[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 59 (Monday, March 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17408-17410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06467]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-2022-0017]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Procedures for Participating in and Receiving Information From 
the National Driver Register

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on the extension of a 
previously approved collection of information.

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments 
about our intention to request approval from the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a currently approved information 
collection. Before a Federal agency can collect certain information 
from the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies 
must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, 
including extension and reinstatement of previously approved 
collections. This document describes a collection of information for 
which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval titled ``National Driver 
Register (NDR).''

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 27, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-
2022-0017] through one of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Go to the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Fax: 1 (202) 493-2251.
     Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except on Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there 
to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this notice. 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.
    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 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit https://www.transportation.gov/privacy.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets via internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Miriam Chege, NHTSA, U.S. Department 
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W55-210, NSA-200, 
Washington, DC 20590.
    Mrs. Chege's telephone number is (202) 366-4800. Please identify 
the

[[Page 17409]]

relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB Control 
Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before an agency submits a proposed 
collection of information to OMB for approval, it must first publish a 
document in the Federal Register providing a 60-day comment period and 
otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning each proposed collection of information. The OMB has 
promulgated regulations describing what must be included in such a 
document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must 
ask for public comment on the following: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) how to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) how to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic 
submission of responses. In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA 
asks for public comments on the following proposed collection of 
information for which the agency is seeking approval from OMB.
    Title: National Driver Register (NDR).
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0001.
    Form Number(s): This collection of information is electronically 
submitted to NHTSA. There are no standard forms.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.

Summary of the Collection of Information

    The National Driver Register Act of 1982, Title 49 U.S.C., Subtitle 
VI, Part A, Chapter 303 (as amended) requires the Secretary of 
Transportation (NHTSA by delegation) to maintain a National Driver 
Register (NDR) to assist the State chief driver licensing officials in 
the exchange of information about the motor vehicle driving records of 
individuals. The chief driver licensing official of a participating 
State must report to the NDR identification information regarding any 
individual who is denied a motor vehicle operator's license for cause, 
whose motor vehicle operator's license is withdrawn for cause, or who 
is convicted of certain serious motor vehicle related offenses 
(specified in the Act at 49 U.S.C. 30304) or comparable offenses. (23 
U.S.C. 30304(a); 23 CFR 1327, Appendix A). Participating States are 
required to submit an inquiry to the NDR on all applicants for driver's 
licenses before issuing a license to the applicant. In addition, when 
requested by other authorized users (e.g., the Federal Aviation 
Administration), participating States are required to submit inquires 
to the NDR and provide responses to the other authorized users of the 
NDR for transportation safety purposes. All 50 States and the District 
of Columbia participate in the NDR.
    The NDR maintains the computerized database known as the Problem 
Driver Pointer System (PDPS) which contains information on individuals 
whose privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been revoked, suspended, 
canceled or denied or who have been convicted of serious traffic-
related offenses. The records maintained at the NDR consist of 
identification information including name, date of birth, sex, driver 
license number, and reporting State which is collected on a daily 
basis.
    States use interactive communication for their routine transactions 
with the NDR which allows them to submit the required information 
automatically at the same time the individual's information is entered 
into the State's system. Specifically, when an individual applies for a 
driver's license, an inquiry is automatically transmitted to the NDR 
when the driver's application is entered into the State's system. 
Likewise, when a State records license actions that have been taken 
against an individual that require reporting to the NDR, a transaction 
submitting the individual's identification information is automatically 
generated and transmitted to the NDR.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information

    The purpose of the information collection is to improve traffic and 
transportation safety by assisting States in keeping problem drivers 
off the nation's highways. The NDR was established to serve as the 
central repository of information on problem drivers to promote 
information sharing among States, eliminating the need for States to 
contact each of the other 50 jurisdictions, and the District of 
Columbia individually. The information collected is used by State 
driver licensing agencies to identify problem drivers prior to issuing 
a driver's license and to develop and implement driver improvement 
programs. The following groups are also authorized to receive 
information upon inquiry to a State driver licensing agency for 
transportation safety purposes:
    a. Employers of motor vehicle operators,
    b. Employers of locomotive operators,
    c. Federal Aviation Administration regarding applications for or 
holders of airman's certificates,
    d. U.S. Coast Guard regarding applicants for or holders of 
licenses, certificates of registry, or merchant mariner's documents, 
and for Coast Guard crew members,
    e. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration in connection with accident investigations,
    f. Air carriers regarding individuals seeking employment as pilots, 
and
    g. Individuals who have or are seeking access to national security 
information for purposes under E.O. 12968 or who are being investigated 
for Federal employment.
    Affected Public: Participating States.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The number of respondents is 51--
all 50 States and the District of Columbia.
    Frequency: On a daily basis.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 14,004 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: There are no annual costs.
    States use routine electronic interactive communication for 
transactions with the NDR, which allows the States to submit the 
required information automatically at the same time the information is 
entered into the State's own system. Although States are required to 
report and check for a problem driver when issuing a driver's license, 
no burden hours are incurred for these queries for this information 
collection because the State's computer systems automatically transmit 
the information that is entered as a part of normal business practice. 
Therefore, the estimated hour burden is based on the States' PDPS IT 
infrastructure maintenance and States' participation in the optional 
Clean File process.
    To estimate the annual maintenance and infrastructure burden to 
report and check for problem drivers, NDR asked a small sample of 
States for information about their annual burden. NDR received 
formatted estimates from two States which included the maintenance and 
infrastructure labor hours and cost used to send and maintain 
information to PDPS. Together, the burden from

[[Page 17410]]

these two States was 530 hours and the associated labor cost was 
$17,400. Using these estimates, NHTSA calculates an average of 265 
hours per State, with an annual labor cost of $8,700. There are 51 
respondents per year (the 50 States and the District of Columbia). 
Therefore, total annual burden hours for maintenance and infrastructure 
is estimated to be 13,515 hours (51 respondents x 265 hours). The total 
annual maintenance and infrastructure labor cost per year is estimated 
to be $443,700 ($8,700 x 51).
    To ensure that the information contained in the NDR is accurate, 
States sometimes submit a ``clean file'' which is a confirmation of all 
drivers of that State who should be listed in the NDR file. NHTSA 
estimates that an average of 28 clean files will be submitted annually 
by States. States use SFTP to submit this information, and NHTSA 
estimates it takes an IT specialist 8 hours to prepare and run the 
data. NHTSA estimates the cost for IT personnel burden hours using the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics' mean wage estimate for Software and Web 
Developers, Programmers, and Testers (Standard Occupational 
Classification #15-1250, May 2020) of $52.86.\1\ The Bureau of Labor 
Statistics estimates that for State and local government workers, wages 
represent 61.9% of total compensation.\2\ Therefore, the total hourly 
cost associated with the IT burden hours is estimated to be $85.40 
($52.86 / 61.9%) per hour. The total annual burden hours to prepare and 
submit clean files is 224 hours (8 x 28). The total annual clean file 
labor cost per year is estimated to be $19,130 ($85.40 x 224).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates 
United States, Occupational Employment Statistics, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#15-0000, last accessed July 23, 2021.
    \2\ Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by ownership (Dec. 
2020), available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t01.htm 
(accessed July 23, 2021).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                           Estimated
                    Submission type                         Annual        burden per    Average hourly   Labor cost per    Total burden     Total labor
                                                          submissions     submission      labor cost       submission          hours           costs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maintenance and Infrastructure........................              51             265             N/A            $8,700          13,515        $443,700
Clean files...........................................              28               8          $85.40            683.20             224          19,130
                                                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.............................................              51  ..............  ..............  ................          14,004         462,830
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Public Comments Invited: You are invited to comment on any aspect 
of this information collection, including whether (a) the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Department, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimated 
burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology. The agency will summarize and/or 
include your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this 
information collection.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

Chou-Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and 
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2022-06467 Filed 3-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P