Department of Transportation
Office of the Chief Information Officer
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Highway Routing
INTRODUCTION:
This is to request the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) renewed three-year approved clearance for the information collection entitled “Transportation of Hazardous Materials, Highway Routing,” assigned OMB Control Number 2126-0014, which expired on November 30, 2007.
Part A. Justification.
1. Circumstances that make collection of information necessary:
Highway Routing designations are collected under authority of 49 U.S.C. §§ 5112 and 5125 (Attachments A and B). That authority places responsibility on the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to specify and regulate standards for establishing, maintaining, and enforcing routing designations. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), in compliance with regulations codified in 49 CFR § 397.73(b) is required to provide Federal standards for States and Indian tribes if they establish, maintain, or enforce non-radioactive hazardous materials highway routing designations.
The information collection requirements contained in this request for renewal are required by 49 CFR § 397, Subpart C (Attachment C). These requirements have been determined to be essential by FMCSA and to be the minimum required to satisfy 49 CFR § 397.73. Several States and Indian tribes have designated/restricted highway routes and/or imposed restrictions or limitations affecting the highway transportation of certain hazardous materials. While these localized routing designations are intended to improve safety, the proliferation of uncoordinated State and local routing designations could impede the free flow of commerce, have little or no demonstrable positive effect on public safety, and result in the exportation of risk from one jurisdiction to another.
This information collection supports the DOT Strategic Goals of Safety and Mobility by providing timely routing information to ensure the safe transportation of non-radioactive hazardous materials.
2. How, by whom, and for what purpose is the information used:
FMCSA maintains the current status of all highway routing designations in a database and publishes this information annually so carriers of placarded non-radioactive hazardous materials (NRHM) will have knowledge of the restrictions. The information will only become necessary if the States and/or Indian tribes choose to designate routes. If the data is not collected, the requirements of 49 CFR § 397.73 will not be met. FMCSA maintains a web site which displays the current data base at
3. Extent of automated information collection:
FMCSA estimates that 100% of the States and Indian tribes are providing the information electronically. States that are presently restricting/designating routes are using state of the art technology to collect and organize this information. The FMCSA utilizes a computer system to store and retrieve the routing information. This enables FMCSA to provide routing information as mandated in the legislation. States and Indian tribes that do not have this state of the art technology will provide the FMCSA documentation to insure the correct information is provided.
4. Efforts to identify duplication:
There are no existing reporting requirements or available data that duplicate the information which is collected.
5. Efforts to minimize the burden on small businesses:
This information collection does not apply to small businesses. This information requirement only involves States and Indian tribes that choose to implement highway routing designations.
6. Impact of less frequent collection of information:
Under 49 CFR § 397.73, FMCSA is required to publish a annual report of designations of the routing systems. If this information is not collected, the FMCSA will not be able to meet the statutory requirements of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act.
7. Special circumstances:
There are no special circumstances related to this information collection.
8. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.8:
FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register with a 60-day public comment period to announce this proposed information collection on October 30, 2007 at 72 FR 61417 (see Attachment D). No comments related to this IC was received in response to this notice.
FMCSA published a notice in the Federal Register on January 03, 2008 with a 30-day public comment period that announced this information would be sent to OMB for approval on January 03, 2008 at 73 FR 538 (see Attachment E).
9. Payments or gifts to respondents:
No payments or gifts will be provided to the respondents.
10. Assurance of confidentiality:
The information to be collected is not confidential and is available to the public.
11. Justification for collection of sensitive information:
The information to be collected is not sensitive in nature.
12. Estimate of burden hours for information requested:
FMCSA estimates there will be an average of one annual response per State/U.S. Territory/Indian tribe and that each response will impose an estimated burden of 15 minutes.
The Hazardous Material Routing Program was initiated in 1992. There are 22 States/U.S. Territories that have designated hazardous materials highway routes. In addition, 31 States/U.S. Territories have submitted reports on hazardous material routing citing no designated highway routes. There has been one response for designated routes from an Indian tribe. Based on these initial reports, the estimated annual burden is 13 hours which is calculated as follows:
Fifty three (53) respondents x 1 annual response = 53 total responses x 15 minutes/60 minutes equals 13.25 total burden hours (rounded to 13 hours). It is estimated that the average hourly respondent’s salary associated with this burden is $20.00 per hour. Therefore, each respondents’ average salary burden = $5.00 [$20 x .25 hour = $5], with a total salary burden of $260.00 for all respondents ($20 x 13 hours).
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 13 hours [53 responses x 15 minutes per response/60 minutes = 13.25 hours (rounded to 13 hours) = 13].
13. Estimate of total annual costs to respondents:
There are no costs to the respondents other than the salary/staff costs indicated in item 12.
14. Estimate of cost to the Federal government:
The annual cost to the Federal Government is $24,900.00 based on the following estimates:
Data Entry: 1 person, 20 hours a quarter at $30.00 per hour x 4 quarters in a year = $2,400 annually.
Internet site: $15,000.00 (Updates, Maintenance)
Printing Cost & Staff Review Process: Average 20 pages annually at $375.00 per page for a total of $7,500.00.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $24,900.00 [1 person x 20 hours x $20.00 per hour x 4 quarters for data entry) + ($15,000 for Internet site) + (20 pages x $375.00 per page for printing costs) = $24,000].
15. Explanation of program changes or adjustments:
There are no program changes or adjustments in this information collection.
16. Publication of results of data collection:
The collection of information will be used to inform the affected parties of hazardous materials highway routing designations. The information will be collected and published in the Federal Register annually. Any changes will be published periodically to update the report. If a State chooses not to designate routes for the transportation of placarded non-radioactive material, only a statement to that effect is required from the State. Once a State implements a program, it will have 90 days to report this information and 60 days to notify FMCSA of any changes.
17. Approval for not displaying the expiration date for OMB approval:
No such approval is requested.
18. Exceptions to certification statement:
No exceptions to the certification statement are requested.
ATTACHMENTS:
A. 49 U.S.C. part 5112.
B. 49 U.S.C. part 5125.
C. 49 CFR Part 397, Subpart C.
D. 60-day comments request Federal Register (72 FR 61417) dated October 30, 2007.
E. 30-day comments request Federal Register notice (73 FR 538) January 03, 2007.
Part B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.
This information collection does not employ statistical methodologies.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Supporting Statement |
| Author | AKENNEDY |
| Last Modified By | herman.dogan |
| File Modified | 2008-01-10 |
| File Created | 2008-01-10 |