[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 67 (Monday, April 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17595-17596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-6531]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[FHWA Docket No. FHWA-05-22706]


Motor Vehicle Registration and Licensed Driver Information

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: On January 6, 2006, the FHWA published a notice in the Federal 
Register at 71 FR 969 to solicit public comments on the quality, 
timeliness, comprehensiveness, and other characteristics of data 
collected on motor vehicle registration and licensed driver 
information. Based on public comments received, the FHWA has determined 
to make a change to the driver's license data definition for teenage 
drivers, to eliminate the collection of information on disqualified 
commercial drivers licenses, and to develop enhanced software to 
receive and process motor vehicle registration and licensed driver data 
more efficiently.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ralph Erickson, Office of Highway 
Policy Information, (202) 366-9235, or Mr. Wilbert Baccus, Office of 
Chief Counsel, (202) 366-1396, Federal Highway Administration, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:45 
a.m. to 4:15 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic Access and Filing: Internet users 
may access this document, the initial notice, and all comments received 
by the U.S. DOT Docket Facility by using the Universal Resource Locator 
(URL) http://dms.dot.gov. It is available 24 hours each day, 365 days 
each year. Electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines are 
available under the help section of the Web site.
    An electronic copy of this document may also be downloaded by 
accessing the Office of the Federal Register's home page at http://www.archives.gov and from the Government Printing Office's Web page at 
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara.
    Background: The FHWA collects and publishes motor vehicle 
registration and licensed driver information obtained from the States 
and the District of Columbia. This information is collected from State 
departments of transportation pursuant to 23 CFR 420.105 and is 
published in Highway Statistics.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Highway Statistics is an annual report containing analyzed 
data on motor fuel, motor vehicles, driver licensing, highway user 
taxation, State and local highway finance, highway mileage, and 
other selected data. This report has been published each year since 
1945. It is available at the following URL: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohpi/hss.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The information in Highway Statistics plays a key role in the 
development of Federal highway legislation. The information is used in 
preparing legislatively required reports to Congress, in evaluating 
highway safety programs, and, in general, as an aid to highway 
planning, programming, budgeting, forecasting, and fiscal management. 
This information is also used extensively in the evaluation of Federal, 
State, and local highway programs. In recent years, FHWA has 
implemented several reassessment efforts to assure that Highway 
Statistics data remains up-to-date and relevant for current purposes.
    On January 6, 2006, the FHWA published a notice in the Federal 
Register at 71 FR 969 to solicit public comments on the quality, 
timeliness, comprehensiveness, and other characteristics of the driver 
license data. Based on the public comments received, the FHWA has 
determined to make a change to the data definition of teenage driver to 
reflect more accurately the actual number of teens driving, to 
eliminate the collection of information on disqualified commercial 
drivers licenses, and to update the software used to collect the motor 
vehicle registration and licensed driver information from the States.

Actions Taken to Date

Teenage Drivers

    In the past, FHWA's definition of a licensed driver has been ``[a] 
person that can drive inclusively between the hours of 5 a.m. and 
Midnight without another licensed driver in the vehicle.'' However, 
State drivers license laws have changed significantly in recent years, 
especially in the area of teenage drivers. Now, all 50 States and the 
District of Columbia have some form of graduated licensing for teenage 
drivers. Some States prohibit teens from driving unless accompanied by 
a supervisory driver. Other States prohibit teens from driving during 
certain hours of the day. And still other States may allow nighttime 
teenage driving, but only with adult supervision. A full definition of 
Graduated Driver's License can be found in Section 1313.5(d) in the 
following National Highway Traffic Safety Administration URL: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/whatsup/tea21/GrantMan/HTML/24b_Sec410T21Reg_23CFR1313.html. As such, the past FHWA data definition

[[Page 17596]]

is very narrow in view of recent State law changes on teen-age drivers.
    The Office of Highway Policy Information disseminated a memorandum 
to FHWA Division Offices on September 6, 2006, revising its 
instructions for Form-562 State Driver License and Fees, with 
instructions to forward the material to the State data providers. The 
revised instructions will also be incorporated into Chapter 4 of A 
Guide to Reporting Highway Statistics (Guide). Since this change does 
not create an additional burden for data collection under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act requirements, the Office of Highway Policy Information 
will revise the Guide within 3 months of publication of this notice. 
This revised definition is intended to be more detailed in the types of 
licenses teen-aged drivers obtain. The new definition reads: Teenage 
Graduated Drivers Licenses: Graduated licenses are defined as driver 
licenses that have some restriction placed on the driver to provide 
basic driving experience under optimal conditions or under the 
supervision of more experienced drivers, but restrict driving in 
certain less than optimal conditions, such as driving at night.
    The new definition is effective for Highway Statistics--2006. Thus, 
when preparing Form FHWA-562 (State Drivers Licenses and Fees), data 
providers should use the new definition for the State's 2006 data, 
either fiscal year or calendar year. The revised data definition is not 
a new data requirement; it is a re-definition of already required data.

Disqualified Commercial Drivers Licenses

    In addition, FHWA has determined that the data collected on page 
four of the FHWA Form 562--data concerning the number of Commercial 
Driver's Licenses disqualified--is no longer necessary. FHWA collected 
this data for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, but now 
that organization collects this data in its business procedures. Hence, 
it is redundant for FHWA to also collect the data.

Data Quality

    The FHWA received many comments regarding overall data quality. 
FHWA is addressing this concern through improved software to 
significantly reduce reporting inconsistencies. Under the mandates of 
E-Government initiatives, the FHWA is developing enhanced software to 
receive and process motor vehicle registration and licensed driver data 
more efficiently. The questions asked will remain the same, but the 
software used to collect the information will ease data submittal and 
will result in more accurate reporting. This enhanced software, once 
developed, will enable State data providers to take advantage of more 
advanced submittal and editing features that can significantly reduce 
reporting time and errors.
    With respect to enhanced software, FHWA is in the process of making 
software improvements to the features in the following form templates:
     FHWA Form 561--State Motor Vehicle Registrations, 
Registration Fees and Miscellaneous Receipts;
     FHWA Form 562--State Driver Licenses and Fees;
     FHWA Form 566--State Motor Vehicle Registration and Other 
Receipts;
     FHWA Form 571--Receipts from State Taxation of Motor 
Vehicles Operated for Hire and Other Motor Carriers.
    The FHWA anticipates that the enhanced software containing these 
revised form templates will be released and distributed to the States 
mid-2007, allowing sufficient time for the FHWA to train States in 
preparation for the 2008 release of Highway Statistics--2007. The FHWA 
notes that any revisions to the software will result in template and 
format changes only, and with the exception of the elimination of page 
four of the FHWA Form 562, will not change the type or quantity of data 
collected. Revision of the forms will involve some additional paperwork 
burden on the data providers in transition to the new forms and 
learning how the new forms function, but will also reduce the paperwork 
burden over time as the automated forms will take less time to 
complete. A discussion of the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act follows.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501, et 
seq.), Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they 
conduct, sponsor, or require through regulations. The FHWA has 
determined that this proposal contains collection of information 
requirements for the purposes of the PRA.
    In March 2006, The Office of Management and Budget approved FHWA's 
Paperwork Reduction Act Submission (OMB Control Number 2125-0032), 
extending FHWA's authority to collect this data for an additional 3 
years (until March 2009). The overall annual burden of collecting 
driver's license and motor vehicle registration data from the States is 
estimated to be 4,182 hours. See below for the breakout of the 
estimated burden hours by Form:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Collection     Total
          FHWA form                 period       hours     Assumptions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FHWA-561.....................  Annual.........    1,632  32 Hours/
                                                          50StatesDC/
                                                          Year.
FHWA-562.....................  Annual.........      714  14.0 Hours/
                                                          50StatesDC/
                                                          Year.
FHWA-566.....................  Annual.........    1,224  24 Hours/
                                                          50StatesDC/
                                                          Year.
FHWA-571.....................  Annual.........      612  12 Hours/
                                                          50StatesDC/
                                                          Year.
                              --------------------------
    Total....................  ...............    4,182
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FHWA is required to periodically submit this proposed 
collection of information to OMB for review and approval and, 
accordingly, seeks public comments. Interested parties are invited to 
send comments regarding any aspect of these information collection 
requirements, including, but not limited to: (1) Whether the collection 
of information is necessary for the performance of the functions of the 
FHWA, including whether the information has practical utility; (2) the 
accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the collection of information; and (4) ways to 
minimize the collection burden without reducing the quality of the 
information collected.

    Issued on: March 30, 2007.
J. Richard Capka,
Federal Highway Administrator.
 [FR Doc. E7-6531 Filed 4-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P