30-day FR

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 239 / Thursday, December 14, 2023 / Notices
Issued under the authority of 49 CFR
1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research
and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2023–27456 Filed 12–13–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0159]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Renewal of an Approved
Information Collection: Inspection,
Repair and Maintenance
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (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
review and approval and invites public
comment. The information collection
concerns records of inspection, repair,
and maintenance of commercial motor
vehicles (CMVs). FMCSA is seeking to
renew an ICR titled, ‘‘Inspection, Repair
and Maintenance.’’
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received on or before January 16, 2024.
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 information
collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under
30-day Review—Open for Public
Comments’’ or by using the search
function.
SUMMARY:

Mr.
Jose R. Cestero, Vehicle and Roadside
Operations Division, DOT, FMCSA,
West Building, 6th Floor, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC
20590; 202–366–5541; jose.cestero@
dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Inspection, Repair and
Maintenance.
OMB Control Number: 2126–0003.
Type of Request: Renewal of a
currently approved information
collection.

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Respondents: Motor carriers and CMV
drivers.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
757,652 motor carriers and 5,646,722
drivers.
Estimated Time per Response: Varies
according to the requirements for
specific records.
Expiration Date: December 31, 2023.
Frequency of Response: Varies
according to requirements for specific
records.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
19,103,153 hours [14,602,802 hours for
inspection, repair, and maintenance +
3,516,342 hours for driver inspection
reports + 161,528 hours for disposition
of roadside inspection reports + 777,864
hours for periodic inspections + 23,571
hours for records of inspector
qualifications + 21,046 hours for records
of brake inspector qualifications].
Background
The Secretary of Transportation
(Secretary) is authorized under the
provisions of 49 U.S.C. 31502 to
prescribe requirements for, among other
things, safety of operations of
equipment of motor carriers that operate
CMVs in interstate commerce. Under 49
U.S.C. 31136, the Secretary also has
authority to prescribe regulations to
ensure that CMVs are maintained,
equipped, loaded, and operated safely.
Under 49 U.S.C. 31142 the Secretary
must establish standards for annual or
more frequent inspections of CMVs. The
Secretary’s authority to establish
improved standards or methods to
ensure brakes and brake systems of
CMVs are inspected by appropriate
employees and maintained properly is
provided under 49 U.S.C. 31137(g).
Motor carriers must maintain, or
require maintenance of, records
documenting the inspection, repair and
maintenance activities performed on
their owned and leased vehicles. There
are no prescribed forms. Electronic
recordkeeping is allowed (see 49 Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) 390.31(d)).
Documents requiring a signature must
be capable of replication (e.g.,
photocopy, facsimile, etc.) in such form
that will provide an opportunity for
signature verification upon demand.
Also, if electronic recordkeeping is
used, all the relevant data on the
original documents must be included in
the electronic transmission for the
records to be valid.
Most motor carriers would keep some
records without any regulatory
requirements to do so. Records of
inspection, repair, and maintenance;
roadside inspection reports; driver

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vehicle inspection reports; the
documentation of periodic inspections;
the evidence of the qualifications of
individuals performing periodic
inspections; and the evidence of brake
inspectors’ qualifications contain the
minimum amount of information
necessary to document that a motor
carrier has established a system of
inspection, repair, and maintenance for
its equipment which meets the
standards in 49 CFR part 396.
FMCSA and its representatives use
these records to verify motor carriers’
compliance with the inspection, repair,
and maintenance standards in part 396.
This ICR supports DOT’s strategic goal
of safety. The ICR also ensures that
motor carriers have adequate records to
document the inspection, repair, and
maintenance of their CMVs, and to
ensure that adequate measures are taken
to keep their CMVs in safe and proper
operating condition at all times.
Compliance with the inspection, repair,
and maintenance regulations helps to
reduce the likelihood of accidents
attributable, in whole or in part, to the
mechanical condition of the CMV.
This ICR submittal includes updated
data regarding the number of motor
carriers subject to the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Regulations, vehicle
counts, inspections, and other
underlying data used to estimate the
total burden hours.
If the recordkeeping were required to
be completed less frequently, it would
greatly hinder the ability of FMCSA and
State officials and representatives to
ascertain that CMVs are satisfactorily
maintained. The timely documentation
of CMV inspection, repair, and
maintenance enables FMCSA and State
officials to evaluate the present state of
a motor carrier’s CMV maintenance
program and to check the current level
of regulatory compliance at any point in
a carrier’s maintenance schedule or
program.
FMCSA has identified periodic
inspection standards of 22 States, the
District of Columbia, the Alabama
Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board, 10
Canadian Provinces, and one Canadian
Territory that are comparable to, or as
effective as, the Federal periodic
inspection requirements. FMCSA does
not require Federal periodic inspections
and the related recordkeeping for motor
carriers that comply with these
equivalent periodic inspection
programs. FMCSA is not aware of any
other duplicative standards or
recordkeeping requirements that apply
to motor carriers.

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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 239 / Thursday, December 14, 2023 / Notices

On September 25, 2023, FMCSA
published a notice in the Federal
Register with a 60-day public comment
period to announce this request to
update the information collection (88
FR 65764). The Agency received one
comment from Whip Around in
response to the notice. Whip Around
provided general support for the ICR,
however, they suggested the use of
electronic recordkeeping to reduce the
need for frequent inspection, repair, and
maintenance.
While this comment does not impact
the information collection, FMCSA
agrees with Whip Around’s assessment
that the process of creating, obtaining,
and retaining documents can be
improved by digitizing and automating
vehicle inspection, repairs, and
maintenance recordkeeping. The
Agency has actively pursued this
objective, evident by the amendment on
December 16, 2015 (80 FR 78292). This
amendment established minimum
performance and design standards for
electronic logging devices (ELDs) related
to hours-of-service (HOS), mandating
their use for drivers preparing HOS
records of duty status. The amendment
aims to enhance CMV safety, reduce
paperwork burdens for motor carriers
and drivers, and improve compliance
with applicable HOS rules by promoting
the use of ELDs.
Additionally, on April 16, 2018 (83
FR 16210), FMCSA introduced
amendments permitting the use of
electronic records and signatures. This
aligned, in part, with the Government
Paperwork Elimination Act and the
Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce Act, as it only
applies to those documents that
FMCSA’s regulations obligate entities or
individuals to retain. The amendment
also updated references to outdated
recordkeeping and reporting methods
throughout chapter III of subtitle B of 49
CFR (49 CFR parts 300 through 399) to
make them technologically neutral.
FMCSA’s ongoing efforts include
projects related to providing data
electronically during roadside
inspections. One such project is the
Operational Test of In-Motion CMV
Inspections (Level VIII Inspections) in
collaboration with the Commercial
Vehicle Safety Alliance, which was
noted by Whip Around in its comment.
The project’s goal is to transmit data
through the vehicle’s telematics to
roadside inspectors while the vehicle is
in motion. In addition to these efforts,
the Agency will continue to pursue
opportunities to increase safety and
reduce the burden to motor carriers and
CMV drivers.

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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 performance of
FMCSA’s 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
ICR.

number (FMCSA–2023–0024) in the
keyword box and click ‘‘Search.’’ Next,
sort the results by ‘‘Posted (OlderNewer),’’ choose the first notice listed,
and click ‘‘Browse Comments.’’ If you
do not have access to the internet, you
may view the docket online by visiting
Dockets Operations in on the ground
floor of the DOT West Building, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC
20590–0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
ET Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. To be sure someone is
there to help you, please call (202) 366–
9317 or (202) 366–9826 before visiting
Dockets Operations.

Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research
and Registration.

B. Privacy Act

[FR Doc. 2023–27459 Filed 12–13–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0024]

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption
Applications; Hearing
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of final disposition.
AGENCY:

FMCSA announces its
decision to exempt 11 individuals from
the hearing requirement in the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
(FMCSRs) to operate a commercial
motor vehicle (CMV) in interstate
commerce. The exemptions enable these
hard of hearing and deaf individuals to
operate CMVs in interstate commerce.
DATES: The exemptions are applicable
on December 11, 2023. The exemptions
expire on December 11, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Christine A. Hydock, Chief, Medical
Programs Division, FMCSA, DOT, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W64–224,
Washington, DC 20590–0001, (202) 366–
4001, [email protected]. Office
hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. If you have questions
regarding viewing or submitting
material to the docket, contact Dockets
Operations, (202) 366–9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:

I. Public Participation
A. Viewing Comments
To view comments go to
www.regulations.gov. Insert the docket

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In accordance with 49 U.S.C.
31315(b)(6), DOT solicits comments
from the public on the exemption
requests. DOT posts these comments,
without edit, including any personal
information the commenter provides, to
www.regulations.gov. As described in
the system of records notice DOT/ALL
14 (Federal Docket Management
System), which can be reviewed at
https://www.transportation.gov/
individuals/privacy/privacy-act-systemrecords-notices, the comments are
searchable by the name of the submitter.
II. Background
On November 1, 2023, FMCSA
published a notice announcing receipt
of applications from 11 individuals
requesting an exemption from the
hearing requirement in 49 CFR
391.41(b)(11) to operate a CMV in
interstate commerce and requested
comments from the public (88 FR
75088). The public comment period
ended on December 1, 2023, and five
comments were received.
FMCSA has evaluated the eligibility
of these applicants and determined that
granting exemptions to these
individuals would likely achieve a level
of safety that is equivalent to, or greater
than, the level that would be achieved
by complying with § 391.41(b)(11).
The physical qualification standard
for drivers regarding hearing found in
§ 391.41(b)(11) states that a person is
physically qualified to drive a CMV if
that person first perceives a forced
whispered voice in the better ear at not
less than 5 feet with or without the use
of a hearing aid or, if tested by use of
an audiometric device, does not have an
average hearing loss in the better ear
greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000
Hz, and 2,000 Hz with or without a
hearing aid when the audiometric
device is calibrated to American
National Standard (formerly ASA
Standard) Z24.5—1951.

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