69626 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 220 / Wednesday, November 16, 2005 / Notices 

comments received, go to http:// 

dms.dot.gov at any time 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. The DMS is available 

24 hours each day, 365 days each year. 

If you want us to notify you that we 

received your comments, please include 

a self-addressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard or print the acknowledgement 

page that appears after submitting 

comments on-line. 

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 published on April 11, 

2000 (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 2000). This 

statement is also available at http:// 

dms.dot.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and Carrier 

Operations Division, Office of Bus and 

Truck Standards and Operations, MC–

PSD, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

Telephone: 202–366–4009. E-mail: 

MCPSD@fmcsa.dot.gov. 

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 sec. 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 

381.315(a)). The agency must provide 

the public 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 agency grants the 

exemption, the notice must specify the 

person or class of persons receiving the 

exemption, and the regulatory provision 

or provisions from which exemption is 

being granted. The notice must also 

specify the effective period of the 

exemption (up to 2 years), and explain 

the terms and conditions of the 

exemption. The exemption may be 

renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)). 

Request for Exemption 

The Federal HOS rules are generally 

applicable to motor carriers and drivers 

operating commercial motor vehicles, as 

defined in 49 CFR 390.5, in interstate 

commerce. However, transportation 

performed by Federal, State or local 

government is exempt from 

requirements under 49 CFR parts 390 

through 399, including all HOS 

requirements under 49 CFR part 395 

[§ 390.3(f)(2)]. Since USPS is an 

independent agency of the executive 

branch of the United States government, 

transportation performed by USPS 

qualifies for the § 390.3(f)(2) exemption. 

Nonetheless, any motor carrier under 

contract with the USPS to transport its 

mail interstate—but which retains full 

responsibility for its CMVs, such that 

the transportation is not considered as 

performed by the USPS—remains 

subject to 49 CFR parts 300–399, 

including the HOS rules. The USPS 

contracts with motor carriers to perform 

interstate delivery of U.S. mail under 

such conditions, and has requested 

exemption from FMCSA’s current HOS 

rules, allowing some of these motor 

carriers and drivers to operate under 

those HOS rules in effect prior to 

January 4, 2004. 

USPS requests the exemption apply to 

an unspecified number of motor carriers 

operating under approximately 5,100 

separate contracts. USPS did not specify 

the number of drivers of propertycarrying vehicles to be allowed to 

operate under the HOS requirements in 

effect prior to January 4, 2004. The HOS 

limits requested under the exemption 

for such drivers would be the same as 

current HOS limits for drivers of 

passenger-carrying vehicles. 

USPS states the motor carriers under 

contract conduct short-haul operations 

with an average delivery route of 61- 

miles roundtrip. USPS describes the 

drivers’ schedules as ‘‘split shift,’’ but 

does not provide any details about the 

typical work schedule for drivers 

working on the contracted routes. Under 

the terms of the USPS contract, drivers 

are required to arrive and depart from 

postal facilities on schedule since 

deviation from the schedule would 

result in congestion at USPS trailer 

yards. 

USPS believes the exemption would 

achieve a level of safety equivalent to, 

or greater than, the level of safety 

obtained under the current 14-hour rule 

(which prohibits operators of propertycarrying vehicles from driving after the 

14th hour of coming on duty) because 

these drivers would be able to return 

home at the end of each work day rather 

than having to stay away from home 

overnight. 

A copy of the USPS exemption 

application is available for review in the 

docket for this notice. 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

31315(b)(4) and 31136(e), FMCSA 

requests public comment on USPS’s 

application for exemption from the 49 

CFR part 395 HOS requirements. The 

agency will consider all comments 

received by close of business on 

December 16, 2005. Comments will be 

available for examination in the docket 

at the location listed under the 

ADDRESSES 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, 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: November 8, 2005. 

Annette M. Sandberg, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 05–22648 Filed 11–15–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Surface Transportation Board 

[STB Docket No. AB–33 (Sub-No. 226X); 

STB Docket No. AB–654X] 

Union Pacific Railroad Company—

Abandonment Exemption—in Cameron 

County, TX; Brownsville & Rio Grande 

International Railroad Company—

Discontinuance of Service 

Exemption—in Cameron County, TX 

The Union Pacific Railroad Company 

(UP) and Brownsville & Rio Grande 

International Railroad Company (B&RG) 

have jointly filed a notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F—

Exempt Abandonments and 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 220 / Wednesday, November 16, 2005 / Notices 69627 

1The October 27, 2005 filing was amended on 

November 3, 2005. 

2The Board will grant a stay if an informed 

decision on environmental issues (whether raised 

by a party or by the Board’s Section of 

Environmental Analysis (SEA) in its independent 

investigation) cannot be made before the 

exemptions’ effective date. See Exemption of Outof-Service Rail Lines, 5 I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any 

request for a stay should be filed as soon as possible 

so that the Board may take appropriate action before 

the exemptions’ effective date. 

3Each OFA must be accompanied by the filing 

fee, which currently is set at $1,200. See 49 CFR 

1002.2(f)(25). 

Discontinuances of Service for UP to 

abandon, and for B&RG to discontinue 

service over, 2.2 miles of railroad 

between milepost 0.00, near UP Main 

Switch, and milepost 2.20, near Arthur 

Street, in Cameron County, TX.1 The 

line traverses United States Postal 

Service Zip Codes 78520 and 78521. 

UP and B&RG have certified that: (1) 

No local traffic has moved over the line 

for at least 2 years; (2) any overhead 

traffic on the line can be rerouted over 

other lines; (3) no formal complaint 

filed by a user of rail service on the line 

(or by a state or local government entity 

acting on behalf of such user) regarding 

cessation of service over the line either 

is pending with the Surface 

Transportation Board (Board) or with 

any U.S. District Court or has been 

decided in favor of complainant within 

the 2-year period; and (4) the 

requirements of 49 CFR 1105.7 

(environmental report), 49 CFR 1105.8 

(historic report), 49 CFR 1105.11 

(transmittal letter), 49 CFR 1105.12 

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental 

agencies) have been met. 

As a condition to these exemptions, 

any employee adversely affected by the 

abandonment or discontinuance shall be 

protected under Oregon Short Line R. 

Co.—Abandonment—Goshen, 360 I.C.C. 

91 (1979). To address whether these 

conditions adequately protect affected 

employees, a petition for partial 

revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

must be filed. 

Provided no formal expression of 

intent to file an offer of financial 

assistance (OFA) has been received, 

these exemptions will be effective on 

December 16, 2005, unless stayed 

pending reconsideration. Petitions to 

stay that do not involve environmental 

issues,2 formal expressions of intent to 

file an OFA under 49 CFR 

1152.27(c)(2),3 and trail use/rail banking 

requests under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be 

filed by November 28, 2005. Petitions to 

reopen or requests for public use 

conditions under 49 CFR 1152.28 must 

be filed by December 6, 2005, with: 

Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20423–

0001. 

A copy of any petition filed with the 

Board should be sent to applicants’

representatives: Mack H. Shumate, Jr., 

101 North Wacker Drive, Room 1920, 

Chicago, IL 60606; and William L. 

Rentfro, The Rentfro Faulk Law Firm, 

LLP, 185 E. Ruben M. Torres, Sr. Blvd., 

Brownsville, TX 78520. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemptions 

are void ab initio. 

UP and B&RG have filed 

environmental and historic reports 

which address the effects, if any, of the 

abandonment and discontinuance on 

the environment and historic resources. 

SEA will issue an environmental 

assessment (EA) by November 21, 2005. 

Interested persons may obtain a copy of 

the EA by writing to SEA (Room 500, 

Surface Transportation Board, 

Washington, DC 20423) or by calling 

SEA, at (202) 565–1539. [Assistance for 

the hearing impaired is available 

through the Federal Information Relay 

Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.] 

Comments on environmental and 

historic preservation matters must be 

filed within 15 days after the EA 

becomes available to the public. 

Environmental, historic preservation, 

public use, or trail use/rail banking 

conditions will be imposed, where 

appropriate, in a subsequent decision. 

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 

1152.29(e)(2), UP shall file a notice of 

consummation with the Board to signify 

that it has exercised the authority 

granted and fully abandoned the line. If 

consummation has not been effected by 

UP’s filing of a notice of consummation 

by November 16, 2006, and there are no 

legal or regulatory barriers to 

consummation, the authority to 

abandon will automatically expire. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available on our Web site at ‘‘http:// 

www.stb.dot.gov.’’

Decided: November 4, 2005. 

By the Board, David M. Konschnik, 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Vernon A. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–22519 Filed 11–15–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

November 10, 2005. 

The Department of Treasury has 

submitted the following public 

information collection requirement(s) to 

OMB for review and clearance under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. Copies of the 

submission(s) may be obtained by 

calling the Treasury Bureau Clearance 

Officer listed. Comments regarding this 

information collection should be 

addressed to the OMB reviewer listed 

and to the Treasury Department 

Clearance Officer, Department of the 

Treasury, Room 11000, 1750 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20220. 

Dates: Written comments should be 

received on or before December 16, 2005 

to be assured of consideration. 

Departmental Office (DO) 

OMB Number: 1505–0016. 

Type of Review: Revision. 

Title: Treasury International Capital 

Form BQ–1, ‘‘Report of Customers’’ U.S. 

Dollar Claims on Foreigners’’. 

Form: International Capital Form BQ–

1. 

Description: Form BQ–1 is required 

by law and is designed to collect timely 

information on international portfolio 

capital movements, including U.S. 

dollar claims of customers of depository 

institutions, bank and financial holding 

companies, brokers and dealers vis-a ́-vis 

foreigners. The information is necessary 

in the computation of the U.S. balance 

of payments accounts and the U.S. 

international investment position, and 

in the formulation of U.S. international 

financial and monetary policies. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 909 

hours. 

OMB Number: 1505–0017. 

Type of Review: Revision. 

Title: Treasury International Capital 

Form BC/BC (SA) ‘‘Report of U.S. Dollar 

Claims of Depository Institutions, 

Brokers and Dealers on Foreigners’’. 

Form: International Capital Form BC/ 

BC (SA). 

Description: Form BC/BC(SA) is 

required by law and is designed to 

collect timely information on 

international portfolio capital 

movements, including own U.S. dollar 

claims of depository institutions, bank 

and financial holding companies, 

brokers and dealers vis-a ́-vis foreigners. 

The information is necessary in the 

computation of the U.S. balance of 

payments accounts and the U.S. 

international investment position, and 

in the formulation of U.S. international 

financial and monetary policies. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 33,804 

hours. 

OMB Number: 1505–0018.