30-day FR

16814

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 47 / Friday, March 8, 2024 / Notices

Type of Review: Renewal.
Background: The Federal Register
Notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following
collection of information was published
on June 16, 2023 (88 FR 39503). Title
49, United States Code, Section 44701
(formerly the Federal Aviation Act of
1958, Section 601) authorizes the
Secretary of Transportation to provide
for reasonable rules and regulations
necessary to provide for minimum
safety. 14 CFR part 125 prescribes
requirements for issuing operating
certificates and for appropriate
operating rules. The reporting and
recordkeeping requirements under this
collection are necessary for the FAA to
issue, reissue, and amend part 125
applicants’ operating certificates and
operation specifications. A letter of
application and related documents that
set forth an applicant’s ability to
conduct operations in compliance with
the provisions of 14 CFR part 125 are
submitted to the appropriate Flight
Standards District Office (FSDO).
Inspectors in FAA FSDOs review the
submitted information to determine
certificate eligibility. If the letter of
application, related documents, and
inspection show that the applicant
satisfactorily meets acceptable safety
standards, an operating certificate and
operations specifications will be issued.
If the information were not collected,
the FAA could not discharge its
responsibility to promote the safety of
large airplane operators during such
operations.
Respondents: 54 part 125 operators
(38 certificated operators, 15 operators
issued a Letter of Deviation Authority
(LODA), and one new applicant per
year).
Frequency: On occasion.
Estimated Average Burden per
Response: 13 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
Approximately 36,000 hours.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 5,
2024.
D.C. Morris,
Aviation Safety Analyst, Flight Standards
Service, General Aviation and Commercial
Division.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

[FR Doc. 2024–04997 Filed 3–7–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 Mar 07, 2024

Jkt 262001

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA–2023–0098]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Approval of a New
Information Collection Request: Safety
Impacts of Human-Automated Driving
System (ADS) Team Driving
Applications
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
review and approval. This notice invites
comments on a proposed information
collection titled Safety Impacts of
Human-Automated Driving System
(ADS) Team Driving Applications. It is
a driving simulator study with a series
of questionnaires that will quantify the
safety implications of team driving
applications between humans and ADSequipped commercial motor vehicles
(CMVs). The study will assess the safety
benefits and disbenefits of human-ADS
team driving applications and support
the analysis of potential requests for
relief from FMCSA’s hours of service
(HOS) regulations.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be
received on or before April 8, 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian Routhier, Office of Research and
Registration, DOT, FMCSA, West
Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590–
0001; 202–366–1225; brian.routhier@
dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Safety Impacts of HumanAutomated Driving System (ADS) Team
Driving Applications.
OMB Control Number: 2126–00XX.
Type of Request: New ICR.
Respondents: Commercial motor
vehicle drivers.
SUMMARY:

PO 00000

Frm 00097

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

Estimated Number of Respondents:
80.
Estimated Time per Response: 17
hours.
Expiration Date: This is a new ICR.
Frequency of Response: One response.
Estimated Total Annual Burden:
508.5 hours.
Background
Over the past 15 years, ADS
technology has advanced rapidly
through innovation. As more
manufacturers and technology
companies move toward higher levels of
automation (i.e., SAE International
Level 4 (L4)), it is not fully clear how
human drivers will team with ADSequipped trucks. L4 ADS-equipped
CMVs are capable of all functions and
controls necessary for driving without
human monitoring in limited
conditions, and the human driver will
not be asked to take over control of the
vehicle. L4 ADS will not operate outside
of the conditions for which it was
designed. Currently, there are at least
four use cases where a human may team
with an ADS-equipped CMV:
1. In-vehicle driver teams with an
ADS CMV;
2. In-vehicle driver teams with a
following ADS-equipped CMV;
3. In-vehicle driver teams with a
remote assistant to monitor and control
an ADS CMV; and
4. Remote driver teaming with ADS
CMV.
Each of the teaming use cases above
offers different potential human factors
benefits and challenges. However, it is
unclear how each human-ADS teaming
use case will affect safety, productivity,
and efficiency. Each teaming
combination may positively or
negatively affect a driver’s cognitive
workload, level of fatigue, alertness, or
distraction compared to the case of a
traditional driver in a truck without
ADS. For example, the in-vehicle
drivers and remote assistants/drivers in
the above teaming use cases may
experience varying workloads and
differences in the development of
fatigue.
Previous research conducted by
FMCSA found a paucity of extant
research related to ADS-equipped
CMVs. To date, most commercial ADS
on U.S. roadways are in passenger
vehicles, and ADS-equipped CMVs are
only recently being implemented in
real-world operations. Therefore,
FMCSA needs more data on ADSequipped CMVs to understand the
human factors surrounding team driving
applications between humans and ADSequipped CMVs.

E:\FR\FM\08MRN1.SGM

08MRN1

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 47 / Friday, March 8, 2024 / Notices
The purpose for obtaining data in this
study is to quantify safety implications
of the four human-ADS teaming use
cases described above. Specifically, this
project will provide data to assess the
safety benefits and disbenefits
associated with human-ADS teaming
scenarios: (i) driver use, workload,
fatigue, alertness, and distraction when
teaming with an ADS; (ii) remote
assistant/driver use, workload, fatigue,
alertness, and distraction while actively
monitoring and/or controlling an ADSequipped truck; (iii) driver reengagement to the driving task after
taking over from ADS or remote driver
control; and (iv) fleet acceptance and
future integration possibilities.
Additionally, data from this study will
support the analysis of potential
requests for relief from FMCSA’s HOS
regulations under 49 U.S.C. 31315 and
49 CFR part 381. Answers to these
research questions will provide insight
into the potential safety implications
and human factors associated with
human-ADS team driving applications.
The study includes data collection
from a series of questionnaires and a
driving-simulator focused experiment.
The collected survey data will support
the simulator experiment data. The
survey data will be used in two ways:
in the assessment of driving
performance data as covariates in the
model (to control for certain
demographic variables, such as age,
gender, and experience, and to control
for previous perceptions of safety
technologies) and to answer research
questions on the human factors and the
relationship the safety benefits of each
of the four human-ADS team driving
applications. Data on workload, fatigue,
alertness, inattention, and performance
will be collected from the simulator
experiment. Eligible drivers will hold a
valid commercial driver’s license,
currently drive a CMV, be 21 years of
age or older, and pass the motion
sickness history screening
questionnaire.
We anticipate 80 participants in total
will complete the driving simulator
study. Data will be collected over one
study session lasting up to 17 hours.
Questionnaire data will be collected
prior to the simulator study, during the
simulator study, and after the simulator
study. All questionnaires will be
preloaded in an app format for drivers
to complete on a tablet.
The analysis methodology uses a
multifaceted approach to address
research questions on driver workload,
fatigue, alertness, distraction, and rate of
safety-critical events. The principal
statistical method for analyzing the data
will include mixed models to account

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:43 Mar 07, 2024

Jkt 262001

for multiple, correlated data points from
a single participant. Eye-tracking data
will be used to assess driver workload,
fatigue, alertness, distraction, and
reaction time. These data will be
described using summary statistics and
advanced plotting techniques to visually
compare drivers and remote drivers
during in-vehicle driving, vehicle
monitoring, and remote assistance/
driving. A generalized linear mixed
model (GLMM) will be used to assess
differences in average fatigue, workload,
alertness, distraction, and reaction times
between in-vehicle driving and remote
driving operation types. In the
transportation safety field, GLMMs are
often used to analyze driver behavior
and assess relationships between
driving scenarios and behaviors.
Finally, rates of safety-critical events,
including unintentional lane deviations
(which are surrogates for fatigue and
alertness), will be analyzed using a
Poisson or negative binomial mixedeffect regression model. Poisson or
negative binomial regression models are
standard practice for the assessment of
events over a unit of exposure in the
field of transportation safety.
FMCSA published the 60-day Federal
Register notice on June 8, 2023, and the
comment period closed on August 7,
2023 (88 FR 37597). A total of three
comments were received from the
public. The first comment was
submitted by the American Property
Casualty Insurance Association
(APCIA). APCIA supported the study,
indicating that the study will provide
important data on how human-ADS
teaming may affect driver workload,
fatigue, and alertness. Additionally,
APCIA’s comment discussed the
challenges associated with developing
insurance policies for ADS-equipped
CMVs, which will be dependent on
access to information to identify
vehicles with ADS and their functions.
FMCSA agrees that results from this
study will provide important data on
how human-ADS teaming applications
affect drivers’ workload and attention;
however, it is not within the scope of
this study to examine how the public
and insurers can access information on
a CMV’s ADS and its functions.
The second comment was submitted
by an individual. This comment
expressed concerns for the safety of
ADS-equipped CMVs and how ADSequipped trucks will be compliant
during a roadside inspection. FMCSA is
actively engaged in many research and
administrative activities to help
improve the safety of CMV drivers and
the general public, including research
on ADS-equipped CMVs. There are
many research questions that need to be

PO 00000

Frm 00098

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

16815

answered before ADS-equipped CMVs
are deployed at scale. Some of these
research questions are focused on the
ADS technology itself to ensure that the
ADS technology functions as intended
and incorporates the appropriate
redundant failsafe systems. Other
research questions focus on the human
factors associated with how drivers will
interact and team with ADS and how
law enforcement will ensure the safe
operation of ADS-equipped CMVs.
Results from this study, and other
studies focused on ADS-equipped
CMVs, will help to ensure the safety of
ADS and drivers on the road.
The final comment was submitted by
the Autonomous Vehicle Industry
Association (AVIA). AVIA supported
the study as a means to gather
additional information that could be
used, in part, to inform decisions in
response to potential requests for relief
from FMCSA’s HOS under 49 U.S.C.
31315 and 49 CFR part 381.
Additionally, AVIA requested that
FMCSA amend the language in the
study to align with terminology used in
SAE J3016. Specifically, AVIA
recommended replacing the term
‘‘remote monitor’’ with ‘‘remote
assistant’’ and ‘‘remote operator’’ with
‘‘remote driver.’’ FMCSA agrees that the
use of consistent terminology is
important when describing ADSs.
FMCSA has revised those phrases to
align with SAE J3016.
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.
Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research
and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2024–04923 Filed 3–7–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Office of Foreign Assets Control
Notice of OFAC Sanctions Actions
Office of Foreign Assets
Control, Treasury.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:

E:\FR\FM\08MRN1.SGM

08MRN1