Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2008 / Notices 7789 

0025) and may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the online instructions for 

submitting comments. 

Fax: 202–493–2251. 

Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Communications received within 45 

days of the date of this notice will be 

considered by FRA before final action is 

taken. Comments received after that 

date will be considered as far as 

practicable. All written communications 

concerning these proceedings are 

available for examination during regular 

business hours (9 a.m.–5 p.m.) at the 

above facility. All documents in the 

public docket are also available for 

inspection and copying on the Internet 

at the docket facility’s Web site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Anyone is able to 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 comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78). 

Issued in Washington, DC on February 4, 

2008. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–2393 Filed 2–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Petition for Waiver of Compliance 

In accordance with part 211 of Title 

49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 

notice is hereby given that the Federal 

Railroad Administration (FRA) received 

a request for a waiver of compliance 

with certain requirements of its safety 

standards. The individual petition is 

described below, including the party 

seeking relief, the regulatory provisions 

involved, the nature of the relief being 

requested, and the petitioner’s 

arguments in favor of relief. 

BNSF Railway Company 

[Docket Number FRA–2007–28812] 

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) seeks 

a waiver of compliance with certain 

requirements of 49 CFR part 232—Brake 

System Safety Standards for Freight and 

Other Non-Passenger Trains and 

Equipment; End-of Train Devices, and 

49 CFR part 215—Railroad Freight Car 

Safety Standards. Specifically, BNSF 

seeks relief to permit trains received at 

the U.S./Mexico border at Eagle Pass, 

Texas (Eagle Pass), from the 

Ferrocarriles de Mexico, to move from 

the interchange point without 

performing the regulatory tests and 

inspections specified in CFR part 215 

and § 232.205(a)(1) at that location. 

BNSF proposes moving the trains from 

the border at Milepost (MP) 34 on the 

Union Pacific Railroad Company’s Eagle 

Pass subdivision, to the Ryan’s Ruin 

Horan Siding at MP 20, a distance of 14 

miles where required FRA inspections 

will be performed. BNSF claims that 

granting the waiver would expedite 

train movements and avoid blockages of 

crossings in Eagle Pass. 

Interested parties are invited to 

participate in these proceedings by 

submitting written views, data, or 

comments. FRA does not anticipate 

scheduling a public hearing in 

connection with these proceedings since 

the facts do not appear to warrant a 

hearing. If any interested party desires 

an opportunity for oral comment, they 

should notify FRA, in writing, before 

the end of the comment period and 

specify the basis for their request. 

All communications concerning these 

proceedings should identify the 

appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver 

Petition Docket Number FRA–2007–

28812) and may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. 

Follow the online instructions for 

submitting comments. 

Fax: 202–493–2251. 

Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

Communications received within 45 

days of the date of this notice will be 

considered by FRA before final action is 

taken. Comments received after that 

date will be considered as far as 

practicable. All written communications 

concerning these proceedings are 

available for examination during regular 

business hours (9 a.m.–5 p.m.) at the 

above facility. All documents in the 

public docket are also available for 

inspection and copying on the Internet 

at the docket facility’s Web site at 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Anyone is able to 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 comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 

65, Number 70; Pages 19477–78). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 4, 

2008. 

Grady C. Cothen, Jr., 

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety 

Standards and Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–2395 Filed 2–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

FTA Supplemental Fiscal Year 2008 

Apportionments and Allocations and 

Program Information (Bus and Bus 

Facilities Program and Alternative 

Analysis Program Earmarks 

Designated in the Committee Reports 

Accompanying the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, Extended 

and Reprogrammed Earmarks and 

Corrections to Appendix A) 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Division K of the 

‘‘Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008’’ (Pub. L. 110–161), signed into 

law by President Bush on December 26, 

2007, made funds available for all of the 

surface transportation programs of the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) for 

the Fiscal Year (FY) ending September 

30, 2008. This notice provides 

information on the FY 2008 earmarks in 

the Bus and Bus Facilities program and 

the Alternatives Analysis program that 

were in the committee reports that 

accompanied the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008 and corrects 

Appendix A of the January 28, 2008, 

Federal Register notice. The notice also 

publishes prior year Bus and Bus 

Facilities and New Starts earmarks that 

were extended or reprogrammed in the 

committee reports. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information about this notice 

contact Henrika Buchanan-Smith, Office 


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of Transit Programs, at (202) 366–2053. 

Please contact the appropriate FTA 

regional office for any specific requests 

for information or technical assistance. 

Appendix A at the end of this notice 

includes contact information for FTA 

regional offices. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Overview 

II. FTA Programs 

A. Capital Investment Program (49 U.S.C. 

5309)—Bus and Bus-Related Facilities 

B. Capital Investment Program (49 U.S.C. 

5309)—New Starts 

C. Alternatives Analysis Program (49 

U.S.C. 5339) 

Tables 

11A. FTA FY 2008 Section 5309 Bus and 

Bus-related Allocations 

12A. FTA Prior Year Unobligated Section 

5309 Bus and Bus-related Facilities 

Allocations 

14. Revised FTA Prior Year Unobligated 

Section 5309 New Starts Allocations 

22. FTA FY 2008 Section 5339 Alternative 

Analysis Allocations 

Appendix A 

I. Overview 

This document allocates the FY 2008 

funds designated for specific projects 

under the committee reports 

accompanying Division K of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 

(Pub. L. 110–161, December 26, 2007), 

for the Bus and Bus Facilities program 

and the Alternatives Analysis Program. 

It also includes extended or redirected 

project funds identified in those reports, 

but it does not include extended or 

redirected project funds from the most 

recent congressional clarification letter 

dated December 19, 2007. FTA will 

issue directions regarding those projects 

not included at a later date. 

II. FTA Programs 

This section of the notice covers FY 

2008 funding that was allocated to 

projects under the Bus and Bus 

Facilities program and the Alternatives 

Analysis Program in the committee 

reports accompanying the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act. It also includes 

New Starts and Bus and Bus Facilities 

projects that were extended or 

reprogrammed in the committee reports. 

A. Capital Investment Program (49 

U.S.C. 5309)—Bus and Bus-Related 

Facilities 

This program provides capital 

assistance for new and replacement 

buses and related facilities. Funds are 

allocated on a discretionary basis. 

Eligible purposes are acquisition of 

buses for fleet and service expansion, 

bus maintenance and administrative 

facilities, transfer facilities, bus malls, 

transportation centers, intermodal 

terminals, park-and-ride stations, 

acquisition of replacement vehicles, bus 

rebuilds, bus preventive maintenance, 

passenger amenities such as passenger 

shelters and bus stop signs, accessory 

and miscellaneous equipment such as 

mobile radio units, supervisory 

vehicles, fare boxes, computers, and 

shop and garage equipment. Eligible 

applicants are State and local 

governmental authorities. Eligible 

subrecipients include other public 

agencies, private companies engaged in 

public transportation and private nonprofit organizations. 

The information in this section 

supplements the information that was 

included in the FTA Apportionment 

notice published in the Federal Register 

on January 28, 2008. 

For more information about Bus and 

Bus-Related Facilities contact Maria 

Wright, Office of Transit Programs, at 

(202) 366–2053. 

1. FY 2008 Funding Availability 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, provides $823,052,962 for the bus 

and bus facilities program. The amount 

of funding for projects designated in 

Section 3044 of the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA–LU) 

for Bus and Bus-Related Facilities in FY 

2008 is $497,670,593. The amount of 

funding for projects designated in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, 

is $220,599,862. The balance remains 

unallocated, as shown in the following 

table. The Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2008, included the proviso, ‘‘that 

funds available to carry out the bus 

program under section 5309 of title 49, 

United States Code, which are otherwise 

allocated under this act or under 

SAFETEA–LU, not more than 10 

percent may be expended in furtherance 

of the Department of Transportation’s 

Congestion Initiative or any other new 

highway congestion initiative.’’

BUS AND BUS FACILITY PROGRAM

Total Appropriation ........... $927,750,000 

Ob lim. Reduction/Rescission ................................ ¥104,697,038 

Oversight Deduction ......... ¥8,230,530 

Total Available for Allocation ................................ 814,822,432 

SAFETEA–LU Statutory 

Provisions Projects ....... 497,670,593 

Consolidated Appropriations Act Designations .. 220,599,862 

Unallocated ....................... 96,551,977 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, allocations for the Bus and BusRelated Facilities program are listed in 

Table 11A. The prior years’ earmarks 

that were extended or reprogrammed in 

the committee reports are listed in Table 

12A. 

2. Basis for Allocations 

Funds are provided annually under 

Section 5309 for discretionary allocation 

for bus and bus facilities projects. There 

were 313 projects designated in the 

committee reports accompanying the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, 

and 32 that were extended or 

reprogrammed by the Act. 

3. Requirements 

FTA honors Congressional earmarks 

for the purpose designated or for 

purposes eligible under the program. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, did not include the expanded 

eligibility of a ‘‘notwithstanding’’

provision. However, section 186 of that 

Act, in relevant part, states that funds 

provided within FTA’s accounts shall 

be made available for eligible programs, 

projects and activities at a level of 98 

percent of the corresponding amounts 

identified in the explanatory statement 

accompanying the Act for Alternatives 

Analysis and Bus and Bus Facilities. 

Therefore, if an applicant wants to use 

FY 2008 funds identified under the Bus 

and Bus-Related Facilities Program for 

eligible project activities outside the 

scope of the project description 

included in report language, it must 

submit a request for a legislative change 

to the House and Senate Committees on 

Appropriations. 

Also, grants made under the Bus and 

Bus-Related Facilities program must 

meet all eligibility requirements as 

outlined in Section 5309 unless 

otherwise specified in law. 

4. Period of Availability 

The FY 2008 Bus and Bus-Related 

Facilities funds not obligated for their 

original purpose as of September 30, 

2010, may be made available for other 

projects under 49 U.S.C. 5309. Projects 

that were reprogrammed in the 

committee reports are available until 

September 30, 2010; however, projects 

that were extended in the committee 

reports are only available until 

September 30, 2008. 

B. Capital Investment Program (49 

U.S.C. 5309)—New Starts 

The information in this section 

supplements the information that was 

included in the FTA Apportionment 

notice published in the Federal Register 

on January 28, 2008, and includes 

earmarks extended in report language. 

For more information contact Cheryl 

Oliver, Office of Program Management, 

at (202) 366–2053. 


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1. FY 2008 Funding Availability 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, provides $1,569,091,997 for 

Capital Investment Grants. The total 

amount allocated for New Starts 

including Small Starts is 

$1,534,492,165, as shown in the table 

below. 

NEW STARTS

Total Appropriation ....... $1,569,091,997 

Oversight Deduction ..... 15,690,920 

Total Funds to be Allocated ......................... 1,553,401,077 

Funds Allocated to Specific Projects in Table 

13 .............................. a 1,534,492,165 

Unallocated Funds ........ 18,908,912 

a Includes $20 million for the Denali Commission and Alaska and Hawaii Ferry projects. 

FY 2008 New Start project allocations 

are listed in Table 13 of the Federal 

Register published on January 28, 2008. 

The revised carryover project 

allocations are listed in Revised Table 

14 of this notice. 

2. Basis for Allocation 

Congress included authorizations for 

specific New Starts projects in 

SAFETEA–LU and included statutory 

takedowns from the program for Alaska 

and Hawaii Ferryboats and the Denali 

Commission. The Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2008, appropriated 

funds for specific projects and the 

statutory takedowns. Congress also 

extended several New Starts earmarks in 

the committee reports that accompanied 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008. The carryover New Starts funding 

is shown in Revised Table 14. 

3. Requirements 

New Starts projects are subject to a 

series of approvals related to planning 

and project development set forth in 49 

CFR Part 611. FTA has published a 

number of rulemakings and interim 

guidance documents related to the New 

Starts program since the passage of 

SAFETEA–LU. Grantees should 

reference the FTA Web site at 

www.fta.dot.gov for the most current 

program guidance about project 

development and management. 

4. Period of Availability 

New Starts funds remain available for 

three fiscal years (including the fiscal 

year the funds are made available or 

appropriated plus two additional years.) 

FY 2008 funds remain available through 

September 30, 2010. Funds extended by 

Congress in the report accompanying 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, remain available until September 

30, 2008. 

5. Other Program or Apportionment 

Related Information and Highlights 

Prior year unobligated allocations for 

New Starts in the amount of 

$361,829,170 remain available for 

obligation in FY 2008. This amount 

includes $164,608,910 in FY 2005 and 

prior years, $126,973,589 in FY 2006 

and $70,246,671 in FY 2007 unobligated 

allocations. These unobligated amounts 

are displayed in Revised Table 14. 

C. Alternatives Analysis Program (49 

U.S.C. 5339) 

The Alternatives Analysis Program 

provides grants to States, authorities of 

the States, metropolitan planning 

organizations, and local government 

authorities to develop studies as part of 

the transportation planning process. 

These studies include an assessment of 

a wide range of public transportation 

alternatives designed to address a 

transportation problem in a corridor or 

subarea; the development of sufficient 

information to enable the Secretary to 

make the findings of project justification 

and local financial commitment 

required; the selection of a locally 

preferred alternative; and the adoption 

of the locally preferred alternative as 

part of the state or regional long-range 

transportation plan. 

The information in this section 

supplements the information that was 

included in the FTA Apportionment 

notice published in the Federal Register 

on January 28, 2008. For more 

information about this program contact 

Ron Fisher, Office of Planning and 

Environment, at (202) 366–4033. 

1. FY 2008 Funding Availability 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, provides $24,691,100 to the 

Alternatives Analysis Program (49 

U.S.C. 5339). 

ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS PROGRAM

Total Appropriation ....... $25,000,000 

Ob lim. Reduction/Rescission ..................... ¥308,900 

Total Available ....... 24,691,100 

The project allocations are listed in 

Table 22. 

2. Basis for Allocation of Funds 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, provided an obligation limitation 

of $24,691,100 derived from reducing 

the appropriated $25,000,000 by two 

percent. Projects funded using FY 2008 

Alternative Analysis funding were 

designated in the committee reports that 

accompanied the Act. Alternative 

Analysis Program allocations are 

displayed in Table 22. 

3. Requirements 

Section 186 of Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, in relevant part, 

states that funds provided within FTA’s 

accounts shall be made available for 

eligible programs, projects and activities 

at a level of 98 percent of the 

corresponding amounts identified in the 

explanatory statement accompanying 

the Act for Alternatives Analysis and 

Bus and Bus Facilities. Eligible projects 

include planning and corridor studies 

and the adoption of locally preferred 

alternatives within the fiscally 

constrained Metropolitan 

Transportation Plan for that area. Funds 

awarded under the Alternatives 

Analysis Program must be shown in the 

UPWP for MPO(s) with responsibility 

for that area. Pre-award authority 

applies to these funds after Congress 

appropriates funds for these projects. 

Unless otherwise specified in law, 

grants made under the Alternatives 

Analysis Program must meet all 

eligibility requirements as outlined in 

Section 5309. If an applicant wants to 

use FY 2008 funds identified under 

Alternatives Analysis for eligible project 

activities outside the scope of the 

project description included in report 

language, it must submit a request for a 

legislative change to the House and 

Senate Committees on Appropriations. 

4. Period of Availability 

Funds designated for specific 

Alternatives Analysis Program projects 

remain available for obligation for three 

fiscal years, the year of appropriation 

plus two additional fiscal years. The FY 

2008 funding for projects included in 

this notice remains available through 

September 30, 2010. Alternatives 

Analysis funds not obligated in an FTA 

grant for their original purpose at the 

end of the period of availability will 

generally be made available for other 

projects. 

James S. Simpson 

Administrator. 

Appendix A 


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PTA REGIONAL OFFICES

Richard H. Doyle, Regional Administrator, Region 1—Boston, Kendall 

Square, 55 Broadway, Suite 920, Cambridge, MA 02142–1093, Tel. 

617 494–2055.

Robert C. Patrick, Regional Administrator, Region 6—Ft. Worth, 819 

Taylor Street, Room 8A36, Ft. Worth, TX 76102, Tel. 817 978–0550. 

States served: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 

Rhode Island, and Vermont.

States served: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and 

Texas. 

Brigid Hynes-Cherin, Regional Administrator, Region 2—New York, 

One Bowling Green, Room 429, New York, NY 10004–1415, Tel. 

No. 212 668–2170.

Mokhtee Ahmad, Regional Administrator, Region 7— Kansas City, MO, 

901 Locust Street, Room 404, Kansas City, MO 64106, Tel. 816 

329–3920. 

States served: New Jersey, New York States served: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. 

Letitia Thompson, Regional Administrator, Region 3—Philadelphia, 

1760 Market Street, Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19103–4124, Tel. 

215 656–7100.

Terry Rosapep, Regional Administrator, Region 8—Denver, 12300 

West Dakota Ave., Suite 310, Lakewood, CO 80228–2583, Tel. 720–

963–3300. 

States served: Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and District of Columbia.States served: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, 

and Wyoming. 

Yvette Taylor, Regional Administrator, Region 4—Atlanta, 230 Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 800, Atlanta, GA 30303, Tel. 404 865–5600.Leslie T. Rogers, Regional Administrator, Region 9—San Francisco, 

201 Mission Street, Room 1650, San Francisco, CA 94105–1926, 

Tel. 415 744–3133. 

States served: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North 

Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virgin Islands.

States served: American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam Hawaii, 

Nevada, and the Northern Mariana, Islands 

Marisol Simon, Regional Administrator, Region 5—Chicago, 200 West 

Adams Street, Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60606, Tel. 312 353–2789.

Rick Krochalis, Regional Administrator, Region 10—Seattle, Jackson 

Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue, Suite 3142, Seattle, WA 

98174–1002, Tel. 206 220–7954. 

States served: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.States served: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 


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[FR Doc. 08–593 Filed 2–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–C 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2008–0008 Notice 1] 

NHTSA’s Activities Under the United 

Nations Economic Commission for 

Europe 1998 Global Agreement: 

Glazing 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NHTSA is publishing this 

notice to inform the public that there 

may be a vote to adopt the Global 

Technical Regulation (GTR) on Glazing 

at the March 2008 session of the World 

Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle 

Regulations (WP.29). In anticipation of 

this vote, NHTSA is requesting 

comments on this GTR to inform its 

decision for the vote. Publication of this 

information is in accordance with 

NHTSA’s Statement of Policy regarding 

Agency Policy Goals and Public 

Participation in the Implementation of 

the 1998 Global Agreement on Global 

Technical Regulations. 

DATES: Written comments may be 

submitted to this agency by March 6, 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

[identified by DOT Docket No. NHTSA–

2008–0008, Notice 1] by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility: 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC, 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E., between 

9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

Telephone: 1–800–647–5527. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and docket 

number for this proposed collection of 

information. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov including 

any personal information provided. 

Please see the Privacy Act heading 

below. 

Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search 

the electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or signing the comment, if 

submitted on behalf of an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78) or you may visit http:// 

DocketInfo.dot.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov and follow the 

online instructions, or visit the Docket 

Management Facility at the street 

address listed above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Ezana Wondimneh, Division Chief, 

International Policy and Harmonization 

(NVS–133), National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, 20590–

0001; Phone (202) 366–0846, Fax (202) 

493–2280. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At the 

March 2004 session of WP.29 the formal 

proposal to develop a GTR on safety 

glazing, sponsored by Germany, was 

adopted with a modification to restrict 

the scope of the GTR to glass-based 

safety glazing. An informal working 

group chaired by Germany was 

subsequently established to develop the 

GTR. In October 2004, NHTSA docketed 

the draft GTR proposed by Germany (69 

FR 60460, 60462; October 8, 2004), but 

received no comments. At the 

November 2005 session of WP.29 AC.3 

further agreed that the GTR would not 

include installation provisions and that 

the informal working group could 

consider possible approaches to 

including certification markings in the 

GTR. However, it was later decided by 

WP.29 that a separate informal working 

group would be tasked with examining 

the issue of markings for all GTRs. 

Therefore, the glazing GTR only 

specifies the required markings to 

identify the type of glazing material 

without reference to certification type 

markings. Contracting parties to the 

1998 Agreement will be able to require 

additional markings for identification of 

manufacturer and the regulation(s) the 

glazing is manufactured to comply with. 

On October 10, 2006, NHTSA 

published a new notice that described 

the progress made on the agency’s GTR 

activities including the glazing GTR 

(docket number NHTSA–2003–14395). 

The notice included the draft GTR, 

provided discussions on several key 

issues, and requested public comments. 

A comment with regard to the GTR was 

submitted by Pilkington North America 

that sought to clarify an incorrect citing 

of the test procedures concerning light 

transmittance and optical distortion, 

which has since been addressed. 

The latest draft of the GTR specifies 

performance requirements for various 

types of glazing (i.e., laminated and 

toughened glass) intended for 

installation in Category 1 and 2 vehicles 

as defined in Special Resolution No. 1. 

The requirements apply to glazing as an 

item of equipment, and do not include 

installation requirements for vehicles. 

Performance requirements for some of 

the materials vary depending on 

whether the material is intended for 

installation as a windscreen or a pane. 

The draft includes requirements and 

tests to ensure the mechanical strength, 

optical qualities and environmental 

resistance of glazing. 

Four sets of tests and requirements for 

mechanical properties are under 

consideration in the GTR: a 

fragmentation test, a 227g steel ball 

impact test, a 2.26kg steel ball impact 

test and a 10kg headform impact test. 

Each of the first three of these tests was 

adopted from widely used procedures 

currently in effect, with small 

differences, in all three national 

regulations examined for this GTR 

(European, Japanese and U.S. safety 

regulations). The fragmentation test 

proposed in the draft GTR is based on 

the current European approach, except 

that it was modified to use two different 

impact forces depending on the design 

of glazing being evaluated. The 227g 

and 2.26kg steel ball impact tests are 

also very similar to the existing national 

regulations examined—with the 

exception of the drop height for the 

small ball test. Based upon analysis 

conducted by Japan, which determined 

that the force from a drop height of 2.0m 

replicated the force of a typical object 

that impacts a pane, it was decided that 

a drop height of 2.0m could be 

specified. The headform test (which is 

currently in the European and Japanese 

national regulations, but not in the U.S.) 

under consideration for the GTR 

specifies one drop height (1.5m), instead 

of retaining the two separate drop 

heights currently found in the European 

and Japanese regulations because the 

purpose of the second height drop was 

already addressed in other tests 

specified in the GTR. Also, the 

headform test is an optional 

requirement in the GTR. Each 

contracting party to the 1998 Agreement 

can decide whether or not to apply this 

provision in national/regional law. 

Three types of optical qualities are 

addressed in the GTR: light 

transmission, optical distortion and 

double imaging. The minimum light 

transmittance level for glazing requisite 


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