The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is asking its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee to advise on a draft rulemaking to be ready by next July.
Mark next Monday, Dec. 7, on your calendar if you're concerned about commercial vehicle drivers' fatigue and the hours of service rule that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has been using for about a year, steadily opposed by the Public Citizen interest group. On Oct. 26, 2009, FMCSA reached a settlement agreement in Public Citizen's lawsuit to derail the final rule, and that settlement contains a timetable for completing a new hours rule. FMCSA has asked its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee to advise on a draft rule that is supposed to be ready by next July.
The committee will meet Dec. 7 for one hour, 8:30-9:30 a.m. EST, via a conference call that will be open to the public. That meeting starts a short timetable, because the settlement agreement says FMCSA will submit a draft NPRM within nine months of the settlement agreement and then publish a final rule within 21 months of the agreement.
"The MCSAC will be requested to begin work on a new task: as part of FMCSA's broad efforts to gather information and recommendations on hours-of-service requirements for drivers of property-carrying vehicles, FMCSA is asking MCSAC to provide advice and recommendations on the hours of service requirements," FMCSA's notice of the meeting stated.
For information on the meeting's agenda, bridge line, and Web link for the conference call, send an e-mail to mcsac@dot.gov. For information on services for individuals with disabilities or to request special assistance, e-mail your request to that address by Dec. 4.
Oral comments from the public will not be taken during the conference call. Written comments may be submitted for the meeting by fax to 202-493-2251 by Dec. 3 or send via www.regulations.gov, citing Docket Number FMCSA-2006-26367.
The contact for more information is Jack Kostelnik, acting chief of the Strategic Planning and Program Evaluation Division, Office of Policy Plans and Regulation, at FMCSA, 202-366-5730.
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