[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 118 (Monday, June 21, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33035-33037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15706]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
49 CFR Part 71
[OST Docket No. OST-99-5843]
RIN 2105-AC80
Standard Time Zone Boundary in the State of Kentucky: Proposed
Relocation
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: At the request of the Wayne County, Kentucky, Fiscal Court,
DOT proposes to relocate the boundary between eastern time and central
time in the State of Kentucky. DOT proposes to relocate the boundary in
order to move Wayne County from the Central Time Zone to the Eastern
Time Zone.
DATES: Comments should be received by August 20, 1999 to be assured of
consideration. Comments received after that date will be considered to
the extent practicable. If the time zone boundary is changed as a
result of this rulemaking, the effective date would be 2:00 a.m. CDT
Sunday, October 31, 1999.
ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments and related material by only
one of the following methods:
(1) By mail to the Docket Management Facility (OST-1999-), U.S.
Department of Transportation, room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(2) By hand delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
(3) By fax to Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
(4) Electronically through the Web Site for the Docket Management
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this
rulemaking. Comments and material received from the public, as well as
documents indicated in this preamble as being available in the docket,
will become part of this docket and will be available for inspection or
copying at room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building at the
same address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. You may also find this docket on the Internet at
http://dms.dot.gov.
For questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call
Dorothy Walker, Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone
202-366-9329.
Public Hearing
A public hearing will be chaired by a representative of DOT at the
Fiscal Courtroom, Wayne County Courthouse, 109 North Main Street,
Monticello, Kentucky, on Thursday, June 24, 1999, at 7:00 p.m. The
hearing will be informal and will be tape recorded for inclusion in the
docket. Persons who desire to express opinions or ask questions at the
hearings do not have to sign up in advance or give any prior
notification. To the greatest extent practicable, the DOT
representative will provide an opportunity to speak for all those
wishing to do so.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joanne Petrie, Office of the Assistant
General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Room 10424, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC
20590, (202) 366-9315.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the Standard Time Act of 1918, as amended by the Uniform Time
Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260-64), the Secretary of Transportation has
authority to issue regulations modifying the boundaries between time
zones in the United States in order to move an area from one time zone
to another. The standard in the statute for such decisions is ``regard
for the convenience of commerce and the existing junction points and
division points of common carriers engaged in interstate or foreign
commerce.''
Petition for Rulemaking
On April 22, 1999, the Wayne County, Kentucky, Fiscal Court (the
highest governmental body in the county) formally petitioned the
Department of Transportation to change its time zone from central to
eastern. The Resolution stated the following in support of the request:
I. Supplies for businesses are shipped into Wayne County mostly
from the Eastern Time Zone. (Somerset, Lexington, Knoxville). United
Parcel Service, FedEX and other carrier deliveries come from
terminals in the Eastern Time Zone.
II. The major television stations that consider Wayne County as
part of their coverage area are all located in the Eastern Time
Zone. (Lexington, Knoxville) The local cable that serves Wayne
County has no major local affiliates which are located in the
Central Time Zone.
III. All daily newspapers that serve Wayne County are located in
the Eastern Time Zone. Those being the Louisville Courier-Journal,
Lexington Herald-Leader and the
[[Page 33036]]
Commonwealth Journal which comes from Somerset, Ky.
IV. The citizens of Wayne County obtain bus transportation in
Corbin, Ky, which is located in the Eastern Time Zone. The closest
rail service for public transportation is also located in the
Eastern Time Zone.
V. The closest commercial airport is Lexington, Ky., located in
the Eastern Time Zone.
VI. Approximately 950 of the local workforce works outside Wayne
County. It is estimated that 700 of those work in the Eastern Time
Zone. This represents manufacturing jobs and is based on the 1996
manufacturing statistics.
VII. Approximately 90% +/-of Wayne County residents that attend
educational institutions outside Wayne County attend schools that
are located in the Eastern Time Zone. If you look at only the
students that commute for education purposes, the figure would be
higher. Wayne County needs desperately to improve our educational
obtainment level of our residents. Moving to the Eastern Time zone
would align us with the resources to make this improvement more
feasible.
VIII. Most interscholastic activities (90% or more) are with
schools from the Eastern Time Zone. Most all district and regional
competitions are held in areas that are in the Eastern Time Zone.
IX. Tourism plays an important role in our economy and the major
portion of that comes from people located in the Eastern Time Zone.
Lake Cumberland is a major tourism drawing card for out county. A
very large portion (80%) of the tourists that come to this area come
from the Eastern Time Zone.
X. Major hospitals that serve Wayne County are located in the
Eastern Time Zone. It is estimated that 99% of all Wayne County
citizens that are referred to obtain other medical services, that
are not available locally, are referred to the Eastern Time Zone.
(Somerset, Lexington, Louisville)
XI. The State Police Headquarters that serves our area is
located in the Eastern Time Zone.
XII. Wayne County is the only county in the Fifth Congressional
District that is in the Central Time Zone.
XIII. Looking at two long term factors that could significantly
impact Wayne County in the future (the development of the Big South
Fork National River and Recreation Area and the construction of I-
66) would require Wayne County to be in the Eastern Time Zone to
fully align with these two developments.
XIV. Most all of our industry, if not all, that is not
headquartered locally has their main company headquarters in the
Eastern Time Zone.
XV. Wayne County residents that go outside the county for
``shopping'' purposes, goes to the Eastern Time Zone (Somerset/
Lexington).
XVI. The closest major gateway to our area is I-75. This
attaches Wayne County, Kentucky significantly to the Eastern Time
Zone.''
Under DOT procedures to change a time zone boundary, the Department
will generally begin a rulemaking proceeding if the highest elected
officials in the area make a prima facie case for the proposed change.
DOT has determined that the Resolution of the Wayne County Fiscal Court
makes a prima facie case that warrants opening a proceeding to
determine whether the change should be made. Consequently, in this
notice of proposed rulemaking, DOT is proposing to make the requested
change and is inviting public comment.
Although the Wayne County Fiscal Court has submitted sufficient
information to begin the rulemaking process, the decision whether
actually to make the change will be based upon information received at
the hearing or submitted in writing to the docket. Persons supporting
or opposing the change should not assume that the change will be made
merely because DOT is making the proposal. We are not bound either to
accept or reject the proposal of the Wayne County Fiscal Court at the
present time in the proceeding. The Department here issues no opinion
on the merits of the County's request. Our decision will be made on the
basis of information developed during the rulemaking proceeding.
Impact on observance of Daylight Saving Time
This time zone proposal does not directly affect the observance of
daylight saving time. Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, as amended,
the standard time of each time zone in the United States is advanced
one hour from 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in April until 2:00 a.m. on
the last Sunday in October, except in any State that has, by law,
exempted itself from this observance.
Regulatory Analysis & Notices
This proposed rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 and does not require an
assessment of potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of
that Order. It has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and
Budget under that Order. It is not ``significant'' under the regulatory
policies and procedures of the Department of Transportation (DOT)(44 FR
11040; February 26, l979. We expect the economic impact of this
proposed rule to be so minimal that a full Regulatory Evaluation under
paragraph 10e of the regulatory policies and procedures of DOT is
unnecessary. The rule primarily affects the convenience of individuals
in scheduling activities. By itself, it imposes no direct costs. Its
impact is localized in nature.
Small Entities
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), we
considered whether this proposed rule would have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The term ``small
entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than
50,000. This proposal, if adopted, would primarily affect individuals
and their scheduling of activities. Although it would effect some small
businesses, not-for-profits and, perhaps, several small governmental
jurisdictions, it would not be a substantial number. In addition, the
change should have little, if any, economic impact.
Therefore, the Office of the Secretary certifies under 5 U.S.C.
605(b) that this proposed rule would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. If you think that
your business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction qualifies as
a small entity and that this rule would have a significant economic
impact on it, please submit a comment to the Docket Management Facility
at the address under ADDRESSES. In your comment, explain why you think
it qualifies and how and to what degree this rule would economically
affect it.
Under section 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121), we want to assist small
entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better
evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking. If the
rule would affect your small business, organization, or governmental
jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its provisions or
options for compliance, please call Joanne Petrie at (202) 366-9315.
Collection of Information
This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520).
Federalism
We have analyzed this proposed rule under E.O. 12612 and have
determined that this rule does not have sufficient implications for
federalism to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment.
Unfunded Mandates
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) and
E.O.
[[Page 33037]]
12875, Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership, (58 FR 58093;
October 28, 1993) govern the issuance of Federal regulations that
require unfunded mandates. An unfunded mandate is a regulation that
requires a State, local, or tribal government or the private sector to
incur direct costs without the Federal Government's having first
provided the funds to pay those costs. This proposed rule would not
impose an unfunded mandate.
Taking of Private Property
This proposed rule would not effect a taking of private property or
otherwise have taking implications under E.O. 12630, Governmental
Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property
Rights.
Civil Justice Reform
This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and
3(b)(2) of E.O. 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize litigation,
eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden.
Protection of Children
We have analyzed this proposed rule under E.O. 13045, Protection of
Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. This rule is
not an economically significant rule and does not concern an
environmental risk to health or risk to safety that may
disproportionately affect children.
Environment
This rulemaking is not a major Federal action significantly
affecting the quality of the human environment under the National
Environmental Policy Act and, therefore, an environmental impact
statement is not required.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 71
Time.
PART 71--[AMENDED]
For the reasons discussed above, the Office of the Secretary
proposes to amend Title 49 Part 71 to read as follows:
1. The authority citation for Part 71 would continue to read:
Authority: Secs. 1-4, 40 Stat. 450, as amended; sec. 1, 41 Stat.
1446, as amended; secs. 2-7, 80 Stat. 107, as amended; 100 Stat.
764; Act of Mar. 19, 1918, as amended by the Uniform Time Act of
1966 and Pub. L. 97-449, 15 U.S.C. 260-267; Pub. L. 99-359; 49 CFR
159(a), unless otherwise noted.
2. Paragraph (c) of Sec. 71.5, Boundary line between eastern and
central zones, would be revised to read as follows:
Sec. 71.5, Boundary line between eastern and central zones.
* * * * *
(c) Kentucky. From the junction of the east line of Spencer County,
Ind., with the Indiana-Kentucky boundary easterly along that boundary
to the west line of Meade County, Ky.; thence southeasterly and
southwesterly along the west lines of Meade and Hardin Counties to the
southwest corner of Hardin County; thence along the south lines of
Hardin and Larue Counties to the northwest corner of Taylor County;
thence southeasterly along the west (southwest) line of Taylor County
and northeasterly along the east (south-east) line of Taylor County to
the west line of Casey County; and thence southerly along the west and
south lines of Casey and Pulaski Counties to the intersection with the
western boundary of Wayne County; and then south along the western
boundary of Wayne County to the Kentucky-Tennessee boundary.
* * * * *
Issued this 11th day of June 1999, at Washington, DC.
Rosalind Knapp,
Acting General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 99-15706 Filed 6-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P