[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 25, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42951-42952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20391]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0183]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of a 
Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Training 
Certification for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Operators

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 to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for approval its request to extend a currently-approved 
information collection request (ICR) entitled, ``Training Certification 
for Entry-level CMV Operators,'' that relates to the training 
requirements for drivers applying for a commercial driver's license 
(CDL). There is no change from the burden estimate approved by OMB for 
this ICR on March 11, 2008. On May 28, 2009, FMCSA published a Federal 
Register notice (74 FR 25607) allowing for a 60-day comment period on 
the extension of this ICR. The Agency did not receive any comments in 
response to this notice.

DATES: Please send your comments by September 24, 2009. OMB must 
receive your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: All comments should reference Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2009-0183. Interested persons are 
invited to submit written comments on the proposed information 
collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget. Comments should be addressed to the attention 
of the Desk Officer, Department of Transportation/Office of the 
Secretary, and sent via electronic mail to [email protected], faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-4325. E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Training Certification for Entry-Level Commercial Motor 
Vehicle Operators.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0028.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently-approved information 
collection request.
    Respondents: Entry-level CMV drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 45,611.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2009.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 7,602 hours. FMCSA estimates that an 
entry-level driver requires approximately 10 minutes to complete the 
tasks necessary to comply with the regulation. Those tasks are: 
photocopying the training certificate, giving the photocopy to the 
motor carrier employer, and placing the original of the certificate in 
a personal file. Therefore, the annual burden for all entry-level 
drivers of CMVs is 7,602 hours [45,611 respondents x 10 minutes/60 
minutes to complete a response = 7,601.8 hours (rounded to 7,602 
hours)].
    Definitions: ``Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV)'': A motor vehicle 
operated in commerce and having a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 
pounds or more, regardless of actual weight, or designed to transport 
16 or more passengers, or used to transport placardable and dangerous 
hazardous materials (49 CFR 383.5). The term ``CMV'' is limited to this 
definition in this document; the term ``CDL driver'' is used because 
the operators of these CMVs are required to have a valid commercial 
driver's license (CDL). This rule currently applies solely to ``entry-
level'' CDL drivers, i.e. those who have less than 1 year of experience 
operating a CMV in interstate commerce (49 CFR 380.502(b)).
    Background:
    The Motor Carrier Act of 1935 provides that ``The Secretary of 
Transportation may prescribe requirements for (1) qualifications and 
maximum hours of service of employees of, and safety of operation and 
equipment of, a motor carrier; and (2) qualification and maximum hours 
of service of employees of, and standards of equipment of, a motor 
private carrier, when needed to promote safety of operation'' [49 
U.S.C. 3502(b)]. This Act is applicable to interstate commerce and not 
intrastate commerce. The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 
(CMVSA) created the CDL program and defined ``commerce'' in such as way 
as to include interstate and intrastate operations (49 U.S.C. 
31302(2),(4)]. Section 4007(a)(2) of the Intermodal Surface 
Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) (Pub. L. 102-240, 
December 18, 1991) directed the FHWA to ``commence a rulemaking 
proceeding on the need to require training of all entry-level drivers 
of CMVs.'' The Congress did not explicitly provide that ISTEA extended 
to operations in intrastate commerce. In view of the nature of the 
concurrent authority created by the CMVSA and the Motor Carrier Act of 
1935, and the absence of direction from the Congress in ISTEA, FMCSA 
has decided that entry-level training requirements should be confined 
to those drivers applying for a CDL who intend to operate CMVs in 
interstate commerce.

[[Page 42952]]

    The text of the 60-day notice of the proposed extension of this 
ICB, published on May 28, 2009 (74 FR 25607), failed to cite the Motor 
Carrier Act of 1935, upon which this ICR is primarily based. Today's 
authority for this driver training activity is cited correctly and as 
it should have been cited in that notice. There has been no change in 
the statutory authority for this training since publication of the 60-
day notice. For a more details of the Agency's analysis, see the 
section titled, ``Legal Basis for the Rulemaking,'' on the first page 
of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled, ``Minimum Training 
Requirements for Entry-Level CMV Operators'' (72 FR 73226, December 26, 
2007).
    On May 21, 2004, by final rule, FMCSA mandated training for all 
interstate CDL operators in four subject areas, effective July 20, 2004 
(69 FR 29384). In 2005, the final rule was challenged in the U.S. Court 
of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. While the court ordered a remand so 
the Agency could review the matter, the court did not vacate the rule. 
Consequently, the 2004 final rule is currently in effect (Advocates for 
Highway and Auto Safety v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 
429 F. 3d 1136 (D.C.Cir. 2005).
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection request, including: (1) Whether the 
proposed collection is necessary for the FMCSA's performance of 
functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the 
FMCSA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected 
information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized without 
reducing the quality of the collected information.

    Issued on: August 18, 2009.
David Anewalt,
Acting Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. E9-20391 Filed 8-24-09; 8:45 am]
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