[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 8 (Monday, January 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2245-2247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00411]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2012-0154; FMCSA-2012-0332; FMCSA-2013-0121; FMCSA-
2013-0122; FMCSA-2013-0123]


Qualification of Drivers; Application for Exemptions; Hearing

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of final disposition.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its decision to grant requests from 20 
individuals for exemptions from the Agency's physical qualifications 
standard concerning hearing for interstate drivers. The current 
regulation prohibits hearing impaired individuals from operating CMVs 
in interstate commerce. After notice and opportunity for public 
comment, the Agency concluded that granting exemptions for these 
commercial driver's license (CDL) holders to operate property-carrying 
CMVs will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to or greater 
than the level of safety maintained without the exemptions. The 
exemptions are valid for a 2-year period and may be renewed, and the 
exemptions preempt State laws and regulations.

DATES: The exemptions are effective January 13, 2014. The exemptions 
expire on January 13, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elaine M. Papp, Chief, Medical 
Programs Division, (202) 366-4001, [email protected], FMCSA, 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W64-224, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Electronic Access

    You may see all the comments online through the Federal Document 
Management System (FDMS) at: http://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov and/or Room W12-140 on the 
ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of DOT's dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, or other 
entity). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register (73 FR 3316, January 17, 2008).

B. Background

    Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA may grant an exemption 
from the safety regulations for a 2-year period if it finds ``such 
exemption would likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to 
or greater than the level that would be achieved absent such 
exemption.'' The statute also allows the Agency to renew exemptions at 
the end of the 2-year period. The current provisions of the FMCSRs 
concerning hearing state that a person is physically qualified to drive 
a CMV if that person:

    First perceives a forced whispered voice in the better ear at 
not less than 5 feet with or without the use of a hearing aid or, if 
tested

[[Page 2246]]

by use of an audiometric device, does not have an average hearing 
loss in the better ear greater than 40 decibels at 500 Hz, 1,000 Hz, 
and 2,000 Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric 
device is calibrated to American National Standard (formerly ASA 
Standard) Z24.5--1951.

    49 CFR 391.41(b)(11). This standard was adopted in 1970, with a 
revision in 1971 to allow drivers to be qualified under this standard 
while wearing a hearing aid, 35 FR 6458, 6463 (April 22, 1970) and 36 
FR 12857 (July 3, 1971).
    FMCSA grants 20 CDL holders an exemption from Sec.  391.41(b)(11) 
concerning hearing to enable them to operate property-carrying CMVs in 
interstate commerce for a 2-year period. The Agency's decision on these 
exemption applications is based on the current medical literature and 
information and the ``Executive Summary on Hearing, Vestibular Function 
and Commercial Motor Driving Safety'' (the 2008 Evidence Report) 
presented to FMCSA on August 26, 2008. The evidence report reached two 
conclusions regarding the matter of hearing loss and CMV driver safety: 
(1) No studies that examined the relationship between hearing loss and 
crash risk exclusively among CMV drivers were identified; and (2) 
evidence from studies of the private driver license holder population 
does not support the contention that individuals with hearing 
impairment are at an increased risk for a crash. In addition, the 
Agency reviewed each applicant's driving record found in the CDLIS,\1\ 
for CDL holders, and inspections recorded in MCMIS.\2\ Each applicant's 
record demonstrated a safe driving history. The Agency believes the 
drivers covered by the exemptions do not pose a risk to public safety.
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    \1\ Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS) is an 
information system that allows the exchange of commercial driver 
licensing information among all the States. CDLIS includes the 
databases of 51 licensing jurisdictions and the CDLIS Central Site, 
all connected by a telecommunications network.
    \2\ Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) is an 
information system that captures data from field offices through 
SAFETYNET, CAPRI, and other sources. It is a source for FMCSA 
inspection, crash, compliance review, safety audit, and registration 
data.
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C. Comments

    FMCSA announced the exemption applications and requested public 
comment for each of the applicants in one of the notices below. For 
those applicants discussed in a previous notice but who are not 
mentioned in this notice, the Agency will complete the evaluation of 
those applications and announce its decision at a later date.

Docket  FMCSA-2012-0154

    On May 25, 2012, FMCSA published a notice of receipt of exemption 
applications and requested public comment on 45 individuals. The 
comment period ended on July 30, 2012. This application was in response 
to a request from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). In 
response to this notice, FMCSA received 570 comments and granted 40 
exemptions. The 570 comments were addressed in the Agency's notice 
published on February 1, 2013 (78 FR 7479).

Docket  FMCSA-2012-0332

    On July 16, 2013, FMCSA published a notice of receipt of exemption 
applications and requested public comment on 27 individuals. The 
comment period ended on August 15, 2013. In response to the notice, 
FMCSA received seven comments. All seven commenters support the idea of 
granting exemptions.

Docket  FMCSA-2013-0121

    On May 3, 2013, FMCSA published a notice of receipt of exemption 
applications and requested public comment on 9 individuals. The comment 
period ended on June 3, 2013. In response to the notice, FMCSA received 
three comments. All three commenters support the idea of granting 
exemptions.

Docket  FMCSA-2013-0122

    On May 6, 2013, FMCSA published a notice of receipt of exemption 
applications and requested public comment on 16 individuals. The 
comment period ended on June 5, 2013. In response to the notice, FMCSA 
received four comments. All four commenters support the idea of 
granting exemptions.

Docket  FMCSA-2013-0123

    On July 16, 2013, FMCSA published a notice of receipt of exemption 
applications and requested public comment on 27 individuals. The 
comment period ended on August 15, 2013. In response to the notice, 
FMCSA received seven comments. All seven commenters support the idea of 
granting exemptions.

D. Exemptions Granted

    Following individualized assessments of the exemption applications, 
FMCSA grants exemptions from 49 CFR 391.41(b)(11) to 20 individuals. 
Under current FMCSA regulations, all of the 20 drivers receiving 
exemptions from 49 CFR 391.41(b)(11) would have been considered 
physically qualified to drive a CMV in interstate commerce except that 
they do not meet the hearing requirement. FMCSA has determined that the 
following applicants should be granted an exemption.
Johsua Arango
    Mr. Arango holds a class A CDL from Florida.
Alan T. Brown
    Mr. Brown holds a class B CDL from New Jersey.
Mark Canoyer
    Mr. Canoyer holds a class A CDL from Minnesota.
Nelson De Leon
    Mr. De Leon holds a class A CDL from Florida.
Jerry Ferguson
    Mr. Ferguson holds a class A CDL from Texas.
Anthony Gray
    Mr. Gray holds a class A CDL from Kentucky.
Sue H. Gregory
    Ms. Gregory holds a class A CDL from Utah.
David Hoffman
    Mr. Hoffman holds a class A CDL from South Dakota.
Christopher A. Jayne
    Mr. Jayne holds a class A CDL from Missouri.
Valerie Johnson
    Ms. Johnson holds a class B CDL from California.
William Wallace Larson
    Mr. Larson holds a class A CDL from North Carolina.
Roy Lloyd, Sr.
    Mr. Lloyd holds a class A CDL from Virginia.
Ray Norris
    Mr. Norris holds a class A CDL from Texas.
Gilbert Partida
    Mr. Partida holds a class A CDL from Texas.
Johnny Pierson
    Mr. Pierson holds a class A CDL from Alabama.
James Queen
    Mr. Queen holds a class A CDL from Florida.

[[Page 2247]]

Noel A. Rodriguez
    Mr. Rodriguez holds a class A CDL from New Hampshire.
James Schubin
    Mr. Schubin holds a class A CDL from California.
Benton Scott
    Mr. Scott holds a class A CDL from Mississippi.
Morris W. Townsend
    Mr. Townsend holds a class A CDL from North Carolina.

E. Basis for Exemption

    Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA may grant an exemption 
from the hearing standard in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(11) if the exemption is 
likely to achieve an equivalent or greater level of safety than would 
be achieved without the exemption. With the exemption, applicants can 
drive in interstate commerce. Thus, the Agency's analysis focuses on 
whether an equal or greater level of safety is likely to be achieved by 
permitting each of these drivers to drive in interstate commerce as 
opposed to restricting him or her to driving in intrastate commerce. 
Based on its review of each driver's record, the Agency has concluded 
that allowing these applicants to drive in interstate commerce will 
achieve an equal level of safety. Each driver must comply with the 
terms and conditions of the exemption. This includes reporting any 
crashes or accidents as defined in 49 CFR 390.5 and reporting all 
citations and convictions for disqualifying offenses under 49 CFR part 
383 and 49 CFR 391.

Conclusion

    The Agency is granting exemptions from the hearing standard, 49 CFR 
391.41(b)(11), to 20 individuals based on a thorough evaluation of each 
driver's qualifications and safety experience. Safety analysis of 
information relating to these 20 applicants meets the burden of showing 
that granting the exemptions would achieve a level of safety that is 
equivalent to or greater than the level that would be achieved without 
the exemption. By granting the exemptions, the CMV industry will gain 
20 additional CMV drivers. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31315, each 
exemption will be valid for 2 years from the effective date with annual 
recertification required unless revoked earlier by FMCSA. The exemption 
will be revoked if the following occurs: (1) The person fails to comply 
with the terms and conditions of the exemption; (2) the exemption has 
resulted in a lower level of safety than was maintained prior to being 
granted; or (3) continuation of the exemption would not be consistent 
with the goals and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136 and 31315.
    FMCSA exempts the following 20 drivers for a period of 2 years from 
the physical qualification standard concerning hearing: Johsua Arango 
(FL); Alan Brown (NJ); Mark Canoyer (MN); Nelson De Leon (FL); Jerry 
Ferguson (TX); Anthony Gray (KY); Sue H. Gregory (UT); David Hoffman 
(SD); Christopher Jayne (MO); Valerie Johnson (CA); William Larson 
(NC); Roy Lloyd, Sr. (VA); Ray Norris (TX); Gilbert Partida (TX); Johny 
Pierson (AL); James Queen (FL); Noel Rodriguez (NH); James Schubin 
(CA); Benton Scott (MS); and Morris Townsend (NC).

    Dated: January 7, 2014.
Anne S. Ferro,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-00411 Filed 1-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P