[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 29, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15797-15798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6167]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

49 CFR Subtitle A

[Docket No. OST-2005-20434]


Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Commiteee on Minimum Standards for 
Driver's Licenses and Personal Identification Cards

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

ACTION: Notice of meetings of advisory committee.

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SUMMARY: This document sets forth the schedule for the meetings of the 
Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee on Minimum Standards for 
Driver's Licenses and Personal Identification Cards. Pursuant to 
section 7212 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 
2004, the Office of the Secretary, DOT, is establishing a committee to 
develop, through negotiated rulemaking procedures, recommendations for 
minimum standards to tighten the security for driver's licenses and 
personal identification cards issued by States, in order for these 
documents to be accepted for use by Federal agencies for any official 
purpose, including identification, a given time after the final rule 
goes into effect. The committee will consist of persons who represent 
the interests affected by the proposed rule, i.e., State offices that 
issue driver's licenses or personal identification cards, elected State 
officials, the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security, and 
other interested parties.

DATES: Meetings of the committee will take place on the dates listed 
below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. All meetings are open to the 
public.

ADDRESSES: The committee's meetings will take place at the locations 
listed below under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert C. Ashby, Deputy Assistant 
General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, Office of the General 
Counsel, at (202) 366-9310 ([email protected]), or Steve Wood, 
Assistant Chief Counsel for Vehicle Safety Standards and Harmonization, 
Office of the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, (202) 366-2992 ([email protected],gov). Their 
mailing addresses are at the Department of Transportation, 400 7th 
Street, SW, Washington DC, 20590, rooms 10424 and 5219, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 17, 2004, the President signed 
into law the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. 
(Public Law 108-458). Title VII of that Act is known as the 9/11 
Commission Implementation Act of 2004 (the 9/11 Act). Subtitle B of the 
9/11 Act addresses terrorist travel and effective screening. Among 
other things, Subtitle B, section 7212, mandates the issuance of 
minimum standards for State-issued driver's licenses and personal 
identification cards (Section 7212) that will be accepted by Federal 
agencies for official purposes.
    Section 7212 directs the Department of Transportation to issue 
rules with the assistance of a negotiated rulemaking advisory 
committee, composed of representatives of the Departments of 
Transportation and Homeland Security, State agencies that issue 
driver's licenses, State elected officials, and other interested 
parties.
    To carry out this requirement, the Department recently published a 
notice of intent to form this advisory committee, consistent with the 
standards of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and Negotiated 
Rulemaking Act (NRA). See 70 FR 8756, February 23, 2005. The comment 
period for this notice extends through March 25, 2005. During the 
comment period, the Department will file a charter for the committee 
with the General Services Administration, and the convener will begin 
contacting potential participants.

[[Page 15798]]

After evaluating comments received as a result of the February 23 
notice, the Department will issue a notice announcing the establishment 
and composition of the committee.
    The statutory timetable for this rulemaking is short. Section 7212 
of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Act specifies that the 
recommendations of the negotiated rulemaking committee must be 
submitted to the Secretary of Transportation no later than 9 months 
after the date of enactment, i.e., by September 17, 2005. Section 7212 
further specifies that the Secretary must issue a final rule 
establishing the minimum standards no later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment, i.e., by June 17, 2006. To meet these deadlines, the 
Department must begin, in the very near future, a very compressed 
schedule of regulatory negotiation meetings. The Department has 
scheduled five meetings on the following dates:
    Meeting 1: April 19-21, 2005.
    Meeting 2: May 10-13, 2005.
    Meeting 3: May 31, June 1-3, 2005.
    Meeting 4: June 21-24, 2005.
    Meeting 5: July 12-15, 2005.
    The meetings will take place in the Department of Transportation 
headquarters building, 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, in 
Room 2230. Meetings are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 
5:30 p.m.
    The meetings of the committee are open to the public (unless 
portions of the meeting are held in closed session, as provided under 
FACA). Attendance will necessarily be limited by the size of the 
meeting room. Members of the public wishing to attend meetings held in 
Department of Transportation buildings or other Federal facilities will 
have to enter through designated security checkpoints.
    The visitor entry point for the Department of Transportation 
headquarters building is in the southwest corner entrance to the 
building (i.e., the entrance nearest the corner of 7th and E Streets, 
SW.). Visitors must be escorted into and out of the building. Because 
it can take some time for large numbers of visitors to process through 
security, we request that visitors arrive between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. to 
undergo the screening process. DOT personnel will then escort groups of 
visitors to the meeting room. This group escort process will also be 
followed for persons entering following the lunch break and for persons 
leaving the building for lunch and at the end of each day's meeting.
    As a general matter, the committee will make one hour available for 
public comments on the Wednesdays of each meeting from 2-3 p.m. 
Individuals wishing to address the committee should sign up on the 
public comment sign-in sheet before lunch and the time available will 
be reasonably divided among those who have signed up, but no one will 
have more than 15 minutes even if less than 4 people have signed up. 
Written comments and reports can be given to the facilitator for 
distribution to the committee members. Persons wanting to present 
written materials to the committee should make enough copies for all 
committee members.
    The agenda topics for the meetings will include, but not 
necessarily be limited to, discussion of the following issues:
    1. Documentation required as proof of identity of an applicant for 
a driver's license or personal identification card, including the scope 
of personal identification cards covered by the requirement.
    2. Verifiability of documents used to obtain a driver's license or 
personal identification card.
    3. Processing of applications for driver's licenses and personal 
identification cards to prevent fraud.
    4. Information to be included on each driver's license or personal 
identification card.
    5. Common machine-readable identity information to be included on 
each driver's license or personal identification card, including 
defined minimum data elements.
    6. Security standards to ensure that driver's licenses and personal 
identification cards are--(i) resistant to tampering, alteration, or 
counterfeiting; and (ii) capable of accommodating and ensuring the 
security of a digital photograph or other unique identifier.
    7. Requirement that a State confiscate a driver's license or 
personal identification card if any component or security feature of 
the license or identification card is compromised.
    8. Requirement that rules facilitate communication between the 
chief driver licensing official of a State, an appropriate official of 
a Federal agency and other relevant officials, to verify the 
authenticity of documents, as appropriate, issued by such Federal 
agency or entity and presented to prove the identity of an individual.
    9. Ensuring that standards do not infringe on a State's power to 
set criteria concerning what categories of individuals are eligible to 
obtain a driver's license or personal identification card from that 
State.
    10. Prohibition on requiring a State to comply with any such 
regulation that conflicts with or otherwise interferes with the full 
enforcement of State criteria concerning the categories of individuals 
that are eligible to obtain a driver's license or personal 
identification card from that State.
    11. Prohibition on requiring a single design to which driver's 
licenses or personal identification cards issued by all States must 
conform.
    12. Procedures and requirements to protect the privacy rights of 
individuals who apply for and hold driver's licenses and personal 
identification cards.
    13. Assessment of the benefits and costs of the recommendations.
    The committee may alter this schedule, including the agenda items. 
The agenda topics presented in this notice are necessarily very general 
since the direction and nature of the advisory committee discussions 
will shape each subsequent meeting. The Department may issue additional 
notices, as needed, with respect to changes in the schedule or agenda 
topics.

    Issued this 22nd day of March, 2005, at Washington, DC.
Jeffrey A. Rosen,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 05-6167 Filed 3-24-05; 2:43 pm]
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