[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 109 (Thursday, June 7, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31645-31646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11094]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

[OST Docket No. 2007-27401 and OST Docket No. 2003-11473]
RIN 2105-ADO4


Request for Public Comments and Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) Approval of an Existing Information Collection (2105-0551)

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

ACTION: Correction notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice requests public participation in the Office of 
Management and Budget approval process for the renewal of an existing 
OST information collection. In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection 
Request (ICR) described below has been forwarded to OMB for extension 
of the currently approved collection. The ICR describes the nature of 
the information and the expected burden. OST published a Federal 
Register notice soliciting comments on the following collection of 
information and received none. The purpose of this notice is to allow 
the public an additional 30 days from the date of this notice to submit 
comments and to make a correction to the recently published application 
to renew ICR 2105-0551, ``Reporting Requirements for Disability-Related 
Complaints.''

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by July 9, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this action must refer to the docket and notice 
numbers cited at the beginning of this document and must be submitted 
to the Docket Management Facility, Office of the Secretary, located at 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590. The DOT Docket Facility is open to the public 
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. 
The telephone number is 202-366-9329. Comments will be available for 
inspection at this address and will also be viewable via the Web site 
for the Docket Management System at http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Blane A. Workie, Office of the General 
Counsel, 400 7th Street, SW., Room 4116, Washington, D.C. 20590, (202) 
366-9342 (voice), (202) 366-7152 (Fax), [email protected] (E-mail). 
Arrangements to receive this document in an alternative format may be 
made by contacting the above-named individuals.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The application to renew this information 
collection request, which was published in the Federal Register on 
Thursday, March 1, 2007 (72 FR 9385), describes only one of the three 
information collection requirements imposed on the airlines by a July 
8, 2003 final rule. More specifically, it addressed the requirement for 
each covered carrier to submit an annual report summarizing the 
disability-related complaint data but did not address the requirement 
for such carriers to record and categorize disability-related 
complaints that they receive according to type of disability and nature 
of complaint on a standard form nor the requirement for carriers to 
retain correspondence and record of action taken for all disability-
related complaints. This notice provides detailed information about the 
two information collection requirements which were inadvertently not 
included in the March 2007 notice announcing the Department's intention 
to renew approval of the ICR on the ``Reporting Requirements for 
Disability-Related Complaints'' and corrects some of the information 
provided about the other information collection requirement (i.e., 
requirement to submit an annual report summarizing the disability-
related complaint data). It also explains that the Department believes 
that the total burden hours for the three information collection 
requirements would be 3418 hours instead of 8753 hours as estimated in 
2003.
    The title, description, respondent description of the information 
collections and the annual recordkeeping and periodic reporting burden 
are provided below. It is worth noting that, while the formulas upon

[[Page 31646]]

which the information collection calculations are based have not 
changed, the information collection burden hours have changed based on 
new information available to the Department. As stated above, the 
estimated total burden hours has been reduced from 8753 to 3418.

ICR 2105-0551, ``Reporting Requirements for Disability-Related 
Complaints''

    (1) Requirement to read, record and categorize each disability 
related complaint from a passenger or on behalf of a passenger.
    Respondents: Certificated U.S. air carriers and foreign air 
carriers operating to and from the United States that conduct 
passenger-carrying service with large aircraft.
    Estimated Annual Burden on Respondents: 0 minutes to 875 hours a 
year for each respondent (time to record and categorize one complaint 
[15 minutes] multiplied by the number of complaints respondents receive 
[0 complaint a year to 3,500 annual complaints a year]. The number of 
complaints received by carriers varies greatly. In 2003, we estimated 
that carriers would receive anywhere from 1 complaint a year to 4,000 
annual complaints a year. Based on data provided by carriers in 2004, 
2005, and 2006, we believe that a range of 0 to 3500 annual complaints 
a year is more accurate.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 3238 hours for all respondents (time 
to record and categorize one complaint [15 minutes] multiplied by the 
total number of complaints for all respondents [12,952]). In 2003, we 
estimated that the total number of complaints for all respondents would 
be 33,050. Based on a review of the data provided by carriers, it 
appears that our 2003 estimate was too high. Carriers received a total 
of 11,508 complaints in 2004, a total of 13,584 complaints in 2005, and 
a total of 13,764 complaints in 2006 for an average of 12,952 annual 
complaints.
    Frequency: 0 to 3,000 complaints per year for each respondent (Some 
carriers may not receive any complaint in a given year while some of 
the larger operators could receive 3,000 annual complaints).
    (2) Requirement to submit a report to DOT summarizing the 
disability-related complaint data (key-punching web-based matrix 
report).
    Respondents: Certificated U.S. air carriers and foreign air 
carriers operating to and from the United States that conduct 
passenger-carrying service with large aircraft.
    Estimated Annual Burden on Respondents: 30 minutes a year for each 
respondent to type in the 169 items (matrix consists of 13 disabilities 
and 13 service problems).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 80 hours for all respondents (annual 
burden [30 minutes] multiplied by the total number respondents [160]). 
In 2003, we estimated the total number of respondents to be anywhere 
from 295 to 370. However, based on the number of carriers that reported 
data in 2004, 2005 and 2006 as well as the carriers that did not but 
should have submitted such data, we now believe that the total number 
of respondents is approximately 160.
    Frequency: 1 report to DOT per year for each respondent.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 160 (frequency of report [1 per 
year] multiplied by the total number of respondents [160].
    (3) Requirement to retain correspondence and record of action taken 
on all disability-related complaints for three years.
    Respondents: Foreign air carriers operating to and from the United 
States that conduct passenger carrying service with large aircraft.
    Estimated Annual Burden on Respondents: 1 hour a year for each 
respondent.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 100 hours for all respondents 
(annual burden [1 hour] multiplied by the total number respondents 
[100]. In 2003, we estimated that the total number of foreign air 
carriers that would be required to submit an annual report to DOT would 
be 231 to 306. However, we have found that not all of the foreign air 
carriers that have authority to fly into the U.S. actually do so. It 
appears that the total number of foreign air carriers that would be 
covered is approximately 100.
    Frequency: 0 to 300 complaints per year for each respondent. The 
data provided by foreign air carriers operating to and from the United 
States that conduct passenger carrying service with large aircraft 
demonstrates that that number of complaints received by such carriers 
varies greatly from a low of 0 to a high of almost 300.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 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. As noted earlier, OST published a Federal 
Register notice with a 60 day comment period for this ICR on Thursday, 
March 1, 2007 (72 FR 9385).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2007, under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR part 1.
Rosalind A. Knapp,
Acting General Counsel.
 [FR Doc. E7-11094 Filed 6-6-07; 8:45 am]
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