Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection

Kelly Leone
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
December 13, 2012

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 240 (Thursday, December 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74269-74270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30148]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0313]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a 
Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Transportation of 
Household Goods; Consumer Protection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
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. The FMCSA requests approval to revise an ICR 
entitled, ``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.'' 
The information collected will be used to help regulate motor carriers 
transporting household goods (HHG) for individual shippers.

DATES: Please send your comments by January 14, 2013. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: All comments should reference Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2011-0313. Interested persons are 
invited to submit written comments on the proposed information 
collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget. Comments should be addressed to the attention 
of the Desk Officer, Department of Transportation/Office of the 
Secretary, and sent via electronic mail to http://www.regulations.gov 
or faxed to (202) 395-7245, or mailed to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Docket Library, 
Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brodie Mack, Commercial 
Enforcement Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West 
Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone: 202-366-8045; email brodie.mack@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0025.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently-approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: 6,000 household goods movers.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies from 5 minutes to display 
assigned U.S. DOT number in created advertisement to 12.5 minutes to 
distribute consumer publication.
    Expiration Date: December 31, 2013.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 5,524,500 hours [Informational 
documents provided to prospective shippers at 43,500 hours + Written 
Cost estimates for prospective shippers at 4,620,000 hours + Service 
orders, bills of lading at 805,300 hours + In-transit service 
notifications at 22,600 hours + Complaint and inquiry records including 
establishing records system at 32,700 hours + Household Goods--Consumer 
Complaint Form MCSA-2P at 400 hours = 5,524,500].
    Background: The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 
(MCSIA) (Pub. L. 106-159, 113 Stat. 1749, December 9, 1999) authorized 
the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to regulate household goods 
carriers engaged in interstate operations for individual shippers. In 
earlier legislation, Congress abolished the former Interstate Commerce 
Commission and transferred the Commission's jurisdiction over household 
goods transportation to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 
(ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-88). Prior to FMCSA's 
establishment, the Secretary delegated this household goods 
jurisdiction to the Federal Highway Administration, FMCSA's predecessor 
organization within DOT.
    Sections 4202 through 4216 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (Pub. L. 109-
59, 119 Stat. 1144, Aug. 10, 2005) (SAFETEA-LU) amended various 
provisions of existing law regarding household goods transportation. It 
specifically addressed: definitions (section 4202); payment of rates 
(section 4203); registration requirements for household goods motor 
carriers (section 4204); carrier operations (section 4205); enforcement 
of regulations (section 4206); liability of carriers under receipts and 
bills of lading (section 4207); arbitration requirements (section 
4208); civil penalties for brokers and unauthorized transportation 
(section 4209); penalties for holding goods hostage (section 4210); 
consumer handbook (section 4211); release of broker information 
(section 4212); working group for Federal-State relations (section 
4213); consumer complaint information (section 4214); review of 
liability of carriers (section 4215); and application of State laws 
(section 4216). The FMCSA regulations that set forth Federal 
requirements for movers that provide interstate transportation of 
household goods are found in 49 CFR part 375, ``Transportation of 
Household Goods; Consumer Protection Regulation.'' On July 16, 2012, 
FMCSA published a Direct Final Rule (DFR) entitled, ``Transportation of 
Household Goods in Interstate Commerce; Consumer Protection 
Regulations: Household Goods Motor Carrier Record Retention 
Requirements,'' in the Federal Register (77 FR 41699). The rule amends 
the regulations governing the period during which HHG motor carriers 
must retain documentation of an individual shipper's waiver of receipt 
of printed copies of consumer protection materials. This change 
harmonizes the retention period with other document retention 
requirements applicable to HHG motor carriers. FMCSA also amended the 
regulations to clarify that a HHG motor carrier is not required to 
retain waiver documentation from any individual shippers for whom the 
carrier does not actually provide services. The Agency did not receive 
any comments in response to the DFR.
    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

[[Page 74270]]

the request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

    Issued on: December 7, 2012.
Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2012-30148 Filed 12-12-12; 8:45 am]
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