[Federal Register: June 30, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 125)]
[Notices]               
[Page 35236-35237]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30jn99-143]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

 
Office of Transportation Policy and Federal Aviation 
Administration, Civil Aero Medical Institute; Notice of Request for 
Extension and Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT and Federal Aviation 
Administration.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended) this notice announces the Department of 
Transportation, DOT, intentions to request an extension for and 
revision to a currently approved information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by no later than August 
30, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Four (4) copies of any comments should be sent to the Safety 
and Health Division (P-140), Office of Transportation Policy, Office of 
the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Robert M. Clarke, Office of the 
Secretary, Office of Transportation Policy Development (P-100), 
Department of Transportation, at the address above. Telephone: (202) 
366-2916.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Infant Travel Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 2105-0536.
    Expiration Date: June 30, 1999.
    Type of Request: Extension and revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: Children 2 years of age and younger are exempt from the 
FAA requirement that they be restrained in a seat during transport 
airplane takeoffs and landings. In February 1997, the White House 
Commission on Aviation Safety and Security recommended that this 
exemption be eliminated, requiring instead that those children be 
placed in a separate aircraft seat equipped with an approved Child 
Restraint System (CRS). In May 1995, in response to Section 522 of the 
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-
305, the FAA published a report on CRS use in transport category 
aircraft. A subsequent reanalysis of this issue conducted by staff in 
the OST Policy Office has yielded different conclusions, because 
certain of the assumptions used in the FAA study were deemed untenable.
    FAA issued an ANPRM in April 2, 1998 (the comment period closed 
June 28), seeking technical comments about what types of CRS could/
should be used in transport category aircraft. Responses to those 
questions provide needed technical information relative to 
implementation of CRS aboard transport airplanes, but economic 
questions related to the issue were not included in that Notice. This 
deficiency resulted in little information, on which to assess the 
validity of the assumptions used in its analysis, being received from 
the traveling public by the FAA. Accordingly, there is a need to gauge 
the impact that requiring use of CRS would have on travelers 
accompanied by infants and small children, 2 years of age and less. 
Information needs to be obtained about the types of trips (length, 
purpose, mode of travel) on which such children accompany adults; the 
prevalence of actual CRS use, relative to air travel by infants and 
small children; the factors that determine whether CRS are being used 
for such children; and what types of changes to these travel events 
would result from requiring the use of CRS.
    Respondents: This is a relatively small-scale, one-time survey that 
is not conducive to electronic collection techniques. Face-to-face 
interviews, conducted in the departure waiting lounges at hub airports, 
will be obtained with randomly-selected adults accompanied by infants 
and small children in actual air-travel status. The interview will 
conform to a scripted set of questions prepared for the interviewer, 
and the answer form will be partially machine-coded for ease of data 
reduction by the research team. This survey will target individual or 
paired adults (typically parents) travelling with infants and small 
children.
    Average Annual Burden per Respondent: 5 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 74.7 hours.
    The information collection is available for inspection at the 
Safety and Health Division (P-140), Room 10309, Office of 
Transportation Policy, DOT.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be

[[Page 35237]]

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 25, 1999.
Robert M. Clarke,
Safety and Health Team Leader, Office of Transportation Policy 
Development.
[FR Doc. 99-16624 Filed 6-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-62-P