[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47421-47422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22564]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[FHWA Docket No. MC-94-14]


State Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Law Affecting Interstate 
Commerce; Notice of Preemption Determination

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of determination of preemption of State of Mississippi 
commercial motor vehicle safety law.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA has reviewed a State of Mississippi commercial motor 
vehicle safety law and determined that it is incompatible with Federal 
regulations. This review is required by the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 
1984 (Pub. L. 98-554, 98 Stat. 2832). The FHWA has determined that the 
State law is preempted by Federal law and may not be in effect and 
enforced with respect to commercial motor vehicles in interstate 
commerce.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This preemption determination is effective September 
12, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Linda Taylor, Office of Motor 
Carriers, HFO-30, (202) 366-9579; or Mr. David Sett, Office of the 
Chief Counsel, HCC-20, (202) 366-0834; Federal Highway Administration, 
400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 
7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the United States Constitution, the 
Congress is granted the power to regulate interstate commerce. In the 
Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (the Act), the Congress authorized the 
Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations pertaining to the 
safety of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. 49 U.S.C. 
31136. The Congress did not choose to wholly occupy the field, however, 
and States are not precluded from such regulation insofar as the State 
laws are compatible with and have the same effect as Federal 
regulations.
    State laws which are incompatible with and do not have the same 
effect as Federal regulations may not be in effect and enforced with 
respect to commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce and are 
subject to Federal preemption. The Act directs the Secretary of 
Transportation to conduct rulemaking proceedings to determine whether 
State laws may be preempted. The proceedings may be pursuant to the 
Secretary's own initiative or the petition of any interested person. 49 
U.S.C. 31141.
    The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Regulatory Review Panel, which 
was established by the Act to analyze State commercial motor vehicle 
safety laws and regulations, notified the FHWA in its final report in 
August 1990 that a State of Mississippi law was incompatible with 
Federal regulations. The law in question exempts vehicles engaged in 
certain industries, such as lumber and gravel hauling and farming, from 
compliance with State motor carrier safety laws and regulations.
    On July 15, 1994, the FHWA initiated a rulemaking proceeding to 
review the State of Mississippi law. 59 FR 36252. All interested 
persons were invited to submit comments to the rulemaking docket. The 
only comment received was from the Advocates for Highway Safety, which 
agreed with the preliminary determination of preemption on the grounds 
that the exemptions in the State of Mississippi law are not provided in 
Federal regulations.
    The specific provisions which were reviewed, and preliminarily 
found to be preempted as they apply to interstate commerce, are found 
in Section 77-7-16(3)(g)-(i), Mississippi Code of 1972. Subsection (3) 
exempts certain vehicles and operations from the provision in the Code 
requiring the State Public Service Commission to ``promulgate as its 
own and enforce the rules, regulations, requirements and 
classifications of the United States Department of transportation or 
any successor federal agency charged with regulation of motor vehicle 
safety.'' Included in the exemption are:
    (g) Motor vehicles owned and operated by any farmer who:
    (i) Is using the vehicle to transport agricultural products from a 
farm owned by the farmer, or to transport farm machinery or farm 
supplies to or from a farm owned by the farmer;
    (ii) Is not using the vehicle to transport hazardous materials of a 
type and quantity that requires the vehicle to be placarded in 
accordance with the Federal Hazardous Material Regulations in CFR 49 
part 177.823; and
    (iii) Is using the vehicle within one hundred fifty (150) air miles 
of the farmer's farm, and the vehicle is a private motor carrier of 
property. 

[[Page 47422]]

    (h) Motor vehicles engaged in the transportation of logs and 
pulpwood between the point of harvest and the first point of processing 
the harvested product;
    (i) Motor vehicles engaged exclusively in hauling gravel or other 
unmanufactured road building materials.
    The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) do not 
contain compatible exemptions. Generally, the FMCSRs do not allow 
industry-based exemptions. State laws which provide such exemptions for 
vehicles in interstate commerce are deemed less stringent than the 
FMCSRs.
    Drivers of farm vehicles, such as defined in paragraph (g) of the 
Mississippi Code, do have limited (49 CFR 391.67, articulated vehicles) 
and full (49 CFR 391.2(c), nonarticulated vehicles) exemptions from 
driver qualification requirements of Part 391 of the FMCSRs. Unlike the 
Mississippi Code, however, the FMCSRs do not exempt farm vehicles or 
their drivers from any other motor carrier safety requirements. 
Paragraph (g) is, therefore, determined to be preempted insofar as it 
provides exemptions for farm vehicles not found in the FMCSRs.
    The exemptions in paragraphs (h) and (i) for gravel and log haulers 
have no parallels in the FMCSRs. Each of these provisions in the 
Mississippi Code are therefore incompatible with the FMCSRs and are 
determined to be preempted.
    Insofar as these exemptions affect vehicles in interstate commerce, 
they are contrary to the guideline for regulatory review in 49 CFR Part 
355, app. A, which provides that the ``requirements must apply to all 
segments of the motor carrier industry.'' Because the exemptions are 
less stringent than Federal regulations, the State law is preempted and 
shall not be in effect and enforced by the State of Mississippi with 
respect to commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. 49 U.S.C. 
31141.
    Any person, including the State of Mississippi, may petition the 
FHWA for a waiver from a preemption determination. 49 U.S.C. 31141(d). 
A petitioner is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the record. A 
waiver may be granted if it is demonstrated that the waiver is not 
contrary to the public interest and is consistent with the safe 
operation of commercial motor vehicles.
    Any person adversely affected by this determination may also file a 
petition for judicial review of the determination in the United States 
Court of Appeals.
    It should be reemphasized that this preemption determination is 
applicable only to certain State of Mississippi commercial motor 
vehicle safety laws insofar as they apply to vehicles in interstate 
commerce. State of Mississippi laws applicable only to vehicles in 
intrastate commerce are not subject to preemption, and, moreover, 
appear to be compatible for purposes of the Motor Carrier Safety 
Assistance Program because they fall within the Tolerance Guidelines. 
49 CFR Part 350, app. C.

(49 U.S.C. 31141; 23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48)

    Issued on: August 31, 1995.
Rodney E. Slater,
Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-22564 Filed 9-11-95; 8:45 am]
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