[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 111 (Friday, June 8, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30978-30979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-14523]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2001-8672]


Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review: OMB 
Control No. 2126-0014 (Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Highway 
Routing)

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FMCSA announces that the Information Collection Request 
(ICR) described in this notice is being sent to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The FMCSA is 
requesting OMB's continued approval of the information that is required 
for Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Highway Routing. The ICR 
describes the information collection and its expected burden. The 
Federal Register notice announcing a 60-day comment period on this 
information collection was published on March 6, 2001 (66 FR 13620). We 
are required to send ICRs to OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Please submit comments by July 9, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Swedberg (303) 969-5772 
ext. 363, or Mr. William Quade (202) 366-2172, Hazardous Materials 
Division (MC-ECH), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 400 
Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:30 
a.m. to 4 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

[[Page 30979]]


ADDRESSES: Send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 Seventeenth Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503, Attention: DOT Desk Officer. We particularly 
request your comments on whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the FMCSA to meet its goal of reducing truck crashes, 
including whether the information is useful to this goal; the accuracy 
of the estimate of the burden of the information collection; ways to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collected; 
and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. OMB wants to receive comments 
within 30 days of publication of this notice in order to act on the ICR 
quickly.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Highway Routing.
    OMB Approval Number: 2126-0014.
    Background: The data for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials; 
Highway Routing designations are collected under authority of 49 U.S.C. 
5112 and 5125. That authority places responsibility on the Secretary of 
Transportation to specify and regulate standards for establishing, 
maintaining, and enforcing routing designations. Under 49 CFR 397.73, 
the Administrator has the authority to request that each state and 
Indian tribe, through its routing agency, provide information 
identifying hazardous materials (HM) routing designations within their 
respective jurisdictions. That information will be consolidated by the 
FMCSA and published annually in whole or as updates in the Federal 
Register.
    The FMCSA published the required notice offering a 60-day comment 
period on the ICR on March 6, 2001 (66 FR 13620). We received two 
comments. The first commenter, the Institute of Makers of Explosives 
(IME), did not dispute the need for FMCSA to collect information they 
characterized as ``essential.'' It did, however, point out there have 
been errors in past publications of the information and made 
suggestions for improving the quality of the information and its 
presentation to the public. IME suggested that FMCSA should request 
each state to review, revise, and re-submit information. IME also 
requested that FMCSA be open to suggestions about other delivery 
mechanisms to make this information available and suggested FMCSA use 
the mechanism of the ``Uniform Program.'' IME also requested that FMCSA 
update the HM routing website as changes occur.
    FMCSA does periodically request that each state review, revise, and 
re-submit information in preparation for publication of routes in the 
Federal Register. We also ask states to inform us when routing changes 
are made. FMCSA updates the HM routing website as we become aware of 
problems. For example, the Maryland I-95 error mentioned in IME's 
letter was corrected after FMCSA was made aware of the problem. FMCSA 
accepts suggestions about other delivery mechanisms to make this 
information available and will consider using the ``Uniform Program,'' 
although it is not clear how that specific mechanism would work. FMCSA 
invites IME to submit further elaboration of how FMCSA could use the 
``Uniform Program'' to deliver information about HM routes.
    The second commenter, the American Trucking Associations (ATA), 
made comments similar to those submitted by IME. ATA stated that the 
information being collected is essential and pointed out that 
publication of the information in the past has contained errors. In 
addition, ATA recommended that, to remedy past problems, the 
responsibility for the HM Routing program should be transferred to the 
Research and Special Programs Administration.
    FMCSA recognizes that there have been errors in the routing program 
in the past and that notices have not been published annually in the 
Federal Register, as required by 49 CFR part 397. However, FMCSA is a 
new organization and has published a Federal Register notice every year 
we have been in existence. FMCSA also continually updates the list of 
routes by way of an Internet website, http://hazmat.fmcsa.dot.gov, and 
corrects errors as we are made aware of them. Because we have already 
addressed ATA's concerns, we believe transfer of the program to the 
Research and Special Programs Administration is not necessary.
    Respondents: The reporting burden is shared by the 50 States, the 
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern 
Marianas, and the Virgin Islands; as applicable.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: The annual reporting burden is 
estimated to be 13 hours, calculated as follows: (53 respondents  x  1 
response  x  15 minutes/60 minutes = 13.25 hours, rounded to 13 hours).
    Frequency: There is one response annually from approximately 53 
respondents.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.73.

    Issued on: June 1, 2001.
Stephen E. Barber,
Acting Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-14523 Filed 6-7-01; 8:45 am]
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