commercial motor vehicle owners and drivers who 
transport lightered wood/fat wood material from points in North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama to 
its plant in Brunswick, Georgia. PINOVA requested that these vehicles 
be allowed to transport short lightered wood logs on a flatbed logging 
or stake truck, provided the material is securely embedded in longer 
lightered wood logs which are secured according to FMCSA's rules for 
securing longwood and shortwood logs.
    PINOVA believes that granting the exemption would not adversely 
affect safety. The company argues that the carriers have safely 
transported lightered wood logs and related material, including short 
logs less than 4 feet in length, on flatbed logging and stake trucks 
for more than 50 years. The company believes the track record 
demonstrates that shorter material may be safely transported on 
vehicles without walls on all four sides provided the wood is securely 
embedded inside

[[Page 52469]]

longer material that is properly secured with tie downs, as required by 
FMCSA's cargo securement regulations. A copy of the PINOVA application 
is in the docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA requests 
public comment from all interested persons on PINOVA's application for 
an exemption from 49 CFR 393.116(a)(3). The agency will consider all 
comments received before the close of business on the comment closing 
date indicated at the beginning of this notice. Comments will be 
available for examination in the docket at the location listed under 
the address section of this notice. The agency will file comments 
received after the comment closing date in the public docket, and will 
consider them to the extent practicable. In addition to late comments, 
the FMCSA will also continue to file, in the public docket, relevant 
information that becomes available after the comment closing date. 
Interested persons should monitor the public docket for new material.

    Issued on: August 29, 2005.
Warren E. Hoemann,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-17508 Filed 9-1-05; 8:45 am]
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