[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