30-day Federal Register (57934)

57934

Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 209 / Tuesday, October 29, 2019 / Notices

speeding and pose national security
threats. SBTC urges FMCSA to look
carefully at the unintended
consequences of the ELD rule when
deciding whether or not to grant the
exemption. SBTC also suggests that
FMCSA temporarily grant the
exemption ‘‘if for no other reason than
to press the pause button while
[FMCSA] studies these unintended
consequences and their adverse effects
on safety. We contend this would
indeed achieve a greater level of overall
safety than the current status quo.’’
Issued on: October 23, 2019.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019–23561 Filed 10–28–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2019–0102]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Renewal of a CurrentlyApproved Collection: Driver
Qualification Files
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

AGENCY:

Notice and request for
comments.

ACTION:

In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), 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. FMCSA
requests approval to revise and renew
an ICR titled ‘‘Driver Qualification
Files,’’ OMB Control Number 2126–
0004. The ICR estimates the burden
commercial motor vehicle (CMV)
drivers and motor carriers incur to
comply with the reporting and
recordkeeping tasks required for motor
carriers to maintain driver qualification
(DQ) files. The Agency’s regulations
pertaining to maintaining DQ files are
unchanged and impose no increased
information collection (IC) burden on
individual drivers and motor carriers.
However, the Agency increases its
estimate of the total IC burden of these
regulations primarily because both the
number of CMV drivers and the
frequency of their hiring have increased
since the Agency’s 2016 estimate of this
burden.

SUMMARY:

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Please send your comments by
November 29, 2019. OMB must receive
your comments by this date in order to
act on the ICR.
All comments should reference
Federal Docket Management System
Docket Number FMCSA–2019–0102.
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_
[email protected], 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: Ms.
Pearlie Robinson, 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: Driver Qualification Files.
OMB Control Number: 2126–0004.
Type of Request: Renewal and
revision of a currently-approved
information collection.
Respondents: CMV motor carriers and
drivers.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
6.89 million (6.35 million drivers + 0.54
million motor carriers).
Expiration Date: January 31, 2020.
Frequency of Response: The
information on some DQ documents is
only provided one time, such as that
furnished at the time the individual
applies for employment as a driver.
Other information must be obtained by
the motor carrier within 30 days of the
date the driver begins to drive a CMV
for the employer. Other information,
such as the driver’s motor vehicle
record, is only updated once a year.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
12.26 million hours.
DATES:

Background
The Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984
(Pub. L. 98–554, Title II, 98 Stat. 2834
(October 30, 1984)) requires the
Secretary of Transportation to issue
regulations pertaining to commercial
motor vehicle (CMV) safety. Part 391 of
volume 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) contains the

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minimum qualifications of drivers of
CMVs in interstate commerce.
Motor carriers may not require or
permit an unqualified driver to operate
a CMV. The foremost proof of driver
qualification is the information that part
391 requires be collected and
maintained in the driver qualification
file (DQ file) (49 CFR 391.51). Motor
carriers must obtain this information
from sources specified in the
regulations, such as the driver, previous
employers of the driver, and officials of
the State of driver licensure. Motor
carriers are not required to forward DQ
information to FMCSA, but must
maintain the information in a DQ file
and make it available to State and
Federal safety investigators on demand.
Through this ICR, FMCSA is asking
OMB’s approval to renew and revise its
estimate of the paperwork burden
imposed by its DQ file regulations. The
regulations have not been amended; the
IC burden imposed on individual
drivers and motor carriers by the
regulations is unchanged. The current
IC burden estimate approved by OMB is
10.21 million hours. The Agency has
increased its estimate of the total IC
burden from 10.21 million hours to
12.26 million hours. The increase in
burden hours is primarily the result of
a larger driver population and a higher
driver turnover rate, both of which
affect the volume of documents
produced and filed in DQ files. This
revised ICR removes the medical
examiner’s certificate recordkeeping
requirement from the estimate of burden
hours and cost to eliminate double
counting. Although the currently
approved ICR did not monetize driver
and motor carrier burden hours, the
revised ICR monetizes such burden.
On June 10, 2019, FMCSA published
a Federal Register notice allowing for a
60-day comment period on this ICR.
There were no comments submitted to
the docket in response to that notice.
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 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.

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 209 / Tuesday, October 29, 2019 / Notices
Issued under the authority delegated in 49
CFR 1.87 on: October 23, 2019
Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of
Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2019–23562 Filed 10–28–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Notice of Funding Opportunity for
Magnetic Levitation Deployment
Projects
Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation.
ACTION: Notice of funding opportunity
(NOFO or notice).
AGENCY:

This notice details the
application requirements and
procedures to obtain grant 1 funding for
eligible projects under the Magnetic
Levitation Technology Deployment
Program (Maglev Grants Program).
Maglev Grants Program funding under
this notice is provided by two sources,
totaling $24,027,500. This funding
includes $10,000,000 (2019 Funds) as
appropriated by the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2019, (2019
Appropriation) and an additional
$14,027,500 (2008 Funds) as authorized
by sections 1101(a)(18) and 1307 of the
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for
Users SAFETEA–LU, (SAFETEA–LU),
as amended by the SAFETEA–LU
Technical Corrections Act of 2008,
(Technical Corrections Act). There are
differing requirements for each of these
funding sources as described in this
notice. The opportunities described in
this notice are made available under
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) number 20.318, ‘‘Maglev Project
Selection Program—SAFETEA–LU.’’
DATES: Applications for funding under
this solicitation are due no later than
5:00 p.m. EDT November 29, 2019.
Applications for funding, or
supplemental material in support of an
application, received after 5:00 p.m.
EDT on November 29, 2019 will not be
considered for funding. Incomplete
applications will not be considered for
funding. See section D of this notice for
additional information on the
application process.
ADDRESSES: Applications must be
submitted via www.Grants.gov. Only
SUMMARY:

1 The term ‘‘grant’’ is used throughout this
document and is intended to reference funding
awarded through a grant agreement, as well as
funding awarded through a cooperative agreement.

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applicants who comply with all
submission requirements described in
this notice and submit applications
through www.Grants.gov will be eligible
for award. For any supporting
application materials that an applicant
is unable to submit via www.Grants.gov,
an applicant may submit an original and
two (2) copies to Amy Houser, Office of
Program Delivery, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Room W36–412,
Washington, DC 20590. However, due to
delays caused by enhanced screening of
mail delivered via the U.S. Postal
Service, applicants are advised to use
other means of conveyance (such as
courier service) to assure timely receipt
of materials before the application
deadline.
For
further information regarding the
Maglev Grants Program, please contact
Ruthie Americus, Office of Policy and
Planning, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Room W36–403,
Washington, DC 20590; email:
[email protected]; phone: 202–
493–0431. Grant application submission
and processing questions should be
addressed to Amy Houser, Office of
Program Delivery, Federal Railroad
Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Room W36–412,
Washington, DC 20590; email:
[email protected]; phone: 202–493–
0303.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice to applicants: FRA
recommends that applicants read this
notice in its entirety prior to preparing
application materials. Definitions of key
terms used throughout the NOFO are
provided in section A(2) below. These
key terms are capitalized throughout the
NOFO. There are several administrative
prerequisites and eligibility
requirements described herein that
applicants must comply with.
Additionally, applicants should note
that the required Project Narrative
component of the application package
may not exceed 25 pages in length.
Table of Contents
A. Program Description
B. Federal Award Information
C. Eligibility Information
D. Application and Submission Information
E. Application Review Information
F. Federal Award Administration
Information
G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts
H. Other Information

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57935

A. Program Description
1. Overview
Under this NOFO, a total of
$24,027,500 is available for eligible
capital project costs and preconstruction
planning activities for eligible Maglev
projects as discussed further in section
C(3). The $24,027,500 is composed of
funding from two sources, $14,027,500
in 2008 Funds and $10,000,000 in 2019
Funds.
Section 102 of the Technical
Corrections Act amended sections
1101(a)(18) and 1307 of SAFETEA–LU
and provided $45,000,000 in contract
authority for each of fiscal years 2008
and 2009 for Maglev projects.2 Based
upon the clear Congressional direction
in the Technical Corrections Act, the
$14,027,500 remaining for award and
available under this NOFO is for the
Pittsburgh, Baltimore-Washington, and
Atlanta-Chattanooga projects only.
In the 2019 Appropriation, Congress
appropriated an additional $10,000,000
for the deployment of magnetic
levitation transportation projects,
consistent with the language in section
1307(a) through (c) of SAFETEA–LU, as
amended by section 102 of the
Technical Corrections Act. The 2019
Funds are not limited to the above three
projects and are available to any
otherwise eligible Maglev project.
To reiterate, only the Pittsburgh,
Baltimore-Washington, and AtlantaChattanooga projects are eligible for the
full $24,027,500 available under this
notice from the remaining 2008 Funds
($14,027,500) and the 2019 Funds
($10,000,000). Applicants with
otherwise eligible Maglev projects may
apply only for the $10,000,000 in 2019
Funds available under this notice.
2. Definitions of Key Terms
a. ‘‘Full Project Cost’’ means the total
capital costs of a Maglev project
2 SAFETEA–LU allocated 50 percent of the
available funding to a project between Las Vegas–
Primm, NV and the other 50 percent to a project
east of the Mississippi River. In the Joint
Explanatory Statement of the House Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate
Environmental and Public Works; Banking, Housing
and Urban Affairs; and Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committees accompanying the
Technical Corrections Act, Congress explained that
in amending SAFETEA–LU to allow FRA discretion
to award funds to ‘‘projects’’ located east of the
Mississippi River, ‘‘the intent is to limit the eligible
projects to three existing projects east of the
Mississippi River: Pittsburgh, BaltimoreWashington, and Atlanta-Chattanooga.’’ Congress
repurposed the funds originally allocated to the Las
Vegas–Primm, NV project in the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2014, Div. L, Tit. I, Sec. 192,
Public Law 113–76, (2014), for new intercity
passenger rail capital, railroad safety technology,
and corridor planning projects. This funding was
competed in 2014 and awarded in 2015.

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