Notice of Request for Comments on Renewing Approval for an Information Collection: OMB Control No. 2126-0014 (Transportation of Hazardous Materials, Highway Routing)

AGENCY:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION:

Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces that the FMCSA intends to request the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew approval of the information collection described below. That information collection requires States and Indian tribes to identify designated/restricted highway routes and restrictions or limitations affecting how motor carriers may transport certain hazardous materials on the highway. This notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES:

Please submit your comments by June 14, 2004.

ADDRESSES:

Mail or hand deliver comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, or submit electronically at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit. Be sure to include the docket number appearing in the heading of this document on your comment. All comments received will be available for examination and copying at the above address from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. If you would like to be notified when your comment is received, you must include a self-addressed, stamped postcard or you may print the acknowledgment page that appears after submitting comments electronically.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Michael Johnsen (202-366-4111), Hazardous Materials Division (MC-ECH), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., EST., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Highway Routing.

OMB Control Number: 2126-0014.

Background: The data for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Highway Routing designations are collected under authority of 49 U.S.C. 5112 and 5125. That authority places responsibility on the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to specify and regulate standards for establishing, maintaining, and enforcing routing designations.

Under 49 CFR 397.73, the Administrator has the authority to request that each State and Indian tribe, through its routing agency, provide information identifying hazardous materials routing designations within their respective jurisdictions. That information is collected and consolidated by the FMCSA and published annually in whole, or as updates, in the Federal Register.

Respondents: The reporting burden is shared by the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas, and the Virgin Islands.

Estimated Total Annual Burden: The annual reporting burden is estimated to be 13 hours, calculated as follows: (53 respondents × 1 response × 15 minutes/60 minutes = 13.25 hours, rounded to 13 hours).

Frequency: There is one response annually from approximately 53 respondents.

Public Comments Invited: Your comments are particularly invited on whether the collection of information is necessary for the FMCSA to meet its goal of reducing truck crashes, including whether the information is useful to this goal; the accuracy of the estimate of the burden of the information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information 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.

Electronic Access and Filing: You may submit or retrieve comments online through the Docket Management System (DMS) at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit. Acceptable formats include: MS Word (versions 95 to 97), MS Word for Mac (versions 6 to 8), Rich Text File (RTF), American Standard Code Information Interchange (ASCII)(TXT), Portable Document Format (PDF), and WordPerfect (versions 7 to 8). The DMS is available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. Electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines are available under the help section of the Web site. You may also download an electronic copy of this document from the DOT Docket Management System on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov/search.htm. Please include the docket number appearing in the heading of this document.

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.73.