[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 247 (Thursday, December 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80447-80449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32358]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. 2015-0124]


Potential Benefits and Feasibility of Voluntary Compliance; 
Public Listening Sessions

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

ACTION: Notice of public listening sessions.

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SUMMARY: The FMCSA announces that it will hold two public listening 
sessions, on January 12 and 31, 2016, to solicit information on the 
potential benefits and feasibility of voluntary compliance and ways to 
credit carriers and drivers who initiate and establish programs that 
promote safety beyond the standards established in FMCSA regulations. 
The recently enacted Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act 
mandates that the FMCSA Administrator allow recognition for a motor 
carrier that installs advanced safety equipment, enhanced driver 
fitness measures, fleet safety management tools, technologies, and 
programs and other standards for use by motor carriers to receive 
recognition, including credit or an improved Safety Measurement System 
(SMS) percentile. FMCSA is soliciting comment to develop a process for 
identifying and reviewing these opportunities to provide credit to 
those carriers and drivers who go above and beyond the regulatory 
requirements. The listening sessions are intended to provide interested 
parties with an opportunity to share their views on this topic with 
Agency representatives, along with any data or analysis they may have. 
All comments will be transcribed and placed in the docket referenced 
above for FMCSA's consideration. The entire proceedings of both 
meetings will be webcast.

DATES: The listening sessions will be held on Tuesday, January 12, 
2016, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Local 
Time, and on Sunday, January 31, 2016, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., 
Local Time. If all interested parties have had the opportunity to 
comment, the sessions may conclude early.

ADDRESSES: The January 12 listening session will be held at the 
Kentucky International Convention Center, Room 108, 221 Fourth St., 
Louisville, KY 40202. The January 31 session will be held at the 
Georgia World Congress Center, Building C, 285 Andrew Young 
International Blvd. NW., Atlanta, GA. In addition to attending the 
session in person, the Agency offers several ways to provide comments, 
as enumerated below.
    Internet Address for Live Webcast. FMCSA will post specific 
information on how to participate via the Internet on the FMCSA Web 
site at www.fmcsa.dot.gov in advance of the listening session.
    You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-2015-0124 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 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., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Each submission must include the Agency name and the docket number 
for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments received, without 
change, to www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading below. To 
avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. See the 
``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for instructions on submitting 
comments.

[[Page 80448]]

    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to www.regulations.gov at any time or visit Room W12-140 
on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The online Federal document management system 
is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. If you would like 
acknowledgment that the Agency received your comments, please include a 
self-addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the 
acknowledgment page that appears after submitting comments on-line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Shannon L. Watson, Senior Policy 
Advisor, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 or by telephone at 202-366-2551.
    If you need sign language interpretation or any other accessibility 
accommodation, please contact Ms. Watson by Monday, January 4, 2016, to 
allow us to arrange for such services. FMCSA cannot guarantee that 
interpreter services requested on short notice will be provided.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Submitting Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
notice (FMCSA-2015-0124), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material 
online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of 
these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a mailing 
address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your 
document so that FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding 
your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov, 
put the docket number, FMCSA-2015-0124, in the keyword box, and click 
``Search.'' When the new screen appears, click on the ``Comment Now!'' 
button and type your comment into the text box on the following screen. 
Choose whether you are submitting your comment as an individual or on 
behalf of a third party and then submit.
    If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them 
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing. If you submit comments by mail and would 
like to know that they reached the facility, please enclose a stamped, 
self-addressed postcard or envelope.
    We will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period and may draft a notice of proposed rulemaking based on 
your comments and other information and analysis.

Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as any documents mentioned in this 
preamble as being available in the docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Insert the docket number, FMCSA-2015-0124, in the 
keyword box, and click ``Search.'' Next, click the ``Open Docket 
Folder'' button and choose the document to review. If you do not have 
access to the Internet, you may view the docket online by visiting the 
Docket Management Facility in Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the 
DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

Privacy Act

    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 
public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these 
comments, without edit, including any personal information the 
commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system 
of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 
www.dot.gov/privacy.

I. Background

    The trucking and bus industries and the U.S. Department of 
Transportation have invested in the research, development, and testing 
of strategies and technologies to reduce truck and bus crashes. In 
September 2014, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) submitted 
a request to FMCSA to consider initiating a pilot program to 
investigate the benefits and feasibility of a voluntary compliance 
program. Citing research that has been underway for several years, the 
Agency established an Alternative Compliance team in December 2014, the 
goal of which was to analyze the concept and gather data to support how 
it might be developed and implemented.
    On March 30-31, 2015, the Agency's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory 
Committee (MCSAC) deliberated on the potential benefits and feasibility 
of a voluntary compliance program and ways to credit carriers and 
drivers who initiate and establish programs that promote safety beyond 
FMCSA's regulations. The MCSAC completed its deliberations during its 
June 15-16, 2015, meeting and subsequently submitted its final report 
on Task 15-1 to the Agency on September 21, 2015. A copy of the report 
is posted at the MCSAC's Web site, http://mcsac.fmcsa.dot.gov/meeting.htm.
    On April 23, 2015 (80 FR 22770), the Agency published a notice 
requesting responses to specific questions and any supporting data the 
Agency should consider in the potential development of a Beyond 
Compliance program.\1\ The notice indicated that Beyond Compliance 
would include voluntary programs implemented by motor carriers that 
exceed regulatory requirements and improve the safety of commercial 
motor vehicles and drivers operating on the Nations' roadways by 
reducing the number and severity of crashes. Beyond Compliance would 
not result in regulatory relief.
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    \1\ See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-04-23/pdf/201509463.pdf or https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/notices/201509463.
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    Section 5222 of the recently enacted the Fixing America's Surface 
Transportation Act (Pub. L. 114-94, Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1312) 
(FAST) mandates that the FMCSA Administrator allow recognition for a 
motor carrier that installs advanced safety equipment, enhanced driver 
fitness measures, fleet safety management tools, technologies, and 
programs and other standards for use by motor carriers to receive 
recognition, including credit or an improved SMS percentile. This 
provision requires the Administrator, after providing notice and 
comment, to develop a process for identifying and reviewing these 
opportunities to provide credit to those carriers and drivers who go 
above and beyond the regulatory requirements.
    The January 12, 2016, session will be held at the American Bus 
Association's (ABA) Marketplace conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The 
January 31, 2016, session will be held at the United Motorcoach 
Association (UMA) Expo 2016 conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
    All comments will be transcribed and placed in the docket 
referenced above for FMCSA's consideration. The entire proceedings of 
both meetings will be webcast.

II. Meeting Participation and Information FMCSA Seeks From the Public

    The listening session is open to the public. Speakers should try to 
limit their remarks to 3-5 minutes. No preregistration is required. 
Attendees may submit material to the FMCSA staff at the session for 
inclusion in the pubic

[[Page 80449]]

docket referenced at the beginning of this notice.
    FMCSA would like to know the views of the public on the concept, 
with any data or analysis to support it, with regard to 3 basic areas:
    (1) What voluntary technologies or safety program best practices 
would be appropriate for beyond compliance; (2) what type of incentives 
would encourage motor carriers to invest in technologies and best 
practices programs; and (3) how FMCSA would verify that the voluntary 
technologies or safety programs are being implemented.
    FMCSA will docket the transcripts of the webcast and a separate 
transcription of each listening session will be prepared by an official 
court reporter.

    Dated: December 18, 2015.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2015-32358 Filed 12-23-15; 8:45 am]
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