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

G. Kelly Regal
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
September 21, 2015

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 182 (Monday, September 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57031-57032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-23589]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2015-0255]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension 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 information.

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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 its 
review and approval. The FMCSA requests approval to extend an ICR 
titled, ``Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.'' The 
information collected will be used to help regulate motor carriers 
transporting household goods (HHG) for individual shippers. FMCSA 
invites public comment on the ICR.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before November 20, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2015-0255 using any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m. e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the exemption process, see the Public 
Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://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 http://www.regulations.gov, and follow the 
online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the street 
address listed above.
    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 DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket Management System 
published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316), or 
you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdfE8-794.pdf.
    Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is available 
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain electronic 
submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the ``help'' section 
of the Federal eRulemaking Portal 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. Comments received after the 
comment closing date will be included in the docket and will be 
considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Kenneth Rodgers, Chief, Commercial 
Enforcement Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West 
Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone: 202-366-0073; email Kenneth.rodgers@dot.gov. Office hours 
are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (MCSIA) (Pub. L. 
106-159, 113 Stat. 1748, Dec. 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, 109 Stat. 803, Dec. 29 
1995). Prior to FMCSA's establishment, the Secretary delegated this 
household goods jurisdiction to the Federal Highway Administration, 
FMCSA's predecessor organization within DOT.

[[Page 57032]]

    The FMCSA has authority to regulate the overall commercial 
operations of the household goods industry under 49 U.S.C. 14104, 
``Household goods carrier operations.'' This ICR includes the 
information collection requirements contained in title 49 CFR part 375, 
``Transportation of Household Goods in Interstate Commerce; Consumer 
Protection Regulations.'' The information collected encompasses that 
which is generated, maintained, retained, disclosed, and provided to, 
or for, the agency under 49 CFR part 375.
    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) titled, 
``Transportation of Household Goods in Interstate Commerce; Consumer 
Protection Regulations: Household Goods Motor Carrier Record Retention 
Requirements,'' (77 FR 41699). The rule amended 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 harmonized 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.
    Title: Transportation of Household Goods; Consumer Protection.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0025.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently-approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Household goods movers and consumers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 8,565 respondents [6,065 household 
goods movers + 2,500 consumers = 8,565].
    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, and 10 minutes to complete Form MSCA-
2P, ``Household Goods/Commercial Complaint Form.
    Expiration Date: April 30, 2016.
    Frequency of Response: Other (Once).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 5,524,800 hours [Informational 
documents provided to prospective shippers at 43,800 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 = 5,524,800].
    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 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 information collected. The Agency will summarize or 
include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this ICR.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on: September 11, 
2015.
G. Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2015-23589 Filed 9-18-15; 8:45 am]
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