30-day Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 134 / Thursday, July 13, 2006 / Notices
on a pipeline in a Class 1 location be
within 10 miles of a block valve, the
maximum not to exceed 20 miles.
PHMSA, however, reserves the right to
approve an alternative spacing, which
will provide an equivalent level of
safety.
During a review of its records,
Tuscarora discovered that the upstream
portions of its pipeline in Lassen
County, CA, were slightly re-routed
during construction to avoid a sensitive
environmental habitat. As a result, the
valve spacing between main line valve
(MLV) 8 and MLV–9 exceeds the
PHMSA mandated maximum valve
space of 20 miles by 1,065 feet. Due to
this excessive valve space, Tuscarora
requests a waiver of the valve spacing
requirement for this section of line.
As part of its review, PHMSA has
taken the following information into
consideration in regards to Tuscarora’s
waiver request:
• The pipeline was re-routed during
construction to avoid a sensitive
environmental habitat;
• All mainline block valves on the
Tuscarora system are equipped with
automatic line break detection and
automatic closure devices;
• An existing dirt roadway provides
ease of access to the affected valve
location; and
• The pipeline segment from MLV–8
to MLV–10 is designed, operated, and
maintained to Class 1 requirements in
accordance with 49 CFR part 192.
On October 26, 2004, PHMSA
published a notice in the Federal
Register requesting public comment on
Tuscarora’s waiver request (69 FR
62516). No comments were received.
Grant of Waiver
Based on the information above,
PHMSA finds that a waiver from the
requirement of § 192.179(a)(4) is not
inconsistent with pipeline safety and
does provide an equivalent level of
safety to that required by the regulation.
Specifically, Tuscarora’s entire mainline
block valves are equipped with
automatic line break detection and
automatic closure devices. Therefore,
Tuscarora’s request for waiver from the
regulatory requirements of
§ 192.179(a)(4) is granted between
MLV–8 and MLV–9.

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 60118(c) and 49 CFR
1.53.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 6, 2006.
Joy Kadnar,
Director-Engineering Services, Security, and
Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. E6–11011 Filed 7–12–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–60–P

VerDate Aug<31>2005

17:46 Jul 12, 2006

Jkt 208001

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Innovative Technology
Administration
Agency Information Collection;
Activity Under OMB Review;
Confidential Close Call Reporting
System
Research & Innovative
Technology Administration (RITA),
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(BTS), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

SUMMARY: In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice
announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) described
below is being forwarded to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for
approval for a new information
collection in support of a five-year
research study aiming at improving rail
safety by analyzing information on close
calls and other unsafe occurrences in
the rail industry. The 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
following collection of information was
published on April 27, 2006 (71 FR
24913) and the comment period ended
on June 26, 2006. The 60-day notice
produced no comments.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted by August 14, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Demetra V. Collia, Room 3430, RITA,
BTS, Department of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC
20590–0001. Telephone (202) 366–1610,
Fax (202) 493–0568 or e-mail
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Confidential Close Call
Reporting System.
Type of Request: Approval of a new
information collection.
OMB Control Number: New.
Affected Public: Workers in the
railroad industry.
Number of Respondents: 350.
Number of Responses: 350.
Total Annual Burden: 175 hours
(Average estimate of 30 minutes to
complete the survey resulting in a total
of 175 hours).
Abstract: Collecting data on the
nation’s transportation system is an
important component of BTS’s
responsibility to the transportation
community and is authorized in BTS
statutory authority (49 U.S.C. 111(c)(1)
and (2) and 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(5) (j)). BTS
and FRA share a common interest in

PO 00000

Frm 00045

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

39699

promoting rail safety based on better
data. To that end, FRA’s Office of
Research and Development is
sponsoring the Confidential Close Call
Reporting System (C3RS) Demonstration
Project to investigate the effectiveness of
such system in improving rail safety.
A close call represents a situation in
which an ongoing sequence of events
was stopped from developing further,
preventing the occurrence of potentially
serious safety-related consequences.
This might include the following: (1)
Events that happen frequently, but have
low safety consequences; (2) events that
happen infrequently but have the
potential for high consequences (e.g., a
train in dark territory proceeds beyond
its authority); (3) events that are below
the FRA reporting threshold (e.g., an
event that causes a minor injury); and
(4) events that are reportable to FRA but
have the potential for a far greater
accident than the one reported (e.g., a
slow speed collision with minor damage
to the equipment and no injuries.).
Employees involved in a close call
will be asked to fill out a reporting form
which will be made available on the
Web and at their work site and mail it
to BTS. The close call reporting form
will ask the respondent to provide
information on: (1) Name and contact
information; (2) time and location of the
incident; (3) a short description of the
event; (4) contributing factors to the
close call; and (5) any other information
that might be useful in determining a
root cause of such event.
BTS will collect close call reports
submitted by railroad employees,
develop an analytical database
containing the reported data and other
pertinent information, and protect the
confidentiality of these data through its
own statute (49 U.S.C. 111(i)) and the
Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002
(CIPSEA). Accordingly, only statistical
and non-sensitive information will be
made available through publications
and reports. Through the analysis of
close calls the FRA and the railroad
community will receive information
about factors that may contribute to
unsafe events and use that information
to develop new training programs and
identify root causes of potentially
adverse events. The database will also
provide other users such as rail safety
researchers with valuable data regarding
precursors to safety risks and contribute
to research and development of
intervention programs aimed at
preventing accidents and fatalities.
It is estimated that the close call
reporting form will take no more than
30 minutes to complete for a maximum
total burden of 175 hours (350

E:\FR\FM\13JYN1.SGM

13JYN1

39700

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 134 / Thursday, July 13, 2006 / Notices

reports*30 minutes/60 = 175 hours).
Reports are submitted when there is a
qualifying event, i.e., a close call occurs
within a pilot site. The frequency of
such event is estimated to be
approximately one per day.
ADDRESSES: The agency seeks public
comments on its proposed information
collection. Comments should address
whether the information will have
practical utility; the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed information collection; ways
to enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Send comments to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, 725–
17th Street, NW., Washington, DC
20503, Attention: BTS Desk Officer.
Issued in Washington, DC on this 6th day
of July, 2006.
William Bannister,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics, Research and
Advanced Technology Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. E6–11034 Filed 7–12–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–HY–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Innovative Technology
Administration
Agency Information Collection;
Activity Under OMB Review; Collection
of Data for Program Evaluation
Research & Innovative
Technology Administration (RITA),
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(BTS), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES

AGENCY:

SUMMARY: In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice
announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) described
below is being forwarded to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) for
approval for a new information
collection related to the evaluation of a
five-year demonstration/research
program on voluntary reporting of close
calls and near misses in the rail
environment. The 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
following collection of information was

VerDate Aug<31>2005

17:46 Jul 12, 2006

Jkt 208001

published on May 10, 2006 (71 FR
27313) and the comment period ended
on July 9, 2006. The 60-day notice
produced no comments.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted by August 14, 2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Demetra V. Collia, Room 3430, RITA,
BTS, Department of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC
20590–0001. Telephone (202) 366–1610,
Fax (202) 493–0568 or e-mail
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Collection of Data for Program
Evaluation.
Type of Request: Approval of a new
information collection.
OMB Control Number: New.
Affected Public: Workers in the
railroad industry.
Number of Respondents: 1200.
Number of Responses: 1200.
Total Annual Burden: 600 hours
(Average estimate of 30 minutes to
complete the survey resulting in a total
of 600 hours).
Abstract: Collecting data on the
nation’s transportation system is an
important component of BTS’
responsibility to the transportation
community and is authorized in BTS
statutory authority (49 U.S.C. 111(c)(1)
and (2) and 49 U.S.C. 111(c)(5)(j)).
Further, BTS and FRA share a common
interest in promoting rail safety based
on better data. In recognition of the need
for new approaches to improving safety,
the FRA has initiated a research
program called the Confidential Close
Call Reporting System (C3RS). The C3RS
is designed to identify safety issues and
propose corrective actions based on
voluntary reports of close calls
submitted to BTS. BTS will collect
reports on close calls and near misses
submitted by railroad employees,
develop an analytical database
containing the reported data and other
pertinent information, and protect the
confidentiality of these data through its
own statute (49 U.S.C. 111(i)) and the
Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002
(CIPSEA). BTS is seeking a separate
OMB approval for the collection of close
call reports (71 FR 24913, April 27,
2006) which does not involve the
evaluation of the reporting system.
While C3RS is being implemented
with the participation of the FRA,
railroad labor, and railroad
management, there are legitimate
questions about whether it is being
implemented in the most effective way,
and whether it will have its intended
effect. Further, even if C3RS is
successful, it will be necessary to know

PO 00000

Frm 00046

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

if it is successful enough to implement
on a wide scale. To address these
important questions, the FRA is
implementing a formative evaluation to
guide program development, a
summative evaluation to assess impact,
and a sustainability evaluation to
determine how C3RS can continue after
the test period is over. BTS will collect,
process, and analyze the survey data for
the evaluation of C3RS.
Employees of selected railroad sites
(pilot sites) will be asked to fill out a
questionnaire which will be made
available to them at town hall meetings
and mail back to BTS. Data will be
collected from the entire population of
affected workers (estimate 1200 or less).
The survey will ask respondents to
provide information on: (a) Beliefs about
rail safety; (b) issues and personal
concerns related to implementation of
safety programs in their work
environment; (c) knowledge and views
on voluntary reporting of unsafe events;
and (d) opinions and observations about
the operation of C3RS at their work site.
It is estimated that the survey will take
no more than 30 minutes to complete
for a maximum total burden of 600
hours (1200 respondents*30 minutes/60
= 600 hours).
The agency seeks public
comments on its proposed information
collection. Comments should address
whether the information will have
practical utility; the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed information collection; ways
to enhance the quality, utility and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Send comments to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, 725–
17th Street, NW., Washington, DC
20503, Attention: BTS Desk Officer.

ADDRESSES:

Issued in Washington, DC, on this 6th day
of July, 2006.
William Bannister,
Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics, Research and
Advanced Technology Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation.
[FR Doc. E6–11035 Filed 7–12–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–HY–P

E:\FR\FM\13JYN1.SGM

13JYN1