Agency Information Collection (IC) Activities; Revision of an Approved IC; Accident Recordkeeping Requirements

Kelly Leone
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
September 9, 2010

[Federal Register: September 9, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 174)]
[Notices]               
[Page 54940-54941]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09se10-132]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2010-0270]

 
Agency Information Collection (IC) Activities; Revision of an 
Approved IC; Accident Recordkeeping Requirements

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 request that the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approve revision of the Information Collection (IC) entitled, 
``Accident Recordkeeping Requirements,'' because FMCSA has obtained 
more accurate data upon which to base calculation of the paperwork 
burden of this IC. The FMCSA invites public comment.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before November 8, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2010-0270 by 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 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., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
E.T., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the 
docket number for this Notice. Note that DOT posts all comments 
received without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act 
heading below.
    Docket: For access to the FDMS to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to Room W12-
140 on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, 
SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t. Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays. The FDMS is available 24 hours 
each day, 365 days each year. We will acknowledge receipt of your 
written comments if you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope or 
postcard. Your on-line comments are acknowledged by a printable 
confirmation message that appears immediately after you submit them on-
line.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets, by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). 
You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal 
Docket Management System published in the Federal Register on January 
17, 2008 (73 FR 3316). This information is also available at http://
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-785.pdf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Yager, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and 
Operations, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Telephone: 202-366-4325. 
E-mail: MCPSD@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), 
Federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each IC they 
conduct, sponsor, or require through regulations. FMCSA has determined 
that it needs to revise the currently-approved estimate for OMB Control 
No. 2126-0009, ``Accident Recordkeeping Requirements.'' The regulation 
underlying this IC is 49 CFR 390.15, ``Assistance in investigations and 
special studies.'' It requires motor carriers to make all records and 
information pertaining to specified accidents available to an 
authorized representative or special agent of the FMCSA upon request, 
or as part of an inquiry. Interstate motor carriers are required to 
maintain an Accident Register consisting of specified information about 
each accident involving their commercial motor vehicles. The 
information for each accident must include, at a minimum, the following 
elements: Date of

[[Page 54941]]

accident, city or town in which or most near where the accident 
occurred, the State in which the accident occurred, driver name, number 
of injuries, number of fatalities, and whether hazardous materials, 
other than fuel spilled from the fuel tanks of motor vehicles involved 
in the accident, were released. In addition, the register must contain 
copies of all accident reports required by State or other governmental 
entities or insurers. Motor carriers must maintain the required 
information in the Accident Register for 3 years after the date of the 
accident.
    This IC strengthens FMCSA's ability to assess motor carrier safety 
performance. These assessments enable FMCSA to direct its enforcement 
resources to the motor carriers with the weakest safety records, 
helping those carriers prevent accidents and reduce their severity.
    On February 8, 2008, OMB approved FMCSA's estimate for this IC of 
32,040 annual burden hours and established an expiration date for this 
IC of February 28, 2011. Today FMCSA announces its plan to request that 
OMB approve revision of this estimate to 22,500 annual burden hours.
    Title: Accident Recordkeeping Requirements.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0009.
    Type of Request: Revision of an ICR.
    Respondents: Motor carriers engaged in interstate commerce.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 500,000.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 75,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 18 minutes.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Expiration Date: February 28, 2011.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 22,500 hours.
    Improved FMCSA accident data provides a more accurate estimate of 
the total responses to this information collection each year: 75,000. 
The Agency's previous estimate was 106,800 responses. FMCSA retains its 
prior estimate that a motor carrier requires approximately 18 minutes, 
on average, to complete the tasks necessary to comply with Sec.  
390.15, i.e., collecting the required information about the accident, 
entering it into the Accident Register and maintaining it and other 
documents required by Sec.  390.15. Therefore, the annual burden hours 
for all motor carriers is 22,500 hours (rounded) (75,000 responses x 18 
minutes each divided by 60 minutes per hour).
    Definitions: Each of these definitions can be found at 49 CFR 
390.5: ``Motor carrier'': Any person engaged in a business affecting 
interstate commerce who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle in 
connection with that business, or assigns employees to operate it. 
``Commercial motor vehicle'': A self-propelled or towed vehicle used on 
the highways in interstate commerce to transport passengers or 
property, if the vehicle--(1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or 
gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross 
combination weight of 10,001 pounds, whichever is greater; or (2) Is 
designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including the 
driver) for compensation; or (3) Is designed or used to transport more 
than 15 passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport 
passengers for compensation; or (4) Is used in transporting material 
found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under section 
5103 of title 49, United States Code, and transported in a quantity 
requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary 
under section 5103. ``Accident'': An occurrence involving a Commercial 
motor vehicle operating on a highway in interstate or intrastate 
commerce which results in: (i) A fatality; (ii) bodily injury to a 
person who, as a result of the injury, receives medical treatment away 
from the scene of the accident; or (iii) one or more motor vehicles 
incurring disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the 
motor vehicle(s) to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck 
or other motor vehicle. The term ``accident'' does not include: (i) An 
occurrence involving only boarding or alighting from a stationary motor 
vehicle or (ii) An occurrence involving only the loading or unloading 
of cargo.
    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 on: September 2, 2010.
Kelly Leone,
Office Director for Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2010-22456 Filed 9-8-10; 8:45 am]
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