Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 173 / Friday, September 5, 2008 / Notices 51879 

effective July 2, 2008 as previously 

announced in the Federal Register (73 

FR 38023, July 2, 2008). 

Comments 

The FMCSA received no response to 

its request for public comments 

published in the Federal Register on 

July 2, 2008 (73 FR 38023). 

Terms and Conditions for the 

Exemption 

Based upon its evaluation of the 

application for an exemption, FMCSA 

granted Isuzu a renewal of the 

exemption from the Federal CDL 

requirement in 49 CFR 383.23 for eleven 

drivers (Shiro Fukuda, Wataru 

Kumakura, Takehito Yaguchi, Tsutomu 

Yamazaki, Toshiya Asari, Shintaro 

Moroi, Masaru Otsu, Satoru Amemiya, 

Tsuyoshi Koyama, Nobuyuki Miyazaki, 

and Hiroyoshi Takahashi) to test-drive 

CMVs within the U.S., subject to the 

following terms and conditions: (1) That 

these drivers are subject to drug and 

alcohol testing regulations, including 

testing, as provided in 49 CFR part 382, 

(2) that these drivers are subject to the 

same driver disqualification rules under 

49 CFR parts 383 and 391 that apply to 

other CMV drivers in the U.S., (3) that 

these drivers keep a copy of the 

exemption in the vehicle they are 

driving at all times, (4) that Isuzu notify 

FMCSA in writing of any accident, as 

defined in 49 CFR 390.5, involving one 

of the exempted drivers, and (5) that 

Isuzu notify FMCSA in writing if any 

driver is convicted of a disqualifying 

offense described in section 383.51 or 

391.15 of the FMCSRs. 

The exemption will be revoked if: (1) 

The drivers for Isuzu fail to comply with 

the terms and conditions of the 

exemption; (2) the exemption has 

resulted in a lower level of safety than 

was maintained before it was granted; or 

(3) continuation of the exemption would 

not be consistent with the goals and 

objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136. 

Issued on August 29, 2008. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–20668 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2006–25756] 

Commercial Driver’s License 

Standards: Application for Exemption; 

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that Volvo 

Trucks North America (Volvo) has 

applied for an exemption from the 

Federal requirement for a driver of 

commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to 

hold a commercial driver’s license 

(CDL). Volvo requests that the 

exemption cover one Swedish field test 

engineer who will test-drive CMVs for 

Volvo within the United States. This 

Volvo employee holds a valid Swedish 

CDL. Volvo states the exemption is 

needed to support a Volvo field test to 

meet future clean air standards, to testdrive Volvo prototype vehicles to verify 

results in ‘‘real world’’ environments, 

and to deliver the vehicles if necessary 

in the United States. Volvo believes the 

knowledge and skills tests and training 

program that Swedish drivers undergo 

to obtain a Swedish CDL ensures the 

exemption would provide a level of 

safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level of safety obtained by 

complying with the U.S. requirements 

for a CDL. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 6, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Federal Docket 

Management System Number FMCSA–

2006–25756 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Web site: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

on the Federal electronic docket site. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility; 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 

Room W–12–140, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, DOT Building, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, 

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. e.t., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal 

Holidays. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the Agency name and docket 

number. For detailed instructions on 

submitting comments and additional 

information on the exemption process, 

see the Public Participation heading 

below. 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. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received, go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov at any time or to 

the ground floor, room W12–140, DOT 

Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 

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

p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

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:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Public Participation: The http:// 

www.regulations.gov Web site is 

generally available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. You can get 

electronic submission and retrieval help 

and guidelines under the ‘‘help’’ section 

of the http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site and also at the DOT’s http:// 

docketsinfo.dot.gov Web site. If you 

want us to notify you that we received 

your comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard or print the acknowledgement 

page that appears after submitting 

comments online. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Richard Clemente, FMCSA Driver and 

Carrier Operations Division; Office of 

Bus and Truck Standards and 

Operations; Telephone: 202–366–4325. 

E-mail: MCPSD@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. 

Under its 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 the conducting of any safety 

analyses. The Agency must also provide 

an opportunity for public comment on 

the application. 

The Agency reviews the safety 

analyses and the public comments, and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

51880 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 173 / Friday, September 5, 2008 / Notices 

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 reason for 

denying or, in the alternative, the 

specific person or class of persons 

receiving the exemption, and the 

regulatory provision or provisions from 

which exemption is 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 

Volvo has applied for an exemption 

from the commercial driver’s license 

(CDL) rules, specifically 49 CFR 383.23 

that prescribes licensing requirements 

for drivers operating commercial motor 

vehicles (CMVs) in interstate or 

intrastate commerce. Volvo requests the 

exemption because this driver-employee 

is a citizen and resident of Sweden, and 

therefore cannot apply for a CDL in any 

of the United States. A copy of the 

application is in Docket No. FMCSA–

2006–25756. 

The exemption would allow one 

driver to operate CMVs in interstate 

commerce as part of a team of drivers 

who will support a Volvo field test to 

meet future air quality standards, to testdrive Volvo prototype vehicles at its test 

site and in the vicinity around Phoenix, 

Arizona, to verify results in ‘‘real 

world’’ environments, and to deliver the 

vehicles if necessary in the U.S. The 

driver is Fredrik Eriksson, and Volvo 

requests that the exemption cover a 2- 

year period beginning February 2009. 

This driver holds a valid Swedish 

CDL, and as explained by Volvo in 

previous exemption requests, drivers 

applying for a Swedish-issued CDL 

must dergo a training program and pass 

knowledge and skills tests. Volvo also 

stated in prior exemption requests that 

the knowledge and skills tests and 

training program that Swedish drivers 

undergo to obtain a Swedish CDL 

ensure the exemption provides a level of 

safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level of safety obtained by 

complying with the U.S. requirement for 

a CDL. 

FMCSA has previously determined 

the process for obtaining a Swedishissued CDL is comparable to, or as 

effective as the Federal requirements of 

Part 383, and adequately assesses the 

driver’s ability to operate CMVs in the 

U.S. On other prior occasions FMCSA 

has published notices concerning 

similar Volvo requests. The initial 

notice of a similar nature was published 

by FMCSA on May 12, 2006, granting 

this exemption to Volvo for 11 Swedish 

CDL drivers permitting them to operate 

CMVs in the U.S. (71 FR 27780). 

Request for Comments 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

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

requests public comment on Volvo’s 

application for an exemption from the 

CDL requirements of 49 CFR 383.23. 

The Agency will consider all comments 

received by close of business on October 

6, 2008. Comments will be available for 

examination in the docket at the 

location listed under the ‘‘ADDRESSES’’

section of this notice. The Agency will 

consider to the extent practicable 

comments received in the public docket 

after the closing date of the comment 

period. 

Issued on: August 29, 2008. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E8–20667 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Notice of Funding Availability and 

Solicitation of Applications for the 

Program for Capital Grants for Rail 

Line Relocation and Improvement 

Projects 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of funding availability; 

solicitation for applications. 

SUMMARY: Under this Notice, the FRA 

encourages eligible applicants to submit 

applications for grants to fund rail line 

relocation and improvement projects. 

This Notice of Funds Availability does 

not apply to the nine (9) projects 

specifically enumerated in the 

Transportation, Housing and Urban 

Development, and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2008 (Division K of 

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

DATES: FRA will begin accepting grant 

applications on September 15, 2008. 

Applications may be submitted until the 

earlier of Friday, November 28, 2008, or 

the date on which all available funds 

will have been committed under this 

program. The last-mentioned date will 

be announced in the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Applications must be 

submitted electronically to http:// 

www.grants.gov (‘‘Grants.Gov’’). 

Grants.Gov allows organizations 

electronically to find and apply for 

competitive grant opportunities from all 

Federal grant-making agencies. Any 

eligible applicant wishing to submit an 

application pursuant to this notice 

should immediately initiate the process 

of registering with Grants.Gov at http:// 

www.grants.gov. Please confirm all 

Grants.Gov submissions by e-mailing 

paxrail@dot.gov. 

For application materials that an 

applicant is unable to submit via 

Grants.Gov (such as oversized 

engineering drawings), applicants may 

submit an original and two (2) copies to 

the Federal Railroad Administration at 

the following address: Federal Railroad 

Administration, Attention: John Winkle, 

Office of Railroad Development (RDV–

13), Mail Stop #20, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Due to delays caused by enhanced 

screening of mail delivered via the U.S. 

Postal Service, applicants are 

encouraged to use other means to ensure 

timely receipt of materials. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Winkle, Office of Railroad Development 

(RDV–11), Federal Railroad 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Phone: (202) 493–6067; Fax: (202) 493–

6330, or Robert Carpenter, Grants 

Officer, Office of Acquisition and Grants 

Services (RAD–30), Federal Railroad 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 

Phone: (202) 493–6153; Fax: (202) 493–

6171. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

9002 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU) (Pub. 

L. 109–59, August 10, 2005) amended 

chapter 201 of title 49 of the United 

States Code by adding § 20154 which 

authorized, but did not appropriate, 

$350,000,000 per year for each of the 

fiscal years (FY) 2006 through 2009 for 

the purpose of funding the Program for 

Capital Grants for Rail Line Relocation 

and Improvement Projects (the Program) 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Program Number 20.314). 

SAFETEA–LU also directed FRA to 

promulgate a regulation that establishes 

the Program. That Final Rule was 

published on July 11, 2008 and can be 

found at 73 FR 39875 (49 CFR part 262). 

In FY 2008, Congress, through the 

Transportation, Housing and Urban 

Development, and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2008 (Division K of 

Pub. L. 110–161 (December 26, 2007)) 

appropriated $20,145,000 to FRA to 

fund the Program. Of that amount, 

Congress directed that $5,240,000 be 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES