July 13, 2010

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 133 / Tuesday, July 13, 2010 / Notices
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 July 7, 2010.
Kimberly Coronel,
Director, Office of Financial Management,
Federal Railroad Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010–17008 Filed 7–12–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA 2010–0005–N–17]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Comment Request
Federal Railroad
Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
its implementing regulations, the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
hereby announces that it is seeking
renewal of the following information
collection activities that were
previously approved by OMB. Before
submitting these information collection
requirements for clearance by the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB), FRA
is soliciting public comment on specific
aspects of the activities identified
below.
DATES: Comments must be received no
later than September 13, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
on any or all of the following proposed
activities by mail to either: Mr. Robert
Brogan, Office of Safety, RRS–21,
Federal Railroad Administration, 1200
New Jersey Ave., SE., Mail Stop 17,
Washington, DC 20590, or Ms. Kimberly
Toone, Office of Information
Technology, RAD–20, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave.,
SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC
20590. Commenters requesting FRA to
acknowledge receipt of their respective
comments must include a self-addressed
stamped postcard stating, ‘‘Comments
on OMB control number 2130–____.’’
Alternatively, comments may be
transmitted via facsimile to (202) 493–
6216 or (202) 493–6497, or via e-mail to
Mr. Brogan at [email protected], or
to Ms. Toone at
[email protected]. Please refer to
the assigned OMB control number and
the title of the information collection in
any correspondence submitted. FRA

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SUMMARY:

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will summarize comments received in
response to this notice in a subsequent
notice and include them in its
information collection submission to
OMB for approval.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Robert Brogan, Office of Safety, RRS–21,
Federal Railroad Administration, 1200
New Jersey Ave., SE., Mail Stop 17,
Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: (202)
493–6292) or Ms. Kimberly Toone,
Office of Information Technology, RAD–
20, Federal Railroad Administration,
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Mail Stop
35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone:
(202) 493–6132). (These telephone
numbers are not toll-free.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), Public Law 104–13, section 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
provide 60-days notice to the public for
comment on information collection
activities before seeking approval of
such activities by OMB. 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A); 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1),
1320.10(e)(1), 1320.12(a). Specifically,
FRA invites interested respondents to
comment on the following summary of
proposed information collection
activities regarding (i) whether the
information collection activities are
necessary for FRA to properly execute
its functions, including whether the
activities will have practical utility; (ii)
the accuracy of FRA’s estimates of the
burden of the information collection
activities, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used to
determine the estimates; (iii) ways for
FRA to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information being
collected; and (iv) ways for FRA to
minimize the burden of information
collection activities on the public by
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology (e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses). See 44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)(I)–(iv); 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1)(I)–(iv). FRA believes that
soliciting public comment will promote
its efforts to reduce the administrative
and paperwork burdens associated with
the collection of information mandated
by Federal regulations. In summary,
FRA reasons that comments received
will advance three objectives: (i) Reduce
reporting burdens; (ii) ensure that it
organizes information collection
requirements in a ‘‘user friendly’’ format
to improve the use of such information;
and (iii) accurately assess the resources
expended to retrieve and produce

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information requested. See 44 U.S.C.
3501.
Below is a brief summary of the
information collection activities that
FRA will submit for renewed clearance
by OMB as required under the PRA:
Title: Causal Analysis and
Countermeasures to Reduce Rail-related
Suicides.
OMB Control Number: 2130–0572.
Abstract: Pedestrian trespassing on
railroad property resulting in serious
injury or death is one of the two most
serious safety problems (the second
being grade crossing collisions) facing
the railroad industry and its regulators
not only in the United States but also in
other countries. It is widely believed in
this country that the reported
prevalence and incidence of railway
suicide vastly under-represents the
nature and extent of the problem. There
is no central reporting system within the
railroad industry or the suicide
prevention field that provides verifiable
information about how many trespass
deaths are accidental vs. intentional.
Therefore, there are no verifiable
measures of the extent of rail-related
suicides in the United States.
While railroad companies must report
trespass incidents resulting in serious
injury or death to the U.S. Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA), injuries
or deaths that are ruled by a medical
examiner or coroner to be intentional
are not reported. Preliminary figures
from 2006 indicate there were
approximately 500 deaths and 360
injuries reported to the FRA—an
increase of 100 incidents over the
previous year—but suicides are not
represented in these numbers.
Unverifiable estimates from a number of
sources range from 150 to more than 300
suicides per year on the U.S. railways.
Like any other incident on the rail
system, a suicide on the tracks results in
equipment and facility damage, delays
to train schedules, and trauma to
railroad personnel involved in the
incidents. As a result, FRA last year
awarded a grant for the first phase of a
5-year project to reduce suicides on the
rail system to the Railroad Research
Foundation (part of the Association of
American Railroads) and its
subcontractor, the American
Association of Suicidology (AAS).
In the course of five years, the
research project’s goals include:
• A prevalence assessment to
determine verifiable numbers of
suicides on the rail system,
• Development of a standardized
reporting tool for industry use,
• A causal analysis and root cause
analysis of suicide incidents that occur
during the grant cycle, and

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 133 / Tuesday, July 13, 2010 / Notices

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• Design and implementation of
suicide prevention measures for the
nation’s rail system to reduce suicide
injuries and deaths.
This request to the Office of
Management and Budget is for reapproval in order to complete Phase II
of the project, the causal analysis. In
order to understand as much as possible
about people who intend to die by
placing themselves in the path of a
train, and therefore to design prevention
strategies, AAS has been conducting 60
psychological autopsies over the course

of two years on people who die by railrelated suicide.
Psychological autopsy is a recognized
and accepted method for obtaining
information about physical, emotional
and circumstantial contributors to a
person’s death. The 60 psychological
autopsies for the FRA project involve
interviews with informants to these
incidents including family members and
friends, employers and co-workers, and
rail personnel involved in the incidents.
After conducting a root cause analysis
of this data, AAS will then work with

the industry to design, pilot test and
implement effective countermeasures
with the goal of reducing deaths,
injuries and psychological trauma.
Form Number(s): FRA F 6180.125A;
FRA F 6180.125B.
Affected Public: Individuals.
Respondent Universe: 280 Railroad
Personnel/Members of the Public/
Affected Families and Friends.
Frequency of Submission: On
occasion.
Reporting Burden:

Collection instrument

Respondent
universe

Total annual responses

Average time
per response

Form FRA F 6180.125A .................................

280 Individuals

5 minutes .......

467 hours.

Form FRA F 6180.125B .................................

280 Individuals

5,600 responses/ ............................................
forms ..............................................................
35 forms .........................................................

2 hours ...........

70 hours.

Total Responses: 5,670.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 537
hours.
Status: Re-Approval under Regular
Clearance Procedures.
Title: Confidential Close Call
Reporting System Evaluation-Related
Interview Data Collection.
OMB Control Number: 2130–0574.
Abstract: In the U.S. railroad industry,
injury rates have been declining over
the last 25 years. Indeed, the industry
incident rate fell from a high of 12.1
incidents per 100 workers per year in
1978 to 3.66 in 1996. As the number of
incidents has decreased, the mix of
causes has also changed toward a higher
proportion of incidents that can be
attributed to human and organizational
factors. This combination of trends—
decrease in overall rates but increasing
proportion of human factors-related
incidents—has left safety managers with
a need to shift tactics in reducing
injuries to even lower rates than they
are now.
In recognition of the need for new
approaches to improving safety, FRA
has instituted the Confidential Close
Call Reporting System (C3RS). The
operating assumption behind C3RS is
that by assuring confidentiality,
employees will report events which, if
dealt with, will decrease the likelihood
of accidents. C3RS, therefore, has both a
confidential reporting component, and a
problem analysis/solution component.
C3RS is expected to affect safety in two
ways. First, it will lead to problem
solving concerning specific safety
conditions. Second, it will engender an
organizational culture and climate that
supports greater awareness of safety and
a greater cooperative willingness to
improve safety.

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If C3RS works as intended, it could
have an important impact on improving
safety and safety culture in the railroad
industry. While C3RS has been
developed and implemented with the
participation of FRA, railroad labor, and
railroad management, there are
legitimate questions about whether it is
being implemented in the most
beneficial way, and whether it will have
its intended effect. Further, even if C3RS
is successful, it will be necessary to
know if it is successful enough to
implement on a wide scale. To address
these important questions, 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. The evaluation
is needed to provide FRA with guidance
as to how it can improve the program,
and how it might be scaled up
throughout the railroad industry.
Program evaluation is an inherently
data driven activity. Its basic tenet is
that as change is implemented, data can
be collected to track the course and
consequences of the change. Because of
the setting in which C3RS is being
implemented, that data must come from
the railroad employees (labor and
management) who may be affected.
Critical data include beliefs about safety
and issues related to safety, and
opinions/observations about the
operation of C3RS.
The current study is a five-year
demonstration project to improve rail
safety, and is designed to identify safety
issues and propose corrective action
based on voluntary reports of close calls
submitted to the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics. Because of the
innovative nature of this program, FRA

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is implementing an evaluation to
determine whether the program is
succeeding, how it can be improved
and, if successful, what is needed to
spread the program throughout the
railroad industry. Interviews to evaluate
the close call reporting system are being
conducted with two groups: (1) Key
stakeholders to the process (e.g., FRA
officials, industry labor, and carrier
management within participating
railroads); and (2) Employees in
participating railroads who are eligible
to submit close call reports to the
Confidential Close Call Reporting
System. Different questions are
addressed to each of these two groups.
Interviews are semi-structured, with
follow-up questions asked as
appropriate depending on the
respondent’s initial answer.
The confidentiality of the interview
data is protected by the Privacy Act of
1974. FRA fully complies with all laws
pertaining to confidentiality, including
the Privacy Act. Thus, information
obtained by or acquired by FRA’s
contractor, the Volpe Center, from key
stakeholders and railroad employees
will be used strictly for evaluation
purposes. None of the information that
might be identifying will be
disseminated or disclosed in any way.
In addition, the participating railroad
sites involved will require Volpe to
establish a non-disclosure agreement
that prohibits disclosure of company
confidential information without the
carrier’s authorization. Also, the data is
protected under the Department of
Transportation regulation Title 49 CFR
Part 9, which is in part concerned with
the Department involvement in
proceedings between private litigants.
According to this statute, if information
is subpoenaed, Volpe and Volpe

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 133 / Tuesday, July 13, 2010 / Notices
contractors cannot ‘‘provide testimony
or produce any material contained in
the files of the Department, or disclose
any information or produce any material
acquired as part of the performance of
that employee’s official duties or
because of that employee’s official duty
status’’ unless authorized by agency

Affected Public: Railroad Employees
and Key Non-railroad Stakeholders.
Respondent Universe: 300 Select
Railroad Employees/Non-railroad
Stakeholders.
Frequency of Submission: On
occasion.

Collection instrument

Respondent
universe

Total annual
responses

Average time
per response

Form FRA F 6180.126A .................................................................................
Form FRA F 6180.126B .................................................................................

300 Individuals
300 Individuals

133.5 forms ....
133.5 forms ....

60 minutes .....
60 minutes .....

Total Responses: 267.
Estimated Annual Burden: 267 hours.
Status: Re-Approval under Regular
Clearance Procedures.
Pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3507(a) and 5
CFR 1320.5(b), 1320.8(b)(3)(vi), FRA
informs all interested parties that it may
not conduct or sponsor, and a
respondent is not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520.
Issued in Washington, DC, on July 7, 2010.
Kimberly Coronel,
Director, Office of Financial Management,
Federal Railroad Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010–17017 Filed 7–12–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–06–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[FMCSA Docket No. FMCSA–2010–0212]

Notice of Fiscal Year 2011 Safety
Grants and Solicitation for
Applications
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
AGENCY:

This notice is to inform the
public of the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration’s (FMCSA)
anticipated Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 safety
grant opportunities. At present, FMCSA
is operating under an extension of the
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy of
Users (Pub. L. 109–59) which will
expire December 31, 2010, unless
extended further by Congress. While the
Agency expects new authorization to
make changes to its grant programs, the
Agency is preparing for FY 2011 using
the assumption that the following grant
programs will continue in the new
authorization.

SUMMARY:

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counsel after determining that, in legal
proceedings between private litigants,
such testimony would be in the best
interests of the Department or that of the
United States Government if disclosed.
Finally, the name of those interviewed
will not be requested.
Form Number(s): FRA F 6180.126A;
FRA F 6180.126B.

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The FMCSA invites comments on the
proposed application deadlines for its
FY 2011 safety grants programs. The 11
safety programs include the Motor
Carrier Safety Assistance Program
(MCSAP) Basic grants; MCSAP
Incentive grants; MCSAP New Entrant
Safety Audit grants; MCSAP High
Priority grants; Commercial Motor
Vehicle (CMV) Operator Safety Training
grants; Border Enforcement grants
(BEG); Commercial Driver’s License
Program Improvement (CDLPI) grants;
Commercial Driver’s License
Information System (CDLIS)
Modernization grants; Performance and
Registration Information Systems
Management (PRISM) grants; Safety
Data Improvement Program grants
(SaDIP); and the Commercial Vehicle
Information Systems and Networks
(CVISN) grants. The purpose of this
notice is to provide grantees with
information well in advance of the
Agency’s proposed FY 2011 safety grant
application deadlines and to request
comments on the deadlines and other
changes in the Agency’s safety grant
programs.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before September 13, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
identified by Docket Number FMCSA–
2010–0212, using any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility,
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building,
Ground Floor, Room W12–140,
Washington, DC 20590–0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West
Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–
140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. E.T., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 202–493–2251.
Instructions: All submissions must
include the Agency name and docket
number. Note that all comments

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Total annual
burden hours
133.5 hours.
133.5 hours.

received will be posted without change
to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided.
Please see the Privacy Act heading for
further information.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to http://
www.regulations.gov and follow the
online instructions for accessing the
docket or physically go to the street
address listed above.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search
the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the
comment (or signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association,
business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT’s Privacy Act Statement for
the Federal Docket Management System
published in the Federal Register on
January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or you
may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/
2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
Public Participation: The Federal
eRulemaking Portal is available 24
hours each day, 365 days each year. You
can get electronic submission and
retrieval help and guidelines under the
‘‘help’’ section of the Federal
eRulemaking Portal Web site. If you
want us to notify you that we received
your comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or
postcard, or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting
comments online.
Comments received after the comment
closing date will be included in the
docket, and we will consider late
comments to the extent practicable.
FMCSA may, however, issue a final
determination at any time after the close
of the comment period.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Please contact the following FMCSA
staff with questions or needed
information on the Agency’s grant
programs:
New Entrant Safety Audits Grants—
Arthur Williams,

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