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

Kenneth H. Riddle
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
7 April 2020

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 67 (Tuesday, April 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 19570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07222]



[[Page 19570]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0242]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension 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 its 
review and approval. The FMCSA requests approval to revise and extend 
an existing ICR titled, ``Hazardous Materials Safety Permits.'' This 
ICR requires companies holding safety 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. These records must be kept, either physically 
or electronically, for at least six months at the company's principal 
place of business or readily available to the employees at the 
company's principal place of business. In response to the 60-day 
Federal Register Notice published on November 7, 2019, FMCSA received 
one comment that did not relate to this ICR.

DATES: Please send your comments by May 7, 2020. OMB must receive your 
comments by this date in order to act on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Suzanne Rach, Office of 
Enforcement and Compliance, Hazardous Materials Division, Department of 
Transportation, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-385-2307; email 
suzanne.rach@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Hazardous Materials Safety Permits.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0030.
    Type of Request: Revision and Extension of a currently-approved 
information collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers subject to the HM Safety Permit 
requirements in 49 CFR part 385, subpart E.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 987.
    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: August 31, 2020.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 692,000 hours [8.3 million trips x 5 
minutes per record / 60 minutes per hour = 691,667 rounded to 692,000].
    Background: The Secretary of Transportation 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 develop and maintain route plans so that law 
enforcement officials can verify the correct location of the HM 
shipment. The FMCSA requires companies holding safety permits to 
develop a communications plan that allows for the periodic tracking of 
the shipment. This ICR covers the record of communications that 
includes the time of the call and location of the shipment. The records 
may be kept by either the driver (e.g., recorded in the log book) or 
the company. These records must be kept, either physically or 
electronically, for at least six months at the company's principal 
place of business or be readily available to employees at the company's 
principal place of business. The currently-approved information 
collection is based on an estimated 1,304 respondents. The total number 
of companies now holding a safety permit is 987 therefore in this ICR 
the estimated number of respondents is being revised to reflect this 
number.
    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 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.
Kenneth H. Riddle,
Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Registration and Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-07222 Filed 4-6-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P