(a) A recipient may petition the Administrator for an exception to the charter service regulations to provide charter service directly to a customer for:

(1) Events of regional or national significance;

(2) Hardship (only for non-urbanized areas under 50,000 in population or small urbanized areas under 200,000 in population); or

(3) Unique and time sensitive events (e.g., funerals of local, regional, or national significance) that are in the public's interest.

(b) The petition to the Administrator shall include the following information:

(1) The date and description of the event;

(2) The type of service requested and the type of equipment;

(3) The anticipated number of charter service hours needed for the event;

(4) The anticipated number of vehicles and duration of the event; and

(i) For an event of regional or national significance, the petition shall include a description of how registered charter providers were consulted, how registered charter providers will be utilized in providing the charter service, a certification that the recipient has exhausted all of the registered charter providers in its geographic service area, and submit the petition at least 90 days before the first day of the event described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section;

(ii) For a hardship request, a petition is only available if the registered charter provider has deadhead time that exceeds total trip time from initial pick-up to final drop-off, including wait time. The petition shall describe how the registered charter provider's minimum duration would create a hardship on the group requesting the charter service; or

(iii) For unique and time sensitive events, the petition shall describe why the event is unique or time sensitive and how providing the charter service would be in the public's interest.

(c) Upon receipt of a petition that meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, the Administrator shall review the materials and issue a written decision denying or granting the request in whole or in part. In making this decision, the Administrator may seek such additional information as the Administrator deems necessary. The Administrator's decision shall be filed in the Petitions to the Administrator docket, number FTA-2007-0022 at http://www.regulations.gov and sent to the recipient.

(d) Any exception granted by the Administrator under this section shall be effective only for the event identified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

(e) A recipient shall send its petition to the Administrator by facsimile to (202) 366-3809 or by e-mail to [email protected].

(f) A recipient shall retain a copy of the Administrator's approval for a period of at least three years and shall include it in the recipient's quarterly report posted on the charter registration Web site.