Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection Request: Hazardous Materials Safety Permits

G. Kelly Leone
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
April 7, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 66 (Monday, April 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19169-19170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07690]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0349]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently 
Approved Information Collection Request: Hazardous Materials Safety 
Permits

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, 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. The FMCSA requests approval to revise and extend an ICR 
entitled, ``Hazardous Materials Safety Permits.'' This ICR requires 
companies holding permits to develop communications plans that allow 
for the periodic tracking of the shipments. A record of the 
communications that includes the time of the call and location of the 
shipment may be kept by either the driver (e.g., recorded in the log 
book) or the company. The motor carrier or driver must maintain a 
record of the communications for at least six months after the initial 
acceptance of a shipment of hazardous material for which a safety 
permit is required.

DATES: Please send your comments by May 7, 2014. OMB must receive your 
comments by this date in order to act on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: All comments should reference Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2013-0349. 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/Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration, and sent via electronic mail to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov, or faxed to (202) 395-6974, 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. Paul Bomgardner, Hazardous 
Materials Division, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-493-0027; email 
paul.bomgardner@dot.gov. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Hazardous Materials Safety Permits.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0030.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved ICR.
    Respondents: Motor carriers subject to the Hazardous Materials 
Safety Permit. requirements in 49 CFR Part 385 Subpart E.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,382.

[[Page 19170]]

    Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes. The communication between 
motor carriers and their drivers must take place at least two times per 
day. It is estimated that it will take 5 minutes to maintain a daily 
communication record for each driver.
    Expiration Date: May 31, 2014.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 967,000 hours [11.6 million trips x 
5 minutes/60 minutes per record = 966,666.66 rounded to 967,000].

Background

    The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is responsible for 
implementing regulations to issue safety permits for transporting 
certain Hazardous Materials (HM) in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5101 et 
seq. The HM Safety Permit regulations (49 CFR part 385, Subpart E) 
require carriers to complete a ``Combined Motor Carrier Identification 
Report and HM Permit Application'' (Form MCS-150B). The HM Safety 
Permit regulations also require carriers to have a security program. As 
part of the HM Safety Permit regulations, carriers are required to 
develop and maintain route plans so that law enforcement officials can 
verify the correct location of the HM shipment. The FMCSA requires 
companies holding permits to develop a communications plan that allows 
for the periodic tracking of the shipment. This information covers the 
record of communications that includes the time of the call and 
location of the shipment. The records must be kept by either the driver 
(e.g., recorded in the log book) or the company for at least six months 
after the initial acceptance of a shipment of hazardous material for 
which a safety permit is required.

Comments From the Public

General Summary

    FMCSA received three comments to the 60-day Federal Register notice 
published on December 10, 2013 (78 FR 74222) regarding the Agency's 
Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently-Approved 
Information Collection Request: Hazardous Materials Safety Permits. 
Comments were received from Boyle Transportation, a business consultant 
and engineer, and Landstar Transportation Logistics. Comments and 
responsive considerations are as follows:
    Boyle Transportation commented that it is necessary to track 
shipments more than two times a day; tracking technologies are widely 
available in the industry and carriers should maintain fully staffed 
operations center to monitor shipments. FMCSA responded that the 
requirements stated in 49 CFR 385.415(c)(1) are a minimum requirement 
for Hazardous Materials Safety Permits (HMSP) carriers and carriers are 
encouraged to use state-of-the art monitoring and tracking devices.
    The business consultant and engineer stated that we should start 
taking a stand against pollution. There was no return address in the 
comment for FMCSA to send a response, and the comment is beyond the 
scope of this ICR.
    Landstar Transportation Logistics asks that if a carrier is using a 
satellite tracking system to monitor a hazardous materials load, FMCSA 
should eliminate the redundant requirement for operators to make 
specific contact with the carrier at the beginning and end of each duty 
tour, and at the pickup and delivery of each permitted load. FMCSA 
responded that the requirement is not viewed as redundant and the 
requirements stated in 49 CFR 385.415(c)(1) are a basic and minimum 
requirement for all HMSP carriers and carriers are encouraged to use 
state-of-the-art tracking devices, but their use is not required.
    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 FMCSA to perform its functions; (2) the 
accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the 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 on: March 31, 2014.
G. Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology 
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-07690 Filed 4-4-14; 8:45 am]
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