[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 3, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9568-9571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4372]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Office of the Secretary
49 CFR Part 71
[OST Docket No. OST-2010-0046]
Standard Time Zone Boundary in the State of North Dakota:
Proposed Change for Mercer County, North Dakota, From Mountain to
Central Time Zone
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: The Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners for Mercer
County, North Dakota, petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation
to move Mercer County from the mountain to the central standard time
zone. The Department believes that the petition makes a prima facie
case for the proposed time zone change, and we are using this notice to
solicit public comment on the proposal.
DATES: Public comments to the docket should be submitted by June 14,
2010. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
The Department has scheduled a public hearing on this issue from 7-10
p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time) on Friday, May 14, 2010, in the ``Large
Room'' of the City Hall, 146 East Main Street, Hazen, North Dakota.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments (identified by the agency name and
DOT Docket ID Number OST-2010-0046) by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Instructions: You must include the agency name (Office of the
Secretary, DOT) and Docket number (OST-2010-) for this notice at the
beginning of your comments. You should submit two copies of your
comments if you submit them by mail or courier. Note that all comments
received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov
including any personal information provided and will be available to
internet users. You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in
the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or you
may visit http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Docket: For internet access to the docket to read background
documents and comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Background documents and comments received may also be viewed at the
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Docket
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington,
DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert C. Ashby, Deputy Assistant
General Counsel for Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Room W94-302, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington,
DC 20590, (202) 366-9310, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For more than a century, time zone
boundaries in North Dakota have had an interesting and varied history.
Beginning in 1883, mountain time was observed in the southwest portion
of the state and a few locations in the northwest, with central time
being used elsewhere. In 1929, the Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC), which then had jurisdiction over time zone boundaries, extended
central time to cover all but a cluster of counties in
[[Page 9569]]
the southwest corner of the state. Congress transferred the ICC's time
zone boundary powers to the Department of Transportation (DOT) in 1967.
DOT exercises these powers under the provisions of the Uniform Time Act
of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260-64).
The Department has exercised its authority under this statute in
several proceedings affecting North Dakota. In 1968, in response to a
petition from the Governor of North Dakota, the Department placed 14
counties lying south and west of the Missouri River into mountain time.
The change was made to accommodate the historical pattern of time
observance in the state. In 1992, in response to a petition from the
Board of Commissioners of Oliver County (which is adjacent to Mercer
County), the Department moved that county into the central time zone.
The Department took similar action with respect to Morton County and a
portion of Sioux County in 2003.
In 2000-2003, the Department considered a petition from the Mercer
County Commission to move the county to the central time zone. The
proposal was controversial in the county. A 2000 referendum favored
changing to central time by a vote of 1,180 to 1038. However, a
majority of written comments to the Department's docket favored keeping
the county in the mountain time zone. After considering the comments,
and while acknowledging the reasons supporting a change, the Department
decided to deny the petition (68 FR 53082; September 9, 2003). The
Department's decision noted that the Commission was free to file a new
petition on the subject in the future. In a petition dated October 9,
2009, Mr. Lyle L. Latimer, Chairman of the Mercer County Board of
County Commissioners, asked the Department to move the county from the
mountain time zone to the central time zone.
Under the Uniform Time Act, the Secretary of Transportation has
authority to issue regulations modifying the boundaries between time
zones in the United States in order to move an area from one time zone
to another. The standard in the statute for such decisions is ``regard
for the convenience of commerce and the existing junction points and
division points of common carriers engaged in interstate or foreign
commerce.'' The principal standard for deciding whether to change a
time zone is defined very broadly to include consideration of all the
impacts upon a community of a change in its standard of time. DOT has
developed a series of questions to assist communities and us in
determining the impact of a time zone change on the ``convenience of
commerce.'' The Department considers information bearing on these
questions in making its decision on a proposed time zone change.
1. From where do businesses in the community get their supplies,
and to where do they ship their goods or products?
2. From where does the community receive television and radio
broadcasts?
3. Where are the newspapers published that serve the community?
4. From where does the community get its bus and passenger rail
services; if there is no scheduled bus or passenger rail service in the
community to where must residents go to obtain these services?
5. Where is the nearest airport; if it is a local service airport,
to what major airport does it carry passengers?
6. What percentage of residents of the community work outside the
community; where do these residents work?
7. What are the major elements of the community's economy; is the
community's economy improving or declining; what Federal, State, or
local plans, if any, are there for economic development in the
community?
8. If residents leave the community for schooling, recreation,
health care, or religious worship, what standard of time is observed in
the places where they go for these purposes?
The current Mercer County petition stated several reasons for the
request, outlining the Commission's view of why the change would meet
the ''convenience of commerce'' standard. The following is a summary of
the reasons asserted in support of the request, which facially address
several of the Department's questions.
* Almost all supplies for businesses in Mercer County, including
the coal and agriculture industries, are shipped from the Bismarck/
Mandan area and other points in the central time zone.
* Communications media (newspapers, radio and television stations)
serving Mercer County are based in the Bismarck/Mandan area.
* There is no regular passenger transportation serving Mercer
County. Residents go to the Bismarck/Mandan area to catch planes,
trains, and buses.
* The main offices for several Mercer County energy industry
facilities are located in Bismarck.
* Many residents regularly travel to the Bismarck/Mandan area for
recreation, health care, and other purposes.
* Geographically, Mercer County is adjacent to the central time
zone on the east, north, and south sides of the county, and is
therefore well-located for inclusion in the central time zone. The Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation, located in Mercer County, is currently in
the central time zone.
The current petition represents that local government, industry,
and education leaders recently brought the matter to the Commission's
attention, requesting that the question of changing the time zone be
raised. One change affecting the schools that has been mentioned is
that a school in Stanton, in Mercer County, has closed, with Mercer
students now being transported to a school in Center, in Oliver County,
which is located in the central time zone. In addition, it has been
suggested that commuting patterns may be more oriented toward areas in
the central time zone than was the case in the 2000-2003 period.
When DOT considers a petition to change a time zone boundary, the
Department will generally begin a rulemaking proceeding if the highest
elected officials in the area make a prima facie case for the proposed
change. The Department believes that the Mercer County Commission's
petition does make a prima facie case to change the time zone of Mercer
County from mountain to central. Consequently, we are issuing this
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would move the county into
the central time zone.
The Department is opening a comment period on this matter. The
public hearing is scheduled during this comment period, to give
interested persons the opportunity to develop their thoughts and
comments before the hearing and to respond in writing after the
hearing, if they wish, to information presented at the hearing.
The Department wants to make clear that, by issuing this NPRM, we
are not taking a position on the merits of the petition. The Department
does not have a ``going-in position'' on whether the county should
remain in the mountain time zone or change to the central time zone.
The effect of the NPRM is simply to begin a public input process that
will include the opportunity for written comments and the opportunity
to speak at a public hearing in the county.
In making a decision based on what the Department learns from this
process, the Department will focus on matters affecting the
``convenience of commerce,'' which we interpret broadly to encompass
matters concerning the effects of a potential change on the economy of
the jurisdiction in question, transportation, education and other
public institutions, and other factors including the personal views of
residents. Our ultimate decision will be based on information provided
to the
[[Page 9570]]
written docket or at the hearing. Commenters and participants at the
public hearing should present all the information they can, in as great
detail as possible, relevant to the Department's questions concerning
whether the proposal meets the ``convenience of commerce'' standard.
Comments that explain why mountain time or central time is preferable,
in terms of the Department's ``convenience of commerce'' standard, will
be of greater use to the Department than unexplained expressions of
liking one outcome better than the other.
We believe that the views of community members and leaders is an
important part of the Department's decisionmaking process, on the
assumption that the people and organizations who would be most affected
by a proposed change are in the best position to advise us on the
effects of a change. The process is not simply a matter of a vote,
however. As in all rulemaking proceedings, the Department's decision is
not made solely on the basis of the number of comments that persons
favoring one outcome or another sent to us.
If the Department decides to move Mercer County into the central
time zone, we would time the decision to be effective on November 7,
2010, to coincide with the change from daylight to standard time. The
purpose of this timing would be to minimize disruption from the change.
Regulatory Analyses and Notices
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department has determined that this action is not a significant
regulatory action for purposes of Executive Order 12866 or the
Department's regulatory policies and procedures. The rule primarily
affects the convenience of individuals in scheduling activities. By
itself, it imposes no direct costs. Its impact is localized in nature,
affecting only the residents of a single county. We expect the economic
impact of this final rule to be so minimal that a full Regulatory
Evaluation under paragraph 10e of the regulatory policies and
procedures of DOT is unnecessary. While some small entities (i.e.,
small business or governmental entities in Mercer County) would be
affected by setting their clocks differently than in the past, the
economic effects of doing so would not be significant. Therefore, the
Department certifies that the rule would not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Federalism
This NPRM has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and
criteria contained in Executive Order 13132 (``Federalism''). The NPRM
does not have a substantial direct effect on, or sufficient federalism
implications for, the States, nor would it limit the policymaking
discretion of the States. Therefore, the consultation requirements of
Executive Order 13132 do not apply.
Unfunded Mandates
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) and
E.O. 12875, Enhancing the Intergovernmental Partnership (58 FR 58093;
October 28, 1993), govern the issuance of Federal regulations that
impose unfunded mandates. An unfunded mandate is a regulation that
requires a State, local, or tribal government or the private sector to
incur direct costs without the Federal Government's having first
provided the funds to pay those costs. This NPRM would not impose an
unfunded mandate.
Protection of Children
We have analyzed this NPRM under E.O. 13045, Protection of Children
from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. This NPRM is not an
economically significant rule and does not concern an environmental
risk to health or risk to safety as defined by the Executive Order that
may disproportionately affect children. The Department will consider
any comments it receives about potential safety effects on children of
a time zone change.
Environment
This rulemaking is not a major Federal action significantly
affecting the quality of the human environment under the National
Environmental Policy Act and, therefore, an environmental impact
statement is not required.
Privacy Act
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not create any information collection requirements
covered by the Paperwork Reduction Act.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 71
Time zones.
Robert S. Rivkin,
General Counsel.
For reasons discussed in the preamble, the Department of
Transportation proposes to amend Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 71, as follows:
PART 71--STANDARD TIME ZONE BOUNDARIES
1. The authority citation for 49 CFR Part 71 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: Secs. 1-4, 40 Stat. 450, as amended; sec. 1, 41 Stat.
1446, as amended; secs. 2-7, 80 Stat. 107, as amended; 100 Stat.
764; Act of Mar. 19, 1918, as amended by the Uniform Time Act of
1966 and Pub. L. 97-449, 15 U.S.C. 260-267; Pub. L. 99-359; Pub. L.
106-564, 15 U.S.C. 263, 114 Stat. 2811; 49 CFR 1.59(a), unless
otherwise noted.
2. Revise Sec. 71.7 (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 71.7 Boundary line between central and mountain zones.
(a) Montana-North Dakota. Beginning at the junction of the Montana-
North Dakota boundary with the boundary of the United States and Canada
southerly along the Montana-North Dakota boundary to the Missouri
River; thence southerly and easterly along the middle of that river to
the midpoint of the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers;
thence southerly and easterly along the middle of the Yellowstone River
to the north boundary of T. 150 N., R. 104 W.; thence east to the
northwest corner of T. 150 N., R. 102 W.; thence south to the southwest
corner of T. 149 N., R. 102 W.; thence east to the northwest corner of
T. 148 N., R. 102 W.; thence south to the northwest corner of 147 N.,
R. 102 W.; thence east to the southwest corner of T. 148 N., R. 101 W.;
thence south to the middle of the Little Missouri; thence easterly and
northerly along the middle of that river to the midpoint of its
confluence with the Missouri River; thence southerly and easterly along
the middle of the Missouri River to the midpoint of its confluence with
the western land boundary of Mercer County; thence south along the
western county line of Mercer County to the southwest boundary; thence
east and south along the southwestern county boundary of Morton County
to the intersection with the boundary with Sioux County; thence west
and south along the northern boundary of Sioux County to the center of
State Highway 31; thence south along the center of
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State Highway 31 to the state border with South Dakota; thence east
along the southern boundary of Sioux County to the middle of the
Missouri River.
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[FR Doc. 2010-4372 Filed 3-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P