Enforcement of Motor Carrier Financial Responsibility; Withdrawal of Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Passage 1[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 1995)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 5889-5890] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 95-2286] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Research and Special Programs Administration [Docket No. HM-199; Notice No. 95-4] RIN 2137-AB35 Enforcement of Motor Carrier Financial Responsibility; Withdrawal of Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT. ACTION: Withdrawal of advance notice of proposed rulemaking. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: RSPA is withdrawing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) issued under Docket HM-199, Enforcement of Motor Carrier Financial Responsibility. The ANPRM solicited comments on the merits of a petition requesting DOT to promulgate a regulation to require each person, offering a hazardous material for transportation in a cargo tank, to obtain proof of financial responsibility from the carrier. This notice removes this action from the regulatory agenda, because there is sufficient evidence that carriers are already complying with financial responsibility requirements in the Federal motor carrier safety regulations. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diane LaValle, (202) 366-4488, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards, Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC 20590-0001.#

Passage 2SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1986, RSPA received a petition for rulemaking (P-0093) from the National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. (NTTC) requesting amendment of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180) to require each person who offers a hazardous material for transportation by highway in a cargo tank to obtain documentary proof that the motor carrier possesses the minimum level of financial responsibility currently prescribed by 49 CFR part 387. Since 1980, all motor carriers have been required to provide financial responsibility in varying amounts and forms, usually by insurance and/ or bonding. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regulations require all carriers to have appropriate evidence of financial responsibility available for public inspection at their principal place of business (49 CFR 387.31). The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) issued conforming regulations applicable to for-hire carriers of property which required use of a form to be maintained within the carrier's public docket at ICC (49 CFR 1043.7). These actions provided methods for carriers to document the status of their financial responsibility. However, NTTC believed that a shipper should have knowledge of financial responsibility at the time it offered its shipment. NTTC also referred to the lack of adequate enforcement staff to effectively determine carrier compliance. According to NTTC, a major benefit of the requested change in [[Page 5890]] the regulations would be the creation of a ready mechanism for a shipper to verify a carrier's compliance, without expenditure of any government resources. ANPRM. On May 20, 1987, RSPA published an ANPRM, HM-199 [52 FR 19116], soliciting comments on a number of questions relating to the merits of the petition from NTTC, and whether DOT should proceed with rulemaking. Comments to the ANPRM. Currently, there is no provision in the HMR requiring shippers to obtain proof from motor carriers that the financial responsibility requirements in 49 CFR part 397 are being met. A number of commenters to the ANPRM asserted that public safety would be enhanced by the shipper obtaining proof of carrier financial responsibility. Several commenters pointed out that some carriers are underinsured and that DOT can not effectively audit all carriers. Commenters opposed to the petition argued that it would require shippers to perform an#

Passage 3unwarranted enforcement function. Some stated that verification of the appropriate level of carrier insurance would be difficult for small shippers. They maintained that the proposal would increase personnel training and operating costs and impose a recordkeeping burden, while doing nothing to ensure compliance or strengthen enforcement. One commenter concluded that the proposal fails to address carrier underinsurance and that it would involve increased enforcement against shippers and widen shipper liability. RSPA believes that the concerns in the petition are sufficiently addressed by the following: (1) the existing certification and enforcement practices of the ICC and FHWA; (2) expansion of state motor carrier inspection programs; (3) improvements in the hazardous materials insurance market; and (4) development of new motor carrier registration and permitting requirements. Common and contract carriers entering hazardous materials service must show evidence of the appropriate financial responsibility levels, specified in part 387, to obtain operating authority from the ICC. In turn, proof of adequate financial responsibility is an essential function of FHWA's compliance review process, specified in part 385, involving on-site investigation of carrier operations. There is strong evidence that, for the most part, carriers are complying with part 387 requirements, and that non- compliance is not so widespread as to constitute a serious safety problem. For these reasons, RSPA believes that no action is required on this rulemaking action and NTTC's petition is denied. In consideration of the foregoing, Docket HM-199 is hereby terminated. Issued in Washington, DC on January 25, 1995, under authority delegated in 49 CFR part 106, Appendix A. Alan I. Roberts, Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety. [FR Doc. 95-2286 Filed 1-30-95; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-60-P#