48006 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 198 / Monday, October 16, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

1The Final Rule defined an HHFT as ‘‘a single 

train transporting 20 or more loaded tank cars of a 

Class 3 flammable liquid in a continuous block or 

a single train carrying 35 or more loaded tank cars 

of a Class 3 flammable liquid throughout the train 

consist.’’ See 49 CFR 171.8. 

2The Final Rule defined an HHFUT as ‘‘a single 

train transporting 70 or more loaded tank cars 

containing Class 3 flammable liquid.’’ 

3 In a March 17, 2016, letter, NAS declined to 

perform the testing, citing preliminary cost 

estimates to perform the testing in excess of $100 

million and expressing concern about meeting the 

with Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 

Creation Act of 2012. The Middle Class 

Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 

provides that ‘‘the Governor shall 

choose whether to participate in the 

deployment of the nationwide, 

interoperable broadband network as 

proposed by [FirstNet,] or conduct its 

own deployment of a radio access 

network in such State.’’ If a Governor 

chooses not to participate in the 

NPSBN, section 6302(e)(3)(A) of the Act 

requires the Governor to ‘‘notify 

[FirstNet], the NTIA, and the 

Commission of such decision.’’ The Act 

also states that an opt-out state ‘‘shall 

submit’’ to the Commission an 

‘‘alternative plan’’ for ‘‘the construction, 

maintenance, operation, and 

improvements’’ of the RAN within the 

state. Section 3(C)(ii) of the Act 

mandates that ‘‘upon submission of this 

plan, the Commission shall approve or 

disapprove of the plan.’’ 

We require that either the Governor or 

the Governor’s his duly authorized 

designee may provide notification of the 

Governor’s decision. The opt-out 

notification to the Commission must 

also include a certification that the state 

is providing simultaneous notice of its 

opt-out decision to both to NTIA and 

FirstNet. To facilitate the electronic 

filing of opt-out notifications, we will 

establish the email address opt-out@

fcc.gov as the address for this purpose. 

Each opt-out state will have 60 days 

from the completion of its Request For 

Proposal (240 days from the date of its 

opt-out notification to the Commission) 

to file an alternative state plan via the 

secure email address opt-out@fcc.gov or 

via certified mail to the Secretary’s 

office. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22339 Filed 10–13–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

49 CFR Part 174 

[Docket No. PHMSA–2017–0102] 

Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Tank 

Car Standards and Operational 

Controls for High-Hazard Flammable 

Trains 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notification of availability; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This document provides 

notice that PHMSA and the Federal 

Railroad Administration (FRA) are 

publishing a revised Regulatory Impact 

Analysis (RIA) updating the original 

RIA associated with the electronically 

controlled pneumatic (ECP) brake 

provision of PHMSA’s May 8, 2015, 

Final Rule titled ‘‘Enhanced Tank Car 

Standards and Operational Controls for 

High-Hazard Flammable Trains’’ (Final 

Rule). The agencies are publishing the 

updated RIA in response to the mandate 

of the Fixing America’s Surface 

Transportation (FAST) Act. The 

updated RIA incorporates new testing 

and analysis the National Academy of 

Sciences (NAS) reviewed, 

recommendations from two U.S. 

General Accountability Office (GAO) 

audits, and updates to the costs and 

benefits of the provision of the Final 

Rule based on current economic 

conditions. PHMSA invites comments 

on all aspects of the updated RIA and 

the agency will respond to all relevant 

comments received. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

November 1, 2017. Comments received 

after that date will be considered to the 

extent practicable, provided the 

comments do not result in additional 

delay or expense. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

identified by the docket number 

PHMSA–2017–0102 by any of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

• Mail or Hand Delivery: U.S. DOT 

Docket Management System, West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001 between 

9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Instructions: If you submit your 

comments by mail, submit two copies. 

To receive confirmation that PHMSA 

received your comments, include a selfaddressed stamped postcard. 

Privacy Act Statement 

Under 5 U.S.C. 553(c), the Department 

of Transportation (DOT) solicits 

comments from the public to better 

inform its regulatory 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: 

Mark Johnson, Senior Economist, 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration, by telephone at 202– 

366–4495 or by email at mark.johnson@

dot.gov; or, Mark Anderson, Industry 

Economist, Federal Railroad 

Administration, by telephone at 202– 

493–6078 or by email at 

mark.anderson@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 8, 

2015, PHMSA, in coordination with 

FRA, published a Final Rule adopting 

requirements designed to reduce the 

consequences and, in some instances, 

reduce the probability of accidents 

involving trains transporting large 

quantities of flammable liquids. See 80 

FR 26643. The Final Rule defined 

certain trains transporting large volumes 

of flammable liquids as high-hazard 

flammable trains (HHFT) 1 and others as 

high-hazard flammable unit trains 

(HHFUT).2 The Final Rule required 

HHFUTs transporting at least one 

flammable liquid classified as a packing 

group I material be operated with an 

ECP braking system by January 1, 2021, 

and all other HHFUTs be operated with 

an ECP braking system by May 1, 2023. 

See 49 CFR 174.310(a)(3). 

In December 2015, Congress passed 

the FAST Act. Pub. L. 114–94, 129 Stat. 

1686 (Dec. 4, 2015) (codified at 49 

U.S.C. 20168). Section 7311 of the FAST 

Act (section 7311) established a process, 

including independent study and 

testing, for DOT to use in developing an 

updated RIA related to the Final Rule’s 

ECP brake provision. The Secretary is 

also required to solicit public comment 

on the revised RIA, and issue a final 

updated RIA. Finally, Section 7311 

requires the Secretary of Transportation 

to review the final updated RIA and 

determine if the final rule’s ECP brake 

requirements are justified, based on 

whether the final updated RIA 

demonstrates that the benefits exceed 

the costs. The FAST Act requires this 

entire process to be completed no later 

than December 4, 2017. 

Section 7311 required DOT to enter 

into an agreement with NAS to test ECP 

brakes and reevaluate the economic 

analysis supporting the ECP brake 

requirement of the Final Rule.3 Section 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 198 / Monday, October 16, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 48007 

statutory deadline. As an alternative, to meet the 

intent of the FAST Act, DOT conducted the testing 

itself and contracted with NAS to review and 

monitor the test plan. 

4 DOT’s Rulemaking on Electronically Controlled 

Pneumatic Brakes Could Benefit from Additional 

Data and Transparency, GAO–17–122, Oct 12, 2016. 

5 2015 Electronically Controlled Pneumatic Brake 

Rule: Comparison of DOT Forecasts for Selected 

Data Points for 2015 and 2016 to Preliminary Data 

for Those Years, GAO–17–567R, May 31, 2017 

7311 required the testing to 

‘‘objectively, accurately, and reliably 

measure[s] the performance of ECP 

brake systems relative to other braking 

technologies or systems, such as 

distributed power and 2-way end-oftrain devices.’’ The FAST Act also 

provided for GAO review of the 

potential costs and benefits of ECP 

brakes. In response, GAO completed an 

evaluation of the business benefits, 

safety benefits, and costs that DOT 

estimated in the RIA for the final rule.4

Additionally, GAO recently completed a 

second evaluation comparing the 

forecasted values of certain data points 

that were used to support DOT’s ECP 

brake analysis.5 Both audits are 

discussed in the updated RIA. 

PHMSA is providing the public with 

an opportunity to comment on the 

updated RIA. To enable PHMSA to meet 

section 7311’s deadline, all comments 

must be received in the docket 

referenced in the ADDRESSES section of 

this document by November 1, 2017. 

Comments received after that date will 

be considered to the extent practicable, 

provided the comments do not result in 

additional delay or expense. All 

documents and comments related to this 

matter, including the updated RIA, are 

available for review at http://

www.regulations.gov in docket number 

PHMSA–2017–0102. 

Issued in Washington, DC on October 10, 

2017, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 

part 1.97. 

Drue Pearce, 

Acting Administrator, Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2017–22281 Filed 10–13–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 151211999–6343–02] 

RIN 0648–XF747 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Northeast Multispecies 

Fishery; Trimester 2 Georges Bank 

Cod Total Allowable Catch Area 

Closure; Updated 2017 Georges Bank 

Cod Annual Catch Limit for the 

Common Pool; Possession Prohibition 

for the Common Pool Fishery 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; area closure 

and inseason adjustment. 

SUMMARY: We are closing the Georges 

Bank Cod Trimester Total Allowable 

Catch Area for the remainder of 

Trimester 2, through December 31, 

2017. This action also prohibits 

possession of Georges Bank cod by 

common pool vessels for the remainder 

of the fishing year, through April 30, 

2018. In addition, we are reducing the 

2017 fishing year Georges Bank cod subannual catch limit for the common pool 

due to an overage in fishing year 2016. 

DATES: Effective October 11, 2017, 

through April 30, 2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Spencer Talmage, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9232, 

spencer.talmage@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We 

recently approved Framework 

Adjustment 56, which set 2017 annual 

catch limits (ACLs) for groundfish 

stocks (82 FR 16133). The possibility of 

minor adjustments and corrections was 

noted in the Framework 56 proposed 

and final rules because final allocations 

are not always available at the time of 

the rulemaking for the upcoming fishing 

year. 

Based on final 2016 catch information 

that recently became available, the 

fishing year 2016 common pool subACL for Georges Bank (GB) cod was 

exceeded by 2.8 metric tons (mt). If the 

common pool sub-ACL for any stock is 

exceeded, we are required to reduce the 

common pool sub-ACL by the amount of 

the overage in the next fishing year. 

Therefore, this action reduces the 

fishing year 2017 GB cod common pool 

sub-ACL by 2.8 mt, which results in a 

revised 2017 GB cod common pool subACL of 7.0 mt. The revised Trimester 

Total Allowable Catches (TACs) are 

provided in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—CURRENT AND REVISED GEORGES BANK COD TRIMESTER TACS

Trimester 

1 

Trimester 

2 

Trimester 

3 

Allocation Percentage ......................................................................................................................................... 25% ....... 37% ........ 38%. 

Current Trimester TAC ........................................................................................................................................ 2.4 mt ..... 3.6 mt ..... 3.7 mt. 

Revised Trimester TAC ....................................................................................................................................... 1.7 mt ..... 2.6 mt ..... 2.7 mt. 

As of October 3, 2017, the common 

pool fishery is projected to have caught 

123 percent of the adjusted Trimester 2 

TAC (2.6 mt) for GB cod. Additionally, 

the common pool fishery has caught 83 

percent of its adjusted 2017 sub-ACL, 

and has only 1.2 mt left for the 

remainder of the fishing year. Federal 

regulations at 50 CFR 648.82(n)(2)(ii) 

require the Regional Administrator to 

close a common pool Trimester TAC 

Area for a stock when 90 percent of the 

Trimester TAC is projected to be caught. 

The closure applies to all common pool 

vessels fishing with gear capable of 

catching that stock for the remainder of 

the trimester. 

As a result, effective October 11, 2017, 

the GB Cod Trimester TAC Area is 

closed for the remainder of Trimester 2, 

through December 31, 2017, to all 

common pool vessels fishing on a 

Northeast multispecies trip with trawl 

gear, sink gillnet gear, and longline/ 

hook gear, including handgear vessels. 

The GB Cod Trimester TAC Area 

consists of statistical areas 521, 522, 

525, and 561. The area reopens at the 

beginning of Trimester 3, on January 1, 

2018. 

Data indicate that common pool 

vessels have caught a significant portion 

of the total catch from outside the 

statistical areas that will be affected by 

the closure described above. The 

Regional Administrator is authorized 

under 50 CFR 648.86(o)(1) to adjust 

possession and trip limits for common 

pool vessels to prevent exceeding the 


jstallworth on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with RULES