[Federal Register: November 29, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 230)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 71127]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29no02-23]                         




[[Page 71127]]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION


Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration


49 CFR Parts 390 and 396


[Docket No. FMCSA-98-3656]
RIN 2126-AA38


 
General Requirements; Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance; 
Intermodal Container Chassis and Trailers


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


ACTION: Notice of intent to consider negotiated rulemaking process.


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SUMMARY: The FMCSA announces it is exploring the feasibility of 
conducting a negotiated rulemaking (Reg Neg) concerning maintenance of 
intermodal container chassis and trailers. The FMCSA has hired a 
convenor to speak to interested parties about the idea of a Reg Neg. 
The FMCSA anticipates that these interested parties may include driver 
organizations, motor carriers, ocean carriers, rail carriers, port 
authorities, chassis owners, safety advocacy groups, enforcement 
officials, and insurers.


DATES: Please submit your comments no later than January 13, 2003.


ADDRESSES: Please mail or hand deliver comments about this notice to 
the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, 
Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590; fax to the 
Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251; or submit electronically at 
http://dms.dot.gov. Please include the docket number that appears in 
the heading of this document in your comments. You can copy or examine 
all comments received at the above street address from 9 a.m. to 5 
p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays and on-line 
at http://dms.dot.gov. If you want notification of receipt of comments 
please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Deborah M. Freund, Vehicle and 
Roadside Operations Division (MC-PSV), Office of Bus and Truck 
Standards and Operations, (202) 366-4009, Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office 
hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 17, 1999, the FMCSA published an 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to ensure that it would 
consider all the pertinent issues that could impact any potential 
rulemaking changes for the maintenance of intermodal container chassis 
and trailers (64 FR 7849). The FMCSA took comments on the ANPRM and 
held three public meetings in 1999. The meetings were held in the 
States of Washington, Illinois, and New York. Docket FMCSA-98-3656 has 
100 comments and 3 meeting transcripts in response to the ANPRM and 
public meetings.
    The Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this action had been 
2125-AE40 in February 1999 and is now 2126-AA38.
    The FMCSA is now studying the feasibility of using the Reg Neg 
process for this proceeding. In a Reg Neg, an agency invites 
representatives of interested parties that are likely to be affected by 
a regulation to work with each other and the agency on a negotiating 
committee to develop a consensus draft of a proposed rule. The agency 
would then publish the proposal for public comment under customary 
regulatory procedures. The FMCSA believes cooperative problem solving 
should be given serious consideration. An agency must determine whether 
an appropriate advisory committee can be assembled that would fairly 
represent all affected interests and negotiate in good faith. The FMCSA 
has, therefore, retained a neutral convenor (Charles Pou, Jr.) to 
undertake the initial stage in the Reg Neg process. Mr. Pou's 
curriculum vitae has been placed in docket FMCSA-98-3656 for the 
public's convenience.
    The neutral convenor will interview affected interests, including 
but not limited to, driver organizations, motor carriers, ocean 
carriers, rail carriers, port authorities, chassis owners, safety 
advocacy groups, enforcement officials, insurers, and others. The 
convenor will determine whether additional categories of interested 
parties may be necessary. The convenor will, among other things, 
examine the potential for adequate and balanced representation of these 
varied interests on an advisory committee that would be convened to 
negotiate the regulation. The convenor will then submit a written 
report of findings and recommendations to the agency. The convenor's 
report will provide a basis for the FMCSA to decide whether to proceed 
with Reg Neg, and, if so, to determine the scope of the issues the 
committee would be charged with addressing. In the alternative, the 
FMCSA may decide to proceed with traditional notice-and-comment 
rulemaking, or to discontinue the rulemaking.
    All interested parties should know that the confidentiality 
provisions of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act, 5 U.S.C. 
Section 574, will apply to the convenor's activities. The Federal 
Government will make no claim to the convenor's notes, memoranda, or 
recollections or to documents provided to the convenor in confidence in 
the course of the convening process.
    The convenor will not interpret FMCSA or DOT policy on behalf of 
the FMCSA or DOT nor make decisions on items of policy, regulation, or 
statute. The convenor will not take a stand on the merits of 
substantive items under discussion.
    The FMCSA will provide any comments it receives in reaction to this 
notice to the convenor and will file the comments in docket FMCSA-98-
3656. If you want to submit comments to this notice directly to the 
docket, use the addresses above under the heading ADDRESSES.
    Should the FMCSA decide to proceed with a Reg Neg process, the 
agency will follow the procedures set forth in the Negotiated 
Rulemaking Act of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 561 et seq. This would include the 
establishment of a negotiating committee under the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), and a Federal Register notice 
setting forth full particulars about the process and public 
participation.


    Issued on: November 22, 2002.
Brian M. McLaughlin,
Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 02-30102 Filed 11-27-02; 8:45 am]