60-day notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices

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Transportation Statistics invites the
general public, industry and other
governmental parties to comment on the
continuing need for and usefulness of
BTS collecting reports on the number of
passengers holding confirmed
reservations that voluntarily or
involuntarily give up their seats when
the airline oversells the flight.
Comments are requested concerning
whether (a) the collection is still needed
by the Department of Transportation, (b)
BTS accurately estimated the reporting
burden; (c) there are other ways to
enhance the quality, utility and clarity
of the information collected; and (d)
there are ways to minimize reporting
burden, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted by May 29, 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cecelia Robinson, Office of Airline
Information, RTS–42, Room E34, RITA,
BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590–0001,
Telephone Number (202) 366–4405, Fax
Number (202) 366–3383 or email
[email protected].
Comments: Comments should identify
the associated OMB approval # 2138–
0018 and Docket ID Number RITA
2008–0002. Persons wishing the
Department to acknowledge receipt of
their comments must submit with those
comments a self-addressed stamped
postcard on which the following
statement is made: Comments on OMB
# 2138–0018, Docket–RITA 2008–0002.
The postcard will be date/time stamped
and returned.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Approval No. 2138–0018
Title: Report of Passengers Denied
Confirmed Space.
Form No.: BTS Form 251.
Type of Review: Reinstatement of an
expired approved collection.
Respondents: Large certificated air
carriers.
Number of Respondents: 14.
Number of Responses: 56.
Total Annual Burden: 560 hours.
Needs and Uses: BTS Form 251 is a
one-page report submitted four times
per year, on the number of passengers
denied seats either voluntarily or
involuntarily, whether these bumped
passengers were provided alternate
transportation and/or compensation,
and the amount of the payment. U.S. air
carriers that account for at least 1
percent of domestic scheduled-service
passenger revenues must report
oversales on all operations with 30 seats
or larger aircraft that depart a U.S.
airport.

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Carriers do not report data from
inbound international flights to the
United States because the protections of
14 CFR Part 250 Oversales do not apply
to these flights. The report allows the
Department to monitor the effectiveness
of its oversales rule and take
enforcement action when necessary.
The involuntarily denied-boarding rate
has decreased from 4.38 per 10,000
passengers in 1980 to 0.71 for the
quarter ended December 2011. Without
Form 251, determining the effectiveness
of the Department’s oversales rule
would be impossible. The publishing of
the carriers’ individual denied boarding
rates has diminished the need for more
intrusive regulation. The rate of denied
boarding can be examined as a
continuing fitness factor. This rate
provides an insight into a carrier’s
customer service practices. A rapid
sustained increase in the rate of denied
boarding may indicate operational
difficulties. Because the rate of denied
boarding is released quarterly, travelers
and travel agents can select carriers with
lower incidences of bumping
passengers. This information is
available in the Air Travel Consumer
Report at: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.
gov/reports/index.htm. The Air Travel
Consumer Report is also sent to
newspapers, magazines, and trade
journals. The public availability of this
information deters carriers from setting
unreasonable overbooking rates—a
market-based mechanism that is more
efficient than direct regulation of those
rates.
The Confidential Information
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) requires
a statistical agency to clearly identify
information it collects for non-statistical
purposes. BTS hereby notifies the
respondents and the public that BTS
uses the information it collects under
this OMB approval for non-statistical
purposes including, but not limited to,
publication of both Respondent’s
identity and its data, submission of the
information to agencies outside BTS for
review, analysis and possible use in
regulatory and other administrative
matters.
Issued in Washington, DC on March 20,
2012.
Patricia Hu,
Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
Research and Innovative Technology
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012–7303 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research & Innovative Technology
Administration
[Docket ID No. RITA 2008–0002]

Agency Information Collection;
Activity Under OMB Review; Airline
Service Quality Performance
Research & Innovative
Technology Administration (RITA),
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(BTS), DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13, the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics invites the
general public, industry and other
governmental parties to comment on the
continuing need for and usefulness of
DOT requiring large certificated air
carriers to file ‘‘On-Time Flight
Performance Reports’’ and
‘‘Mishandled-Baggage Reports’’
pursuant to 14 CFR 234.4 and 234.6.
These reports are used to monitor the
quality of air service that larger air
carriers are providing the flying public.
The Federal Aviation Administration
uses the On-Time Flight Performance
Reports to identify problem areas within
the air traffic control system.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted by May 29, 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cecelia Robinson, Office of Airline
Information, RTS–42, Room E34, RITA,
BTS, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590–0001,
Telephone Number (202) 366–4405, Fax
Number (202) 366–3383 or email
[email protected].
Comments: Comments should identify
the associated OMB approval #2138–
0041 and Docket ID Number RITA
2008–0002. Persons wishing the
Department to acknowledge receipt of
their comments must submit with those
comments a self-addressed stamped
postcard on which the following
statement is made: Comments on OMB
# 2138–0041, Docket—RITA 2008–0002.
The postcard will be date/time stamped
and returned.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Approval No. 2138–0041.
Title: Airline Service Quality
Performance Reports—Part 234.
Form No.: BTS Form 234.
Type of Review: Reinstatement of an
expired approved collection.
Respondents: Large certificated air
carriers that account for at least 1
percent of the domestic scheduledservice passenger revenues.
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 59 / Tuesday, March 27, 2012 / Notices

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Number of Respondents: 14.
Number of Responses: 168.
Total Burden per Response: 20 hours.
Total Annual Burden: 3,360 hours.
Needs and Uses:
Consumer Information
Part 234 gives air travelers
information concerning the on-time
performance history of flights that they
are considering booking and the rate of
mishandled baggage for each reporting
carrier. The reports are filed by the 14
largest scheduled-service U.S. passenger
carriers.
On July 15, 2011 the Department
published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to
change the manner in which baggage
data are reported (see 76 FR 41726). The
proposed rule would require carriers to
report, (1) the number of mishandled
checked bags (as opposed to the current
requirement to report the number of
mishandled baggage reports filed by
passengers), (2) the total number of
checked bags (as opposed to the current
requirement to report the total number
of enplaned passengers), (3) the number
of mishandled wheelchairs and scooters
used by passengers with disabilities that
were carried in the cargo compartment,
and (4) the total number of wheelchairs
and scooters used by passengers with
disabilities that were carried in the
cargo compartment. In the preamble to
that notice the Department stated that
the change in the matrix to mishandled
bags per unit of checked bags would
give consumers more reliable
information on the air carriers’
performance regarding the treatment of
baggage within their control. Under the
current system, there is no direct
relationship between the number of
mishandled bags and the number of
checked bags. With the institution of
baggage fees, the number of checked
bags at some carriers has declined by 40
to 50 percent. There has been a
corresponding 40 percent decline (i.e.
improvement) in the industry
mishandled baggage rates. A large part
of the improvement in the mishandled
baggage rate appears to be related to the
decrease in checked baggage, although
the current matrix hides this fact. The
proposed matrix would have a direct
correlation between mishandled baggage
and checked baggage.
Separate breakout of mishandled
wheelchairs/scooters would assist
passengers with mobility disabilities in
selecting air carriers with high
probabilities in meeting their special
needs. There is a gap in the
Department’s data regarding the
mishandling of wheelchairs and
scooters. The proposed data will

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provide information to passenger with
disabilities on which air carriers best
meet their special needs. Thus, this
pending rulemaking may impact this
information collection.
Reducing and Identifying Traffic Delays
The Federal Aviation Administration
uses Part 234 data to pinpoint and
analyze air traffic delays. Wheels-up
and wheels-down times are used in
conjunction with departure and arrival
times to show the extent of ground
delays. Actual elapsed flight time,
wheels-down minus wheels-up time, is
compared to scheduled elapsed flight
time to identify airborne delays. The
reporting of aircraft tail number allows
the FAA to track an aircraft through the
air network, which enables the FAA to
study the ripple effects of delays at hub
airports. The data can be analyzed for
airport design changes, new equipment
purchases, the planning of new runways
or airports based on current and
projected airport delays, and traffic
levels. The identification of the reason
for delays allows the FAA, airport
operators, and air carriers to pinpoint
delays under their control.
Administrative Issues
The Confidential Information
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act
of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501) requires a
statistical agency to clearly identify
information it collects for non-statistical
purposes. BTS hereby notifies the
respondents and the public that BTS
uses the information it collects under
this OMB approval for non-statistical
purposes including, but not limited to,
publication of both Respondent’s
identity and its data, submission of the
information to agencies outside BTS for
review, analysis and possible use in
regulatory and other administrative
matters.
Issued in Washington, DC on March 20,
2012.
Patricia Hu
Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
Research and Innovative Technology
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012–7298 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
United States Mint
Update to the January 6, 2012, Federal
Register Notice on Prices for 2012
Products Featuring $1 Coins
United States Mint, Department
of the Treasury.

AGENCY:

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ACTION:

18307

Notice.

On January 6, 2012, the
United States Mint announced 2012
prices for nine products featuring $1
coins, including a $1 Coin Five-Coin
Set, priced at $12.95. This notice is to
announce that a Presidential $1 FourCoin Set, priced at $9.95, will be offered
instead of the $1 Coin Five-Coin Set. All
of the other $1 coin products and their
prices announced on January 6, 2012,
will remain as United States Mint
offerings. The complete $1 coin product
list with prices is as follows:

SUMMARY:

Product
Presidential $1 Four-Coin Set ......
Presidential $1 Coin & First
Spouse Medal SetTM ................
Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated
SetTM (P&D) ..............................
Presidential $1 Coin Proof SetTM
American Presidency $1 Coin
Cover Series .............................
Native American and Presidential
$1 Coin Rolls ............................
$1 Coin 100-Coin Bags ................
$1 Coin 250-Coin Box ..................
$1 Coin 500-Coin Box ..................

Retail
price
$9.95
9.95
16.95
18.95
19.95
32.95
111.95
275.95
550.95

B. B.
Craig, Associate Director for Sales and
Marketing, United States Mint, 801 9th
Street NW., Washington, DC 20220; or
call 202–354–7500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Authority: 31 U.S.C. 5111, 5112, and 9701.
Dated: March 21, 2012.
Richard A. Peterson,
Deputy Director, United States Mint.
[FR Doc. 2012–7258 Filed 3–26–12; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task
Force Report
Department of Veterans Affairs.
Notice.

AGENCY:
ACTION:

The Secretary Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) established the
Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force
(GWVI–TF) in August 2009 to conduct
a comprehensive review of VA policies
and programs addressing 1990–1991
Gulf War Veterans’ illnesses. The
GWVI–TF published its first annual
report in September 2010.
The GWVI–TF posted a draft of its
2011 annual report for public comment
on October 20, 2011. VA published the
report in the Federal Register (76 FR
65321) and posted it on a social media
Web site created specifically to elicit

SUMMARY:

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