Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a Currently-Approved Information Collection: Accident Recordkeeping Requirements

G. Kelly Regal
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
22 March 2017

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14793-14794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05629]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2016-0354]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a 
Currently-Approved Information Collection: Accident Recordkeeping 
Requirements

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

ACTION: Notice; 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 
approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval to extend 
the ICR entitled ``Accident Recordkeeping Requirements.'' This ICR 
relates to Agency requirements that motor carriers maintain a record of 
accidents involving their commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). Motor 
carriers are not required to report this data to FMCSA, but must 
produce it upon inquiry by authorized Federal, State or local 
officials.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 22, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2016-0354 by 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 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: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 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 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, 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 
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. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, Department of Transportation, Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-4325; email 
tom.yager@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 390.15(b), 
requires motor carriers to make certain specified records and 
information pertaining to CMV accidents available to an authorized 
representative or special agent of the FMCSA upon request or as part of 
an inquiry. Motor carriers are required to maintain an ``accident 
register'' consisting of information concerning all ``accidents'' 
involving their CMVs (49 CFR 390.15(b)(see ``Definition: Accident'' 
below). The following information must be recorded for each accident: 
Date, location, driver name, number of injuries, number of fatalities, 
and whether certain dangerous hazardous materials were released. In 
addition, the motor carrier must maintain copies of all accident 
reports required by insurers or governmental entities. Motor carriers 
must maintain this information for three years after the date of the 
accident. Section 390.15 does not require motor carriers to submit any 
information or records to FMCSA or any other party.
    This ICR supports the DOT strategic goal of safety. By requiring 
motor carriers to gather and record information concerning CMV 
accidents, FMCSA is strengthening its ability to assess the safety 
performance of motor carriers. This information is a valuable resource 
in Agency initiatives to prevent, and reduce the severity of, CMV 
crashes.
    The Agency increases its estimate from 26,700 to 36,157 burden 
hours. The regulation has not changed; the increase in burden hours 
does not

[[Page 14794]]

reflect changes in the requirements for accident recordkeeping. The 
increase is due to two revised estimates: (1) The population of motor 
carriers subject to the regulation, from 520,000 to 886,122, and (2) 
the number of reportable accidents, from 89,000 to 120,522. The Agency 
has amended the population of motor carriers to include the accident 
recordkeeping burden of intrastate motor carriers. In past estimates, 
the Agency had taken the position that the accident recordkeeping of 
intrastate carriers occurred as a result of State law. However, the OMB 
has directed FMCSA to include such intrastate activities in its IC 
estimates, so we do so in this burden estimate statement for the first 
time. The Agency estimates that 886,122 interstate and intrastate motor 
carriers are subject to accident register requirements (508,367 
interstate and 377,755 intrastate motor carriers). The Agency further 
estimates that the number of accidents that must be reported by 
intrastate or interstate motor carriers is 120,522.
    Title: Accident Recordkeeping Requirements.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0009.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Motor Carriers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 886,122 motor carriers.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 120,522.
    Estimated Time per Response: 18 minutes.
    Expiration Date: July 31, 2017.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 36,157 hours [120,522 accidents x 18 
minutes per response/60 minutes in an hour].
    Definition: ``Accident'' is an occurrence involving a CMV operating 
on a public road which results in: (1)A fatality, (2) bodily injury to 
a person who, as a result of the injury, receives medical treatment 
away from the scene of the accident, or (3) one or more motor vehicles 
being towed from the scene (49 CFR 390.5).
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the collection is 
necessary for the FMCSA's performance; (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. The Agency will summarize or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information 
collection.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on: March 16, 2017.
G. Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator for Office of Research and Information 
Technology.
[FR Doc. 2017-05629 Filed 3-21-17; 8:45 am]
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