26468 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 28, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

ACTION: Correction to final regulations.

SUMMARY: On May 21, 1996, the

Department of Transportation published

final rules amending its Americans with

Disabilities Act in several respects (61

FR 25409). This document corrects

certain editorial errors in that

document. The corrections do not affect

the substance of the amendments.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 20, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert C. Ashby, Deputy Assistant

General Counsel for Regulation and

Enforcement, Department of

Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW,

Room 10424, Washington, DC, 20590.

(202) 366–9306 (voice); (202) 755–7687

(TDD); or Richard Wong, Office of Chief

Counsel, Federal Transit

Administration, same street address,

Room 9316. (202) 366–4011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Department is making editorial

corrections to its May 21, 1996, final

rule (61 FR 25409), amending 49 CFR

parts 37 and 38, which implement the

Americans with Disabilities Act for

transportation services. The

amendments concern such subjects as

advance reservations for paratransit

service, updates to paratransit plans,

requirements for independent private

schools, and other subjects.

Need for Correction

As published, the document contains

errors which may prove to be

misleading and are in need of

correction. First, In the preamble, the

last sentence of the first paragraph

under the heading ‘‘Visitor Eligibility,’’

beginning ‘‘The Department will further

amend * * *’’ (61 FR 25414, first

column) is incorrect, and should be

disregarded. The rule does not contain

such an amendment,

In four instances, the amendatory

language for certain provisions of the

rule left notice of proposed rulemaking

language (e.g., ‘‘proposes to amend’’

rather than ‘‘amends’’ or ‘‘revises’’) in

place. This document corrects these

errors. Finally, the amendment to

§ 37.135(c)(1) contained an potentially

misleading citation to §§ 37.137–139,

which could cause confusion about the

applicability of the requirement of

§§ 37.137(c) for continuing public

participation in transit authorities’

paratransit programs. The citation is

corrected to fix this problem.

Correction of Publication

Accordingly, the publication on May

21, 1996, of the final regulations

amending 49 CFR Parts 37 and 38,

which were the subject of FR Doc. 96–

11935, is corrected as follows:

1. On page 25415, in the third

column, amendatory instruction 1,

relating to the authority citation for 49

CFR Part 37, is corrected to read as

follows:

1. The authority citation for 49 CFR

Part 37 continues to read as follows:

2. On page 25415, in the third

column, amendatory instruction 2,

relating to the authority citation for 49

CFR Part 38, is corrected to read as

follows:

2. The authority citation for 49 CFR

Part 38 is revised to read as follows:

3. On page 25415, in the third

column, amendatory instruction 3,

relating to the revision of § 37,27(b), is

corrected to read as follows:

3. In part 37, § 37.27(b) is revised to

read as follows:

4. On page 25416, in the second

column, in the amendment to

§ 37.135(c)(1), the citation in the final

sentence of the paragraph to ‘‘§§ 37.137–

37.139’’ is corrected to read ‘‘§§ 37.137

(a) and (b), 37.138 and 37.139’’.

5. On page 25416, in the third

column, amendatory instruction 12,

relating to Appendix D to Part 37, is

corrected to read as follows:

12. In Part 37, Appendix D, the

paragraph entitled ‘‘Section 37.13

Effective Date for Certain Vehicle Lift

Specifications’’ is amended by replacing

the words ‘‘new 30′′ by 48′′’’ with the

words ‘‘Part 38’’.

Rasheed J. Tahir,

Legal Assistant.

[FR Doc. 96–13252 Filed 5–24–96; 8:45 am]

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National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 501

Organization and Delegation of Powers

and Duties

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule delegates to

NHTSA’s Chief Counsel the authority to

issue authoritative interpretations of the

statutes administered by NHTSA and

the regulations issued by the agency.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 28, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Womack, Senior Assistant Chief

Counsel, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street,

SW, Room 5219, Washington, DC 20590.

Mr. Womack’s telephone number is:

(202) 366–9511.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final

rule revises the regulations on the

organization of and delegation of

powers and duties within the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration

(NHTSA).

Since the creation of the agency,

NHTSA’s Chief Counsel has issued

written interpretations of the statutes

the agency administers and the

regulations it issues. These

interpretations, in the form of letters

responding to questions from the motor

vehicle industry and members of the

public, have been available to the public

in the agency’s technical reference

library in Washington. With the

development of new technology, the

agency is now able to make them

available through the Internet on the

World Wide Web. (The website is

www.nhtsa.dot.gov. At that site, select

‘‘NHTSA’s Library.’’ On the ‘‘NHTSA

Library’’ page, select ‘‘NHTSA’s

Interpretation Letters.’’)

In preparing to implement this new

service, NHTSA noted that although the

industry and the public have

consistently recognized the implicit

authority of the Chief Counsel to issue

such interpretations, there was no

formal delegation of that authority from

the Administrator to the Chief Counsel.

Therefore, in connection with the

broadening of public access to these

interpretations, and in order to

eliminate any possible

misunderstanding or doubt, NHTSA is

amending 49 CFR 501.8(d) to formally

delegate the authority to interpret

applicable statutes and regulations to

the Chief Counsel.

This action should be construed as a

confirmation of a preexisting implicit

delegation, and does not invalidate in

any way the interpretations that have

previously been issued by the Office of

Chief Counsel. However, interested

persons should recognize that all

interpretations are necessarily based on

the facts presented in individual cases

and the law that exists at the time the

interpretation is issued. Since the

agency’s statutes and regulations change

from year to year, past interpretations

may no longer be applicable under

current law.

As matters relating to agency

management, the amendments made by

this document are not covered by the

notice and comment or the effective

date requirements of the Administrative

Procedure Act. These amendments

relate solely to changes in the scope of

the delegation of authority from the

NHTSA Administrator to the Chief

Counsel and have no substantive effect.

Notice and the opportunity for comment

are, therefore, not required, and these
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 28, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 26469

amendments are effective immediately

upon publication in the Federal

Register. In addition, these amendments

are not subject to Executive Order

12866, the Department of

Transportation’s regulatory policies and

procedures, or the provisions for

Congressional review of final rules in

Chapter 8 of Title 5, United States Code.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 501

Authority, Delegations.

In consideration of the foregoing, 49

CFR part 501 is amended as follows:

PART 501—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 501

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. sections 105 and 322;

delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

2. Section 501.8 is amended by

adding a new paragraph (d)(5) to read as

follows:

§ 501.8 Delegations

* * * * *

(d) * * *

(5) Issue authoritative interpretations

of the statutes administered by NHTSA

and the regulations issued by the

agency.

* * * * *

Issued on: May 22, 1996.

Ricardo Martinez,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 96–13299 Filed 5–24–96; 8:45 am]

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