[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 15, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28699-28700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11528]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0279]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Approval of a New 
Information Collection: Motorcoach Passenger Survey: Motorcoach Safety 
and Pre-Trip Safety Awareness and Emergency Preparedness Information

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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

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 its 
review and approval, and invites public comment. An initial emergency 
request and 30-day notice was first published on October 18, 2011 for 
this ICR. The purpose of this information collection is to assess the 
current levels of voluntary compliance by motorcoach operators to 
provide pre-trip safety awareness and emergency preparedness 
information to passengers and to obtain passenger opinions of the 
implementation of the pre-trip program and any recommended 
improvements.
    This information, along with its conclusions, will be used to 
inform future initiatives, policies, and rules as appropriate; will be 
presented to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and 
Congress; and will contribute to the general literature regarding 
practices for improving motorcoach safety in the United States.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 15, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA 2011-0297 using one of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, 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 number. 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 
below.
     Docket: For access to the docket to read background 
documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets, or go to the 
street address listed above.
     Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form 
of all

[[Page 28700]]

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 the 
Department of Transportation's (DOT) complete Privacy Act Statement for 
the 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/pdfE8-794.pdf.
     Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is 
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``help'' section of the Federal eRulemaking Portal 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. 
Comments received after the comment closing date will be included in 
the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dee Williams, Strategic Planning and 
Program Evaluation Division Chief, Office of Policy, Strategic Planning 
& Regulations, (202) 493-0192, [email protected], MC-PRS, Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 6th Floor, West Building, 1200 New 
Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Due to several recent fatal motorcoach crashes, the Congress, the 
Department of Transportation (DOT), specifically the Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and other Federal oversight 
agencies, including NTSB, have increased their scrutiny over the 
motorcoach industry and the enforcement and compliance of the Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). On February 26, 1999, NTSB 
issued safety recommendation H-99-8 to DOT, requiring motorcoach 
operators to provide passengers with pre-trip safety awareness 
information. This recommendation resulted from NTSB's investigation of 
two motorcoach crashes from the late 1990s which revealed that 
passengers felt a general sense of panic not knowing what to do on a 
motorcoach in the case of an emergency. The intent of the 
recommendation is to empower passengers to take their personal safety 
into their own hands in the event of an imminent hazardous or emergency 
situation. The FMCSA decided to implement the recommendation through 
voluntary adoption and compliance of pre-trip safety briefings in the 
motorcoach industry.
    The goals and objectives of this survey are to assess the current 
levels of voluntary compliance by motorcoach operators and to obtain 
passenger opinions of the implementation of the pre-trip safety 
awareness and emergency preparedness information. The Form MCSA-5868 
will be used to survey motorcoach passengers. This information, along 
with its conclusions, will be used to inform future initiatives, 
policies, and rules as appropriate; will be presented to NTSB and 
Congress; and will contribute to the general literature regarding 
practices for improving motorcoach safety in the United States.
    Title: Motorcoach Passenger Survey: Motorcoach Safety and Pre-Trip 
Safety Awareness and Emergency Preparedness Information.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-XXXX.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Respondents: Motorcoach passenger-trips.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,000 motorcoach passenger-trips.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Form Numbers: Form MCSA-5868, Motorcoach Passenger Survey: Pre-Trip 
Safety Awareness and Emergency Preparedness Information--To collect 
motorcoach passengers' responses during five, one-shot in-person survey 
events.
    Expiration Date: N/A. This is a new information collection.
    Frequency of Response: One-time.
    Estimated Total Burden: 333 hours [2,000 respondents x 10 minutes/
60 minutes = 333 hours].
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) 
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for 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: May 3, 2013.
G. Kelly Leone,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology 
and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-11528 Filed 5-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P