Hours of Service of Drivers of Commercial Motor Vehicles; Regulatory Guidance for Oil Field Exceptions

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
August 6, 2012

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 151 (Monday, August 6, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46640-46641]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19303]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 395

[Docket No. FMCSA-2012-0183]


Hours of Service of Drivers of Commercial Motor Vehicles; 
Regulatory Guidance for Oil Field Exceptions

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public listening sessions and extension of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA extends the comment period for the Agency's June 5, 
2012, notice concerning regulatory guidance on the applicability of the 
oilfield operations exceptions in the hours-of-service regulations, and 
announces that the Agency will hold three public listening sessions to 
receive comments on the issue. The Agency extends the deadline for 
public comments from August 6 to October 5, 2012. The listening 
sessions will be open to the public and webcast in their entirety.

DATES: The first two listening sessions will be held on August 17, 
2012, in Denver, CO, and on August 21, 2012, in Pittsburgh, PA. Both 
will begin at 1:00 p.m., local time, and end at 5:30 p.m. local time, 
or earlier if all participants wishing to comment have expressed their 
views. The third listening session will be held in September 2012, in 
Dallas, TX on a date to be determined. FMCSA will provide details of 
the third session by means of a notice in the Federal Register and on 
its Web site at www.fmcsa.dot.gov. Written comments to the docket must 
be received on or before October 5, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The August 17, 2012, listening session will be held at the 
Embassy Suites Denver International Airport, 7001 Yampa Street, Denver, 
CO 80249. The August 21, 2012, session will be held at the Embassy 
Suites Hotel, 550 Cherrington Parkway, Coraopolis, PA 15108. The Agency 
will provide details on the September 2012 listening session in Dallas, 
TX, in a subsequent Federal Register notice.
    Internet Address for Alternative Media Broadcasts During and 
Immediately After the Listening Sessions. FMCSA will post specific 
information on how to participate via the Internet and telephone on the 
FMCSA Web site at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.
    You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket Management 
System Number FMCSA-2012-0183 by any of the following methods:
     Web site: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the Federal electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Room W-12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room W12-140, DOT Building, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
    All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number. For 
detailed instruction on submitting comments and additional information, 
see the ``Public Participation'' heading below. Note that all comments 
received will be posted without change to www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided. Please see the ``Privacy 
Act'' heading below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room 
W12-140, DOT Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review the 
DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published 
on December 29, 2010 (75 FR 82133), or you may visit 
www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 46641]]

    Public Participation: The www.regulations.gov Web site is generally 
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``help'' section of that Web site, and at DOT's http://docketsinfo.dot.gov Web site. If you want us to notify you that we 
received your comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped 
envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement page that appears 
after submitting comments online.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the regulatory guidance issued on 
June 5, 2012, concerning oilfield hours-of-service exceptions: Mr. 
Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and Carrier Operations Division, Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590, phone (202) 366-4325, email MCPSD@dot.gov. For 
the listening sessions: Ms. Shannon Watson, Senior Advisor to the 
Associate Administrator for Policy, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, phone 
(202) 385-2395, email shannon.watson@dot.gov.
    If you need sign language assistance to participate in a listening 
session, please contact Shannon Watson at (202) 385-2395, or email 
shannon.watson@dot.gov, no later than 10 days prior to the listening 
session.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On June 5, 2012, FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register 
concerning regulatory guidance about the ``oilfield operations'' 
exceptions in 49 CFR 395.1(d) (77 FR 33098). The regulatory guidance, 
effective June 5, 2012, was issued to ensure consistent understanding 
and application of the regulatory exceptions. Several groups or 
organizations have requested that the Agency extend the comment period 
and consider holding a listening session(s). The FMCSA announces (1) an 
extension of the comment period for the submission of written comments 
in response to the June 5, 2012, notice, and (2) listening sessions on 
the regulatory guidance.

Listening Sessions

    The listening sessions are open to the public. Speakers are 
requested to limit their remarks to 5 minutes, but are not required to 
pre-register. The public may submit material to the FMCSA staff at the 
session for inclusion in the docket, FMCSA-2012-0183.

Alternative Media Broadcasts During and Immediately After the Listening 
Sessions

    FMCSA will provide webcast information for each listening session. 
Prior to each session, the Agency will post the web address for the 
live webcast, and instructions on how to participate at FMCSA's Web 
site, www.fmcsa.dot.gov. After each listening session, FMCSA will place 
a full transcript of the listening session in the docket referenced at 
the beginning of this notice.

    Issued on: August 2, 2012.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2012-19303 Filed 8-2-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P