Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for Rulemaking To Require the Installation and Maintenance of Speed Limiting Devices in Heavy Vehicles

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Raymond R. Posten
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
29 September 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67056-67057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23486]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0087]

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0083]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for 
Rulemaking To Require the Installation and Maintenance of Speed 
Limiting Devices in Heavy Vehicles

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA and FMCSA announce the availability of a Draft 
Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental 
impacts of proposed regulations requiring the installation of vehicle 
speed limiting devices in new heavy vehicles and maintenance of a 
maximum speed setting by motor carriers operating affected vehicles. 
The Draft EA was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) 
regulations implementing NEPA, U.S. DOT Order 5610.1C, NHTSA's NEPA 
implementing regulations, and FMCSA's NEPA Order 5610.1. Interested 
persons are invited to comment on the Draft EA.

DATES: You should submit your comments early enough to ensure that the 
docket receives them not later than November 7, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the Draft EA, bearing the Federal 
Docket Management System Docket IDs [NHTSA-2016-0087] or [FMCSA-2014-
0083] using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    Each submission must include the Agencies' names and the docket 
numbers for this notice. 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.
    You may call the Docket at 202-366-9324.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to www.regulations.gov or the street address 
listed above.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the 
system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dot.gov/privacy. 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.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    NHTSA: Mr. Markus Price, Chief, Visibility and Injury Prevention 
Division, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-1810.
    FMCSA: Ms. Andrea Pahlevanpour, Environmental Program Analyst, 
Regulatory Evaluation Division, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone: 202-366-5370.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Pursuant to NEPA, NHTSA and FMCSA have prepared a Draft EA 
analyzing the potential environmental impacts of the agencies' proposed 
rulemaking regarding the installation and maintenance of speed limiting 
devices in heavy vehicles. See 81 FR 61942 (Sep. 7, 2016). 
Specifically, the proposal requires all newly manufactured U.S. trucks, 
buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight 
rating more than 11,793.4 kilograms (26,000 pounds) to be equipped with 
a speed limiting device set to a designated speed. Further, under the 
proposal, motor carriers operating commercial vehicles in interstate 
commerce would be responsible for maintaining the speed limiting 
devices at or below the designated speed for the service life of the 
vehicle. Although the agencies do not propose the designated speed for 
the speed limiting devices to be set, the agencies considered the 
benefits and costs of four alternatives in the proposal: 60 mph, 65 
mph, 68 mph maximum speeds and the No Action Alternative of not 
requiring the installation of speed limiters in heavy vehicles. At this 
time, the agencies have not selected a preferred alternative and seek 
public comment on the specified maximum speed level to require in the 
final rule.

Environment

    NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) requires Federal agencies to integrate 
environmental values into their decision-making processes by requiring 
Federal agencies to consider the potential environmental impacts of 
their proposed actions. In accordance with NEPA, CEQ's regulations 
implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), U.S. DOT Order 5610.1C, 
NHTSA's NEPA implementing regulations (49 CFR part 520), and FMCSA's 
NEPA Order 5610.1 (69 FR 9680 [Mar. 1, 2004]), NHTSA and FMCSA have 
prepared a Draft EA to outline the purpose and need for the proposed 
rulemaking, a reasonable range of alternative actions the agencies 
could adopt through rulemaking (in particular, the maximum specified 
speeds under consideration), and the projected environmental impacts of 
these alternatives.
    NHTSA and FMCSA anticipate that the action alternatives will have 
negligible or no impact on the following resource and impact 
categories: (1) Topography, geology, and soils; (2) water resources 
(including wetlands and floodplains); (3) biological resources; (4) 
resources protected under the Endangered Species Act; (5) historical 
and archeological resources; (6) farmland resources; (7) environmental 
justice; and (8) resources protected under 49 U.S.C. 303 (``Section 
4(f)'' properties). The impact areas that may be affected and were 
evaluated in the Draft EA include air quality and greenhouse gas 
emissions; socioeconomics; public health and safety; solid waste; 
hazardous materials; and fuel savings.

[[Page 67057]]

    NHTSA and FMCSA invite interested parties to comment on the Draft 
EA by following the instructions under ADDRESSES above. The Draft EA is 
available on both agencies' Web sites at http://www.nhtsa.gov/ and 
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ or on the public docket at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0087-0003 and Docket No. 
FMCSA-2014-0083-0002).
    Subject to public notice and comment, NHTSA and FMCSA anticipate 
issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) related to this 
action.

    Issued pursuant to authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.81, 1.95, and 
501.8 on: September 22, 2016.
Raymond R. Posten,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration.
    Issued pursuant to authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.81 and 1.87 
on: September 22, 2016.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-23486 Filed 9-28-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P