Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2017 / Notices 43283 

327. Notice is hereby given that the 

Caltrans, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (USEPA), and U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (FWS) has taken final 

agency actions subject to 23 U.S.C. 

139(l)(1) by issuing licenses, permits, 

and approvals for the following highway 

project in the State of California: The 

project is located in San Diego County 

at the I–5/SR 56 Interchange near 

Carmel Valley Road in San Diego from 

postmile (PM) I–5: R32.7 to R34.8 and 

SR 56: 0.00 to 2.5. The proposed project 

includes improvements to maintain or 

improve the existing and future traffic 

operations on the I–5 and SR 56 

corridors. The preferred alternative 

consists adding the two missing 

connectors (I–5 Southbound to SR 56 

Eastbound and SR 56 Westbound to I– 

5 Northbound). The Del Mar Heights 

Overcrossing will be replaced with 

pedestrian enhancements and improved 

lighting. The Carmel Valley Road will 

be widened from three to four lanes by 

the I–5 off-ramp and will be widened 

from six lanes to eight lanes from I–5 

and El Camino Real. Relocation of the 

AT&T-owned transcontinental fiberoptic line that currently parallels I–5 

between Carmel Valley Road and Del 

Mar Heights Road to within High Bluff 

Drive and El Camino Real. In addition 

the project includes: Auxiliary lanes; 

sound walls; retaining walls, barriers, 

guard rails/end treatments, crash 

cushions, bridge rails, drainage 

improvements, detention basins, 

replacement of existing fences, potential 

installation of fencing for right-of-way, 

visual and community enhancements; 

ramp improvements; and appurtenant 

structures including signage. The 

actions by the Federal agencies, and the 

laws under which such actions were 

taken, are described in the Final 

Environmental Statement (FEIS) for the 

project, approved on June 26, 2017, in 

the Record of Decision (ROD) issued on 

August 13, 2017, and in other 

documents in the FHWA project 

records. The FEIS, ROD, and other 

project records are available by 

contacting Caltrans at the addresses 

provided above. 

The Caltrans Final FEIS and ROD can 

be viewed and downloaded from the 

project Web site at http://

www.dot.ca.gov/d11/environmental/. 

This notice applies to all Federal agency 

decisions as of the issuance date of this 

notice and all laws under which such 

actions were taken, including but not 

limited to: 

1. Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations; 

2. National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA); 

3. Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU); 

4. Department of Transportation Act 

of 1966; 

5. Federal Aid Highway Act of 1970; 

6. Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments 

of 1990; 

7. Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1977 and 

1987; 

8. Federal Water Pollution Control 

Act of 1972; 

9. Endangered Species Act of 1973; 

10. Migratory Bird Treaty Act; 

11. Farmland Protection Policy Act of 

1981; 

12. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964; 

13. Uniform Relocation Assistance 

and Real Property Acquisition Act of 

1970; 

14. National Historic Preservation Act 

(NHPA) of 1966; 

15. Historic Sites Act of 1935; 

16. Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act of 1976; 

17. Community Environmental 

Response Facilitation Act (CERFA) of 

1992; 

18. Executive Order 11990, Protection 

of Wetlands; 

19. Executive Order 13112, Invasive 

Species; 

20. Executive Order 11988, 

Floodplain Management; and, 

21. Executive Order 12898, 

Environmental Justice. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Number 20.205, Highway Planning 

and Construction. The regulations 

implementing Executive Order 12372 

regarding intergovernmental consultation on 

Federal programs and activities apply to this 

program.) 

Authority: 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). 

Tashia J. Clemons, 

Director of Project Development, Federal 

Highway Administration, Sacramento, 

California. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19517 Filed 9–13–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–RY–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2017–0243] 

Hours of Service of Drivers: 

Application for Exemption; Power and 

Communication Contractors 

Association (PCCA) 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of application for 

exemption; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that the 

Power and Communication Contractors 

Association (PCCA) has requested an 

exemption from the requirement that a 

motor carrier install and require each of 

its drivers to use an electronic logging 

device (ELD) to record the driver’s 

hours-of-service (HOS) no later than 

December 18, 2017. PCCA requests the 

exemption for all operators of a 

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in the 

power and communications 

construction industry. Construction 

contractors spend considerable time 

working off-road on varying jobsites, 

and a single CMV may have several 

different drivers over the course of a 

day, moving the vehicle short distances 

around the jobsite. Because of the 

limited time within a workday that their 

drivers spend driving on public roads, 

PCCA states that ELD and record of duty 

status (RODS) requirements for drivers 

in their industries do not result in a 

significant safety benefit. PCCA’s 

drivers would remain subject to the 

standard HOS limits and maintain a 

paper RODS for HOS compliance. PCCA 

believes that the exemption, if granted, 

will achieve a level of safety that is 

equivalent to, or greater than, the level 

that would be achieved absent the 

exemption. FMCSA requests public 

comment on PCCA’s application for 

exemption. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 16, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by Federal Docket 

Management System (FDMS) Number 

FMCSA–2017–0243 by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. See the Public 

Participation and Request for Comments 

section below for further information. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building, Ground Floor, Room W12– 

140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

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

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Each submission must include the 

Agency name and the docket number for 

this notice. Note that DOT posts all 

comments received without change to 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information included in a 

comment. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to www.regulations.gov at 


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43284 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2017 / Notices 

any time or visit Room W12–140 on the 

ground level of the West Building, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. The on-line FDMS is available 

24 hours each day, 365 days each year. 

Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 

U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments 

from the public to better inform its 

rulemaking process. DOT posts these 

comments, without edit, including any 

personal information the commenter 

provides, to www.regulations.gov, as 

described in the system of records 

notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can 

be reviewed at www.dot.gov/privacy. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information concerning this notice, 

contact Mr. Tom Yager, Chief, FMCSA 

Driver and Carrier Operations Division; 

Office of Carrier, Driver and Vehicle 

Safety Standards; Telephone: 614–942– 

6477. Email: MCPSD@dot.gov. If you 

have questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, contact Docket 

Services, telephone (202) 366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation and Request for 

Comments 

FMCSA encourages you to participate 

by submitting comments and related 

materials. 

Submitting Comments 

If you submit a comment, please 

include the docket number for this 

notice (FMCSA–2017–0243), indicate 

the specific section of this document to 

which the comment applies, and 

provide a reason for suggestions or 

recommendations. You may submit 

your comments and material online or 

by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but 

please use only one of these means. 

FMCSA recommends that you include 

your name and a mailing address, an 

email address, or a phone number in the 

body of your document so the Agency 

can contact you if it has questions 

regarding your submission. 

To submit your comments online, go 

to www.regulations.gov and put the 

docket number, ‘‘FMCSA–2017–0243’’ 

in the ‘‘Keyword’’ box, and click 

‘‘Search.’’ When the new screen 

appears, click on ‘‘Comment Now!’’ 

button and type your comment into the 

text box in the following screen. Choose 

whether you are submitting your 

comment as an individual or on behalf 

of a third party, and then submit. If you 

submit your comments by mail or hand 

delivery, submit them in an unbound 

format, no larger than 81⁄2 by 11 inches, 

suitable for copying and electronic 

filing. If you submit comments by mail 

and would like to know that they 

reached the facility, please enclose a 

stamped, self-addressed postcard or 

envelope. FMCSA will consider all 

comments and material received during 

the comment period and may grant or 

not grant this application based on your 

comments. 

II. Legal Basis 

FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C. 

31136(e) and 31315 to grant exemptions 

from certain parts of the Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). 

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 

any safety analyses that have been 

conducted. The Agency must also 

provide an opportunity for public 

comment on the request. 

The Agency reviews safety analyses 

and public comments submitted, and 

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 reasons for 

denying or granting the application and, 

if granted, the name of the person or 

class of persons receiving the 

exemption, and the regulatory provision 

from which the exemption is granted. 

The notice must also specify the 

effective period and explain the terms 

and conditions of the exemption. The 

exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 

381.300(b)). 

III. Request for Exemption 

The PCCA represents contractors, 

manufacturers, and distributors who 

build and repair America’s power and 

communications infrastructure, 

including electric transmission, 

distribution, and substation facilities 

and broadband, telephone, and cable 

television systems. PCCA members also 

engage in directional drilling, local area 

and premises wiring, and improvements 

to water and sewer infrastructure, as 

well as gas and oil pipelines. While 

PCCA is not aware of a confirmed, finite 

number of drivers in the power and 

communication construction industry, 

they believe there are tens of thousands 

of them across the U.S. These are 

construction workers—driving is 

incidental to their core job function. 

PCCA contractors maintain a wide 

range of different vehicles, including 

dump trucks, water-related vehicles, 

skid trucks, and flatbeds used to carry 

heavy excavation equipment. Buses are 

also used to transport workers to and 

from a construction jobsite. 

The exemption would apply to 

drivers in the power and 

communications construction industry, 

who operate under significantly 

different circumstances than interstate 

truck drivers. CMV operators working 

on broadband and/or electric 

infrastructure projects commonly drive 

multiple vehicles for short distances 

within a single day, and a single vehicle 

is often driven by multiple drivers. 

Numerous exemptions to the ELD and 

RODS requirements are available 

depending on varying job functions, 

including for those operating 8 days in 

30-day period, short haul 100 air-mile 

rule, 150 air-mile rule, utility service 

vehicle (USV) exemption, ready mix 

trucks, pipeline welders, etc. The 

complexity of navigating the ELD and 

RODS requirements and exemptions 

make compliance difficult, exposing 

their drivers to unknowing violations. 

According to PCCA, application of these 

requirements to their drivers is 

confusing even for law enforcement 

officials. When contrasted against the 

requirements’ minimal benefit to the 

safety of their drivers, application of the 

ELD and RODS requirements to their 

construction personnel proves to be 

quite unnecessary. 

Drivers in the power and 

communication construction industry 

commonly operate under the USV 

exemption as defined under § 395.2 of 

FMCSRs, which exempts drivers of a 

USV ‘‘used in the furtherance of 

repairing, maintaining, or operating any 

structures or any other physical 

facilities necessary for the delivery of 

public utility services, including the 

furnishing of electric, gas, water, 

sanitary sewer, telephone, and 

television cable or community antenna 

service.’’ Requiring installation of ELD 

technology in USVs operated in an 

industry that is normally exempt from 

HOS requirements because of the 

critical nature of its work presents an 

unnecessary burden. 

PCCA’s application requests an 

exemption from requirements to use 

ELDs in lieu of written logs to document 

their RODS under 49 CFR 395.8(a). The 

exemption they are requesting would be 

limited to their drivers: (1) Who are on 

duty no more than 14 hours per day; (2) 

Who drive less than 200 miles per day, 

regardless of start and stop location; and 

(3) For whom the driving of CMVs is 

incidental to their core employment. 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2017 / Notices 43285 

IV. Method To Ensure an Equivalent or 

Greater Level of Safety 

According to PCCA, exempting power 

and communication contractors from 

ELD requirements would not 

compromise the safety of drivers in the 

industry in any way. All rules related to 

the short-haul exemption would still 

apply, and drivers would continue to 

comply with written RODS 

requirements when short-haul 

limitations are exceeded. Unlike longhaul interstate truckers, drivers in the 

construction industry meet a variety of 

job functions and spend the vast 

majority of their time on a jobsite within 

a short distance of their daily assembly 

point, not on public roads and 

highways. Power and communication 

contractors would continue to meet all 

other HOS requirements overseen by 

FMCSA. 

PCCA believes an equivalent level of 

safety will be achieved if drivers in the 

power and communication construction 

industry are exempt from ELD 

requirements as described above. 

A copy of PCCA’s application for 

exemption is available for review in the 

docket for this notice. 

Issued on: September 8, 2017. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2017–19512 Filed 9–13–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

Hazardous Materials: Notice of 

Applications for Special Permits 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), DOT. 

ACTION: List of applications for special 

permits. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

procedures governing the application 

for, and the processing of, special 

permits from the Department of 

Transportation’s Hazardous Material 

Regulations notice is hereby given that 

the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety 

has received the application described 

herein. Each mode of transportation for 

which a particular special permit is 

requested is indicated by a number in 

the ‘‘Nature of Application’’ portion of 

the table below as follows: 1—Motor 

vehicle, 2—Rail freight, 3—Cargo vessel, 

4—Cargo aircraft only, 5—Passengercarrying aircraft. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 16, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Record Center, Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Transportation Washington, DC 20590. 

Comments should refer to the 

application number and be submitted in 

triplicate. If confirmation of receipt of 

comments is desired, include a selfaddressed stamped postcard showing 

the special permit number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ryan Paquet, Director, Office of 

Hazardous Materials Approvals and 

Permits Division, Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Transportation, East Building, PHH–30, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue Southeast, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001, (202) 366– 

4535. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of 

the applications are available for 

inspection in the Records Center, East 

Building, PHH–30, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue Southeast, Washington, DC or at 

http://regulations.gov. 

This notice of receipt of applications 

for special permit is published in 

accordance with part 107 of the Federal 

hazardous materials transportation law 

(49 U.S.C. 5117(b); 49 CFR 1.53(b)). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 31, 

2017. 

Donald Burger, 

Chief, Office of the Special Permits and 

Approvals. 

Application No. Docket No. Applicant Regulation(s) 

affected Nature of the special permits thereof 

SPECIAL PERMITS DATA 

20512–N ............. ........................... Worldwind Helicopters, Inc .... 172.101(j), 172.200, 

172.204(c)(3), 172.300, 

173.27(b)(2), 175.30(a)(1), 

175.75.

To authorize the transportation in commerce of certain hazardous materials by external load with a helicopter in remote areas of the US without being subject to hazard 

communication requirements and quantity limitations 

where no other means of transportation is available. 

(Mode 4). 

20513–N ............. ........................... Rolling Paper Depot, LLC ...... 173.308 .................................. To authorize the transportation in commerce of lighters without the use of certain hazard communication. (Mode 1) 

20517–N ............. ........................... Advance Research Chemicals, Inc.173.205 .................................. To authorize the transportation in commerce of non-DOT 

specification cylinders containing materials intended for 

disposal. (Modes 1, 3). 

20518–N ............. ........................... Colep Portugal, S.A ............... 178.33–7 ................................ To authorize the manufacture, mark, sale and use of nonDOT specification receptacles conforming with all regulations applicable to a DOT specification (2P and 2Q), except for the wall thickness. (Modes 1, 2, 3). 

20519–N ............. ........................... Richemont North America, Inc 173.4b(a), 173.4b(a)(10) ........ To authorize the transportation in commerce of articles containing a Division 2.1 material as de minimis. (Modes 1, 4, 

5). 

20522–N ............. ........................... Maine Department of Transportation.172.101(k), 172.200, 172.300, 

172.400, 172.500, 172.600.

To authorize the transportation in commerce of private 

motor vehicles containing certain hazardous materials via 

passenger ferry vessels. 

20523–N ............. ........................... Whitewave Foods Company, 

The.

173.306(b) .............................. To authorize the transportation in commerce of non-DOT 

specification pressure receptacles containing foodstuffs. 

(Modes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). 

20524–N ............. ........................... Wilhelm Schmidt GmbH ......... 172.102(c)(4), .........................

178.705(c)(2)(ii) ......................

To authorize the manufacture, mark, sale, and use of IBCs 

intended to contain ammonia solutions and 

dichloromethane. (Modes 1, 2, 3). 

20525–N ............. ........................... Avfuel Corporation ................. 180.407(a) .............................. To authorize the transportation in commerce of certain DOT 

cargo tanks that have not been requalified in accordance 

with part 180. (Mode 1). 

20526–N ............. ........................... Space Exploration Technologies Corp.105.30, 105.30(a), 

105.30(a)(2).

To authorize the transportation in commerce of low production lithium batteries contained in equipment in non-DOT 

specification packaging. (Mode 1). 


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