30-day FR (85 FR 80887)

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 240 / Monday, December 14, 2020 / Notices
information collection, including: (1)
Whether the proposed collection is
necessary for the FHWA’s performance;
(2) the accuracy of the estimated
burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to
enhance the quality, usefulness, and
clarity of the collected information; and
(4) ways that the burden could be
minimized, including the use of
electronic technology, without reducing
the quality of the collected information.
The agency will summarize and/or
include your comments in the request
for OMB’s clearance of this information
collection.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended;
and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued on: December 9, 2020.
Michael Howell,
Information Collections Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020–27409 Filed 12–11–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2020–0117]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Approval of Reinstated
Renewal for Information Request:
Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)
Skills Testing Delays Annual Survey
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

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
renewal.
DATES: Please send your comments by
January 13, 2021. OMB must receive
your comments by this date in order to
act quickly on the ICR.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open
for Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan
Britton, Office of Analysis, Research,
and Technology/Research Division,
Department of Transportation, Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration,

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SUMMARY:

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6th Floor, West Building, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC
20590–0001. Telephone: 202–366–9980;
Email Address: [email protected].
Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal
Holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title:
Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)
Skills Testing Delays Annual Survey.
OMB Control Number: 2126–0065.
Type of Request: Reinstatement of a
renewal that was discontinued at the
Agency’s request.
Respondents: State CDL Coordinators
(one from each of the 50 States, and one
from Washington, DC)
Estimated Number of Respondents: 51
Estimated Time per Response: 2.3
hours (137.5 minutes).
Expiration Date: To be determined.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: The
annual burden is estimated to be no
more than 2.3 hours (137.5 minutes) per
respondent, which equates to 116.9
hours over the universe of 51
respondents. This estimate contains a
maximum of 2 hours to gather
information from State information
systems, and an estimated maximum of
17.5 minutes to respond to the survey.
While States that already track and
report similar information may need
much less than 2 hours to gather
information, discussions with subject
matter experts led to an agreement that
2 hours was a reasonable maximum
time limit to use to estimate the
maximum annual burden expected.
The estimated time for survey
completion was calculated using Versta
Research’s methodology for calculating
an estimate of survey length, where each
question is given a number of points
based on the estimated burden required
to respond to the question (for example,
simple multiple choice questions are 1
point, whereas short answer questions
are 3 points per expected short phrase).
The total number of points for all
questions is then divided by eight (the
number of simple questions a user can
respond to online in 1 minute) to
determine the estimate required length
for finishing the survey.
Background
Section 5506 of the Fixing America’s
Surface Transportation Act (‘‘FAST
Act’’). requires FMCSA to produce a
study on CDL skills test delays on an
annual basis. The requirements of the
study are to submit an annual report
describing:
‘‘(A) the average wait time from the
date an applicant requests to take a
skills test to the date the applicant has
the opportunity to complete such test;

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80887

(B) the average wait time from the
date an applicant, upon failure of a
skills test, requests a retest to the date
the applicant has the opportunity to
complete such retest;
(C) the actual number of qualified
commercial driver’s license examiners
available to test applicants; and
(D) the number of testing sites
available through the State department
of motor vehicles and whether this
number has increased or decreased from
the previous year.’’
The annual report is also required to
describe ‘‘specific steps the
Administrator is taking to address skills
testing delays in States that have
average skills test or retest wait times of
more than 7 days.’’
If this information collection does not
occur, FMCSA will not be able to
continue to conduct the study on CDL
skills test delays. This data collection
aims to continue to create longitudinal
data where currently there is none. If
the information collection occurs on a
less-than-annual basis, FMCSA will not
be able to make observations on yearly
trends or analyze differences between
States.
For the initial 2017 survey FMCSA
met with several stakeholders, including
the American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators, the Commercial
Vehicle Training Association, and State
Driver Licensing Agencies to ensure the
information being collected was not
already collected elsewhere and was not
available to FMCSA. FMCSA conducted
extensive background research to ensure
the study was not duplicative. A
previous study, done by the
Government Accountability Office
(GAO) in 2015, asked for similar
information but did not produce
specific enough data to be used in this
study.
The survey will continue to be sent
out via email, with the option for online
completion using SurveyMonkey® or
Qualtrics. Each State can continue to
respond via email or the online survey
tool depending on which method is
more convenient for the respondent.
The welcome letter will continue to
indicate that FMCSA prefers responses
via the online survey tool.
The information collected will
continue to be published annually in a
report to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the
House of Representatives.
Prior Publication
FMCSA published a notice in the
Federal Register (85 FR 35496) with a
60-day public comment period to

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announce this proposed information
collection on June 10, 2020. The agency
received four total comments, three
unique comments and one duplicated
comment, in response to this notice.
The three comments received in
response to the 60-day notice were from
the following persons and organizations:
1. National School Transportation
Association (NSTA)
2. Texas Trucking Association (TXTA)
3. Commercial Vehicle Training
Association (CVTA)
The comment from NSTA was posted
twice, but was the same comment.
NSTA was supportive of the
information collection request and felt
that it was necessary and important
information to collect, not only due to
FAST Act requirements but also in light
of the ongoing COVID–19 situation,
which has impacted SDLAs and their
operating statuses, as well as many
other aspects of the transportation
sector. NSTA made several
recommendations regarding issuances of
CDLs for school bus drivers and
inspections for school bus drivers that
are outside the scope of this information
collection request. These comments
have been passed on to the appropriate
parties in FMCSA, but did not result in
any changes to the proposed
information collection contained in this
request.
Similarly, TXTA made several
comments regarding the actual licensing
procedures and policies within Texas,
which are outside the scope of this
information collection. These comments
have been passed on to the appropriate
parties in FMCSA, but did not result in
any changes to the proposed
information collection contained in this
request.
CVTA was supportive of the
information collection request itself but
made several suggestions for
improvement. First, CVTA suggested
that FMCSA require States to respond to
the survey. Furthermore, CVTA felt that
FMCSA’s analysis of the collected data
was lacking and expressed concern with
the definition of delays and wait times
used by FMCSA in the original analysis.
CVTA noted in their comment that they
felt this was a failure of FMCSA to meet
the requirements of the FAST Act
statute. FMCSA does not have the
authority to compel States to respond to
the survey and re-asserts that responses
to the survey must be voluntary. The
prior survey received at least partial
responses from the majority of States.
FMCSA successfully delivered the 2017
report to Congress, which the Agency
understood to fulfill the intent behind
Section 5506 of the FAST Act. FMCSA
did not make any changes to the

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proposed information collection as a
result of this comment, which largely
focused on the reporting out of results
from the information collection as
opposed to the collection of information
itself.
Public Comments Invited: You are
asked to comment on any aspect of this
information collection, including: (1)
whether the proposed collection is
necessary for the 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.
Issued under the authority delegated
in 49 CFR 1.87.
Tom Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research
and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2020–27376 Filed 12–11–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Notice of Final Agency Actions on
Proposed Railroad Project in
California, on Behalf of the California
High-Speed Rail Authority
Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

The FRA, on behalf of the
Authority, is issuing this notice to
announce actions taken by the
Authority that are final. By this notice,
the FRA is advising the public of the
time limit to file a claim seeking judicial
review of the actions. The actions relate
to a proposed railroad project, the
California High-Speed Rail Project
Merced to Fresno Project Section:
Central Valley Wye in Merced, Madera,
Fresno, and Stanislaus Counties,
California. The Merced to Fresno Project
Section: Central Valley Wye provides an
approximately 51-mile portion of the
larger 800-mile California High-Speed
Rail (HSR) system planned throughout
California. These actions grant
approvals for project implementation
pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) and other laws,
regulations, and executive orders.
DATES: A claim seeking judicial review
of the agency actions on the railroad
project will be barred unless the claim
is filed on or before January 14, 2022.
If Federal law authorizes judicial review
SUMMARY:

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of a claim that provides a time period
of less than two years for filing such
claim, then that shorter time period
applies.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For the Authority: Dan McKell, NEPA
Assignment Manager, Environmental
Services, California High-Speed Rail
Authority, (telephone: 916–324–1541;
email: [email protected]).
For FRA: Stephanie Perez-Arrieta,
Lead Environmental Protection
Specialist, Federal Railroad
Administration, (telephone: 202–493–
0388; email: [email protected]).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: bEffective
July 23, 2019, FRA assigned, and the
State of California acting through the
Authority assumed, its responsibilities
for environmental review, consultation,
and other actions required by applicable
Federal environmental laws for this
project pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327.
Notice is hereby given that the
Authority has taken final agency actions
subject to 49 U.S.C. 24201(a)(4) and 23
U.S.C. 139(l)(1) by issuing approvals for
the following railroad project in
California: California High-Speed Rail
Project Merced to Fresno Project
Section: Central Valley Wye.
The purpose of the California HSR
System is to provide a reliable highspeed electric-powered train system that
links the major metropolitan areas of
California, delivering predictable and
consistent travel times. A further
objective is to provide an interface with
commercial airports, mass transit, and
the highway network and to relieve
capacity constraints of the existing
transportation system as increases in
intercity travel demand in California
occur, in a manner sensitive to and
protective of California’s unique natural
resources.
The FRA and the Authority published
the Merced to Fresno Section Final
Project Environmental Impact Report/
Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/
EIS) in April 2012. The FRA issued a
Record of Decision (ROD) for the
Merced to Fresno Project Section on
September 18, 2012. The FRA’s 2012
ROD deferred identification of a
selected alternative for the Central
Valley Wye. The Authority published
the Merced to Fresno Section: Central
Valley Wye Final Supplemental EIR/EIS
(Final Supplemental EIR/EIS) on August
7, 2020. The Final Supplemental EIR/
EIS was prepared as a supplement to the
2012 EIR/EIS for the Merced to Fresno
Project Section. The Authority approved
a Supplemental ROD for the Central
Valley Wye portion of the Merced to
Fresno Project Section on September 16,
2020. The Supplemental ROD is a

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