[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8046-8047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2169]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2006-23598]


Notice of Request for Comments on Extension of a Currently 
Approved Collection of Information: Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance

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 review 
and approval. The ICR describes a currently approved information 
collection activity and its expected cost and burden. On October 19, 
2005, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day 
comment period on the ICR. No comments were received.

DATES: Please send your comments by March 17, 2006. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

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/FMCSA Desk Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Van Ness, (202) 366-8802, 
Vehicle and Roadside Operations Division (MC-PSV), Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0003.
    Type of Request: Renewal of an existing information collection.
    Background: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) is 
authorized under the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 31502 to prescribe 
requirements for qualifications and maximum hours-of-service of 
employees, and safety and equipment standards for motor carriers that 
operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. Under 
49 U.S.C. 31136, the Secretary also has authority to prescribe 
regulations to ensure that CMVs are maintained, equipped, loaded and 
operated safely; and under 49 U.S.C. 31143 to establish standards for 
annual or more frequent inspections of CMVs under the provisions of 
U.S.C. 31142. The Secretary's authority to establish improved standards 
or methods to ensure brakes and brake systems of CMVs are inspected by 
appropriate employees and maintained properly is provided under 49 
U.S.C. 31137(b).
    Motor carriers must maintain, or require maintenance of, records 
documenting the inspection, repair and maintenance activities performed 
on their owned and leased vehicles. There are no prescribed forms to 
meet these requirements. Electronic recordkeeping is allowed (See 49 
CFR 390.31(d)). Documents requiring a signature must be capable of 
replication (i.e., photocopy, facsimile, etc.) in such form that will 
provide an opportunity for signature verification upon demand. If 
computer records are used, all of the relevant data on the original 
documents must be included in the electronic transmission for the 
records to be valid. The records are used by the FMCSA and its 
representatives to verify motor carriers' compliance with the 
inspection, repair, and maintenance standards in 49 CFR part 396 of the 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).
    Respondents: Motor carriers, and commercial motor vehicle drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 678,535 motor carriers.
    Frequency of Response: Annual and on occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 59,093,244. Adjustments from the 
October 19, 2005, Federal Register notice reflect that FMCSA needs to 
correct several arithmetic errors made in computing burden estimates in 
the past, primarily for computing burden estimates for the driver-
vehicle inspection report. In addition, 325,795 interstate motor 
carriers operate one CMV only, and thus are not required to prepare 
daily driver vehicle inspection reports. Consequently, these carriers 
are no longer included in the computation

[[Page 8047]]

of burden hours relating to: (a) The Certification of Corrective 
Action, and (b) the Review and Signature of Driver Vehicle Inspection 
Reports. These differences, in aggregate, total 24,294,988 burden 
hours.
    We particularly request comments on: Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for FMCSA to meet its goal of reducing truck 
crashes and its usefulness 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 using automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Issued on: February 9, 2006.
Annette M. Sandberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-2169 Filed 2-14-06; 8:45 am]
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