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DOT/FMCSA RIN: 2126-AA23 Publication ID: Spring 2000 
Title: ●Hours of Service of Drivers; Driver Rest and Sleep for Safe Operations(Rulemaking Resulting From a Section 610 Review) 
Abstract: This action would revise the regulations for commercial motor vehicle driver rest requirements and duty period limitations for safe highway transportation. A broad rulemaking is required by the ICC Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA). Other Congressional actions prior to the ICCTA require modifications to the current rules. Overall changes are necessary to attain four principal agency mandates. The Agency must: (1) Provide the minimum level of safety for the operation of commercial motor vehicles on public roads; (2) Ensure the responsibilities imposed on operators of commercial motor vehicles do not impair their ability to operate the vehicle safely; (3)Ensure the physical condition of operators of commercial motor vehicles is adequate to enable them to operate vehicles safely; and (4) Ensure the operation of commercial motor vehicles does not have a deleterious effect on the physical condition of the operators. This rulemaking responds to public and congressional interest in regulating commercial motor vehicle driver rest requirements, the NTSB's safety recommendations, petitions for rulemaking, and scientific data. There is substantial public and congressional interest in the regulation of medium-and heavy-duty truck and bus drivers' sleep, off-duty, and working periods of time. The FMCSA will propose new rules based upon comments and scientific data submitted to the advance notice of proposed rulemaking docket, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis, including a cost-benefit analysis, an unfunded mandates analysis, and a paperwork reduction analysis. This action is considered significant because of substantial public and congressional interest. 
Agency: Department of Transportation(DOT)  Priority: Economically Significant 
RIN Status: First time published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Proposed Rule Stage 
Major: Yes  Unfunded Mandates: Private Sector 
RFA Section 610 Review: Rulemaking Resulting From a Section 610 Review 
CFR Citation: 49 CFR 1.73    49 CFR 395   
Legal Authority: 49 USC 31136    49 USC 31502    PL 84-939    PL 98-554    PL 103-311    PL 104-59    PL 74-255    PL 106-159    PL 104-88   
Legal Deadline:
Action Source Description Date
Other  Statutory  ANPRM.PL 104-88,sec.408(a).  03/01/1996 
Final  Statutory  PL 104-88,sec.408(b).  11/05/1999 
NPRM  Statutory  PL 104-88, sec. 408(b).  11/05/1997 
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
ANPRM  11/05/1996  61 FR 57251   
Notice of Meeting  02/11/1997  62 FR 6161   
ANPRM Comment Period End  03/31/1997    
NPRM  09/00/2000    
Additional Information: Transferred from RIN 2125-AD93. During the agency's broad section 610 review of the 65-year history of the rule and all its amendments and revisions, the agency identified that RINs 2125-AD52, 2125-AD81, 2126-AA16, and 2126-AA29 also contain pertinent actions that must be incorporated into this action. Therefore, the agency incorporated them and plans to publish a combined proposal addressing the entire topic of hours-of-service of drivers and related recordkeeping issues. The DOT Docket Management System identifies this rulemaking as number FHWA-1997-2350. More Information on "ALTERNATIVES": Following publication of the NPRM, the FMCSA plans to hold seven (7) public meetings at different locations to address the research findings on various key issues that form the basis of the published proposal. The process will be structured in the following manner: (1) an initial period following publication of the NPRM to enable the public to analyze the proposal; (2) a subsequent period at a public meeting of which the first part will be an educational presentation of the research findings and the second part will be a structured dialogue on the findings; and (3) a period following the public meeting for agency receipt of written comments addressing issues raised in the structured dialogue. The decision to hold such public meetings arises, in part, from earlier consideration by the FMCSA's predecessor agency, the FHWA, of the possibility of a negotiated rulemaking (reg-neg) in this matter. The convenors retained by the FHWA to assess the feasibility of such an action concluded that a negotiated rulemaking was not likely to result in consensus-based recommendations to the agency, but recommended that some type of collaborative scientific dialogue, while unlikely to end in consensus, nonetheless held the greatest promise for engaging various groups of stakeholders in meaningful dialogue that might narrow the differences on a number of key issues. See, Convenors' Report (June 10, 1999) in DOT Docket No. FHWA-1997-2350-727, which may be viewed at http://dms.dot.gov. The FMCSA believes that this process has the potential to set a more positive tone for future discussions and, further, will not unduly delay agency publication of the NPRM.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes  Government Levels Affected: Federal, Local, State 
Small Entities Affected: Businesses, Governmental Jurisdictions, Organizations  Federalism: Yes 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
Agency Contact:
Lee Payne
Office of Enforcement and Compliance, Division of Insurance
Department of Transportation
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
MC-ECI, 400 Virginia Avenue SW., Suite 600,
Washington, DC 20024
Phone:202 358-7029
Fax:202 358-7100