Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program

Terry Shelton
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
November 26, 2010

[Federal Register: November 26, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 227)]
[Notices]               
[Page 72858-72860]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26no10-117]                         

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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2010-0379]

 
Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a 
Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Motor Carrier Safety 
Assistance Program

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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

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. The FMCSA

[[Page 72859]]

requests approval to revise and extend an information collection 
request (ICR) entitled, ``Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Programs 
(MCSAP).'' The information required consists of grant application 
preparation, quarterly reports and electronic data documenting the 
results of driver/vehicle inspections performed by the States. This ICR 
is being revised due to an increase in the estimated number of State 
inspections that will be performed annually resulting in a change to 
the estimated burden to perform this activity. On September 9, 2010, 
FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment 
period on the ICR. No comment was received.

DATES: Please send your comments by December 27, 2010. OMB must receive 
your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.

ADDRESSES: All comments should reference Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Docket Number FMCSA-2010-0379. Interested persons are 
invited to submit written comments on the proposed information 
collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget. Comments should be addressed to the attention 
of the Desk Officer, Department of Transportation/Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration, and sent via electronic mail to oira_
submission@omb.eop.gov, or faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John E. Kostelnik, Office of 
Safety Programs, State Programs Division, Department of Transportation, 
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-
5721; e-mail: Jack.kostelnik@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-0010.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently-approved information 
collection.
    Respondents: State MCSAP lead agencies.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 52.
    Estimated Time per Response: Grant application preparation: 79.5 
hours each; quarterly report preparation: 8 hours each; and inspection 
and data upload: 1 minute each.
    Expiration Date: February 28, 2011.
    Frequency of Response: 1 grant application annually; 4 quarterly 
reports annually; and approximately 3.4 million total inspections and 
data uploads annually.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 13,550 hours. The methods used to 
calculate the hours necessary to prepare grant applications, upload 
data, and prepare quarterly reports are based on interviews with the 
State and Federal personnel charged with those responsibilities. The 
information required to prepare the applications for grants and the 
subsequent reports is based on general information ordinarily 
maintained by the States in the general course of business, and only 
simple computations are required to determine burden hours. The grant 
applications and reports are submitted by the 50 States, four 
Territories, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Each entity 
submits one grant request per year and four quarterly reports. About 
3.4 million inspection reports are uploaded each year.
    The figures reflect only 20 percent of the total estimated hours to 
perform the activities, since MCSAP reimburses 80 percent of the 
eligible costs incurred in the administration of an approved plan as 
set forth in 49 CFR 350.303, 350.309 and 350.311. Labor hours are 
estimated and an average hourly rate for professional personnel is 
applied. The four territories of American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin 
Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands receive 
100 percent Federal funding for their MCSAP activities; therefore they 
are not included in the computation of burden.
    Background: Sections 401 through 404 of the Surface Transportation 
Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA) (Pub. L. 97-424) established a program of 
financial assistance to the States to implement programs to enforce: 
(a) Federal rules, regulations, standards, and orders applicable to 
commercial motor vehicle safety; and (b) compatible State rules, 
regulations, standards and orders. This grant-in-aid program is known 
as the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP). Section 402(c) 
of the STAA requires that the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary), 
on the basis of reports submitted by the States and the Secretary's own 
inspections, make a continuing evaluation of the manner in which each 
State is carrying out its approved safety enforcement plan. The STAA's 
MCSAP provisions are codified at 49 U.S.C. 31102.
    The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) (Pub. 
L. 105-178) further revised MCSAP by broadening its purpose beyond 
enforcement activities and programs by requiring participating States 
to assume greater responsibility for improving motor carrier safety. 
Section 4003 of TEA-21 required States to develop performance-based 
plans reflecting national priorities and performance goals, revised the 
MCSAP funding distribution formula, and created a new incentive funding 
program. As a result, States have greater flexibility in designing 
programs to address national and State goals of reducing the number and 
severity of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes.
    The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59) amended 49 
U.S.C. 31102(b)(1) to modify and augment the conditions a State must 
meet to qualify for basic program funds under the MCSAP. The statute 
requires a State to document in its State Commercial Vehicle Safety 
Plan (CVSP) its commitment to meet the following additional conditions:
     Deploy technology to enhance the efficiency and 
effectiveness of CMV safety programs;
     Include, in both the training manual for the licensing 
examination to drive a non-CMV and the training manual for the 
licensing examination to drive a CMV, information on best practices for 
driving safely in the vicinity of non-CMVs and CMVs;
     Conduct comprehensive and highly visible traffic 
enforcement and CMV safety inspection programs in high-risk locations 
and corridors; and
     Except in the case of an imminent or obvious safety 
hazard, ensure that an inspection of a vehicle transporting passengers 
for a motor carrier of passengers is conducted at a station, terminal, 
border crossing, maintenance facility, destination, or other location 
where a motor carrier may make a planned stop.
    Additionally, section 4106 of SAFETEA-LU amended 49 U.S.C. 31102(c) 
to provide that States may use a portion of MCSAP basic grant funds to 
conduct documented enforcement of State traffic laws--both laws and 
regulations designed to promote the safe operation of CMVs and laws and 
regulations relating to non-CMVs, when necessary to promote the safe 
operation of CMVs.
    In order for FMCSA to evaluate program effectiveness, it is 
necessary for the State to provide and maintain information concerning 
past, present and future program activity. The Final Rule that revised 
Part 350 to implement

[[Page 72860]]

the changes to MCSAP made by SAFETEA-LU was published in the Federal 
Register on July 5, 2007 (72 FR 36769) . The State's grant application, 
known as the CVSP, must contain the information required by 49 CFR 
350.201, 350.211 and 350.213. This information is necessary to enable 
FMCSA to determine whether a State meets the statutory and 
administrative criteria to be eligible for a grant. It is necessary 
that a State's work activities and accomplishments be reported so that 
FMCSA can monitor and evaluate a State's progress under its approved 
plan and make the determinations and decisions required by 49 
CFR350.205 and 350.207. The FMCSA is required to determine whether each 
State's efforts meet the intended objectives of its plan. In the event 
of nonconformity with any approved plan and failure on the part of a 
State to remedy deficiencies, FMCSA is required to take action to cease 
Federal participation in that State's plan.
    This information collection supports the DOT Strategic Goal of 
Safety (i.e., reducing commercial truck-related fatalities) by 
providing financial and technical support to State CMV enforcement 
efforts.
    The FMCSA uses the information in the CVSP to determine whether a 
State has the necessary resources and authority to undertake the 
program intended by Congress. After a grant has been awarded to a 
State, a continuing evaluation of the State's activities is performed 
to determine whether continued funding is appropriate and if revisions 
in the State's CVSP should be made. A quarterly report is submitted by 
the States using Standard Form PPR (SF-PPR) along with a narrative 
addendum to provide the minimum necessary information to assist in 
appropriate monitoring of a State's performance, compared to its CVSP, 
and to permit FMCSA to determine whether the effort of a State is cost 
efficient and whether Federal assistance should be continued. In 
addition, inspection data and reports are submitted electronically by 
the inspecting officer from the field to FMCSA at the time of 
completion of the inspection.
    SAFETEA-LU provides that States may conduct traffic enforcement 
activities against non-CMVs to promote the safe operation of CMVs. The 
States are routinely conducting traffic enforcement activities on CMVs 
and are reimbursed, provided an appropriate inspection was conducted at 
the time. Previously, non-CMV traffic enforcement was not an eligible 
MCSAP activity for reimbursement so the States did not capture activity 
levels for this type of enforcement. The number of non-CMV enforcement 
activities conducted by the States is relatively minimal since SAFETEA-
LU limits the amount of MCSAP grant funding that may be used for non-
CMV traffic enforcement activities to no more than five percent of the 
basic amount a State receives annually.
    The quarterly report is created by the State and submitted to FMCSA 
using inspection data and other information. The collection of uniform 
data permits analysis and comparison of State programs and facilitates 
program administration and reporting (e.g., comparison of the data from 
a single State to the national average, equipment violation and out-of-
service trends, etc.).
    The FMCSA routinely uses quarterly report information to measure 
individual and collective State program accomplishment and to assist 
with future program development.
    Description of MCSAP forms:
    a. Form MCSAP-1, Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program: Use of 
the MCSAP-1 form is being discontinued. States will be required to 
submit their grant applications electronically using grants.gov 
beginning in Fiscal Year 2011. The SF-424 form (OMB No. 4040-0004), 
available via grants.gov, will be used in place of the previously 
approved MCSAP-1 form.
    b. Form MCSAP-2, Grant Agreement: The MCSAP-2 form is the grant 
agreement that specifies the total amount of the State Program, the 
State and Federal participating shares, the period of the grant, and 
the signatures of the responsible State official and the FMCSA State 
Programs Manager.
    c. Form MCSAP-2A, Grant Amendment for Fiscal Year----: The MCSAP-2A 
form is used to modify the terms of the grant. It is used to increase 
or decrease the amount of the grant, or to extend the period of the 
grant. It contains the signatures of the responsible State official and 
the FMCSA State programs Manager.
    In addition, the following documents are provided as part of the 
CVSP package:
    a. State Training Plan (optional format): This document is a 
request for commercial vehicle training courses. It is used by the 
FMCSA's National Training Center to more effectively schedule training 
courses to meet the needs of State enforcement agencies.
    b. State Certification: The CVSP must contain a State Certification 
signed by the Governor, the State Attorney General, or other specially 
designated State official. The Certification includes conditions that 
must be met by the State to receive MCSAP grant funds.
    Virtually all (99%) of the information required by the grant is 
submitted electronically. This includes over 3.4 million inspection 
reports, which are uploaded electronically from laptop computers at 
inspection sites in the field to FMCSA annually. The near-universal use 
of laptops for submitting these inspection reports has resulted in a 
dramatic reduction in the time burden. The annual CVSPs require signed 
certifications by State personnel and these certification documents are 
not, therefore, electronically transmitted.
    The FMCSA is the only Federal agency authorized to enforce safety 
regulations applicable to commercial trucks and buses in interstate 
commerce. The type of information to be gathered from the States 
through this information collection is unique to MCSAP. No duplication 
was identified through the rulemaking process to implement relevant 
sections of SAFETEA-LU.
    Under MCSAP, grants are extended to the States predicated on annual 
submission of CVSPs. The FMCSA determined that although monthly or 
bimonthly reports are not needed, a semiannual report would not be 
sufficient to allow for timely evaluation and changes in State program 
direction. Therefore, quarterly reports were determined to be the most 
appropriate, considering burden and Federal need. If the reports were 
submitted less frequently, FMCSA would be unable to exercise 
appropriate oversight and administration of the program as envisioned 
by the Congress.
    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: November 18, 2010.

Terry Shelton,
Director, Office of Analysis, Research and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2010-29804 Filed 11-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P