[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]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Special Programs Administration
49 CFR Parts 171 and 173
[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.
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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.
SUPPLEMENTARY 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 unwarranted 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
