Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document announces the availability of grant funding under the FY2006 Border Enforcement Grant (BEG) program as specified in Section 4110 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA-LU). Section 4110 establishes a BEG program. The program is a discretionary grant program funded by a single source. It provides funding for carrying out border commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety programs and related enforcement activities and projects. An entity or a State that shares a land border with another country is eligible to receive grant funding.

FMCSA announces its decision to exempt 22 individuals from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). The exemptions will enable these individuals to qualify as drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce without meeting the vision standard prescribed in 49 CFR 391.41 (b)(10).

FMCSA invites public comment on its intent to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew two information collections entitled, ``The Annual Report of Class I and Class II Motor Carriers of Property (Form M)'' and ``The Quarterly Report of Class I Motor Carriers of Property (Form QFR).'' These information collections are necessary to ensure that motor carriers comply with FMCSA's financial and operating statistics (F&OS) program requirements. This notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The FMCSA, Office of Research and Analysis (R&A), will host a forum on FMCSA Safety and Security Accomplishments, in conjunction with the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) 85th Annual Meeting. The forum is designed to provide insight on safety and security research, technology and analysis accomplishments that support FMCSA's mission to reduce the number and severity of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes and fatalities and enhance efficiency of CMV operations. The forum topics will include a conference report on the 2005 International Conference on Fatigue Management in Transportation Operations; updated FMCSA activities in the hazardous materials area; and accomplishments to date on medical qualifications, driver health and medical reporting initiatives. Panelists will also cover the latest results of the Large Truck Crash Causation Study; a report on public input on FMCSA's notice requesting information on its Wireless Inspection Program; results of the field operational test on Lane Departure Warning Systems and Deployment of On-Board Safety Systems; and what progress has been made on improving Data Quality. A portion of the forum will be set aside for attendees to dialogue with FMCSA subject-matter experts through an open question and answer session.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for 13 individuals. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt individuals from vision standards if the exemptions granted will not compromise safety. The agency has concluded that granting these exemptions will provide a level of safety that will be equivalent to, or greater than, the level of safety maintained without the exemptions for these commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.