Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration May 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

FMCSA announces receipt of applications from three individuals for an exemption from the prohibition in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) against persons with a clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any other condition that is likely to cause a loss of consciousness or any loss of ability to control a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) to drive in interstate commerce. If granted, the exemptions would enable these individuals who have had one or more seizures and are taking anti-seizure medication to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew exemptions for 15 individuals from the hearing requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for interstate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The exemptions enable these hard of hearing and deaf individuals to continue to operate CMVs in interstate commerce.

FMCSA announces its decision to renew exemptions for 68 individuals from the vision requirement in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for interstate commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. The exemptions enable these individuals to continue to operate CMVs in interstate commerce without meeting the vision requirement in one eye.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The Executive Order, ``Setting Customer Service Standards,'' directs Federal agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. These principles were reaffirmed in the Executive Order, ``Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service.'' In order to work continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our customers' needs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) seeks to obtain OMB approval of a currently approved generic clearance to continue collecting feedback on our service delivery. By feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study.

FMCSA announces that it has received applications from the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) requesting renewal of exemptions from certain hours of service (HOS) regulations that expired on July 8, 2020. The requests are being made on behalf of 60 APA member companies. The exemption requests would allow drivers for its members to exclude off-duty and sleeper berth time of any length from the calculation of the 14-hour limit and to use paper records of duty status (RODS) in lieu of electronic logging devices (ELD) during the designated Independence Day periods. The requests are for the transportation of pyrotechnics from June 28 through July 8 of every year from 2021 through 2025.

In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, this final rule provides the 2021 inflation adjustment to civil penalty amounts that may be imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations. In addition, this rule amends the Federal Aviation Administration regulations to set forth the new civil penalties established in Division V, Title I of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The rule also corrects a rounding error in an FAA penalty.