[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 106 (Thursday, June 4, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 26917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13043]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0106]


Petition for Declaratory Order by Fullington Trailways, LLC

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of petition for declaratory order; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA invites all interested persons to comment on a petition 
submitted by Fullington Trailways, LLC (Fullington) for a declaratory 
order requesting that FMCSA find that certain regularly scheduled 
passenger bus service provided by Fullington is in interstate commerce 
and not subject to the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Public 
Utilities Commission.

DATES: Initial comments are due on or before August 3, 2009. In order 
to allow adequate time and notice for commenters to prepare reply 
comments, initial comments received after the deadline will not be 
considered.
    Reply comments are due on or before September 2, 2009. The Agency 
will only consider reply comments responding directly to issues raised 
in the initial round of comments. Commenters may not use reply comments 
to raise new issues.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0106, by any of the 
following methods. Do not submit the same comments by more than one 
method. However, to allow effective public participation before the 
comment period deadline, the Agency encourages use of the FDMS Web site 
that is listed first. It will provide the most efficient and timely 
method of receiving and processing your comments.
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    <bullet> Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    <bullet> Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations 
(M-30), Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 
20590-0001.
    <bullet> Courier or in person: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 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 this regulatory action. Note that all comments 
received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided. Refer to the Privacy Act 
heading on http://www.regulations.gov for further information.
    Public Participation: The FDMS is available 24 hours each day, 365 
days each year. You can find electronic submission and retrieval help 
and guidelines under the ``help'' section of the Web site. For 
confirmation that FMCSA received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard, or print the acknowledgement 
page that appears after submitting comments on-line. Copies or 
abstracts of all documents referenced in this notice are in the Docket 
No. FMCSA-2009-0106. To read background documents or comments received 
in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time, or visit 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. 
All comments received before the close of business on the comment 
closing dates indicated above will be considered and will be available 
for examination in the docket at the above address. Initial comments 
received after the initial comment closing date will not be considered.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Genevieve D. Sapir, (202) 366-7056, 
Office of the Chief Counsel (MC-CCR), Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fullington Trailways, LLC currently provides 
passenger bus service along various routes in Pennsylvania. Along two 
such routes, Lewistown to Harrisburg and State College to Harrisburg, 
Fullington held intrastate authority from the Pennsylvania Public 
Utilities Commission (PPUC) and then subsequently obtained interstate 
authority along these same routes from the FMCSA. Fullington seeks to 
discontinue early morning service on the State College/Harrisburg route 
and raise rates for early morning service on the Lewistown/Harrisburg 
route. A regular passenger on Fullington's routes filed a complaint 
with the PPUC opposing these changes.
    The PPUC concluded that, to the extent the State College/Harrisburg 
and Lewistown/Harrisburg routes were properly characterized as 
operations in interstate commerce under Federal law, it did not have 
jurisdiction over the complaint. However, the PPUC further concluded 
that it lacked jurisdiction to make this determination and that FMCSA 
had primary jurisdiction to determine whether the routes at issue were 
in fact interstate.
    The PPUC instructed Fullington to seek a determination from FMCSA 
on the following three issues with respect to its State College/
Harrisburg and Lewistown/Harrisburg routes: (1) Whether its operations 
are within the scope of its Federal operating authority; (2) whether 
PPUC regulation as to rates and schedules is preempted; and (3) whether 
Fullington's operations qualify as a ``special operation'' or 
``intrastate commuter bus operation'' under 49 U.S.C. 13902.
    On September 17, 2008, Fullington submitted a Petition for 
Declaratory Order to FMCSA seeking a determination on these issues. 
This Petition is available for review in the docket for this 
proceeding. Before making its determination on the matters raised in 
the Petition, the Agency invites public comment on these issues.

    Issued on May 28, 2009.
Rose A. McMurray,
Acting Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-13043 Filed 6-3-09; 8:45 am]
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