30-day Federal Register Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 171 / Thursday, September 3, 2015 / Notices
Mr.
Robert Schultz, Driver and Carrier
Operations Division; Office of Carrier,
Driver and Vehicle Safety Standards,
FMCSA; Telephone: 202–366–4325.
Email: [email protected]. If you have
questions on viewing or submitting
material to the docket, contact Docket
Services, telephone (202) 366–9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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Background
FMCSA has authority under 49 U.S.C.
31136(e) and 31315 to grant exemptions
from certain parts of the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations. FMCSA must
publish a notice of each exemption
request in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(a)). The Agency must provide
the public an opportunity to inspect the
information relevant to the application,
including any safety analyses that have
been conducted. The Agency must also
provide an opportunity for public
comment on the request.
The Agency reviews safety analyses
and public comments submitted, and
determines whether granting the
exemption would likely achieve a level
of safety equivalent to, or greater than,
the level that would be achieved by the
current regulations (49 CFR 381.305).
The decision of the Agency must be
published in the Federal Register (49
CFR 381.315(b)) with the reasons for
denying or granting the application and,
if granted, the name of the person or
class of persons receiving the
exemption, and the regulatory provision
from which the exemption is granted.
The notice must also specify the
effective period and explain the terms
and conditions of the exemption. The
exemption may be renewed (49 CFR
381.300(b)), but only after the public is
provided the opportunity to comment
on the renewal.
Request for Exemption
UA and PLCA, the applicants, jointly
seek exemption from part 391,
‘‘Qualifications of Drivers,’’ part 392,
‘‘Driving of Commercial Motor
Vehicles,’’ part 393 ‘‘Parts and
Accessories Necessary for Safe
Operation,’’ and part 395, ‘‘Hours of
Service of Drivers.’’ The regulations
from which the applicants seek
exemption apply only to drivers and
motor carriers operating in interstate
commerce. According to UA and PLCA,
welders ‘‘live in various states and
travel from job to job, often across state
lines,’’ but the applicants did not
otherwise address the question whether
pipeline welders operate in interstate
commerce. The complete application is
available in the docket referred to at the
beginning of this notice.

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UA is a trade union whose
membership includes approximately
3,500 welders who are employed by
companies engaged in the construction,
repair and maintenance of pipelines.
The typical welder owns a heavy-duty
pickup truck equipped with welding
equipment and weighing less than
15,000 pounds that he or she drives to
the work site. The pipeline-construction
companies employing the drivers are
members of PLCA, a trade association.
According to the joint application for
exemption, pipeline contractors
typically hire 10 to 12 welders for a
specific location and the employment
usually lasts 4 to 6 weeks. PLCA states
that its contractors were involved in
approximately 500 such projects in
2014.
For many welders, the truck is the
sole vehicle they have; they use it for
personal errands and other everyday use
when they are not on the job. The
applicants state that the pipeline
contractor hiring the welder enters into
a lease for use of the truck for the period
of the welder’s employment. It also
agrees to pay an hourly fee for the time
during which the welding equipment is
actually in use.
Pipeline projects are typically located
in remote areas served by right-of-ways
that are not open to the public. As
described in the application, at the
beginning of the day, welders typically
drive their welding vehicle to a
prearranged ‘‘assembly point’’ that is
usually about 10 miles from the pipeline
right of way. After driving their vehicle
10 miles on public roads, welders enter
the pipeline right-of-way at the project
site and do not usually return to the
public roads until the end of the
workday. The applicants state that even
the largest pipeline projects do not
exceed 100 miles in length. The typical
workday for a welder includes
significant ‘‘waiting time’’ in the remote
area because welders often have to wait
for other work to be completed before
they can weld. Welders typically work
10 hours a day, 6 days a week.
The FMCSRs place responsibility
upon motor carriers to ensure the safety
of the vehicles they place into
commerce. The applicants state that it is
not practical for the pipeline contractors
to be responsible for inspection of the
welding-vehicles because the vehicles
remain under control of the welders at
all times. They cite terms of the
collective bargaining agreement
requiring the welders to maintain their
vehicle in safe condition, and point out
that PLCA provides safety training to its
members and their drivers. They also
contend that the FMCSRs should not
apply to the operation of the welding

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CMVs because these vehicles must pass
state inspections applicable to passenger
vehicles.
The FMCSRs place various
responsibilities upon motor carriers
relative to the qualifications and health
of the drivers it permits to operate
CMVs in interstate commerce. The
applicants contend that because
pipeline-construction companies hire
welders temporarily—usually for 6
weeks or less—it is not practical for
them to comply with regulatory
requirements pertaining to driver
qualification files and driver hours of
service. Pipeline-welders are often also
motor carriers as that term is defined by
the FMCSRs. The welders assert that it
is not practical for them to comply with
the FMCSRs because they are sole
proprietors and it is too taxing for them
to keep up with all the requirements of
the FMCSRs. They further contend that
welding CMVs are seldom on public
roads and that ‘‘DOT officials and
officers’’ apply truck safety rules
inconsistently when they encounter
welding vehicles on public roads.
Request for Comments
In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e)
and 31315(b)(4), FMCSA requests public
comment on the joint application of UA
and the PLCA for exemption from part
391, ‘‘Qualifications of Drivers,’’ part
392, ‘‘Driving of Commercial Motor
Vehicles,’’ part 393 ‘‘Parts and
Accessories Necessary for Safe
Operation,’’ and part 395, ‘‘Hours of
Service of drivers.’’ The Agency will
consider all comments received by close
of business on October 5, 2015.
Comments will be available for
examination in the docket at the
location listed under the ADDRESSES
section of this notice.
Issued on: August 28, 2015.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015–21893 Filed 9–2–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA 2015–0146]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Extension of a CurrentlyApproved Information Collection
Request: Training Certification for
Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle
Operators
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

AGENCY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 171 / Thursday, September 3, 2015 / Notices

Notice and request for
comments.

ACTION:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
FMCSA announces its plan to submit
the Information Collection Request (ICR)
described below to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for its
review and approval and invites public
comment. The Agency is asking OMB to
renew without change FMCSA’s
estimate of the paperwork burden
imposed by its regulations pertaining to
the training of certain entry-level drivers
of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).
Since 2004, FMCSA regulations have
prohibited the operation of certain
CMVs by individuals with less than 1
year of CMV-driving experience until
they obtain this training. On May 28,
2015, FMCSA published a Federal
Register notice allowing for a 60-day
comment period on this ICR. The
agency received no comments in
response to that notice.
DATES: Please send your comments to
this notice by October 5, 2015 OMB
must receive your comments by this
date to act quickly on the ICR.
ADDRESSES: All comments should
reference Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) Docket Number
FMCSA–2015–0146. Interested persons
are invited to submit written comments
on the proposed information collection
to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget. Comments
should be addressed to the attention of
the Desk Officer, Department of
Transportation/Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration, and sent via
electronic mail to oira_submission@
omb.eop.gov, faxed to (202) 395–6974,
or mailed to the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget, Docket
Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street
NW., Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Thomas Yager, Chief, FMCSA Driver
and Carrier Operations Division,
Department of Transportation, FMCSA,
West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
20590. Telephone: 202–366–4325.
Email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Training Certification for EntryLevel Commercial Motor Vehicle
Operators.
OMB Control Number: 2126–0028.
Type of Request: Extension of a
currently-approved ICR.
Respondents: Entry-level CDL drivers.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
397,500.

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SUMMARY:

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Estimated Time per Response: 10
minutes.
Expiration Date: January 31, 2016.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
66,250 hours. FMCSA estimates that an
entry-level driver requires
approximately 10 minutes to complete
the tasks necessary to comply with the
regulation. Those tasks are
photocopying the training certificate,
giving the photocopy to the motor
carrier employer, and retaining the
original of the certificate. Therefore, the
annual burden for all entry-level drivers
is 66,250 hours [397,500 drivers x 10/60
minutes to respond = 66,250 hours].
Background
The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
Act of 1986 (CMVSA) (49 U.S.C. 31301
et seq.) established the commercial
driver’s license (CDL) program and
directed the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), FMCSA’s
predecessor agency, to establish
minimum qualifications for issuance of
a CDL. After public notice and an
opportunity for comment, the FHWA
established standards for the knowledge
and skills that a CDL applicant must
satisfy.
In 1985, the FHWA published the
‘‘Model Curriculum for Training
Tractor-Trailer Drivers.’’ The FHWA did
not mandate driver training at that time.
It believed the cost of developing a
comprehensive driver-training program
was too high in terms of agency
resources. This was especially so,
FHWA believed, in light of its
reasonable expectation that the level of
safety of entry level drivers would soon
be elevated because (1) the deadline for
States to adopt the new mandatory CDLlicensing standards for driver
knowledge and skills was still in the
future, and (2) many truck driving
schools had updated their curricula in
light of the new model curriculum
(‘‘Truck Safety: Information on Driver
Training,’’ Report of the U.S. General
Accounting Office, GAO/RCED–89–163,
August 1989, pages 4 and 5).
In 1991, the Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991
(ISTEA) (Pub. L. 102–240, December 18,
1991) directed the FHWA to
‘‘commence a rulemaking proceeding on
the need to require training of all entrylevel drivers of commercial motor
vehicles (CMVs)’’ (Section 4007(a)(2)).
On June 21, 1993, the FHWA issued an
advance notice of proposed rulemaking
entitled, ‘‘Commercial Motor Vehicles:
Training for All Entry Level Drivers’’ (58
FR 33874). The Agency also began a
study of the effectiveness of the driver
training currently being received by

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entry-level CMV drivers. The results of
the study were published in 1997 under
the title ‘‘Adequacy of Commercial
Motor Vehicle Driver Training.’’ The
study is available under FMCSA Docket
1997–2199 at the Federal eRulemaking
Portal (www.regulations.gov) described
above. The study found that three
segments of the trucking industry were
not receiving adequate entry-level
training: Heavy truck, motor coach, and
school bus.
On August 15, 2003, FMCSA
published a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) entitled,
‘‘Minimum Training Requirements for
Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle
Operators’’ (68 FR 48863). The Agency
proposed mandatory training for
operators of CMVs on four topics: Driver
qualifications, hours-of-service of
drivers, driver wellness and whistleblower protection. On May 21, 2004,
FMCSA by final rule prohibited a motor
carrier from allowing an entry-level
driver to operate a CMV until it received
a written certificate indicating that the
driver had received training in the four
subject areas (69 FR 29384). The rule
became effective on July 20, 2004.
Training providers were required to
provide a certificate to each driver
trainee receiving the requisite training.
The Agency is asking OMB to renew
without change FMCSA’s estimate of
the paperwork burden imposed by its
regulations. (The Agency is currently
conducting a negotiated rulemaking to
develop a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) for training of
entry-level CMV operators, and is
currently preparing a NPRM based on
the consensus recommendations of the
Entry-Level Driver Training Advisory
Committee; if the NPRM proposes
amending driver-training requirements,
the Agency will submit an estimate of
the revised ICR burden of the
requirements for OMB approval).
Definitions: (1) ‘‘Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Regulations’’ (FMCSRs) are parts
350–399 of volume 49 of the Code of
Federal Regulations. (2) ‘‘Commercial
motor vehicle’’ (CMV) means a motor
vehicle or combination of motor
vehicles used in commerce to transport
passengers or property if the motor
vehicle—(a) has a gross combination
weight rating of 11,794 kilograms or
more (26,001 pounds or more) inclusive
of a towed unit(s) with a gross vehicle
weight rating (GVWR) of more than
4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds); or (b)
has a GVWR of 11,794 or more
kilograms (26,001 pounds or more); or
(c) is designed to transport 16 or more
passengers, including the driver; or (d)
is of any size and is used in the
transportation of hazardous materials as

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 171 / Thursday, September 3, 2015 / Notices
defined in 49 CFR 383.5 (49 CFR 383.5).
The definition of CMV found at 49 CFR
390.5 of the FMCSRs is not applicable
to this notice. (3) ‘‘Commercial Driver’s
License (CDL) Driver’’ means the
operator of a CMV because such
operators must possess a valid
commercial driver’s license (CDL)
(Section 383.23(a)(2)). (4) ‘‘Entry-level
CDL Driver’’ means a driver with less
than one year of experience operating a
CMV with a CDL in interstate commerce
(49 CFR 380.502(b)).
Public Comments Invited
FMCSA requests that you comment
on any aspect of this information
collection, including: (1) Whether the
proposed collection is necessary for
FMCSA to perform its functions, (2) the
accuracy of the estimated burden, (3)
ways for the FMCSA to enhance the
quality, usefulness, and clarity of the
collected information, and (4) ways that
the burden could be minimized without
reducing the quality of the collected
information. The agency will summarize
or include your comments in the request
for OMB’s clearance of this information
collection.
Issued under the authority delegated in 49
CFR 1.87 on: August 25, 2015.
G. Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research
and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2015–21894 Filed 9–2–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
Expedited Public Transportation
Improvement Initiative
AGENCY:

Federal Transit Administration,

DOT.
Notice of initiative and online
dialogue

ACTION:

The Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) announces the
establishment of a multi-faceted
Expedited Public Transportation
Improvement Initiative (‘‘XPEDITE’’)
and solicits participation in a
forthcoming Online Dialogue on the
initiative. The goal of XPEDITE is to
facilitate the transit industry’s
implementation of:
• Proven technologies to improve
service delivery and maintenance for
the public transit industry
• Proven methods to speed up
planning, development, approval and
delivery of FTA supported capital
investments; and

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SUMMARY:

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• Innovative financing methods and
opportunities for public-private
partnerships that support capital
investments
During the XPEDITE Online Dialogue
FTA will be asking you to identify (1)
possible improvements in the
technology of public transportation and
any barriers to their implementation, (2)
procedural improvements which can be
made to the delivery of all capital
projects, program-wide, (3) ways to
improve project delivery through
innovations in financial arrangements
and partnerships with private sector
project developers.
DATES: FTA will open its XPEDITE
Online Dialogue on its Web site no later
than September 8, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
specific information regarding the
initiative please contact Tom Yedinak,
Office of Budget and Policy, phone:
(202) 366–5137, or email: tom.yedinak@
dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
Each year the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA), together with its
transit industry partners, invests
billions of dollars in capital projects
designed to improve public
transportation by reinvesting in existing
assets to assure that they are in a state
of good repair, implementing
technological improvements in public
transportation equipment and facilities,
and increasing the extent and quality of
public transportation service by making
new investments. These projects take
considerable amounts of time to plan,
design, develop, approve and deploy.
While it is important to take time to
ensure that only well-conceived projects
are implemented in the most efficient
and effective manner, taking too much
time delays the delivery of the intended
benefits of the projects to the riding
public and may increase the cost of the
project. In addition, there is a wide
range of technological innovations
which are not being adopted as widely
as possible, resulting in missed
opportunities to improve the efficiency
and effectiveness of public
transportation.
FTA funds larger-scale capital
projects in a number of its grant
programs, including the Urbanized
Areas, Rural Areas, State of Good
Repair, and Bus and Bus Facilities
Formula Programs, as well as the
Capital Investment Grants Program.
While the very large investments in new
projects in the Capital Investment
Grants program tend to garner the most
attention, significant efforts to innovate

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and expedite such projects are well
underway. Capital projects supported by
the formula programs also take
considerable effort to plan, design,
obtain approval, and deliver. FTA is
interested in improving each aspect of
the project delivery process for all of its
programs.
FTA already has made considerable
progress to expedite FTA’s project
delivery processes. Pursuant to
Accelerated Project Delivery provisions
of Subtitle C of the Moving Ahead for
Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP–
21), Public Law 112–141 (July 6, 2012),
FTA and FHWA undertook a series of
rulemakings that expedite compliance
with the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.
Above and beyond these joint efforts,
FTA established sixteen new Categorical
Exclusions that are specific to public
transportation projects. In addition, FTA
has taken steps to improve its oversight
processes by eliminating duplicative
reviews and taking a more risk-based
approach to determining oversight
topics needing special attention. FTA
also has streamlined the risk assessment
process for major projects, recently
concluded a top to bottom review of its
project management oversight program,
and in the near future will implement
a series of improvements to better focus
oversight of major projects.
Additionally, FTA has put in place a
number of features designed to
streamline the Capital Investment
Grants program, discussed in more
detail below. Finally, FTA has
developed and promoted a series of
technological improvements.
On a multimodal level, the
Department of Transportation (DOT) has
established a new Build America
Transportation Investment Center
(BATIC). This center is serving as a onestop shop for state and local
governments, public and private
developers, and investors seeking to use
innovative financing strategies for
transportation infrastructure projects.
Through this Web site and hands-on
support, advice, and expertise, the
Center provides navigator services for
all types of projects and project
sponsors. The Center is housed within
the Office of the Secretary, and draws
on expertise from across DOT’s
operating administrations.
By this notice, FTA is announcing a
multi-faceted program entitled the
Expedited Public Transportation
Improvement Initiative (‘‘XPEDITE’’).
The initiative will identify: (1)
Improvements in the technology of
public transportation and any barriers to
their implementation, (2) procedural
improvements which can be made to the

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