Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application for an Exemption From Charles Machine Works Inc.

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
28 March 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 60 (Thursday, March 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11862-11863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05952]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0069]


Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application 
for an Exemption From Charles Machine Works Inc.

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

ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) 
requests public comment on Charles Machine Works, Inc.'s (CMW) 
application for an exemption from the Agency's prohibition against the 
use of gravity or syphon-fed fuel systems for auxiliary equipment 
installed on or used in connection with commercial motor vehicles 
(CMVs). CMW believes that the use of gravity or syphon-fed fuel systems 
for auxiliary equipment that operates only when the CMV is parked would 
maintain a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the 
level that it would achieve without the requested exemption.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 29, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2019-0069 using any of the 
following methods:
     Website: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on the Federal electronic docket 
site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room W12-140, DOT Building, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
e.t., Monday-Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket number for this notice. 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 for further information.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to Room W12-140, 
DOT Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    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.
    Public participation: The http://www.regulations.gov website is 
generally available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You may find 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``help'' section of the http://www.regulations.gov website as well as 
the DOT's http://docketsinfo.dot.gov website. If you would like 
notification that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgment 
page that appears after submitting comments online.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside 
Operations Division, Office of Carrier, Driver, and Vehicle Safety, MC-
PSV, (202) 366-0676, Luke.Loy@dot.gov, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Under 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA may grant exemptions from 
the FMCSRs. Pursuant to the implementing regulations, FMCSA must 
publish a notice of each exemption request in the Federal Register (49 
CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must provide the public with an opportunity 
to inspect the information relevant to the application, including any 
safety analyses that have been conducted. The Agency must also provide 
an opportunity for public comment on the request.
    The Agency reviews the safety analyses and the public comments and 
determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level 
of safety equivalent to or greater than the level that would be 
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305).
    The decision of the Agency must be published in the Federal 
Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)). If the Agency denies the request, it must 
state the reason for doing so. If the decision is to grant the 
exemption, the notice must specify the person or class of persons 
receiving the exemption and the regulatory provision or provisions from 
which an exemption is granted. The notice must specify the effective 
period of the exemption (up to 5 years) and explain the terms and 
conditions of the exemption. The exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 
381.315(c) and 49 CFR 381.300(b)).

CMW's Application for Exemption

    CMW has applied for an exemption from 49 CFR 393.65(d) to allow the 
use of gravity or syphon fed fuel systems for auxiliary equipment 
installed on or used in connection with CMVs that operate only when the 
CMV is not operating on the highway. A copy of the application is 
included in the docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.
    Section 393.65 of the FMCSRs prescribes certain requirements that 
are applicable to all CMV fuel systems. The requirements in this 
section apply to systems for containing and supplying fuel for the 
operation of (1) motor vehicles or (2) auxiliary equipment installed 
on, or used in connection with, motor vehicles. Section 393.65(d) 
prohibits a fuel system from supplying fuel by gravity or syphon feed 
directly to the carburetor or injector.
    CMW is a family of companies focused on the installation,

[[Page 11863]]

maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement of underground pipe and 
cable for the telecom, oil, electricity, gas, water, and wastewater 
industries. Its family of companies includes Ditch Witch[supreg], 
Subsite[supreg] Electronics, DW/TXS[supreg], HammerHead[supreg], 
Radius[supreg] HDD, American Augers[supreg], Trencor[supreg] and 
MTI[supreg] Equipment. CMW designs, manufactures and sells a range of 
products to cover the full life-cycle of underground pipe and cable, 
including horizontal directional drills, walk and ride trenchers, 
utility loaders, vacuum excavators, asset locators, pipe rehabilitation 
solutions and after-market tools.
    Some of the equipment designed and manufactured by CMW utilize 
small, commercially available internal combustion engines to power 
auxiliary equipment that is permanently mounted on a CMV. CMW states 
that while auxiliary equipment that is permanently mounted to CMVs is 
considered part of the CMV and subject to the requirements of 49 CFR 
393.65(d), it ``has identified that currently there is uneven roadside 
enforcement with regard to the use of gravity fed fuel tanks on 
auxiliary equipment installed on or used in connection with commercial 
motor vehicles.''
    In support of its application, CMW states:

    Most small commercially available internal combustion engines 
used on auxiliary equipment are equipped from the factory with 
gravity fed fuel tanks attached to the engine . . . The cost of 
modifying these small internal combustion engines to remove the fuel 
tank from the engine and to re-engineer the fuel delivery system to 
use a fuel pump to pump fuel from the now removed fuel tank to the 
internal combustion engine requires electrical wiring to be run from 
the commercial motor vehicle to operate the fuel pump. Manufacturers 
who have gone to this additional expense, question the reasoning of 
removing the fuel tank from above the engine and placing it beside 
the engine and equipping the system with a fuel pump to transfer 
fuel from the tank to the engine. Since the auxiliary equipment only 
operates when the CMV is not operating on the highway there does not 
seem to be any legitimate safety reason for this requirement. A 
review of previous Federal Register notices does not describe why 
this requirement was added for fuel systems for auxiliary equipment 
on commercial motor vehicles, when this equipment is not operating 
while the CMV is operating on the highway.

    The exemption would permit CMW and all other CMV operators to 
utilize auxiliary equipment with gravity fed fuel systems when the CMV 
is not operating on the highway. CMW believes that granting the 
temporary exemption will maintain a level of safety that is equivalent 
to or greater than the level of safety achieved without the exemption 
because the auxiliary equipment will not be operating while the CMV is 
operating on the highway. CMW ``believes that because the engine on the 
auxiliary equipment will not be operating while the CMV is traveling on 
the highway, so the potential risk of gravity fed fuel systems leaking 
on a hot or operating engine will not be possible, thereby eliminating 
the possibility of fire from the auxiliary equipment.''

Request for Comments

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA requests 
public comment from all interested persons on CMW's application for an 
exemption from the requirements of 49 CFR 393.65(d). All comments 
received before the close of business on the comment closing date 
indicated at the beginning of this notice will be considered and will 
be available for examination in the docket at the location listed under 
the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Comments received after the 
comment closing date will be filed in the public docket and will be 
considered to the extent practicable. In addition to late comments, 
FMCSA will also continue to file, in the public docket, relevant 
information that becomes available after the comment closing date. 
Interested persons should continue to examine the public docket for new 
material.

    Issued on: March 21, 2019.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2019-05952 Filed 3-27-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P