Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 141 / Friday, July 24, 2009 / Notices 36809 

Total Responses: 24,655. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

11,875 hours. 

Status: Extension of a currently 

approved collection. 

Pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5 

CFR 1320.5(b), 1320.8(b)(3)(vi), FRA 

informs all interested parties that it may 

not conduct or sponsor, and a 

respondent is not required to respond 

to, a collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520. 

Issued in Washington, DC on July 20, 2009. 

Martin Eble, 

Acting Director, Office of Financial 

Management, Federal Railroad 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–17612 Filed 7–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2006–25290] 

Commercial Driver’s License 

Standards; Isuzu Motors America, 

Inc.’s Exemption Application 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition; 

granting of application for exemption. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to approve Isuzu North 

America Corporation’s (Isuzu) 

application for an exemption for a 

period of 2 years. The exemption allows 

20 Isuzu commercial motor vehicle 

(CMV) drivers, who are citizens and 

residents of Japan and hold a Japanese 

commercial driver’s license (CDL), to 

test-drive Isuzu CMVs in the United 

States without a CDL issued by one of 

the States. Isuzu requested the 

exemption so that these driveremployees, as a team, can support the 

evaluation and testing of production 

and prototype Isuzu CMVs for sale in 

the United States. FMCSA believes the 

knowledge and skills training and 

testing that Japanese drivers must 

undergo to obtain a Japanese CDL 

ensures a level of safety that is 

equivalent to, or greater than, the level 

of safety achieved without the 

exemption. 

DATES: This exemption is effective on 

July 24, 2009 and expires on July 25, 

2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Robert F. Schultz, Jr., FMCSA Office of 

Bus and Truck Standards and 

Operations, Driver and Carrier 

Operations Division, Telephone: 202– 

366–4325, or e-mail: MCPSD@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(1) and 

31136(e), FMCSA may grant an 

exemption for a maximum of 2 years if 

it finds ‘‘* * * such exemption would 

likely achieve a level of safety that is 

equivalent to, or greater than, the level 

that would be achieved absent such 

exemption * * *.’’ The procedure for 

requesting an exemption is prescribed 

by 49 CFR part 381. 

Isuzu Application for an Exemption 

Isuzu has applied for an exemption 

from the requirement of 49 CFR 383.23 

that operators of CMVs must obtain a 

CDL from one of the States. Specifically, 

it asks that 20 of its employee-drivers 

who are citizens and residents of Japan 

and hold a Japanese CDL be permitted 

to operate a CMV in the United States 

for a period of 2 years. The exemption 

would allow these individuals to testdrive Isuzu CMVs without a CDL issued 

by one of the States. A copy of the 

request for exemption is in the docket 

identified at the beginning of this 

notice. 

Method To Ensure an Equivalent or 

Greater Level of Safety 

These Isuzu drivers are experienced 

operators of CMVs. In Japan, drivers 

must hold a conventional driver’s 

license for at least 3 years to be eligible 

for a CDL. They also must successfully 

pass both skills and knowledge tests to 

obtain a Japanese-issued CDL. A driver 

granted a Japanese CDL may legally 

operate any CMV allowed on the roads 

of Japan. Isuzu believes that these 

Japanese-CDL drivers will achieve a 

level of safety equaling or exceeding the 

level of safety that would be achieved 

without the exemption. 

Comments 

On April 6, 2009, FMCSA published 

a notice of Isuzu’s application for 

exemption and requested comments 

from the public by May 6, 2009 (74 FR 

15575). No comments were received. 

FMCSA Decision 

FMCSA believes that the operations of 

the 20 Isuzu drivers will ensure a level 

of safety that is equivalent to, or greater 

than, the level of safety that would be 

achieved without the exemption. 

FMCSA’s decision to grant this 

exemption is based on the merits of the 

application for exemption and the 

considerable CMV-driving experience of 

these drivers. In addition, FMCSA 

considers the rigorous skills and 

knowledge testing that Japanese drivers 

undergo to obtain a Japanese CDL to be 

comparable to, or as effective as, the 

requirements of a U.S. CDL (49 CFR part 

383). Therefore, FMCSA grants 

exemption from the requirements of 49 

CFR 383.23 to the following 20 

individuals, while employed by Isuzu, 

to enable them to operate CMVs in the 

U.S. without a U.S. CDL for a period of 

2 years: Tadashi Shoda, Ryouji 

Matsuzawa, Hisashi Hashiguchi, 

Nobuhisa Okuda, Minoru Endo, 

Fumiaki Takei, Akira Yoshino, Tadao 

Shibuya, Akira Iizuka, Yoshinori Ugai, 

Kazuyoshi Tateishi, Naomi Uchida, 

Kiyoshi Toshima, Khoki Natsumi, 

Minuro Tsuchida, Mitsuo Konno, 

Hiroaki Kurata, Naoki Morimoto, 

Takayuki Kaneda, and Chito Agatsuma. 

Terms and Conditions of the Exemption 

This exemption is subject to the 

following terms and conditions: (1) 

These drivers are subject to the drug and 

alcohol regulations, including testing, as 

provided in 49 CFR part 382, (2) 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 United States, (3) 

Isuzu shall notify FMCSA in writing if 

an exempted driver is convicted of a 

disqualifying offense described in 

sections 383.51 or 391.15 of the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 

CFR 350 et seq.), (4) these drivers must 

keep, at all times, a copy of the 

exemption with them in the CMV they 

are driving, and (5) Isuzu must notify 

FMCSA in writing of any accident, as 

defined in 49 CFR 390.5, that involves 

an exempted driver. 

FMCSA will revoke this exemption if: 

(1) The Isuzu drivers fail to comply with 

the terms and conditions of the 

exemption, (2) the exemption results 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: July 16, 2009. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy and 

Program Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–17617 Filed 7–23–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 


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