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[Federal Register: September 2, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 170)]
[Notices]
[Page 52467-52469]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02se05-121] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration [Docket No. FMCSA-2005-21685] Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application
for an Exemption From PINOVA AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT. [[Page 52468]] ACTION: Notice of application for exemption; request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
requests public comment on an application for an exemption received
from PINOVA on behalf of 29 motor carriers that transport short
lightered wood logs and stumps from various points in North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama to PINOVA's
plant in Brunswick, Georgia. PINOVA seeks the exemption because it
believes compliance with the commodity-specific rule for securing logs
and stumps prevents the company from using more efficient and effective
cargo securement methods. PINOVA believes the alternative cargo
securement method used by its motor carriers would maintain a level of
safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety
achieved without the exemption. DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 3, 2005. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number
FMCSA-2005-21685 by any of the following methods: - Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
- Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
- Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
- Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
- Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http://dms.dot.gov including any personal
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading for further
information. Docket: For access to the docket and to read background documents
or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov and/or Room PL-401 on
the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of DOT's dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, or other
entity). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the
Federal Register (65 FR 19477, Apr. 11, 2000). This statement is also
available at http://dms.dot.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Luke W. Loy, Vehicle and Roadside
Operations Division, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations,
MC-PSV, (202) 366-0676; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
(Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107, June 9, 1998) amended 49 U.S.C. 31315
and 31136(e) to provide authority to grant exemptions from motor
carrier safety regulations. On December 8, 1998, the Federal Highway
Administration's Office of Motor Carriers, the predecessor to FMCSA,
published an interim final rule implementing section 4007 (63 FR
67600). On August 20, 2004, FMCSA published a final rule (69 FR 51589)
on this subject. Under this rule, FMCSA must publish a notice of each
exemption request in the Federal Register (49 CFR 315(a)). The agency
must provide the public with an opportunity to inspect the information
relevant to the application, including any safety analyses that have
been conducted. The agency must also provide an opportunity for public
comment on the request. The agency reviews the safety analyses and the public comments, and
determines whether granting the exemption would likely achieve a level
of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be
achieved by the current regulation (49 CFR 381.305). The decision of
the agency must be published in the Federal Register (49 CFR
381.315(b)). If the agency denies the request, it must state the reason
for doing so. If the decision is to grant the exemption, the notice
must specify the person or class of persons receiving the exemption,
and the regulatory provision or provisions from which an exemption is
granted. The notice must also specify the effective period of the
exemption (up to two years), and explain the terms and conditions of
the exemption. The exemption may be renewed (49 CFR 381.300(b)). The Application for Exemption PINOVA is the world's only producer of refined pale wood rosin,
vinsol[supreg] resin, and natural wood turpentine from long leaf yellow
pine and slash pine lightered wood/fat wood (lightered wood). According
to PINOVA's petition, "[l]ightered wood material is formed when resin
collects over a period of 50 years or more in the trunk and root system
of mature long leaf yellow pine and slash pine trees after the trees
have died or been cut." Refined pale wood rosin and Vinsol[supreg]
resin are made from the resin found in the trunk and root system of the
long leaf yellow pine and the slash pine, which are only found along
the southeast coastal plain of the United States. PINOVA contracts with
motor carriers to transport lightered wood material from various points
in the southeast coastal plain to its Brunswick, Georgia, plant. PINOVA applied for an exemption on behalf of the motor carriers
that transport lightered wood because 49 CFR 393.116(a)(3) requires
that firewood, stumps, log debris and other such short logs be
transported in a vehicle or container enclosed on all four sides.
However, lightered wood logs and other lightered wood material,
including short logs and stumps less than 4 feet in length, are
typically transported on flatbed logging or stake trucks. This means
the typical method of securement (i.e. flatbed logging or stake truck)
used by PINOVA's contract carriers is now prohibited by Sec.
393.116(a)(3). PINOVA requested a class exemption from 49 CFR 303.226(a)(3) for
current and future commercial motor vehicle owners and drivers who
transport lightered wood/fat wood material from points in North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama to
its plant in Brunswick, Georgia. PINOVA requested that these vehicles
be allowed to transport short lightered wood logs on a flatbed logging
or stake truck, provided the material is securely embedded in longer
lightered wood logs which are secured according to FMCSA's rules for
securing longwood and shortwood logs. PINOVA believes that granting the exemption would not adversely
affect safety. The company argues that the carriers have safely
transported lightered wood logs and related material, including short
logs less than 4 feet in length, on flatbed logging and stake trucks
for more than 50 years. The company believes the track record
demonstrates that shorter material may be safely transported on
vehicles without walls on all four sides provided the wood is securely
embedded inside [[Page 52469]] longer material that is properly secured with tie downs, as required by
FMCSA's cargo securement regulations. A copy of the PINOVA application
is in the docket referenced at the beginning of this notice. Request for Comments In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), FMCSA requests
public comment from all interested persons on PINOVA's application for
an exemption from 49 CFR 393.116(a)(3). The agency will consider all
comments received before the close of business on the comment closing
date indicated at the beginning of this notice. Comments will be
available for examination in the docket at the location listed under
the address section of this notice. The agency will file comments
received after the comment closing date in the public docket, and will
consider them to the extent practicable. In addition to late comments,
the FMCSA will also continue to file, in the public docket, relevant
information that becomes available after the comment closing date.
Interested persons should monitor the public docket for new material. Issued on: August 29, 2005.
Warren E. Hoemann,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-17508 Filed 9-1-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
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