80 FR 66968 - Notice and Request for Comments

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Surface Transportation Board

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 210 (October 30, 2015)

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives notice of its intent to seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of the Waybill Compliance Survey. This information collection is described in detail below. Comments are requested concerning: (1) The accuracy of the Board's burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (3) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on the respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology, when appropriate; and (4) whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility. Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's request for OMB approval.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 210 (Friday, October 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66968-66969]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27726]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Surface Transportation Board


Notice and Request for Comments

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION: 60-Day notice of intent to seek extension of approval: Waybill 
Compliance Survey.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
3501-3521 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives 
notice of its intent to seek approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for an extension of the Waybill Compliance Survey. This 
information collection is described in detail below.
    Comments are requested concerning: (1) The accuracy of the Board's 
burden estimates; (2) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information collected; (3) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on the respondents, including the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, when appropriate; and (4) whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Board, including whether the collection has practical utility. 
Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's 
request for OMB approval.

Description of Collection

    Title: Waybill Compliance Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-0010.
    STB Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension without change.

[[Page 66969]]

    Respondents: Regulated railroads that did not submit carload 
waybill sample information to the STB in the previous year.
    Number of Respondents: 523.
    Estimated Time per Response: .5 hours.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Total Burden Hours (annually including all respondents): 60.
    Total ``Non-hour Burden'' Cost: None identified. Filings are 
submitted electronically to the Board.
    Needs and Uses: Under the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended by 
the ICC Termination Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-88, 109 Stat. 803 (1995), 
the Board is responsible for the economic regulation of common carrier 
rail transportation, including the collection and administration of the 
Carload Waybill Sample. Under 49 CFR part 1244, a railroad terminating 
4,500 or more carloads, or terminating at least 5% of the total revenue 
carloads that terminate in a particular state, in any of the three 
preceding years is required to file carload waybill sample information 
(Waybill Sample) for all line-haul revenue waybills terminating on its 
lines. (The Waybill Sample collection is approved under OMB Control 
Number 2140-0015, which expires on June 30, 2017.) The information in 
the Waybill Sample is used to monitor traffic flows and rate trends in 
the industry.
    In order to determine whether any of the surveyed railroads should 
be filing a Waybill Sample, the Board needs to collect the information 
in the Waybill Compliance Survey--information on the number of carloads 
of traffic terminated each year by U.S. railroads--from railroads that 
are not filing a Waybill Sample. In addition, information collected in 
the Waybill Compliance Survey, on a voluntary basis, about the total 
operating revenue of each railroad helps to determine whether 
respondents are subject to other statutory or regulatory requirements. 
Because many of the Board's reporting requirements apply only to 
railroads with large operating revenues, accurate determinations 
regarding the size of a railroad's operating revenues help the Board 
minimize the reporting burden for smaller railroads. The Board has 
authority to collect this information under 49 U.S.C. 11144-45, and 
under 49 CFR 1244.2.

DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by 
December 29, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Chris Oehrle, Surface Transportation 
Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001, or to 
[email protected]. When submitting comments, please refer to ``Waybill 
Compliance Survey.'' For further information regarding this collection 
or to obtain a copy of this collection form, the ``Annual Waybill 
Compliance Survey,'' contact Pedro Ramirez at (202) 245-0333 or at 
[email protected]. [Assistance for the hearing impaired is 
available through the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, a federal agency that 
conducts or sponsors a collection of information must display a 
currently valid OMB control number. A collection of information, which 
is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency 
requirements that persons submit reports, keep records, or provide 
information to the agency, third parties, or the public. Under Sec.  
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, federal agencies are required to provide, 
prior to an agency's submitting a collection to OMB for approval, a 60-
day notice and comment period through publication in the Federal 
Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including 
each proposed extension of an existing collection of information.

    Dated: October 27, 2015.
Jeffrey Herzig,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2015-27726 Filed 10-29-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4915-01-P