Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 26 / Tuesday, February 9, 2016 / Notices 6925 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

RTCA, Inc., 1150 18th Street NW., Suite 

910, Washington, DC 20036, Tel: (202) 

330–0655. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

RTCA Secretariat, 1150 18th Street NW., 

Suite 910, Washington, DC 20036, or by 

telephone at (202) 833–9339, fax at (202) 

833–9434, or Web site at http:// 

www.rtca.org or Trin Mitra, TOC 

Secretary, RTCA, Inc., tmitra@rtca.org, 

(202) 330–0655. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, 5 U.S.C., App.), notice is hereby 

given for a meeting of RTCA Tactical 

Operations Committee. The agenda will 

include the following: 

Thursday, March 3, 2016 

1. Opening of Meeting/Introduction of 

TOC Members—Co Chairs Dale 

Wright and Bryan Quigley 

2. Official Statement of Designated 

Federal Official—Elizabeth Ray 

3. Approval of November 12, 2015 

Meeting Summary 

4. FAA Update—Elizabeth Ray 

5. FAA Response to Previous TOC 

Recommendations: Caribbean 

Operations and Class B Airspace 

6. Recommendations from the Airport 

Construction Task Group. 

7. Recommendations from the National 

Procedure Assessment Task Group 

8. Introduction to new PBN Route 

Structure Task 

9. Discussion on potential task on 

Graphical TFRs 

10. Update on the NextGen Advisory 

Committee (NAC) 

11. FAA briefing on One Engine 

Inoperative (OEI) procedures 

12. Anticipated Issues for TOC 

consideration and action at the next 

meeting 

13. Other Business 

14. Adjourn 

Attendance is open to the interested 

public but limited to space availability. 

With the approval of the chairman, 

members of the public may present oral 

statements at the meeting. Plenary 

information will be provided upon 

request. Persons who wish 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. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 4, 

2016. 

Latasha Robinson, 

Management & Program Analyst, NextGen, 

Enterprise Support Services Division, Federal 

Aviation Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2016–02550 Filed 2–8–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2015–0481] 

Motor Carriers of Passengers That 

Serve Primarily Urban Areas With High 

Passenger Loads 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of information and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This request for comments is 

related to the implementation of a 

specific provision in section 32707 of 

the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 

21st Century Act (MAP–21) that 

requires an annual safety fitness 

assessment of certain motor carriers of 

passengers that serve primarily urban 

areas with high passenger loads. 

FMCSA requests comments about an 

appropriate definition of a ‘‘curbside 

bus operator’’ that will be subject to this 

annual safety fitness assessment and 

will be consistent with Congressional 

intent. 

DATES: You must submit comments by 

April 11, 2016. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

bearing the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA– 

2015–0481 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

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 SE., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 

p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, 

except Federal Holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Each submission must include the 

Agency name and the docket number for 

this notice. Note that DOT posts all 

comments received without change to 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information included in a 

comment. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to www.regulations.gov at 

any time or visit Room W12–140 on the 

ground level of the West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. The on-line Federal document 

management system is available 24 

hours each day, 365 days each year. If 

you want acknowledgment 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: All comments received 

were posted without change to http://

www.regulations.gov. In accordance 

with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT previously 

solicited comments from the public to 

better inform its rulemaking process. 

DOT posted these comments, without 

edit, including any personal information 

the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.dot.gov/privacy. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Loretta Bitner, (202) 385–2428, 

loretta.bitner@dot.gov. FMCSA office 

hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. If you have questions on 

viewing or submitting material to the 

docket, contact Docket Operations, 

telephone (202) 366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Motorcoach safety received increased 

public attention after several serious 

crashes during 2011, some of which 

involved ‘‘curbside’’ bus operators, 

passenger carrier operations often 

characterized by high passenger loads 

with service between urban areas. As a 

result, the National Transportation 

Safety Board (NTSB) conducted an 

investigation of motorcoach safety with 

an emphasis on curbside operations. 

One objective of the investigation was to 

describe the characteristics of the 

curbside business model among 

interstate motorcoach carriers. The 

NTSB examined a population of 4,172 

active interstate motorcoach carriers 

operating in the United States and 

identified 71 of them as scheduled 

motorcoach carriers providing curbside 

service. 

In its ‘‘Executive Report on Curbside 

Motorcoach Safety’’ that was published 

on October 12, 2011, the NTSB stated 

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6926 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 26 / Tuesday, February 9, 2016 / Notices 

the following in describing curbside bus 

operators: 

The term ‘‘curbside operations’’ refers to a 

business model (that is, the means by which 

motorcoach service is provided) rather than 

a type of motorcoach carrier. In fact, no 

formal definition of curbside carriers exists, 

and federal and state oversight authorities 

have no unique categorization or tracking 

mechanism for these carriers. For the 

purpose of this report, curbside motorcoach 

operations are those in which interstate 

motorcoach carriers conduct scheduled trips 

from one city to another city or a destination 

and originate or terminate at a location other 

than a traditional bus terminal; most of these 

operations discharge passengers at one or 

more curbside locations. 

Although curbside motorcoach carriers 

apply a similar business model, they vary 

greatly in other characteristics. Some carriers 

operate large fleets of motorcoaches 

throughout the United States, whereas others 

have a fleet of only a few buses that operate 

in local regions. 

MAP–21 was signed into law on July 

6, 2012. Section 32707, codified at 49 

U.S.C. 31144(i)(4)(B), addresses 

improved oversight of motorcoach 

service providers. A ’’motorcoach’’ is 

defined in section 32707(b) of MAP–21 

as an ‘‘over-the-road bus;’’ one with an 

elevated passenger deck over a baggage 

compartment. A motorcoach does not 

include a bus used in public 

transportation provided by a State or 

local government, or a school bus. The 

statute requires an annual assessment of 

the safety fitness of certain motor 

carriers of passengers that serve 

primarily urban areas with high 

passenger loads. 

Implementation of Statutory Provision 

Section 31144(i)(4) requires that the 

Secretary: 

• Reassess the safety fitness rating of 

each motor carrier of passengers at no 

less than once every 3 years; and 

• Annually assess the safety fitness of 

certain motor carriers of passengers that 

serve primarily urban areas with high 

passenger loads. 

The language indicates Congress’ 

intent to have two levels of oversight for 

motor carrier of passengers, a safety 

fitness rating every 3 years for each 

passenger carrier and, a safety fitness 

assessment annually for passenger 

carriers that serve primarily urban areas 

with high passenger loads. To 

effectively implement 49 U.S.C. 

31144(i)(4)(B), FMCSA must define 

which passenger carriers will be subject 

to the annual safety fitness assessment 

requirement. While Congress directed 

that carriers of passengers that serve 

primarily urban areas with high 

passenger loads be subject to this 

requirement, FMCSA does not collect 

urban area service or passenger volume 

information from motor carriers of 

passengers that are subject to the 

Agency’s safety oversight. 

FMCSA believes Congress intends for 

the Agency to have increased safety 

oversight of the bus operators that 

generally provide low-cost, regularly 

scheduled passenger transportation 

service between major cities with 

curbside boarding and/or disembarking. 

Although some carriers purport to have 

a bus terminal/facility/station, the 

location used for passengers is a waiting 

area only outside of an office building 

and the passenger pickups and drop-offs 

occur at the curbside or in a parking lot. 

Request for Comments 

Because FMCSA does not include in 

its regulations or regulatory guidance a 

definition of the term ‘‘curbside bus 

operator,’’ the Agency believes it is 

imperative that one be adopted in order 

to effectively implement 49 U.S.C. 

31144(i)(4)(B). Therefore, the Agency 

proposes the following definition for 

identifying motor carriers of passengers 

that must undergo an annual 

assessment: 

‘‘Curbside Bus Operator’’ means a motor 

carrier of passengers that serves primarily 

urban areas with high passenger loads, and 

uses 25% or more of its motorcoaches for 

operations with passenger pickups and dropoffs occuring at the curbside or in a parking 

lot. 

FMCSA would use this definition in 

identifying, tracking, and conducting 

the annual safety fitness assessments of 

every identified curbside bus operators. 

This definition would not have any 

impact on the enforcement of the 

applicable safety regulations. It would 

only be used to identify those carriers 

that Congress intends the Agency 

conduct annual safety assessments. 

FMCSA is considering the use of the 

following questions during the motor 

carrier registration process to identify 

curbside bus operators that transport 

high passenger loads: 

Does your company operate 25% or more of 

its motorcoaches between cities providing 

for-hire passenger transportation that 

originates or terminates at locations other 

than terminals, such as street corners or 

outside a retail business? 

Is your company required to obtain a permit 

from a local government to pick up or drop 

off at locations other than terminals, such as 

street corners or outside a retail business? 

The operation of a motorcoach to 

transport passengers is the FMCSA’s 

interpretation of a high passenger load 

with implementation of 49 U.S.C. 

31144(i)(4)(B). Motorcoaches are large 

capacity passenger vehicles that are 

frequently operated by curbside bus 

operators. 

FMCSA requests public comments 

whether the proposed definition and 

questions are appropriate for idenitying 

curbside operators for implementation 

of the statutorily mandated annual 

safety fitness assessments. 

In addition to motor carriers of 

passengers that identify themselves as 

curbside bus operators through the 

motor carrier registration process, 

FMCSA will direct its enforcement 

personnel to designate passenger 

carriers as a curbside bus operators in 

the Agency’s database when there is 

evidence that the carriers are 

conducting curbside bus operations, but 

fail to report it to the Agency or began 

curbside bus operations subsequent to 

registration. With this in mind, FMCSA 

is seeking input to the following 

questions. 

1. Should FMCSA identify all motor 

carriers of passengers that have both 

curbside operations and operations that 

originate/terminate at a traditional bus 

terminal as curbside bus operators 

requiring an annual safety assessment? 

2. Should a motor carrier of 

passengers that uses 25% or more of its 

motorcoaches for curbside operations be 

identified by FMCSA as a curbside bus 

operator requiring an annual safety 

assessment? 

3. Should FMCSA base the percentage 

of curbside operations on the number of 

motorcoaches used in that type of 

service? If not, then what measure 

should be used? 

4. Should FMCSA include passenger 

carrier operations that pick up 

passengers at the curbside in vehicles 

smaller than motorcoaches with the 

intent of transferring the passengers to 

a larger passenger vehicle such as a 

motorcoach as curbside bus operators 

requiring an annual safety assessment? 

5. Should a motor carrier of 

passengers applicant be required to selfidentify as a curbside operator during 

registration with FMCSA? 

6. Should a motor carrier of 

passengers previously registered with 

FMCSA be required to self-identify as a 

curbside operator when updating its 

registration information as required by 

49 CFR 390.201? 

7. Should FMCSA base the definition 

of an urban area on population, 

incorporated land area, defined 

commercial zones, urbanized area as 

defined by the U. S. Census Bureau, or 

some other criteria? 

8. Should a motor carrier of 

passengers with 25% or more of its 

motorcoach operation taking place in 

primarily urban areas be identified by 

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 26 / Tuesday, February 9, 2016 / Notices 6927 

FMCSA as a curbside bus operator 

requiring an annual safety assessment? 

9. Is there any additional criteria we 

should consider to identify which motor 

carrier of passenger should be defined 

as a curbside bus operator requiring an 

annual safety assessment? 

Issued under the authority delegated in 49 

CFR 1.87 on: January 29, 2016. 

T.F. Scott Darling, III, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2016–02510 Filed 2–8–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2015–0238] 

Parts and Accessories Necessary for 

Safe Operation; TowMate, LLC 

Application for an Exemption 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration (FMCSA) 

announces its decision to grant 

TowMate, LLC’s (TowMate) application 

for a limited two-year exemption to 

allow motor carriers to operate 

rechargeable wireless temporary stop, 

turn, and tail lighting systems during 

temporary towing operations. Under the 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations (FMCSRs), all required 

lamps, with the exception of batterypowered lamps used on projecting 

loads, must be powered by the electrical 

system of the motor vehicle. The 

Agency has determined that use of 

rechargeable wireless temporary stop, 

turn, and tail lighting systems during 

temporary towing operations would not 

have an adverse impact on safety, and 

use of these systems under the terms 

and conditions of the exemption would 

achieve a level of safety equivalent to or 

greater than the level of safety provided 

by the regulation. This decision is 

consistent with an August 2005 

amendment to the FMCSRs to allow 

battery powered lamps on the rear of 

projecting loads. 

DATES: This exemption is effective 

February 9, 2016 and ending February 9, 

2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Luke Loy, Vehicle and Roadside 

Operations Division, Office of Carrier, 

Driver, and Vehicle Safety, MC–PSV, 

(202) 366–0676, Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments submitted to notice 

requesting public comments on the 

exemption application, go to 

www.regulations.gov at any time or visit 

Room W12–140 on the ground level of 

the West Building, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 

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

Friday, except Federal holidays. The online Federal document management 

system is available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. The docket number 

is listed at the beginning of this notice. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 

31136(e) and 31315 to grant exemptions 

from certain parts of the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Regulations. 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 safety analyses 

and public comments submitted, 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)) with the reasons for 

denying or granting the application and, 

if granted, the name of the person or 

class of persons receiving the 

exemption, and the regulatory provision 

from which the exemption is granted. 

The notice must also specify the 

effective period and explain the terms 

and conditions of the exemption. The 

exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 

381.300(b)). 

TowMate’s Application for Exemption 

TowMate applied for an exemption 

from 49 CFR 393.23 to allow motor 

carriers to operate rechargeable wireless 

temporary stop, turn, and tail lighting 

systems during temporary towing 

operations. A copy of the application is 

included in the docket referenced at the 

beginning of this notice. 

Section 393.23, ‘‘Power Supply for 

Lamps,’’ provides that ‘‘All required 

lamps must be powered by the electrical 

system of the motor vehicle with the 

exception of battery powered lamps 

used on projecting loads.’’ 

The application stated: 

TowMate is making this request because 

the use of conventional hard wired 

temporary stop, turn, and tail lights has many 

drawbacks that wireless tow lights solve. 

These include broken connections, frayed 

wires, burnt out incandescent bulbs, and the 

potential to be snagged or pulled from the 

tow light receptacle due to improper running 

of wires, and road hazards, along with the 

safety hazard of increasing the amount of 

time spent on the roadside or the scene of an 

accident by stringing wired lighting systems 

between vehicles and securing the wires. 

With the advent of LED technology coupled 

with advancements in battery technologies, 

wireless tow lights are more reliable and 

better equipped for the rigors of daily 

temporary use. 

Temporary wireless stop, turn, tail lighting 

systems can operate for 10+ hours of 

continuous use on a full charge, and in-cab 

wire-less monitoring systems give the driver 

constant information on the functioning of 

the system, displaying state of charge of the 

battery inside the unit, displaying the 

functioning of the system during operation, 

and warning the driver if the unit is no 

longer functioning. In this sense, wireless 

tow lights provide a level of safety and 

redundancy that is not currently required on 

wired temporary lighting systems. In an 

emergency situation with a drained battery, 

power can be directly connected to the 

temporary wireless stop, turn, and tail 

lighting system from a standard 4 pin or 7 

pin electrical connection. 

Without the proposed temporary 

exemption, tow and haul away operators will 

be forced to continue to use cumbersome 

wired temporary towing light systems, 

placing an unnecessary burden on their daily 

operations. The current temporary lighting 

requirements for stop, tail, and turn lamps 

require that the lamps receive their power 

from a direct wired connection to the towing 

vehicle with no ascertainable benefit from 

doing such. Wireless tow lights afford 

benefits that wired systems are unable to, 

such as redundancies like monitoring the 

status of the unit in real time, thus assuring 

their proper operation at all times. 

Comments 

On August 6, 2015, FMCSA published 

notice of the TowMate application and 

requested public comment (80 FR 

47031). The Agency received thirteen 

comments, all in support of TowMate’s 

application. 

The Towing and Recovery 

Association of America, Inc., and the 

Wisconsin Towing Association 

commented that hard-wired temporary 

stop, tail and turn signal lighting 

systems take additional time to install 

on the side of the road or highway as 

compared to wireless systems, leaving 

tow operators vulnerable and at greater 

risk of being struck and injured by 

passing motorists These commenters 

stated that use of rechargeable wireless 

temporary stop, turn, and tail lighting 

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