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

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

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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]

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