Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 2543

submission of a petition for

reconsideration or other administrative

proceedings before parties may file suit

in court.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 571

Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor

vehicles.

In consideration of the foregoing, 49

CFR part 571 is amended as follows:

PART 571—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 571

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115,

30117, and 30166; delegations of authority at

49 CFR 1.50.

2. Section 571.303 is amended by

revising the definition of CNG fuel

container in S4, revising S7.1.2, and

adding S7.1.8 to read as follows:

§ 571.303 Standard No. 303; Fuel system

integrity of compressed natural gas

vehicles.

* * * * *

S4. Definitions.

* * * * *

CNG fuel container means a container

designed to store CNG as motor fuel

onboard a motor vehicle.

* * * * *

S7.1.2 After each fuel storage

container is filled as specified in S7.1.1,

the fuel system other than each fuel

storage container is filled with nitrogen,

N2, to normal operating pressures. All

manual shutoff valves are to be in the

open position.

* * * * *

S7.1.8 The pressure drop

measurement specified in S5.2 is to be

made using a location on the high

pressure side of the fuel system in

accordance with the vehicle

manufacturer’s recommendation.

* * * * *

Issued on: January 4, 1994.

Ricardo Martinez,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95–464 Filed 1–9–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–50–M

INTERSTATE COMMERCE

COMMISSION

49 CFR Parts 1002, 1011, and 1130

[Ex Parte No. MC–219]

Implementation of Section 4 of the

Negotiated Rates Act of 1993

AGENCY: Interstate Commerce

Commission.

ACTION: Adoption of final rules.

SUMMARY: The Commission is adopting

final rules to implement section 4 of the

Negotiated Rates Act of 1993. These

rules provide a mechanism for obtaining

Commission review of motor carrier and

shipper resolutions of overcharge and

undercharge claims resulting from

incorrect tariff provisions or billing

errors arising from the inadvertent

failure to properly and timely file and

maintain agreed-upon rates in

compliance with 49 U.S.C. 10761 and

10762.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The rules are effective

February 9, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Lawrence C. Herzig, (202) 927–5180.

[TDD for the hearing impaired: (202)

927–5721.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By a

notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) in

Ex Parte No. MC–219, Implementation

of Section 4 of the Negotiated Rates Act

(not printed), served March 4, 1994, and

published at 59 FR 11240, March 10,

1994, we proposed rules which would

implement section 4 of the Negotiated

Rates Act of 1993 (NRA), Pub. L. No.

103–180. The NPR proposed a

mechanism for obtaining Commission

review of motor carrier and shipper

resolutions of overcharge and

undercharge claims. These claims result

from incorrect tariff provisions or billing

errors arising from the inadvertent

failure to properly and timely file and

maintain agreed-upon rates in

compliance with 49 U.S.C. 10761 and

10762.

The NPR proposed two alternate

methods of settlement. Under the first

method, a petition to depart from the

filed rate would be filed which would

become equivalent to an order of the

Commission after 45 days if it was not

protested or investigated; the second

method would require a formal order to

be issued in all instances, whether or

not there was a protest or investigation.

The NPR also proposed standards for

the information required to be included

in a petition to depart from the filed

rate, and set a filing fee of $70.

Nine comments were received. In

response to these comments, we are

modifying the information required to

be included in a petition, and we will

permit either a carrier or a shipper to

file a petition. We will also adopt the

first method of settlement and filing fees

of $40 and $80, depending on the

amount involved in the petition.

Consolidated Freightways

Corporation of Delaware states that the

proposed rules are too burdensome in

requiring written Commission orders in

all cases, prefiling of the petitions for

relief, and a docketing fee on

insignificant amounts. Also, it is

concerned that the proposed rules do

not clarify that multiple tariff errors may

be resolved by a single filing. The final

rules will not require an order on any

uncontested petition. Also, while each

petition should encompass only one

shipper or one consignee, it can include

multiple tariff errors. However, we will

require payment of a fee for all

petitions.

D &J Associates, a freight

transportation consulting firm, is

concerned that the proposed rules apply

only to publishing errors and not to

billing errors and overcharge claims

based on published and timely filed

rates. In this regard section 4 of the NRA

is very clear; it applies only to

overcharge and undercharge claims

resulting from incorrect tariff provisions

or billing errors arising from the

inadvertent failure to properly and

timely file and maintain agreed upon

rates. Thus, the concerns of D & J

Associates need not be addressed

further.

The National Industrial

Transportation League (NITL) states that

the proposed procedures are too

complex and formalistic. First, it argues

that they will prevent the parties from

quickly and efficiently resolving

paperwork errors. We agree, and will

simplify the requirements for

information to be included in each

petition. Also, NITL is concerned that

any private party, even though not a

party to the transportation at issue,

could protest petitions. We do not

consider this to be a significant

problem. The right of any interested

party to protest a petition has been part

of the rail special docket procedures for

a number of years, without causing any

problems.

The Transportation Brokers

Conference of America generally

endorses the proposed rules. However,

it favors the method whereby an

uncontested petition automatically

becomes an order of the Commission

after 45 days. We are adopting this

method in the final rules.

The National Motor Freight Traffic

Association, which publishes the

National Motor Freight Classification on

behalf of its member carriers, generally

supports the proposed rules. However,

it suggests that a notice should be

published by the Commission when a

petition concerning classification

matters is investigated on the

Commission’s own motion or is

protested. We consider this publication

to be unnecessary. Petitions will

concern tariff publishing errors or the

failure to publish agreed-upon rates,

covering primarily discounts or
2544 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

commodity rates and not classification

matters.

Baldor Electric Company, GAF

Building Materials Corp. and W.R.

Grace Company filed consolidated

comments. These firms assert that

shippers should be allowed to initiate

tariff reconciliation procedures. We

agree, and are amending the rules to this

effect. The commenters also believe that

the responsibility for serving the

petition is unclear. We have amended

the regulations to show that the party

who files the petition has the

responsibility to serve all the parties.

These three corporations also argue that

the Commission should adopt the

second method of reconciliation by

issuing an order, and that the

procedures should encompass contract

carriage. We disagree. To expedite

dispute resolution and in light of our

limited resources, we will permit

uncontested and uninvestigated

petitions to become orders of the

Commission after 45 days. The contract

carriage issue does not lie because

contract carriage does not involve filed

tariffs.

National Small Shipments Traffic

Conference, Inc., considers that the

requirements for the information

proposed to be contained in each

petition are too burdensome. It also

favors permitting the petitions to

become orders of the Commission after

45 days. We agree in both instances and

the final rules respond to both concerns.

The Petroleum Marketing Association

of America argues that we should adopt

a single-page standardized form for the

petitions. We do not consider this

necessary. The Association also argues

that there should be no fee, or at most

a nominal fee for filing the petitions. We

are required to assess a fee based on

actual cost for services rendered to the

public. The fees adopted here are based

on the average cost of processing similar

applications.

Roadway Services, Inc., a common

carrier, is concerned, as is D & J

Associates, that the rules not be applied

to pure billing errors. We have disposed

of this issue in connection with the

comments of D & J Associates discussed

previously. Also, Roadway indicates

that the information required in the

proposed 10-step procedures is too

complex and burdensome. We agree and

in the final rules have significantly

reduced the amount of required

information. Roadway also believes that

nominal claims ($1,000 or less) should

be settled without our involvement. We

disagree. We do not think that the

adopted rules are burdensome,

especially since we would permit

multiple claims involving one shipper

or consignee to be consolidated.

We note that, because it substantially

eliminated tariff filing requirements for

independently determined rates,

enactment of the Transportation

Industry Regulatory Reform Act has

substantially reduced the need for the

remedy authorized by section 4 of the

NRA and our proposed regulations. In

the past few months we have received

fewer than 15 requests for adjustments,

and these requests primarily involve

one motor carrier. Nevertheless, we

expect that, as filed tariff provisions are

reviewed, these requests will continue

at the rate of one or two per month for

some time. Also, because it is possible

that tariff errors will be made in

collectively set tariffs, we may receive

requests pertaining to rate bureau tariffs.

We believe that the simplified

regulations adopted here will allow

efficient processing of section 4

petitions by the Commission without

subjecting petitioners to undue burdens.

Actual handling of the petitions will be

by our Special Docket Board. The filing

fees of $40 for petitions involving

$25,000 or less and $80 for petitions

involving more than $25,000 correspond

to the fees currently in place for rail

special dockets.

Environmental Statement

This action will not significantly

affect either the quality of the human

environment or the conservation of

energy resources.

Regulatory Flexibility Certification

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b), we

conclude that adoption of these rules

will not have a significant economic

impact on a substantial number of small

entities. The economic impact will be

minimal because the rules merely

provide a simple, voluntary method to

resolve certain billing problems that are

likely to arise in only a small proportion

of the shipments transported by the

motor carrier industry. Thus, the

economic impact is unlikely to be

significant within the meaning of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act.

List of Subjects

49 CFR Part 1002

Administrative practice and

procedure, Common carriers, Freedom

of information, User fees.

49 CFR Part 1011

Administrative practice and

procedure, Authority delegations

(Government agencies), Organization

and functions (Government agencies).

49 CFR Part 1130

Administrative practice and

procedure.

Decided: December 21, 1994.

By the Commission, Chairman McDonald,

Vice Chairman Morgan, Commissioners

Simmons and Owen.

Vernon A. Williams

Secretary.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, title 49, chapter X, parts 1002,

1011 and 1130 are amended as set forth

below.

PART 1002—FEES

1. The authority citation for part 1002

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A), 5 U.S.C.

553, 31 U.S.C. 9701 and 49 U.S.C. 10321.

2. In § 1002.2(f), in the table, a new

No. 81 is added to read as follows:

§ 1002.2 Filing fees.

* * * * *

(f) * * *

Type of proceeding Fee

(81) Tariff reconciliation petitions

from motor common carriers:

(i) Petitions involving $25,000 or

less ............................................ $40

(ii) Petitions involving over

$25,000 ...................................... 80

* * * * *

PART 1011—COMMISSION

ORGANIZATION; DELEGATIONS OF

AUTHORITY

3. The authority citation for part 1011

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 553; 31 U.S.C. 9701; 49

U.S.C. 10301, 10302, 10304, 10305, 10321,

10762.

4. Section 1011.6(e) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 1011.6 Employee boards.

* * * * *

(e) Special Docket Board. Disposition

of special docket and tariff

reconciliation proceedings under 49

CFR 1130.2(e), (f) and (g).

* * * * *

PART 1130—INFORMAL COMPLAINTS

5. The authority citation for part 1130

is revised to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 553 and 559; 49 U.S.C.

10321, 10707 and 11712.

6. In § 1130.2, paragraph (f) is

amended by adding the words ‘‘or tariff

reconciliation petition’’ after the word

‘‘petition’’ in the parenthetical phrase in

the first sentence and by adding the
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 6 / Tuesday, January 10, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 2545

words ‘‘or tariff reconciliation’’ after the

words ‘‘Special Docket’’ in the second

sentence, and by adding a new

paragraph (g) to read as follows:

§ 1130.2 When damages sought.

* * * * *

(g) Tariff reconciliation proceedings

for motor common carriers—(1)

Petitions to waive collection or permit

payment.

Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 11712, subject

to Commission review and approval,

motor common carriers (other than

household goods carriers) and shippers

may resolve, by mutual consent,

overcharge and undercharge claims

resulting from incorrect tariff provisions

or billing errors arising from the

inadvertent failure to properly and

timely file and maintain agreed-upon

rates, rules or classifications in

compliance with 49 U.S.C. 10761 and

10762. Under section 11712, the

Commission may approve any departure

from the filed rate when the shipper and

carrier agree, and the departure is

needed for the reason(s) stated in

section 11712. Petitions for appropriate

authority may be filed by either the

carrier, shipper or consignee on the

Commission’s tariff reconciliation

docket by submitting a letter of intent to

depart from the filed rate. The petitions

will be deemed the equivalent of an

informal complaint and answer

admitting the matters stated in the

petition. Petitions shall be sent to the

Special Docket Board, Interstate

Commerce Commission, Washington,

DC 20423. The petitions shall contain,

at a minimum, the following

information:

(i) The name(s) and address(es) of the

payer(s) of the freight charges;

(ii) The name(s) of the carrier(s)

involved in the traffic;

(iii) An estimate of the amount(s)

involved;

(iv) The time period when the

shipment(s) involved were delivered or

tendered for delivery;

(v) A general description of the

point(s) of origin and destination of the

shipment(s);

(vi) A general description of the

commodity(ies) transported;

(vii) A statement certifying that the

carrier(s) and shipper(s) participating in

the shipment(s) or the payer(s) of the

freight charges concur(s) with the intent

to depart from the filed rate; and

(viii) A brief explanation of the

incorrect tariff provision(s) or billing

error(s) causing the request to depart

from the filed rate.

(2) Public notice and protest. Tariff

reconciliation petitions (letters of intent)

shall be served on all parties named in

the petition by the party who files the

petition and will be made available by

the Commission for public inspection in

the Special Docket Board Public File,

Interstate Commerce Commission,

Washington, DC 20423. Any interested

person may protest the granting of a

petition by filing a letter of objection

with the Special Docket Board within 30

days of Commission receipt of the

petition. Letters of objection shall

identify the tariff reconciliation

proceeding, shall clearly state the

reasons for the objection, and shall

certify that a copy of the letter of

objection has been served on all parties

named in the petition. The Commission

may initiate an investigation of the

petition on its own motion.

(3) Uncontested petitions. If a petition

is not contested, and if the Commission

does not initiate an investigation of the

petition on its own motion, approval is

deemed granted without further action

by the Commission, effective 45 days

after Commission receipt of the petition.

(4) Contested petitions. If a petition is

contested or the Commission initiates

an investigation of the petition on its

own motion, 15 days will be allowed for

reply. The 15-day period will

commence on the date of service of the

objections or, if the Commission

initiates an investigation on its own

motion, on the date of service of the

decision initiating the investigation.

After the period for reply has expired,

the Commission will issue a decision

approving or disapproving the petition,

or requesting further submissions from

the parties, and then will issue a

decision based on the further

submissions.

[FR Doc. 95–579 Filed 1–9–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7035–01–P