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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 03-1279

NOTICES

Notice of Comments Issued

[33 Pa.B. 3093]

   Section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(g)) provides that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (Commission) may issue comments within 30 days of the close of the Committee comment period. The Commission comments are based upon the criteria contained in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b).

   The Commission has issued comments on the following proposed regulation. The agency must consider these comments in preparing the final-form regulation. The final-form regulation must be submitted within 2 years of the close of the public comment period or it will be deemed withdrawn.


IRRC
Close of the PublicComments
Reg. No.Agency/Title Comment Period Issued
#18-373 Department of Transportation
   Official Traffic Control Devices
   (33 Pa.B. 1930 (April 19, 2003)) 		5/19/036/18/03

____

Department of Transportation Regulation No. 18-373

Official Traffic Control Devices

June 18, 2003

   We submit for consideration the following comments that include references to the criteria in the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b) which have not been met. The Department of Transportation (Department) must respond to these comments when it submits the final-form regulation. The public comment period for this regulation closed on May 19, 2003. If the final-form regulation is not delivered within 2 years of the close of the public comment period, the regulation will be deemed withdrawn.

1.  Deletion of Chapter 203. Work Zone Traffic Control.--Implementation procedures; Clarity.

   This regulation adopts the National Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and deletes existing chapters, including Chapter 203. In 2002, the General Assembly passed Act 229, which set forth requirements for signs before and after construction zones. The Department's statement of policy for initial implementation of Act 229 states in § 204.1(b) that the specifications in Chapter 204 ''are in addition to the traffic-control devices required by Chapter 203.'' Therefore, upon promulgation of this regulation, implementation of Act 229 would become confusing.

   Under section 21 of Act 229, the statement of policy ''shall be effective for a period not to exceed two years'' and must ''be replaced by regulations which shall be promulgated, adopted and published as provided by law.'' To avoid confusion, the Department should consider publishing another proposed rulemaking to implement Act 229 and then combining the rulemakings as one final-form regulation. This would be consistent with the directives of section 21 of Act 229 and would resolve our concern with the deletion of Chapter 203.

2.  Omission of citations, cross-references or necessary details.--Reasonableness; Clarity

   The following requirements are vague because they do not include the specific information needed to comply with the requirements. The Department should review these sections and add cross-references, citations or more detail so that the regulated parties have full notice of what is required. These sections include:

   *  Section 212.10(2) requires a request to include ''sufficient information to allow the Department to make a ruling . . . .''

   *  Section 212.105 requires all sign posts to be of a ''Department-approved breakaway design.''

   *  Section 212.108(b)(3) should cite or reference the ''most recent high-crash rate or high-crash severity rate table developed by the Department.''

   *  Section 212.116(a)(1) requires the safe load capacity of a bridge to be determined ''in accordance with Department standards . . . .''

   *  Section 212.120(a) requires specific service signs to only be installed ''in accordance with Department policy.''

   *  Section 212.404(b) states ''Portable sign supports shall be of a type approved by the Department.''

3.  Section 212.1. Definitions.--Reasonableness; Clarity.

Engineering and traffic study

   This definition describes the study as ''conforming to generally accepted engineering standards and practices.'' There are two concerns with this phrase.

   First, if this phrase is intended to be a requirement, it would not be enforceable because it is in a definition. Therefore, the phrase should be moved to the body of the regulation.

   Second, it is not clear what standard would be used to determine if a study conforms to ''generally accepted engineering standards and practices.'' A cross-reference or further description is needed.

4.  Section 212.3. Pennsylvania's Supplement to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways.--Need; Reasonableness; Clarity.

   This section states a published supplement ''will include additional requirements for official traffic control devices contained in this chapter . . . . '' It is unclear what additional requirements the Department envisions. The Department should explain why additional requirements are needed and why these requirements are not included in the proposed regulation and subject to comment.

5.  Section 212.109. Bridge speed limits.--Clarity.

   In subsection (a), is a ''structural engineer'' required to have qualifications such as a Professional Engineer license? If so, this requirement should be specified in the regulation.

6.  Section 212.119. General motorist service signs.--Clarity.

   This section states ''The application of general motorist service signs shall be in accordance with the Department's Statewide policy, and will generally be limited to expressways and freeways . . . . '' (Emphasis added.) The phrase ''generally be limited to'' is vague. When would the application of general motorist service signs not be limited to expressways and freeways?

7.  Section 212.408. Rumble strips.--Clarity.

   The last sentence states ''When rumble strips are used, it is desirable to extend the rumble strip patterns onto the shoulder whenever possible . . . . '' Stating what is ''desirable'' is nonregulatory language. The regulation should clearly state what is required. If the intent of this provision is to advise providers of the Department's preference, it may be more appropriate to include this information in a policy statement or other Department publication such as the publications listed in § 212.12.

JOHN R. MCGINLEY, Jr.,   
Chairperson

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 03-1279. Filed for public inspection June 27, 2003, 9:00 a.m.]


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