Document ID: DOT-OST-2012-0159-0001
Agency: dot
Document Type: Rule
Title: Standard Time Zone Boundaries
Posted Date: 2013-03-13T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 13, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15883-15885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-05736]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

49 CFR Part 71

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2012-0159]
RIN 2105-AE20

Standard Time Zone Boundaries

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), Department of Transportation 
(DOT).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule updates and amends the Department's standard 
time zone boundaries regulations to reflect changes that Congress made 
to the Uniform Time Act. The purpose of this update is to ensure that 
the Department's regulations accurately reflect other Federal law and 
to reduce confusion over ambiguous language and inconsistencies.

DATES: This rule is effective March 13, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Laptosky, Attorney-Advisor, 
Office of General Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 
20590. She may also be reached by telephone at 202-493-0308 or by email 
at jill.laptosky@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Since 2000, Congress has made several amendments to the Uniform 
Time Act, 15 U.S.C. 260-267. Consequently, the Department's regulations 
on standard time zone boundaries, 49 CFR Part 71, need to be updated in 
order to ensure their consistency with Federal law. Therefore, the 
Department is issuing this final rule to make the necessary updates and 
to revise the language for clarity.
    This final rule is published under the authority of 15 U.S.C. 260-
267, which authorized the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe 
regulations related to the observance of a uniform standard of time.
    The Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) contains a ``good 
cause'' exemption, which allows agencies to dispense with notice and 
comment if those procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary 
to the public interest. We have determined that under 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(3)(B), good cause exists for dispensing with a notice of 
proposed rulemaking and public comment as this rule is implementing 
statutory changes and clarifying language without imposing any new 
requirements.

[[Page 15884]]

Amendments To Conform to Statute

    Section 71.1(a) is amended to correct a drafting error in the 
current rule that referenced eight time zones instead of the nine that 
exist pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 263. The first amendment in this final rule 
thus changes the reference from eight to nine. Likewise, in Sec.  
71.1(c), the ninth time zone, Chamorro, is added to the list of time 
zones.
    Section 71.2(a) is amended to change the dates on which Daylight 
Saving Time begins and ends pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 260a. Daylight Saving 
Time now begins at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and ends at 2 
a.m. on the first Sunday in November.
    Additionally, Sec.  71.2(a) is amended to correct the drafting 
error in relation to a State's authority to exempt an area within its 
boundaries from the observance of Daylight Saving Time. The amended 
version accurately states that a State that lies within two time zones 
may either exempt the entire area of the State or either portion of the 
State that lies within either time zone.

Revisions to Language for Clarity

    Section 71.1(a) is amended to remove part of the last sentence, 
which states that ``specified rail carriers * * * [are authorized] to 
carry the standard of time on which the major portion of a particular 
operation is conducted into an adjoining time zone.'' This language 
will not be replaced because it is an unnecessary interpretation of the 
Federal statute.
    Additionally, Sec.  71.1(a) is amended to change the beginning of 
the sentence that reads, ``It also contains lists * * *'' It is changed 
to, ``The Uniform Time Act also contains lists * * * '' Likewise, the 
end of subsection (a) to Sec.  71.1 has been amended to provide a 
citation to the Federal statute that created the list of specified rail 
carriers: ``15 U.S.C. 265.''
    The headings of Sec.  71.7(g) and Sec.  71.9(d) are amended to copy 
the heading of Sec.  71.5(h) to read, ``Municipalities on boundary 
line.'' The three subsections are fundamentally identical, and thus no 
reason exists to have different headings.
    Section 71.6 originally had no subsections. It is now amended so 
that Sec.  71.6 will have two subsections: Sec.  71.6(a) and (b). The 
language of the original Sec.  71.6 will remain and be incorporated 
into the new Sec.  71.6(a). Section 71.6(b) will include the list of 
specified rail carriers that the Federal statute identifies for the 
time zones referenced in this Part. See 15 U.S.C. 265. Subsection (a) 
is now titled, ``Central zone in general.'' Subsection (b) is titled, 
``Specified rail carrier exemptions.''

Regulatory Analysis and Notices

Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), Executive Order 
13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and DOT Policies 
and Procedures

    This final rule is not a significant regulatory action within the 
meaning of Executive Order 12866 or Executive Order 13563 and, 
therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). This final rule is not significant under DOT's Regulatory 
Policies and Procedures. This rulemaking makes amendments to update the 
Department's regulations to make them clearer and consistent with other 
Federal law. As a result, DOT anticipates that this rulemaking will 
have no economic impact.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Since notice and comment rulemaking is not necessary for this rule, 
the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 96-354, 5 
U.S.C. 601-612) do not apply. However, DOT has evaluated the effects of 
this action on small entities and has determined that the action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities because it simply amends our regulations to accurately reflect 
other Federal law and clarify the regulations.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This final rule does not impose unfunded mandates as defined by the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4, 109 Stat. 48). It 
does not result in the expenditure by State, local, or tribal 
governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $148.1 
million or more in any 1 year.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501, et 
seq.), Federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each 
collection of information they conduct, sponsor, or require through 
regulations. The DOT has analyzed this final rule under the PRA and has 
determined that this rule does not contain collection of information 
requirements.

Executive Order 13132 (Federalism Assessment)

    The final rule does not have a substantial direct effect on the 
States, the relationship between the national government and the 
States, or the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government. This final rule does not include 
sufficient federalism implications to warrant consultation processes.

Executive Order 13175 (Tribal Consultation)

    This final rule was analyzed according to Executive Order 13175, 
``Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments.'' The 
final rule does not include sufficient tribal implications to warrant 
consultation processes.

National Environmental Policy Act

    The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 
4321-4347), as amended, requires Federal agencies to consider the 
consequences of major Federal actions and prepare a detailed statement 
on any action significantly affecting the quality of the human 
environment. Since this final rule does not alter current practices, it 
is unlikely that the adoption of this rule will have any significant 
impacts on the environment.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 71

    Time.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2013, under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR Part 1.27(a).
Robert S. Rivkin,
General Counsel.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Office of the Secretary 
amends 49 CFR Part 71 as follows:

PART 71--STANDARD TIME ZONE BOUNDARIES

0
1. The authority citation for part 71 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 260, 260a, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 267, 
and 49 CFR 5.35(a).

0
2. In Sec.  71.1, revise paragraphs (a) and (c) to read as follows:

Sec.  71.1  Limits defined: exceptions authorized for certain rail 
operating purposes only.

    (a) This part prescribes the geographic limits of each of the nine 
standard time zones established by section 1 of the Standard Time Act, 
as amended by section 4 of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 
261). The Uniform Time Act also contains lists of operating exceptions 
granted for specified rail carriers, whose operations cross the time 
zone boundaries prescribed by this part. (15 U.S.C. 265).
* * * * *
    (c) The time zones established by the Standard Time Zone Act, as 
amended by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, are Atlantic, eastern, 
central, mountain,

[[Page 15885]]

Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii-Aleutian, Samoa, and Chamorro.

0
3. In Sec.  71.2, revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:

Sec.  71.2  Annual advancement of standard time.

    (a) The Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260a(a)), as amended, 
requires that the standard time of each State observing Daylight Saving 
Time shall be advanced 1 hour beginning at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday 
in March of each year and ending at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in 
November. This advanced time shall be the standard time of each zone 
during such period. The Act authorizes any State to exempt itself from 
this requirement. States in two or more time zones may exempt either 
the entire State or may exempt the entire area of the State lying 
within either time zone.
* * * * *

0
4. Revise Sec.  71.6 to read as follows:

Sec.  71.6  Central zone.

    (a) Central zone in general. The third zone, the central standard 
time zone, includes that part of the United States that is west of the 
boundary line between the eastern and central standard time zones 
described in Sec.  71.5 and east of the boundary line between the 
central and mountain standard time zones described in Sec.  71.7.
    (b) Specified rail carrier exemptions. The boundary line described 
in Sec.  71.7 will not apply to the list of rail carriers in this 
subsection. These carriers will have the following changing points 
between the central and mountain time zones. The Chicago, Rock Island 
and Gulf Railway Company and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 
Railway Company may use Tucumcari, New Mexico, as the point at which 
they change from central to mountain time and vice versa; the Colorado 
Southern and Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Companies may use 
Sixela, New Mexico, as such changing point; the Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe Railway Company and other branches of the Santa Fe system may 
use Clovis, New Mexico, as such changing point, and those railways 
running into or through El Paso, Texas, may use El Paso as such point.

0
6. In Sec.  71.7, revise the paragraph (g) subject heading to read as 
follows:

Sec.  71.7  Boundary line between central and mountain zones.

* * * * *
    (g) Municipalities on boundary line. * * *

0
7. In Sec.  71.9, revise the paragraph (d) subject heading to read as 
follows:

Sec.  71.9  Boundary line between mountain and Pacific zones.

* * * * *
    (d) Municipalities on boundary line. * * *

[FR Doc. 2013-05736 Filed 3-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P