FTA Stakeholder Survey 30-Day FRN

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 24, 2021 / Notices

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I. Background
The Secretary of Transportation has
discretionary authority to prescribe the
records required to be prepared or
compiled by certain for-hire motor
carriers and brokers subject to the
commercial regulations implementing
Title 49 U.S.C., subtitle IV, part B,
including records related to movement
of traffic and receipts and expenditures
of money. 49 U.S.C. 14122(a). The
Secretary may prescribe the time period
during which operating, accounting,
and financial records must be preserved
by for-hire motor carriers and brokers
subject to the reporting requirements. 49
U.S.C. 14122(c). In addition, some forhire motor carriers (transporting either
passengers or property) are required to
submit annual financial reports under
49 U.S.C. 14123.
FMCSA’s regulations include record
retention requirements in several places.
Appendix A to part 379 provides a
generalized listing of retention times for
records required to be prepared or
compiled by certain for-hire motor
carriers and brokers subject to the
commercial regulations implementing
Title 49 U.S.C., subtitle IV, part B. Parts
369 and 379 of the FMCSRs contain the
regulations relating to annual reporting
and preservation of records. Other parts
of the FMCSRs contain specific record
retention requirements for records
pertinent to that part.
FMCSA’s predecessor agency, the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
published a final rule on March 18,
1985, (50 FR 10774) which created
‘‘Note A’’ to be applied to certain
records listed in Appendix A. The note
is codified at the end of Appendix A to
part 379 and is listed as the applicable
‘‘Retention Period’’ for several items and
categories of records on the table in
Appendix A. Note A indicates that the
records so referenced shall be
maintained as determined by the
designated records supervisory official
for the company. It further states that
companies should be aware of other
regulatory agencies’ record retention
requirements and exercise reasonable
care in choosing retention periods
which reflect past experiences,
company needs, pending litigation, and
regulatory requirements.
Only a few of the FMCSRs refer to the
record-keeping requirements in 49 CFR
part 379 as the basis for retention
requirements. FMCSA requests
comments providing information on the
necessity and appropriateness of these
references and links described below:
1. Title 49 CFR part 369 contains
regulations governing the reporting
requirements for motor carriers under

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the authority of 49 U.S.C. 14123(a).
Those reporting requirements are now
very minimal. Only large for-hire motor
carriers of property and large for-hire
motor carriers of passengers are subject
to the annual report provisions. See 49
CFR 369.1–369.4. The records necessary
to support these reporting requirements
are specified in 49 CFR 369.5: ‘‘Books,
records and carrier operating documents
shall be retained as prescribed in 49
CFR part 379, Preservation of Records.’’
2. Regulations found in 49 CFR part
373 govern the issuance of bills of
lading and freight or expense bills by
for-hire motor carriers to shipper and
receivers. With some exceptions, forhire carriers are required to issue bills
of lading with certain specified
information, such as receipts for
property being transported as required
by the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C.
14706. 49 CFR 373.101. A record of the
information on the bill of lading is
required to be kept in accordance with
part 379. Property carriers are also
required to issue freight or expense bills
with specified information, and to retain
copies of such documents in accordance
with part 379, 49 CFR 373.103(a). Forhire motor carriers of property may
enter into written agreements with
shippers to waive any of these
requirements, 49 U.S.C. 14101(b)(1).
Part 373 also includes requirements
applicable to for-hire passenger carriers
to issue an expense bill for charter
service, and to retain copies of such
documents in accordance with part 379,
49 CFR 373.103(b).
II. Request for Public Comments
FMCSA requests comments on
recordkeeping activities associated with
Appendix A to part 379 and responses
to the questions below.
General Question: Records Retention
1. If other Federal or State entities
have record retention requirements for
similar or the same records, what type
of records are they, how long are you
required to retain them, and which
Federal or State entities require them?
You may find it useful, when
answering this question, to submit your
responses in a table format. If you wish
to do so, go to the docket FMCSA–2019–
0074 at Regulations.gov and fill out and
submit the table as part of your
comment to this RFI. This table may be
found in the supporting materials for
the docket and includes current FMCSA
existing recordkeeping requirements in
Part 379 and those under consideration.
Information can be added to each
requirement concerning whether other
agencies collect this information from

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you and for how long they request
retention.
Retention Times
2. How long do you hold each of the
records listed in Appendix A that are
subject to Note A now?
3. Do you hold them that long ONLY
because of the requirement in Appendix
A?
If yes, how long would you hold them
in the ordinary course of business
regardless of the Appendix A
requirement?
Numbers and Costs of Records
Retention
4. For each category of records
maintained for FMCSA, how many
records do you maintain, e.g., how
many physical pages/volumes of
electronic information do you retain?
How many and which categories of
records are also subject to the
requirements of another regulatory
entity?
5. Can you provide an estimate for
how much it costs to store each category
of records per year? Does this cost
reflect retaining paper records,
electronic records, or both?
Note A
6. Should any of the items listed in
Appendix A that do not refer to Note A
be modified to adopt Note A?
7. As Note A does not provide a
specific retention period, should those
items remain in Appendix A or be
removed?
8. Is it helpful to retain Note A? Why
or why not?
Issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR
1.87.
Meera Joshi,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2021–18169 Filed 8–23–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[FTA Docket No. FTA 2021–0007]

Agency Information Collection Activity
Under OMB Review
AGENCY:

Federal Transit Administration,

DOT.
ACTION:

Notice of request for comments.

In compliance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces that the Information
Collection Requirements (ICRs)
abstracted below have been forwarded
to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and comment. The

SUMMARY:

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lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 24, 2021 / Notices
ICR describe the nature of the
information collection and their
expected burdens.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on
or before September 23, 2021.
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.
Comments are Invited On: Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the Department,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; the accuracy of
the Department’s estimate of the burden
of the proposed information collection;
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including the use of
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tia
Swain, Office of Administration,
Management Planning Division, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Mail Stop TAD–
10, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–
0354 or [email protected].
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 issue
two notices seeking public comment on
information collection activities before
OMB may approve paperwork packages.
44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.5,
1320.8(d)(1), 1320.12. On May 28, 2021
FTA published a 60-day notice (86 FR
16442) in the Federal Register soliciting
comments on the ICR that the agency
was seeking OMB approval. FTA
received no comments after issuing this
60-day notice. Accordingly, DOT
announces that these information
collection activities have been reevaluated and certified under 5 CFR
1320.5(a) and forwarded to OMB for
review and approval pursuant to 5 CFR
1320.12(c).
Before OMB decides whether to
approve these proposed collections of
information, it must provide 30 days for
public comment. 44 U.S.C. 3507(b); 5

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CFR 1320.12(d). Federal law requires
OMB to approve or disapprove
paperwork packages between 30 and 60
days after the 30-day notice is
published. 44 U.S.C. 3507 (b)–(c); 5 CFR
1320.12(d); see also 60 FR 44978, 44983,
Aug. 29, 1995. OMB believes that the
30-day notice informs the regulated
community to file relevant comments
and affords the agency adequate time to
digest public comments before it
renders a decision. 60 FR 44983, Aug.
29, 1995. Therefore, respondents should
submit their respective comments to
OMB within 30 days of publication to
best ensure having their full effect. 5
CFR 1320.12(c); see also 60 FR 44983,
Aug. 29, 1995.
The summaries below describe the
nature of the information collection
requirements (ICRs) and the expected
burden. The requirements are being
submitted for clearance by OMB as
required by the PRA.
Title: Survey of FTA Stakeholders.
OMB Control Number: 2132–0564.
Type of Request: Renewal with
revisions of a previously approved
information collection.
Abstract: Executive Order 12862,
‘‘Streamlining Service Delivery and
Improving Customer Service,’’ requires
FTA to identify its stakeholders and
address how the agency will provide
services in a manner that seeks to
streamline service delivery and improve
the experience of its customers. FTA is
seeking a three-year approval for an
existing information collection with
revisions. Changes in methodology will
improve the quality of stakeholder
feedback, and non-substantive changes
to the survey instrument will more
accurately assess the data collected from
from transit agencies, states and
metropolitan planning organizations.
FTA will utilize the survey to assess
how its services are perceived by its
customers, learn about opportunities for
improvement and establish goals to
measure results. The data captured from
the survey will provide this information
and enable FTA to make improvements
where necessary. The survey will be
limited to data collections that solicit
voluntary opinions and will not involve
information that is required by
regulations. The estimated number of
respondents is 6,454, an increase of
5,266 respondents from the previous
request of 1,188 respondents. There is
an increase in the number of
respondents due to FTA’s efforts to
expand outreach to a broader crosssection of FTA stakeholders.
Respondents are split into two groups.
Group A includes Chief Executive
Officers (CEOs) and other executive
leaders of transit agencies, state DOTs,

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47367

and other FTA stakeholders. Group B
includes unit supervisors and
professional staff such as engineers,
urban planners and budget analysts
from the same organizations. The
previous IC only targeted respondents in
Group A. The current IC targets
respondents in both Group A and Group
B. To further expand stakeholder
outreach, FTA accessed an additional
database, and allowed multiple
respondents to submit responses from a
single organization. Previously, since
only CEOs or other top executive leader
of an organization responded, there
could be only one response per
organization because there is only one
top executive leader per organization.
However, the expansion of the target
population to other labor categories
allows multiple people from the same
organization to respond to the survey
(CEO, engineer, urban planner, etc.).
There is a decrease in the estimated
annual total burden hours, despite the
increase in number of respondents, in
large part because FTA found that
respondents spent less time interacting
with the previous survey than
estimated. In addition to stakeholder
outreach outlined in #8 above, in 2019,
FTA utilized survey analytics to
appropriately determine the amount of
time spent filling out the survey.
Respondents: Transit agencies, States,
and Metropolitan Planning
Organizations.
Estimated Annual Burden on
Respondents: 6,454.
Estimated Annual Number of
Responses: 6,454.
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 807.
Frequency: Biennial.
Nadine Pembleton,
Director, Office of Management Planning.
[FR Doc. 2021–18206 Filed 8–23–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–57–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Proposed Extension of Information
Collection Request Submitted for
Public Comment; Comment Request
on Burden Related to Form 911,
Request for Taxpayer Advocate
Service Assistance (and Application
for Taxpayer Assistance Order)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:

The Internal Revenue Service,
as part of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden,

SUMMARY:

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