[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 4 (Friday, January 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1106-1107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00016]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2022-0236]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of a Currently 
Approved Information Collection: Hazardous Material Safety Permits

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department 
of Transportation (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 renew an existing ICR titled, ``Hazardous Materials Safety 
Permits.'' This ICR requires companies holding safety permits to 
develop communications plans that allow for the periodic tracking of 
the shipments. A record of the communications that includes the time of 
the call and location of the shipment may be kept by either the driver 
(e.g., recorded in the log book) or the company. These records must be 
kept, either physically or electronically, for at least 6 months at the 
company's principal place of business or readily available to the 
employees at the company's principal place of business. This ICR is 
being renewed only to the extent that the number of motor carriers with 
an active Hazardous Materials (HM) Safety Permit has increased from 987 
to 1065.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before March 7, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2022-0236 using any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Dockets 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. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name and 
docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see 
the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments received 
will be posted without change to https://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 https://www.regulations.gov, and follow the 
online instructions for accessing the docket, 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 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.
    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 ``FAQ'' section 
of the Federal eRulemaking Portal website. 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: Ms. Melissa Williams, Office of 
Safety, Hazardous Materials Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 6th 
Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 202-366-
4163; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background: The Secretary of Transportation is responsible for 
implementing regulations to issue safety permits for transporting 
certain HM in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.

[[Page 1107]]

The HM Safety Permit regulations (49 CFR part 385, subpart E) require 
initial or first time HM Safety Permit carriers to file the Unified 
Registration System (URS), Form MCSA-1. Currently, update and renewal 
applications must be filed with FMCSA using the ``Combined Motor 
Carrier Identification Report and HM Permit Application'' (Form MCS-
150B). The HM Safety Permit regulations also require carriers to have a 
security program. As part of the HM Safety Permit regulations, carriers 
are required to develop and maintain route plans so that law 
enforcement officials can verify the correct location of the HM 
shipment. FMCSA requires companies holding permits to develop a 
communications plan that allows for the periodic tracking of the 
shipment. This information covers the record of communications that 
includes the time of the call and location of the shipment. The records 
may be kept by either the driver (e.g., recorded in the log book) or 
the company. These records must be kept, either physically or 
electronically, for at least 6 months at the company's principal place 
of business or be readily available to employees at the company's 
principal place of business.
    Title: Hazardous Materials Safety Permits.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0030.
    Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: Motor carriers subject to the Hazardous Materials 
Safety Permit requirements in 49 CFR part 385, subpart E.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,065.
    Estimated Time per Response: 5 minutes. The communication between 
motor carriers and their drivers must take place at least two times per 
day. It is estimated that it will take 5 minutes to maintain a daily 
communication record for each driver.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2023.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 750,000 hours [9 million trips x 5 
minutes per record / 60 minutes per hour = 750,000, rounded to the 
nearest thousand].
    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 ICR.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2023-00016 Filed 1-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P