[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 123 (Monday, June 27, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37309-37311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15931]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 393

[Docket No. FMCSA-2010-0283]


Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application 
for Exemption From the Natural Gas Vehicles for America

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Application for exemption; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) 
requests public comment on an application for exemption submitted by 
National Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica) regarding the provision 
in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) prohibiting 
the location of any part of a fuel system on a bus manufactured on or 
after January 1, 1973, ``within or above the passenger compartment.'' 
NGVAmerica states that the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA) has adopted safety standards specific to natural 
gas vehicles that do not restrict the location of such fuel systems. 
NGVAmerica plans to file a petition in the near future to request a 
modification to the FMCSRs and requests the exemption to allow buses 
equipped with roof-mounted natural gas tanks operating in interstate 
commerce--and therefore subject to the FMCSRs--to operate without 
penalty while the differences between the NHTSA and FMCSA regulations 
are resolved.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 27, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
FMCSA-2010-0283 by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on the Federal electronic docket 
site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Ground Floor, Room W12-140, DOT Building, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket

[[Page 37310]]

number for this notice. For detailed instructions on submitting 
comments and additional information on the exemption process, see the 
``Public Participation'' heading below. Note that all comments received 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal information provided. Please see the ``Privacy Act'' 
heading for further information.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to Room W12-140, 
DOT Building, New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
Privacy Act System of Records Notice for the DOT Federal Docket 
Management System published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 
(73 FR 3316), or you may visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.
    Public participation: The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 
generally available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can get 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``Help'' section of the http://www.regulations.gov Web site and also at 
the DOT's http://docketsinfo.dot.gov Web site. If you want us to notify 
you that we received your comments, please include a self-addressed, 
stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement page that 
appears after submitting comments online.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside 
Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations, 
MC-PSV, (202) 366-0676; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century 
(TEA- 21) [Pub. L. 105-178, June 9, 1998, 112 Stat. 107, 401] amended 
49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e) to provide authority to grant exemptions 
from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). On August 
20, 2004, FMCSA published a final rule implementing section 4007 (69 FR 
51589). Under this rule, FMCSA must publish a notice of each exemption 
request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(a)). The Agency must 
provide the public with an opportunity to inspect the information 
relevant to the application, including any safety analyses that have 
been conducted. The Agency must also provide an opportunity for public 
comment on the request.
    The Agency reviews the safety analyses and public comments and 
determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level 
of safety equivalent to or greater than the level that would be 
achieved by complying with the regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The Agency 
decision must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR 381.315(b)). 
If the Agency denies the request, it must state the reason for doing 
so. If the decision is to grant the exemption, the notice must specify 
the person or class of persons receiving the exemption and the 
regulatory provision or provisions from which an exemption is granted. 
The notice must also specify the effective period of the exemption (up 
to 2 years) and explain the terms and conditions of the exemption. The 
exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.315(c) and 49 CFR 381.300(b)).

NGVAmerica's Application for Exemption

    On April 9, 2010, NGVAmerica applied for a 2-year exemption from 49 
CFR 393.65(b)(6) to allow motor carriers to operate buses with rooftop-
mounted natural gas storage systems in interstate commerce. NGVAmerica 
requested that the ``exemption be granted to all operators of natural 
gas transit buses that have been manufactured in accordance with and 
that satisfy regulations adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA).'' A copy of the application is included in the 
docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.
    Section 393.65 of the FMCSRs specifies the requirements for fuel 
systems for CMVs (49 CFR 393.65). These requirements apply to systems 
for containing and supplying fuel for the operation of motor vehicles 
or for the operation of auxiliary equipment installed on, or used in 
connection with, motor vehicles. Section 393.65(b)(6) prohibits any 
part of a fuel system of a bus manufactured on or after January 1, 
1973, to be located ``within or above the passenger compartment.'' This 
regulation applies generally to any fuel system on a bus, and is not 
specific to buses with natural gas fuel systems.
    NHTSA's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 303, 
``Fuel system integrity of compressed natural gas vehicles,'' specifies 
requirements for the integrity of motor vehicle fuel systems using 
compressed natural gas, and applies to passenger cars, multipurpose 
passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses that have a gross vehicle weight 
rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds or less, and to all school buses 
regardless of weight that use compressed natural gas as a motor fuel. 
FMVSS No. 303 does not apply to transit buses with a GVWR over 10,000 
pounds.
    FMVSS No. 304, ``Compressed natural gas fuel container integrity,'' 
specifies requirements for the integrity of compressed natural gas 
motor vehicle fuel containers, and applies to each passenger car, 
multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck, and bus that uses compressed 
natural gas as a motor fuel and to each container designed to store 
compressed natural gas as motor fuel onboard any motor vehicle. All 
compressed natural gas containers manufactured on or after March 26, 
1995, must meet a pressure cycling test that evaluates the container's 
durability, a burst test to measure its strength, and a fire test to 
ensure adequate pressure relief characteristics. The rule also 
specifies labeling requirements.
    In a final rule published in the Federal Register on August 15, 
2005 (70 FR 48008), FMCSA created a new section in the FMCSRs to 
address requirements for compressed natural gas fuel containers. 
Section 393.68, ``Compressed natural gas fuel containers,'' cross-
references NHTSA's requirements for compressed natural gas containers 
in FMVSS No. 304.
    Neither FMVSS No. 303 nor FMVSS No. 304 specifies or limits the 
location of compressed natural gas fuel systems on motor vehicles.
    In its exemption application, NGVAmerica notes that regulations 
promulgated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), another agency 
within the U.S. Department of Transportation, require applicants for 
Federal assistance to certify that any new bus they acquire has been 
tested in accordance with 49 CFR Part 665, ``Bus Testing.'' NGVAmerica 
states that, while 49 CFR 665.11 requires transit buses to ``meet all 
applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, as defined by the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in part 571 of this 
title,'' that section does not reference or require compliance with the 
FMCSRs.
    In support of its application, NGVAmerica states:

    In the case of low-floor transit buses, which are the dominant 
type of transit bus

[[Page 37311]]

now in production, all natural gas fuel storage systems are in fact 
located on the roof-top above the passenger compartment and have 
been for many years. In the 1990's, the American Public 
Transportation Association (APTA) developed a model specification 
for low-floor natural gas transit buses. The APTA specification was 
published in 2000 and it indicates that compressed natural gas 
storage cylinders can be mounted on the roof-top.\1\ In fact, 
placement of compressed natural gas storage cylinders on the roof 
top of buses is actually preferable. A key distinction in the 
consideration of the storage of natural gas on the roof of a vehicle 
is that, unlike gasoline and diesel fuel, natural gas is lighter 
than air and as such would not puddle or accumulate below the roof 
of the bus or in the passenger compartment of the bus but rather it 
would rise away from the vehicle. It is believed the intent of the 
existing regulation is to avoid the risk of fuel entering the 
enclosed passenger space of the vehicle. While we have not searched 
the history of Part 393.65, we believe that it, like other similar 
regulations, were adopted at a time when only liquid fuels were used 
as motor fuels and thus it is highly unlikely the drafters of the 
regulation contemplated the use of a compressed fuel like natural 
gas.
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    \1\ APTA, Standard Bus Procurement Guidelines: 40 ft. Low-Floor 
CNG Technical Specifications (2000); http://www.apta.com/resources/reports and publications/Documents/lfeng.pdf. This document states 
that ``[i]n the case of a low floor transit bus, the placement of 
tanks shall be limited to the roof of the vehicle or in the 
compartment above the engine of the vehicle.''

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In addition, the petitioner states:

    In support of our request, we also note that the National Fire 
Protection Association (NFPA) has developed safety standards for 
compressed natural gas vehicles. NFPA Code 52 (or NFPA 52) 
specifically addresses the safety of gaseous fueled systems used on 
motor vehicles. It is the nationally recognized standard for 
compressed natural gas fueling systems. NFPA 52:6.3.2 provides that 
``fuel supply containers on vehicles shall be permitted to be 
located within, below, or above the driver or passenger compartment, 
provided all connections to the container(s) are external to, or 
sealed and vented from, these compartments.'' Thus, this standard, 
like NHTSA's, allows compressed natural gas storage cylinders to be 
located on the roof-top or above the passenger compartment of 
transit buses.

    NGVAmerica states that most transit buses are operated within and 
near large urban areas, and therefore operate intrastate. However, some 
transit agencies are multi-jurisdictional entities and do operate bus 
routes that cross State lines. These operations are subject to FMCSA 
jurisdiction unless those transit agencies qualify under 49 CFR 
390.3(f)(2), which exempts ``transportation performed by the Federal 
government, a State, or any political subdivision of a State, or an 
agency established under a compact between States that has been 
approved by the Congress of the United States.''
    NGVAmerica also cites recent incidents in which transit buses have 
been ticketed when driven across State lines while being delivered from 
a manufacturing plant to the purchasing transit operator for 
introduction into intrastate operation. In each of these instances, the 
buses (1) complied with the requirements of FMVSS Nos. 303 and 304, and 
(2) did not have any passengers (except the driver) when they were 
stopped and cited for noncompliance with Sec.  393.65(b)(6) of the 
FMCSRs.
    Given these facts, NGVAmerica contends that enforcement of Sec.  
393.65(b)(6) as currently written could impede the interstate transport 
of natural gas transit buses and place in jeopardy the daily use of 
thousands of natural gas transit buses.
    Therefore, NGVAmerica requests that motor carriers be permitted to 
operate buses with natural gas containers located above the passenger 
compartment. NGVAmerica states that, given the properties of natural 
gas and the fact that the buses in question comply with FMVSS Nos. 303 
and/or 304 and NFPA Code 52, requiring such carriers' compliance with 
Sec.  393.65(b)(6) is unwarranted. Based on the above, NGVAmerica 
believes that granting the exemption will maintain a level of safety 
that is equivalent to the level of safety achieved without the 
exemption.

Request for Comments

    In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA requests 
public comment from all interested persons on NGVAmerica's application 
for exemption from 49 CFR 393.65(b)(6). All comments received before 
the close of business on the comment closing date indicated at the 
beginning of this notice will be considered and will be available for 
examination in the docket at the location listed under the ADDRESSES 
section of this notice. Comments received after the comment closing 
date will be filed in the public docket and will be considered to the 
extent practicable. In addition to late comments, FMCSA will also 
continue to file in the public docket relevant information that becomes 
available after the comment closing date. Interested persons should 
continue to examine the public docket for new material.

    Issued on: June 21, 2011.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2011-15931 Filed 6-24-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P