[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 26, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28545-28546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13913]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. OST-96-1436]


Filing Procedures for the DOT Docket; Electronic Submission

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary (OST), DOT.

ACTION: Notice requesting comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) is requesting the 
public to comment on its plan to revise its document filing 
requirements to provide for electronic submission of information to its 
central dockets management system (DMS). Electronic submission would 
provide more convenience than the current requirement to submit paper, 
by allowing DOT customers to file documents from their desktop 
computers. It also would streamline docket processing to accommodate 
the anticipated increases in volume.

DATES: Comments must be submitted by July 27, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to the Central Docket 
Management Facility, (CDMF) SVC-124.1, PL-401, Docket No. OST-96-1436, 
Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590. Any person wishing acknowledgment that his/her comments have 
been received should include a self-addressed stamped postcard. 
Comments received will be available for public inspection and copying 
in the CDMF, Room PL-401, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through 
Friday, except Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dorothy W. Walker, Chief Dockets, 
SVC-124, (202) 366-9329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOT consolidated its nine separate docket 
facilities into a central DMS and is continuing the conversion from a 
paper-based system to an optical imaging system for more efficient 
receipt, storage, management, and retrieval of docketed information. In 
order to complete this phased transition to an electronic docket 
system, DOT plans to develop an Electronic Submission (ES) enhancement 
for its DMS that would allow customers to submit documents 
electronically from their desktops into the Docket. Currently all 
filings must be submitted as a paper hard copy to the DMS. The paper 
documents are then processed into the DMS by entering a document 
database record, scanning the paper, and performing quality assurance 
(QA) on the document images and data to resolve any errors.
    DOT also plans to revise its document filing requirements to 
provide for ES. ES is not intended to replace the current paper-based 
submission process since not all filers will have access to computers. 
DMS will retain the paper-based filing process and continue to accept 
paper. DOT also is considering a direct dial-in capability for those 
without Internet access and to provide a backup capability in the event 
Internet access is temporarily unavailable. All documents that are 
electronically submitted would be stored in a separate database for ES 
waiting to be processed by DMS staff. DMS staff would need to perform 
QA review of ES filings prior to saving the documents into the 
production DMS.
    For the sake of simplicity, the Office of the Secretary is issuing 
this notice on behalf of all of DOT's constituent

[[Page 28546]]

agencies. Ultimately, we envision that ES would be available for all of 
the constituent DOT agencies; although at this time, not all have fully 
consolidated into the DMS. To ensure the quality of the product 
developed, DOT is evaluating its internal needs as well as those of the 
general public. Substantial changes to the DMS business processes and 
procedures and to agency filing requirements may be needed.
    This notice is intended to inform the public about, and to solicit 
public comment on, electronic submission and any necessary changes to 
our filing requirements. It may be downloaded from the DMS Web Site 
News Page located at http://dms.dot.gov by clicking on the News Link. 
The questions are intended only to elicit any thoughts and ideas you 
may have on the ES enhancement to DMS.

User-System Interaction

    1. What is your current use of DMS?
    2. What capabilities would you like to see in the ES system?
    3. Are there any other systems that you use now or are aware of 
that we should look at in developing ES?
    4. What method should DMS use to send/receive information using ES? 
For example, e-mail, dial-in, Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.
    5. Should the DMS notify you that your document has: (1) arrived; 
and (2) been accepted?
    6. In case the document is rejected, what information should the 
DMS send back to the submitter? (e.g., time of submission, reason for 
rejection).
    7. Should the DMS provide submitters with an electronic submission 
form to fill out with information such as organization, docket id, name 
and address, point of contact, etc.? Filling out such a form could take 
some time, but could ensure better accuracy. The DMS staff would file 
the submitter's information as submitted rather than entering it into a 
record upon receipt, possibly incorrectly.

Document Size and Format

    1. How many pages are in the largest documents you have ever 
submitted?
    2. How many documents do you submit on average each day? Each 
month?
    3. What word processing software do you use to prepare your 
documents? (e.g., Word Perfect (WP), Microsoft Word, etc.)
    4. What charts or graphics software does the DMS need to 
accommodate? (e.g., Power Point, Harvard Graphics, Corel Draw, 
Freelance.)

Document Date and Time

    1. Would you find it useful if you were able to submit documents 
outside normal business hours?

Security

    1. Should the DMS require a unique login id/password to submit a 
document electronically?
    2. Do you have a need to submit comments anonymously?
    3. If so, how could the DMS staff contact you in case your 
submission is incomplete or additional information is needed?
    4. Is it important that the DMS validate the identity of the sender 
of a document?
    5. Should ES allow for encryption in order to protect the contents 
of a document during submission?

General

    1. Are there any other special needs that we should consider?
    2. Are there any additional capabilities the ES system should have?

    Issued in Washington, DC on May 20, 1998.
Neil R. Eisner,
Assistant General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 98-13913 Filed 5-22-98; 8:45 am]
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