Additionally, SAFETEALU provided that States may use a portion of MCSAP basic grant funds to conduct documented enforcement of State traffic lawsboth laws and regulations designed to promote the safe operation of CMVs and laws and regulations relating to nonCMVs, when necessary to promote the safe operation of CMVs. Section 4106 amended 49 U.S.C. 31102(c) to provide that a State may use a portion of MCSAP grant funds to conduct documented enforcement of State traffic laws.

In order for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to evaluate program effectiveness, it is necessary for the State to provide and maintain information concerning past, present and future program activity. The Final Rule that revised Part 350 (MCSAP) to comply with the congressionallymandated provisions of TEA21 was published in the Federal Register (65 FR 15092) on March 21, 2000. Part 350 is currently being revised to implement the changes to the MCSAP made by SAFETEALU. The State's grant application, known as the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), must contain the information required by 49 CFR 350.201, 350.211 and 350.213. This information is necessary to enable the FMCSA to determine whether a State meets the statutory and administrative criteria to be eligible for a grant. It is necessary that a State's work activities and accomplishments be reported so that the FMCSA can monitor and evaluate a State's progress under its approved plan and make the determinations and decisions required of 49 CFR 350.205 and 350.207. The FMCSA is required to determine whether each State's efforts meet the intended objectives of its plan. In the event of nonconformity with any approved plan and failure on the part of a State to remedy deficiencies, the FMCSA is required to take action to cease Federal participation in that State's plan.

This information collection supports the DOT Strategic Goal of Safety (i.e., reducing commercial truckrelated fatalities by providing financial and technical support to State CMV enforcement efforts).

The FMCSA uses the information in the CVSP to determine whether a State has the necessary resources and authority to undertake the program intended by Congress. After a grant has been awarded to a State, a continuing and final evaluation of the State's activities is performed to determine whether continued funding is appropriate and if revisions in the State's CVSP should be made. A quarterly report in narrative form is submitted by the States to provide the minimum necessary information to assist in appropriate monitoring of a State's performance, compared to its CVSP, and to permit the FMCSA to determine whether the effort of a State is cost efficient and whether Federal [[Page 67339]]
assistance should be continued. In addition, inspection data and reports are submitted electronically by the inspecting officer from the field to the FMCSA at the time of completion of the inspection.

SAFETEALU provides that States may now conduct traffic enforcement activities against nonCMVs to promote the safe operation of CMVs. The States have been routinely conducting traffic enforcement activities on CMVs and have been reimbursed, provided an appropriate inspection was conducted at the time. Previously, nonCMV traffic enforcement was not an eligible MCSAP activity for reimbursement so the States have not captured activity levels for this type of enforcement. It is anticipated that the number of nonCMV enforcement activities conducted by the States will be minimal since SAFETEALU limits the amount of MCSAP grant funding that can be used for nonCMV traffic enforcement activities to no more than five percent of the basic amount the State receives annually.

The quarterly report is created by the State and submitted to the FMCSA using inspection data and other information. The collection of uniform data permits analysis and comparison of State programs and facilitates program administration and reporting; e.g., comparison of the data from a single State to the national average, equipment violation and outofservice trends, etc.

The FMCSA routinely uses quarterly report information to measure individual and collective State program accomplishment and to assist with future program development.

Description of MCSAP forms:

a. Form MCSAP1, Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program: The MCSAP1 form is submitted with the CVSP grant application. It specifies the name of the applicant agency, the amount applied for, and contains the signatures of the responsible State authorities.

b. Form MCSAP2, Grant Agreement: The MCSAP2 form is the grant agreement that specifies the total amount of the State Program, the State and Federal participating shares, the period of the grant, and the signatures of the responsible State official and the FMCSA Division Administrator. The reverse side of the MCSAP2 contains the ``General Provisions for the Agreement.''

c. Form MCSAP2A, Grant Amendment for Fiscal Year: The MCSAP2A form is used to modify the terms of the grant. It is used to increase or decrease the amount of the grant, or to extend the period of the grant. It contains the signatures of the responsible State official and the FMCSA Division Administrator.

In addition, the following documents are provided as part of the CVSP package:

a. State Training Plan (optional format): This document is a request for commercial vehicle training courses. It is used by the FMCSA's National Training Center to more effectively schedule training courses to meet the needs of State enforcement agencies.

b. State Certification: The CVSP must contain a State Certification signed by the Governor, the State Attorney General, or other specially designated State official. The Certification contains requirements of conditions that must be met by the State to receive MCSAP grant funds.

Virtually all (99%) of the information required by the MCSAP grant program is submitted electronically. This includes over three million inspection reports, which are uploaded electronically from laptop computers at inspection sites in the field to the FMCSA annually. The nearuniversal use of laptops for submitting these inspection reports has resulted in a dramatic cut of the time burden. The annual CVSPs require signed certifications by State personnel and are not, therefore, electronically transmitted.

The FMCSA is the only Federal agency given authority to enforce safety regulations applicable to commercial trucks and buses in interstate commerce. The type of information to be gathered from the States through this information collection is unique to the MCSAP. No duplication was identified through the rulemaking process to implement relevant sections of SAFETEALU.

The legislative requirement is that grants be extended to the States predicated on annual submission of CVSPs. The FMCSA has determined that although monthly or bimonthly reports are not needed, a semiannual report would not be sufficiently frequent to allow for timely evaluation and changes in State program direction. Therefore, quarterly reports were determined to be the most appropriate, considering burden and Federal need. If the reports were submitted less frequently, the FMCSA would be unable to exercise appropriate oversight and administration of the program as envisioned by the Congress.

On September 21, 2007, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice (72 FR 54096) allowing for a 60day comment period on the proposed revision of this ICR. One comment was received from a private citizen that did not discuss the revised burden hours and cost aspects related to this ICR.

Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for the FMCSA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the collected information.

Issued on: November 20, 2007.
Terry Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Research and Information Technology. [FR Doc. E723078 Filed 112707; 8:45 am]
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT John E. Kostelnik, Office of Safety Programs, State Programs Division, Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202366 5721; email: Jack.kostelnik@dot.gov.