[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 6 (Monday, January 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1281-1284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00295]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0294; FMCSA-2011-0326; FMCSA-2011-0327; FMCSA-
2011-0367; FMCSA-2013-0192]


Qualification of Drivers; Exemption Applications; Diabetes

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

ACTION: Notice of renewal of exemptions; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its decision to renew the exemptions of 36 
individuals from its rule prohibiting persons with insulin-treated 
diabetes mellitus (ITDM) from operating commercial motor vehicles 
(CMVs) in interstate commerce. FMCSA has statutory authority to exempt 
individuals from this rule if the exemptions granted will not

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compromise safety. The Agency has concluded that granting these 
exemption renewals will provide a level of safety that is equivalent to 
or greater than the level of safety maintained without the exemptions 
for these CMV drivers.

DATES: Each group of renewed exemptions are effective from the dates 
stated in the discussions below. Comments must be received on or before 
February 10, 2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) numbers: Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0294; FMCSA-
2011-0326; FMCSA-2011-0327; FMCSA-2011-0367; FMCSA-2013-0192, using any 
of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the 
docket number for this notice. Note that DOT posts all comments 
received without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act 
heading below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time 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., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. The Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) is 
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. If you want 
acknowledgment that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement 
page that appears after submitting comments on-line.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our 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, etc.). 
You may review DOT's Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) published in the Federal Register on January 
17, 2008 (73 FR 3316).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine A. Hydock, Chief, Medical 
Programs Division, 202-366-4001, [email protected], FMCSA, 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W64-113, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA may renew an exemption 
from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 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 36 individuals listed 
in this notice have recently become eligible for a renewed exemption 
from the diabetes prohibition in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(3), which applies to 
drivers of CMVs in interstate commerce. The drivers remain in good 
standing with the Agency, have maintained their required medical 
monitoring and have not exhibited any medical issues that would 
compromise their ability to safely operate a CMV during the previous 2-
year exemption period.

Exemption Decision

    This notice addresses 36 individuals who have requested renewal of 
their exemptions in accordance with FMCSA procedures. These 36 drivers 
remain in good standing with the Agency, have maintained their required 
medical monitoring and have not exhibited any medical issues that would 
compromise their ability to safely operate a CMV during the previous 2-
year exemption period. Therefore, FMCSA has decided to extend each 
exemption for a renewable two-year period. Each individual is 
identified according to the renewal date.
    The exemptions are renewed subject to the following conditions: (1) 
That each individual submit a quarterly monitoring checklist completed 
by the treating endocrinologist as well as an annual checklist with a 
comprehensive medical evaluation; (2) that each individual reports 
within 2 business days of occurrence, all episodes of severe 
hypoglycemia, significant complications, or inability to manage 
diabetes; also, any involvement in an accident or any other adverse 
event in a CMV or personal vehicle, whether or not it is related to an 
episode of hypoglycemia; (3) that each individual submit an annual 
ophthalmologist's or optometrist's report; and (4) that each individual 
provide a copy of the annual medical certification to the employer for 
retention in the driver's qualification file, or keep a copy in his/her 
driver's qualification file if he/she is self-employed. The driver must 
also have a copy of the certification when driving, for presentation to 
a duly authorized Federal, State, or local enforcement official.

Basis for Renewing Exemptions

    Under 49 U.S.C. 31315(b)(1), an exemption may be granted for no 
longer than two years from its approval date and may be renewed upon 
application for additional two year periods. The following groups of 
drivers received renewed exemptions in the month of February and are 
discussed below.
    As of February 6, 2016, and in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and 31315, the following 6 individuals have satisfied the renewal 
conditions for obtaining an exemption from the rule prohibiting drivers 
with ITDM from driving CMVs in interstate commerce. (76 FR 79756; 77 FR 
5873):

Howard A. Betz (OH)
Kevin J. Coppens (ME)
Frank H. Ford, Jr. (PA)
Daniel R. Harris (TX)
Joseph L. Owings (AL)
Jerry H. Small (NC)

    The drivers were included in Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0326. Their 
exemptions are effective as of February 6, 2016 and will expire on 
February 6, 2018.
    As of February 10, 2016, and in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and 31315, the following 6 individuals, have satisfied the renewal 
conditions for obtaining an exemption from the rule prohibiting drivers 
with ITDM from driving CMVs in interstate commerce (76 FR 78720; 77 FR 
7232):

Steve R. Fortunat (NJ)
Kenneth J. Hill (OH)
Cecil T. Keith (GA)
Frank E. Ray (KS)
Stanley L. Rybarcyzk (IL)
Gene A. Willias (WV)

    The drivers were included in Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0327. Their 
exemptions are effective as of February 10, 2016 and will expire on 
February 10, 2018.
    As of February 12, 2015, and in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and

[[Page 1283]]

31315, the following individual, Guy B. Mayes (WA) has satisfied the 
renewal conditions for obtaining an exemption from the rule prohibiting 
drivers with ITDM from driving CMVs in interstate commerce (78 FR 
78479; 79 FR 13086).
    The driver was included in Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0192. The 
exemption is effective as of February 12, 2016 and will expire on 
February 12, 2018.
    As of February 22, 2016, and in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and 31315, the following 11 individuals have satisfied the renewal 
conditions for obtaining an exemption from the rule prohibiting drivers 
with ITDM from driving CMVs in interstate commerce. (77 FR 533; 77 FR 
10607):

Garry L. Camden (IN)
Loren A. Cox (NY)
Darryl F. Gilbertson (WI)
Alfred Gutierrez II (OK)
Matthew D. Hulse (KS)
Neil E. Karvonen (WA)
Damon A. Kruger (CO)
Earl T. Morton, Jr. (VA)
Richard A. Norstebon (ND)
Donald J. Olbinski (IL)
Kevin E. Risley (IN)

    The drivers were included in Docket No. FMCSA-2011-0367. Their 
exemptions are effective as of February 22, 2016 and will expire on 
February 22, 2018.
    As of February 24, 2016, and in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and 31315, the following 11 individuals have satisfied the renewal 
conditions for obtaining an exemption from the rule prohibiting drivers 
with ITDM from driving CMVs in interstate commerce. (78 FR 68092; 79 FR 
8182):

Daniel C. Druffel (WA)
Gregory J. Godley (WA)
Troy A. Gortmaker (SD)
Charles M. Griswold (MA)
Justin R. Henneinke (CA)
William R. Huntley (MI)
Joseph I. Kulp (PA)
Kevin R. Mooney (WA)
Daniel D. Neale (CA)
Richard L. Sulzberger (IL)
Dirk Vanstralen (CA)

    The drivers were included in Docket No. FMCSA-2009-0294. Their 
exemptions are effective as of February 24, 2016 and will expire on 
February 24, 2018.
    As of February 27, 2015, and in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and 31315, the following individual, Charles R. Clayton (NJ) has 
satisfied the renewal conditions for obtaining an exemption from the 
rule prohibiting drivers with ITDM from driving CMVs in interstate 
commerce (78 FR 78479; 79 FR 13086).
    The driver was included in Docket No. FMCSA-2013-0192. The 
exemption is effective as of February 27, 2016 and will expire on 
February 27, 2018.
    Each of the 36 drivers in the aforementioned groups qualifies for a 
renewal of the exemption. They have maintained their required medical 
monitoring and have not exhibited any medical issues that would 
compromise their ability to safely operate a CMV during the previous 2-
year exemption period.
    These factors provide an adequate basis for predicting each 
driver's ability to continue to drive safely in interstate commerce. 
Therefore, FMCSA concludes that extending the exemption for each of the 
36 drivers for a period of two years is likely to achieve a level of 
safety equal to that existing without the exemption. The drivers were 
included in docket numbers FMCSA-2009-0294; FMCSA-2011-0326; FMCSA-
2011-0327; FMCSA-2011-0367; FMCSA-2013-0192.

Request for Comments

    FMCSA will review comments received at any time concerning a 
particular driver's safety record and determine if the continuation of 
the exemption is consistent with the requirements at 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 
and 31315. However, FMCSA requests that interested parties with 
specific data concerning the safety records of these drivers submit 
comments by February 10, 2016.
    FMCSA believes that the requirements for a renewal of an exemption 
under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315 can be satisfied by initially 
granting the renewal and then requesting and evaluating, if needed, 
subsequent comments submitted by interested parties. As indicated 
above, the Agency previously published notices of final disposition 
announcing its decision to exempt these 36 individuals from rule 
prohibiting persons with ITDM from operating CMVs in interstate 
commerce in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(3). The final decision to grant an 
exemption to each of these individuals was made on the merits of each 
case and made only after careful consideration of the comments received 
to its notices of applications. The notices of applications stated in 
detail the medical condition of each applicant for an exemption from 
rule prohibiting persons with ITDM from operating CMVs in interstate 
commerce. That information is available by consulting the above cited 
Federal Register publications.
    Interested parties or organizations possessing information that 
would otherwise show that any, or all, of these drivers are not 
currently achieving the statutory level of safety should immediately 
notify FMCSA. The Agency will evaluate any adverse evidence submitted 
and, if safety is being compromised or if continuation of the exemption 
would not be consistent with the goals and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 
31136(e) and 31315, FMCSA will take immediate steps to revoke the 
exemption of a driver.

Submitting Comments

    You may submit your comments and material online or by fax, mail, 
or hand delivery, but please use only one of these means. FMCSA 
recommends that you include your name and a mailing address, an email 
address, or a phone number in the body of your document so that FMCSA 
can contact you if there are questions regarding your submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
in the search box insert the docket numbers FMCSA-2009-0294; FMCSA-
2011-0326; FMCSA-2011-0327; FMCSA-2011-0367; FMCSA-2013-0192 and click 
the search button. When the new screen appears, click on the blue 
``Comment Now!'' button on the right hand side of the page. On the new 
page, enter information required including the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. If you submit your comments by mail or 
hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ 
by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit 
comments by mail and would like to know that they reached the facility, 
please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope.
    We will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period and may change this proposed rule based on your 
comments. FMCSA may issue a final rule at any time after the close of 
the comment period.

Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as any documents mentioned in this 
preamble, To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and in the search box insert the docket number 
FMCSA-2009-0294; FMCSA-2011-0326; FMCSA-2011-0327; FMCSA-2011-0367; 
FMCSA-2013-0192 and click ``Search.'' Next, click ``Open Docket 
Folder'' and you will find all documents and comments related to the 
proposed rulemaking.


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    Dated: December 29, 2015.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2016-00295 Filed 1-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P