Document ID: FRA-2008-0147-0001
Agency: fra
Document Type: Rule
Title: Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
Posted Date: 2008-12-10T05:00Z

[Federal Register: December 10, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 238)]
[Notices]               
[Page 75168-75169]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10de08-113]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

 
Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. Each 
ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected 
burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period 
soliciting comments on the collection of information listed below was 
published

[[Page 75169]]

on September 25, 2008 (See 73 FR 55589).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 9, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Brogan, Office of Planning 
and Evaluation Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave., SE., Mail Stop 25, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 
(202) 493-6292), or Ms. Nakia Jackson, Office of Information 
Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 New Jersey 
Ave., SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202) 493-
6073). (These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law No. 104-13, 
Sec.  2, 109 Stat. 163 (1995) (codified as revised at 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520), and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR. Part 1320, require 
Federal agencies to issue two notices seeking public comment on 
information collection activities before OMB may approve paperwork 
packages. 44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.5, 1320.8(d)(1), 1320.12. On 
September 25, 2008, FRA published a 60-day notice in the Federal 
Register soliciting comment on ICRs that the agency was seeking OMB 
approval. 73 FR 55589. FRA received no comments in response to this 
notice.
    Before OMB decides whether to approve this proposed collection of 
information, it must provide 30 days for public comment. 44 U.S.C. 
3507(b); 5 CFR 1320.12(d). Federal law requires OMB to approve or 
disapprove paperwork packages between 30 and 60 days after the 30 day 
notice is published. 44 U.S.C. 3507 (b)-(c); 5 CFR 1320.12(d); see also 
60 FR 44978, 44983, Aug. 29, 1995. OMB believes that the 30 day notice 
informs the regulated community to file relevant comments and affords 
the agency adequate time to digest public comments before it renders a 
decision. 60 FR 44983, Aug. 29, 1995. Therefore, respondents should 
submit their respective comments to OMB within 30 days of publication 
to best ensure having their full effect. 5 CFR 1320.12(c); see also 60 
FR 44983, Aug. 29, 1995.
    The summaries below describe the nature of the information 
collection requirements (ICRs) and the expected burden. The revised 
requirements are being submitted for clearance by OMB as required by 
the PRA.
    Title: Occupational Noise Exposure for Railroad Operating 
Employees.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0571.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Railroads.
    Form(s): N/A.
    Abstract: The collection of information is used by FRA to ensure 
that railroads covered by this rule establish and implement--by 
specified dates--noise monitoring, hearing conservation, and 
audiometric testing programs, as well as hearing conservation training 
programs, to protect their employees against the damaging and 
potentially dangerous effects of excessive noise in the everyday rail 
environment.
    Annual Estimated Burden: 43,928 hours.
    Addressee: Send comments regarding these information collections to 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget, 725 Seventeenth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503; 
Attention: FRA Desk Officer. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office 
of Management and Budget at the following address: oira_
submissions@omb.eop.gov.
    Comments are invited on the following: Whether the proposed 
collections of information are necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of FRA, including whether the information will have 
practical utility; the accuracy of FRA's estimates of the burden of the 
proposed information collections; ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize 
the burden of the collections of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    A comment to OMB is best assured of having its full effect if OMB 
receives it within 30 days of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC on December 3, 2008.
Martin J. Eble,
Acting Director, Office of Financial Management Federal Railroad 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-29095 Filed 12-9-08; 8:45 am]

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