[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 50 (Thursday, March 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14102-14103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05260]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2017-0006]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of an Approved 
Information Collection: Practices of Household Goods Brokers

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 the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its 
review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval 
to revise an ICR titled ``Practices of Household Brokers'' to no longer 
include one-time costs previously incurred by brokers to come into 
compliance with applicable Federal regulations, and to update other 
wage related costs that have changed since the last approval. This ICR 
is necessary to support the requirements of applicable Federal 
regulations and FMCSA's responsibility to ensure consumer protection in 
the transportation of household goods (HHG).

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before May 15, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2017-0006 using any 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 Operations; 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: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 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: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public. 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.
    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: Monique Riddick, Commercial 
Enforcement and Investigations Division, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West 
Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-
0001. Telephone: 202-366-8045; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: FMCSA amended then-existing regulations for brokers in 
response to Title IV, Subtitle B of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 
Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) 
(Pub. L. 109-59) and a petition for rulemaking from the American Moving 
and Storage Association (AMSA). The final rule titled, ``Brokers of 
Household Goods Transportation by Motor Vehicles,'' (75 FR 72987, Nov. 
29, 2010), amended 49 CFR part 371, by providing additional consumer 
protection responsibilities for brokers of HHG. Specifically, section 
4212 of SAFETEA-LU directs the Secretary to require HHG brokers to 
provide individual shippers with the following information whenever a 
broker has contact with a shipper or potential shipper:
    1. The broker's USDOT number.
    2. The FMCSA booklet titled ``Your Rights and Responsibilities When 
You Move.''
    3. A list of all authorized motor carriers providing transportation 
of HHG used by the broker and a statement that the broker is not a 
motor carrier providing transportation of HHG.
    The collection of information required in the referenced final rule 
assist shippers in their business dealings with interstate HHG brokers. 
The information collected is used by prospective shippers to make 
informed decisions about contracts, services ordered, executed, and 
settled. The HHG broker is often the primary contact for individual 
shippers and in the best position to educate shippers and prepare them 
for a successful move. The information collected makes that possible. 
It also combats deceptive business practices as the information helps 
enforcement personnel better protect consumers by verifying that 
shippers are receiving information to which they are entitled by 
regulation.
    HHG brokers are required to provide individual shippers the ``Your 
Rights and Responsibilities When You Move'' booklet and the ``Ready to 
Move'' brochure. They have the option of providing paper copies or 
presenting the information through a link on their Internet Web site. 
The broker is required to document with signed receipts that the 
individual shipper was provided those materials. HHG brokers are also 
required to provide the list of HHG

[[Page 14103]]

motor carriers for which it would arrange transportation to move a 
potential individual shipper's HHG, and that broker's identification 
information:
    1. Assigned USDOT number; and
    2. Address.
    With this renewal, FMCSA makes minor revisions to the collection. 
First, a program adjustment of 19,522 annual burden hours is the result 
of the removal of first-year burden-hours that are no longer 
applicable. We also provide an updated estimated number of household 
goods brokers.
    Title: Practices of Household Goods Brokers.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0048.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Brokers of Household Goods.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 543 brokers.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.25 hours per day x 240 workdays for 
transactions per household goods broker; 20 hours per year per broker 
for Web site/ad modifications; 10 hours per year per household goods 
broker for creating a list of carriers; 0.5 hours per month x 12 months 
per household goods broker for confirming required information; 0.083 
hour per year x 36.8 explanations on average per household goods 
broker; 4 hours per year x 5 agreements per household goods broker for 
annual agreements through turnover; and 10 hours per year per household 
goods broker for disclosure and records.
    Expiration Date: April 30, 2017.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 70,000 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. The agency will summarize or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information 
collection.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87 on: March 9, 2017.
Kelly Regal,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2017-05260 Filed 3-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P