
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 166 (Monday, August 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51843-51845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20989]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. FRA 2012-0006-N-10]


Information Collection Requirements (ICRs) Forwarded to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Request for Comments.

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Requirements (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The 
ICRs describes the nature of the information collection and their 
expected burden. The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information 
was published on June 12, 2012 (77 FR 35106).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 26, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert Brogan, Office of Safety, 
Planning and Evaluation Division, RRS-21, Federal Railroad 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 17, Washington, DC 
20590 (telephone: (202) 493-6292), or Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of 
Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 
(202) 493-6132). (These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
Public Law 104-13, Section 2, 109 Stat. 163 (1995) (codified as revised 
at 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR Part 
1320, require Federal agencies to issue two notices seeking public 
comment on information collection activities before OMB may approve 
paperwork packages. 44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.5, 1320.8(d)(1), 
1320.12. On June 12, 2012,

[[Page 51844]]

FRA published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register soliciting 
comment on ICRs for which the agency was seeking OMB approval. 77 FR 
35106. FRA received no comments in response to this notice.
    Before OMB decides whether to approve a proposed collection of 
information, it must provide 30 days for public comment. 44 U.S.C. 
3507(b); 5 CFR 1320.12(d). Federal law requires OMB to approve or 
disapprove paperwork packages between 30 and 60 days after the 30 day 
notice is published. 44 U.S.C. 3507(b)-(c); 5 CFR 1320.12(d); see also 
60 FR 44978, 44983, Aug. 29, 1995. OMB believes that the 30 day notice 
informs the regulated community to file relevant comments and affords 
the agency adequate time to digest public comments before it renders a 
decision. 60 FR 44983, Aug. 29, 1995. Therefore, respondents should 
submit their respective comments to OMB within 30 days of publication 
to best ensure having their full effect. 5 CFR 1320.12(c); see also 60 
FR 44983, Aug. 29, 1995.
    The summary below describes the nature of the information 
collection requirements (ICRs) and the expected burden, and are being 
submitted for clearance by OMB as required by the PRA.
    Title: Safety Appliance Concern Recommendation Report; Safety 
Appliance Standards Guidance Checklist Forms
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0565
    Type of Request: Extension with change of a previously approved 
information collection
    Affected Public: 130 Federal and State Inspectors
    Abstract: Sample car/locomotive inspections are performed as a 
courtesy to the car manufacturers to ensure that the equipment is built 
in accordance with all applicable Federal regulations and requirements. 
Car builders that desire to have FRA review their equipment for 
compliance with safety standards are to submit their safety appliance 
arrangement drawings, prints, etc., to the FRA Office of Safety 
Assurance and Compliance for review at least 60 days prior to 
construction. The sample car inspection program is designed to provide 
assurance that rolling stock equipment is compliant within the Code of 
Federal Regulations for use on the general railroad system. Although a 
sample car inspection is not required, most builders today request FRA 
to perform the inspection. The goal of the sample car inspection 
program is to reduce risk to railroad employees and improve passenger 
safety for the general public by ensuring rolling stock is fully 
compliant with all applicable regulations.
    In an ongoing effort to conduct more thorough and more effective 
inspections of freight railroad equipment and to further enhance safe 
rail operations, FRA has developed a safety concern recommendation 
report form and a group of guidance checklist forms that facilitate 
railroad, rail car owner, and rail equipment manufacturer compliance 
with agency Railroad Safety Appliance Standards regulations. New form 
FRA F 6180.EZ is designed to reduce burden on respondents. When a 
request for sample car inspection incoming letter is provided by the 
customer, an abundant of amount of information is submitted to FRA for 
review that may require a formal on-site inspection. The information 
contained in the letter includes several paragraphs to explain the 
cited Code of Federal Regulations that the customer believes related to 
the construction of the car. Since many cars today are considered a car 
of special construction, the type of car to be reviewed, many times the 
amount of details of information are supplied to support why the 
customer believes the car submitted is the nearest car to construction. 
An abundance of factors with justification to support the car type is 
included in the request. Some examples would be a Logo, Company Name, 
and signature block, specific drawings, reflectorization, engineering 
information such as test or modeling of components. Also, the request 
may include car reporting marks, the amount of cars that would be 
constructed in the car series. In addition, the request would provide 
the location of the inspection, contact person, title, and contact 
information. Currently, each request is written differently, but 
contains most of the information to process the request to completion. 
The F6180.EZ Form provides specific blocks that contain a standardized 
format to provide specific information that is in an easy to fill-in 
the form arrangement. This would greatly reduce the amount of time to 
complete the form instead of a long form letter and additional sample 
car inspection request of similar car orders would be minimized by the 
information provided previously. By having a form of this nature, the 
customer will have the information visually that would be required, to 
eliminate the potential of missing information that then causes 
additional letters to complete the incoming package. FRA could 
potentially be able to provide a cursory review of the provided 
information to ensure the package is complete without having to 
constantly compare the request letter to the supplied documents.
    The FRA region responsible for the sample car field sample car 
inspection is obliged to formally insect the car for compliance. All 
the information in the customer request is forwarded to the region for 
review. Once the inspection is completed, the assigned inspector 
provides his report in a memorandum to the MP&E Specialist. The MP&E 
Specialist reviews the documents and provides a memo to the Regional 
Administrator who sends a response by memorandum to FRA Headquarters of 
the finding from the field inspection. The additional memorandums would 
be eliminated by the F6180.4 EZ just by a grid sign-off, reducing the 
amount of additional paperwork and filing documents.
    FRA Headquarters is responsible for gathering all the information 
from the request from the customer as well as assigning and forwarding 
the information to the Region. All the information is reviewed by the 
MP&E Specialist at Headquarters. The MP&E Specialist prepares a grid 
letter response for the MP&E Staff Director who then offers the 
response letter to the Director, Office of Safety Assurance and 
Compliance. The formal response letter is then sent to the customer 
through the Control Correspondence Management (CCM) system. The filing 
system and folders today are already large in size, and would be 
reduced by having a form that is on one piece of paper with all the 
information necessary to complete the process from the initial request 
for sample car inspection to the formal response letter provided.
    Form Number(s): New Form FRA F 6180.4EZ; current Forms FRA 
6180.4(a)-(q)
    Annual Estimated Burden Hours: 244 hours
    Addressee: Send comments regarding this information collection to 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget, 725 Seventeenth Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, 
Attention: FRA Desk Officer. Comments may also be sent electronically 
via email to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at 
the following address: oira_submissions@omb.eop.gov
    Comments are invited on the following: Whether 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; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed information collection;

[[Page 51845]]

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and 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.
    A comment to OMB is best assured of having its full effect if OMB 
receives it within 30 days of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on August 21, 2012.
Rebecca Pennington,
Chief Financial Officer, Federal Railroad Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-20989 Filed 8-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P


