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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2023 / Notices

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using Form OSC–14. Form OSC–14 can
be submitted electronically at the OSC
website http://www.osc.gov, under the
tab ‘‘File a Complaint.’’ You also have
the option to call the Case Review
Division at 1–800–872–9855 for
additional assistance. In the alternative
(or in some cases, in addition), you may
pursue a discrimination complaint by
filing a grievance through the DOT
administrative or negotiated grievance
procedures, if such procedures apply
and are available.
If you are alleging unlawful
compensation discrimination pursuant
to the Equal Pay Act and wish to pursue
your allegations through the
administrative process, you must
contact an EEO counselor within 45
calendar days of the alleged
discriminatory action, as such
complaints are processed under EEOC’s
regulations at 29 CFR part 1614.
Alternatively, you can file a civil action
in a court of competent jurisdiction
within two years, or if the violation is
willful, three years of the date of the
alleged violation, regardless of whether
you pursued any administrative
complaint processing. The filing of a
complaint or appeal pursuant to 29 CFR
part 1614 shall not toll the time for
filing a civil action.
Whistleblower Protection Laws
A DOT employee with authority to
take, direct others to take, recommend,
or approve any personnel action must
not use that authority to take, or fail to
take, or threaten to take a personnel
action against an employee or applicant
because of a disclosure of information
by that individual that is reasonably
believed to evidence violations of law,
rule, or regulation; gross
mismanagement; gross waste of funds;
an abuse of authority; or a substantial
and specific danger to public health or
safety, unless the disclosure of such
information is specifically prohibited by
law and such information is specifically
required by Executive Order to be kept
secret in the interest of national defense
or the conduct of foreign affairs.
Retaliation against a DOT employee or
applicant for making a protected
disclosure is prohibited (5 U.S.C.
2302(b)(8)). If you believe you are a
victim of whistleblower retaliation, you
may file a written complaint with the
U.S. Office of Special Counsel using
Form OSC–14. Form OSC–14 can be
filed electronically at http://
www.osc.gov. You may also contact the
DOT Office of Inspector General Hotline
by phone at 1–800–424–9071, by fax at
202–366–7749, by email at hotline@
oig.dot.gov, online at https://
www.oig.dot.gov/hotline, or by mail at

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7th Floor, Washington, DC 20590.

States, including the provisions of law
specified in 5 U.S.C. 2302(d).

Retaliation for Engaging in Protected
Activity

Issued in Washington, DC, on October 26,
2023.
Irene Marion,
Director, Departmental Office of Civil Rights,
U.S. Department of Transportation.

A Federal agency cannot retaliate
against an employee or applicant
because that individual exercises their
rights under any of the Federal
antidiscrimination or whistleblower
protection laws listed above. If you
believe that you are the victim of
retaliation for engaging in protected
activity, you must follow, as
appropriate, the procedures described in
the Antidiscrimination Laws and
Whistleblower Protection Laws sections
or, if applicable, the administrative or
negotiated grievance procedures in
order to pursue any legal remedy.
Disciplinary Actions
Under existing laws, DOT retains the
right, where appropriate, to discipline a
DOT employee who engages in conduct
that is inconsistent with Federal
Antidiscrimination and Whistleblower
Protection laws up to and including
removal from Federal service. If DOT
takes an adverse action under 5 U.S.C.
7512 against an employee for a
discriminatory act, it must include a
notation of the adverse action and the
reason for the action in the employee’s
personnel record. If OSC initiates an
investigation under 5 U.S.C. 1214, DOT
must seek approval from the Special
Counsel to discipline employees for,
among other activities, engaging in
prohibited retaliation (5 U.S.C. 1214).
Nothing in the No FEAR Act alters
existing laws or permits an agency to
take unfounded disciplinary action
against a DOT employee, or to violate
the procedural rights of a DOT
employee accused of discrimination.
Additional Information
For more information regarding the
No FEAR Act regulations, refer to 5 CFR
part 724, as well as the appropriate
office(s) within your agency (e.g., EEO/
civil rights offices, human resources
offices, or legal offices). You can find
additional information regarding
Federal antidiscrimination,
whistleblower protection, and
retaliation laws at the EEOC website at
http://www.eeoc.gov and the OSC
website at http://www.osc.gov.
Existing Rights Unchanged
Pursuant to section 205 of the No
FEAR Act, neither the No FEAR Act nor
this notice creates, expands, or reduces
any rights otherwise available to any
employee, former employee, or
applicant under the laws of the United

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[FR Doc. 2023–24446 Filed 11–3–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Agency Information Collection:
Activity Under OMB Review; Electric
Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey
(eVIUS)
Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS), Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Research and Technology
(OST–R), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and Request for
Comments.
AGENCY:

In accordance with the
requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, this notice
announces the intention of the Bureau
of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to
request the Office of Management and
Budget’s (OMB) approval of a new
information collection related to the
nation’s battery electric vehicles (BEVs)
and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
(PHEVs)—collectively referred to
electric vehicles (EVs). The information
collected will be used to produce
national statistics on the characteristics
and uses of EVs as well as the charging
patterns and preferences related to EVs.
A summary report of survey findings
will also be published by BTS on the
BTS web page: www.bts.gov.
DATES: Send comments on or before
December 6, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jina
Mahmoudi, VIUS/eVIUS Program
Manager, (800) 853–1351, eVIUS@
dot.gov, BTS, OST–R, Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave.
SE, Room E34–471, Washington, DC
20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to
5:30 p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Electric Vehicle Inventory and
Use Survey (eVIUS).
Type of Request: Approval for a new
information collection.
Affected Public: Registered owners of
battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
(PHEVs).
Background: As the pace of electric
vehicles’ adoption and use increases on
the nation’s roadways, the U.S.
SUMMARY:

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2023 / Notices
Department of Transportation (U.S.
DOT)’s Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) is planning to conduct
the first national-level Electric Vehicle
Inventory and Use Survey (eVIUS). The
eVIUS will be conducted to gain an indepth understanding of the
characteristics, usage, and charging
patterns of electric vehicles (EVs) as
well as the demographics and charging
preferences of EV owners. The data
collected through eVIUS will inform
policy and planning decisions on future
transportation systems and
infrastructure investments.
The survey will be administered to
owners of a nationally representative
sample of battery electric vehicles
(BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles (PHEVs). The survey scope will
be inclusive of passenger cars and lightduty vehicles (up to 10,000 pounds).
As there is no existing national-level
data source for EV use and charging
patterns, the eVIUS will provide
valuable data and information that can
assist transportation professionals and
other stakeholders at the federal, state,
and local levels to decipher the
characteristics and usage of the EVs
being driven on US roadways, as well as
the charging preferences and needs of
EV owners. The national-level data will
inform policy and planning decisions
related to EV charging infrastructure in
the US, thereby leading to increased
mobility, safety, air quality, and equity
on the nation’s roadways.
Data Confidentiality Provisions: This
will be a voluntary data collection. A
summary report of aggregate findings
will be published on the BTS web page
at www.bts.gov, and no individual and
company’s information or names will be
included in the published reports. The
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, its
employees and agents, will use the
information provided by respondents
for statistical purposes only and will
hold individuals’ information in
confidence to the full extent permitted
by law. In accordance with the
Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (Title
5 of Pub. L. 107–347) and the
Foundations for Evidence-Based
Policymaking Act of 2018 (Title 3 of
Pub. L. 115–435) along with other
applicable Federal laws, no responses
will not be disclosed in an identifiable
form without the respondent’s informed
consent. Per the Federal Cybersecurity
Enhancement Act of 2016, Federal
information systems are protected from
malicious activities through
cybersecurity screening of transmitted
data.
Frequency: One time.

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Estimated Average Burden per
Response: The burden per respondent is
estimated to be an average of 16 minutes
(0.27 hours). This estimation is based on
pre-test surveys conducted (with an
average respondent burden of 15
minutes) plus an additional minute to
account for log in time.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
Based on an estimated average burden
of 0.27 hours per respondent and a 30%
response rate, the total annual burden is
estimated to be in the range of 4,050
hours (for a minimum number of 50,000
respondents) and 12,150 hours (for a
maximum number of 150,000
respondents).
Response to Comments: A 60-day
notice requesting public comment was
issued in the Federal Register on March
9, 2023 (88 FR 14667, page 14667–
14668, published 03/09/2023). Three
comments were received by BTS in
response to the 60-day public notice.
The BTS’ responses to those comments
are provided below:
BTS’ Response to Comment 1 (from
The Association for the Work Truck
Industry (NTEA):
For this initial round of eVIUS, BTS
would like to focus on light-duty
electric vehicles (EVs). The reasons for
this decision are:
• According to the International
Energy Agency, the light-duty EV is
becoming a fast-growing mode of
transportation as EV sales are increasing
substantially, and the electric vehicle
(BEVs and PHEVs) sales in the United
States increased 55% in 2022 reaching
a sales share of 8%. Since the light-duty
EVs (e.g., passenger cars) comprise the
majority of EV population, to aid
determination of charging infrastructure
gaps and inform policy decisions, it is
essential to collect timely data on use
and charging patterns of EVs as
currently there is no existing source of
such data and national statistics;
• Vehicles using the other suggested
alternative fuels (i.e., hydrogen fuel cell,
propane, natural gas and other possible
future methods of propulsion) are
operated differently from EVs.
Consequently, expansion of the scope of
the eVIUS to include these vehicles
would require adding many questions to
the survey questionnaire to measure the
characteristics and use of such vehicles.
This will greatly increase the
complexity and length of the survey
questionnaire and add to the respondent
burden;
• Further, adding other alternatively
fueled vehicles in the eVIUS survey
would require inclusion of an adequate
number of such vehicles in the sample
frame, which will increase the sample
size and potentially reduce the overall

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survey estimation precision, and add to
the time and budget required for data
collection. As alternatively fueled
vehicles comprise a small proportion of
the entire vehicle population in the
U.S., producing robust statistics will be
a challenge due to a small population
size, which leads to an inadequate
sample size.
The eVIUS sample frame is the states’
vehicle registration data; therefore, any
EVs registered in the states have a
chance to be sampled and included in
the sample frame—i.e., governmentowned fleets (federal, state, local) will
not be actively excluded. The eVIUS
survey questionnaire includes multiplechoice questions that ask respondents
about the ownership type and usage
purpose of the vehicle—allowing them
to select options that indicate if the
vehicle is a government-owned vehicle
(state or local) and if the vehicle is used
for a government business purpose.
Since increasing the eVIUS scope to
include alternatively fueled vehicles
would result in the data collection
operation schedule and the respondent
burden considerations becoming less
flexible, it is not a feasible option for
this first round of eVIUS as BTS intends
to produce timely data (within one
year). BTS is considering a future data
collection specific to the other
alternatively fueled vehicles, depending
on availability of funds.
BTS’ Response to Comment 2 (from
Alliance for Automotive Innovation):
A multiple-choice format has been
used for the eVIUS as suggested.
The survey includes questions related
to vehicle background and type of use,
home base, miles traveled, long-distance
travel, general charging behavior and
needs, as well as demographics—
capturing information for most of the
proposed targeted questions.
BTS’ Response to Comment 3 (from
The National Automobile Dealers
Association (NADA)):
The eVIUS sample frame has been
expanded to include owners of plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) as
suggested. For this initial round of
eVIUS, BTS will focus on light-duty EVs
due to reasons previously outlined
(please see ‘‘BTS’ Response to Comment
1’’ above). BTS is considering future
data collections focusing on vehicles
above 10,000 pounds, depending on
availability of funds.
A multiple-choice format has been
used for the eVIUS as suggested.
A draft survey was not provided in
the sixty-day notice (88 FR 14667). The
survey questionnaire was developed
and finalized in collaboration with
subject matter experts and stakeholders.
In addition, subject matter experts from

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 213 / Monday, November 6, 2023 / Notices

various agencies/organizations,
including academia, have provided BTS
with suggestions for survey questions.
These suggestions were carefully
considered, and where appropriate,
incorporated into the survey
questionnaire.
To test question understanding and
clarity of instructions, a pre-test of the
draft survey was also conducted with
participation of five EV owners.
Following completion of the survey, one
hour long cognitive interviews were
conducted with each of the pre-testers
to collect information on their survey
experience and other feedback for
improving the survey. Overall, the pretesters reported that the survey was
clear, and they did not have any major
issues with understanding the survey
questions/instructions.
Public Comments Invited: Interested
parties are invited to send comments
regarding any aspect of this information
collection, including, but not limited to:
(1) the necessity and utility of the
information collection for the proper
performance of the functions of the
DOT; (2) the accuracy of the estimated
burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, clarity and content of the
collected information; and (4) ways to
minimize the collection burden without
reducing the quality of the collected
information.
Send comments to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, 725–
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503,
Attention: BTS Desk Officer.
Issued in Washington, DC, on 3rd of
October, 2023.
Cha-Chi Fan,
Director, Office of Data Development and
Standards, Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Research and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2023–24397 Filed 11–3–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Bureau of Transportation Statistics

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[Docket Number OST–2023–0115]

Agency Information Collection
Activity; Notice of Request for
Approval To Collect New Information:
Safe Maritime Transportation System
(SafeMTS)—Voluntary Near-Miss
Incident Reporting and Analysis
System
Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS), Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Research and Technology
(OST–R), U.S. Department of
Transportation.

AGENCY:

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30-Day notice of new
information collection and request for
comments.

ACTION:

On August 8, 2023, the
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(BTS) announced its intention in a
Federal Register Notice to request that
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approve the following
information collection: SafeMTS—
Voluntary Near-Miss Reporting and
Analysis System, a voluntary program
for confidential reporting of ‘nearmisses’ occurring on vessels within the
Maritime Transportation System (MTS).
BTS encouraged interested parties to
submit comments to docket number
2023–0115 during the 60-day comment
period. One comment was received,
from the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) expressing the agency’s
support for such a program.
DATES: Written comments should be
submitted within 30 days of publication
of this notice.
ADDRESSES: BTS seeks public comments
on its proposed information collection.
Comments should address whether the
information will have practical utility;
the accuracy of the estimated burden
hours 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.
Send comments to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, 725–
17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503,
Attention: BTS Desk Officer.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Allison Fischman, Bureau of
Transportation Statistics, Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Research and
Technology, USDOT, Office of Safety
Data and Analysis, RTS–34 E36–303,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590–0001, Phone No.
(202) 748–0546; email:
[email protected].
Data Confidentiality Provisions: The
confidentiality of the Safe Maritime
Transportation System (SafeMTS) data
is protected under the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) of 2018 (Pub.
L.: 115–435 Foundations for EvidenceBased Policymaking Act of 2018, Title
III of the Foundations for EvidenceBased Policymaking Act of 2018). In
accordance with CIPSEA, only
aggregated and non-identifying data will
be made publicly available by BTS
through its reports for statistical
SUMMARY:

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purposes only. BTS will not release
information that might reveal the
identity of individuals or organizations
mentioned in event notices or reports
without explicit consent of the
respondent and any other affected
entities.
The
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day
comment period soliciting comments on
the following collection of information
was published on August 8, 2023 at 88
FR 53594.
Title: Near-Miss Reporting and
Analysis Program for the Maritime
Transportation System.
OMB Control Number: Not yet known.
Type of Review: New collection.
Respondents: Businesses in the
maritime industry that involve
ownership or operation of vessels.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
100, submitted on a quarterly basis.
Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour.
Total Annual Burden: 400 hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Allison Fischman,
Acting Director, Office of Safety Data and
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2023–24467 Filed 11–3–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS
[OMB Control No. 2900–0342]

Agency Information Collection
Activity: Application and Training
Agreement for Apprenticeship and Onthe-Job Training Programs
Veterans Benefits
Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

Veterans Benefits
Administration, Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), is announcing an
opportunity for public comment on the
proposed collection of certain
information by the agency. Under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, Federal agencies are required to
publish notice in the Federal Register
concerning each proposed collection of
information, including each proposed
extension of a currently approved
collection, and allow 60 days for public
comment in response to the notice.
DATES: Written comments and
recommendations on the proposed
collection of information should be
received on or before January 5, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
on the collection of information through
Federal Docket Management System
SUMMARY:

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