[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 199 (Friday, October 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71169-71170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24927]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket Nos. FMCSA-2008-0362 and FMCSA-2006-26367]


Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) and Medical 
Review Board (MRB) Meetings: Public Meetings

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

ACTION: Announcement of advisory committee public meetings.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces a joint meeting of its Motor Carrier Safety 
Advisory Committee (MCSAC) and Medical Review Board (MRB) on Monday, 
October 24, 2016. Together, the MCSAC and MRB will receive an update on 
the Driver Health and Wellness Initiative, a non-regulatory public-
private partnership of stakeholders to improve drivers' health, and a 
preview of its Web page. The MRB will report on its revised 
recommendations on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) based on its 
evaluation of the comments from the joint Advance Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (ANPRM) that the Agency issued with the Federal Railroad 
Administration. Additionally, the MCSAC will discuss how the 
implementation of these recommendations may impact current and future 
populations of drivers. On October 25, the MCSAC will meet separately 
to complete its review of the Agency's regulatory guidance and the MRB 
will meet to discuss how to incorporate recently issued warnings from 
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on narcotics and 
benzodiazepines. The meetings are open to the public for their 
entirety.

DATES: The joint meeting will be held on Monday, October 24, 2016, from 
9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., Eastern Time (E.T.). On Tuesday, October 25, the 
MCSAC and MRB will meet separately. Copies of all task statements and 
an agenda for the entire meeting will be made available in advance of 
the meeting at http://mrb.fmcsa.dot.gov and http://mcsac.fmcsa.dot.gov.

ADDRESSES: The meetings will take place at the National Association of 
Homebuilders (NAHB), 1201 Fifteenth Street NW., Washington, DC 20005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Shannon L. Watson, Senior Policy 
Advisor, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. Department 
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, 
(202) 366-5221, [email protected].
    Services for Individuals with Disabilities: For information on 
facilities or services for individuals with disabilities or to request 
special assistance at the meeting, contact Eran Segev at (617) 494-
3174, [email protected], by Wednesday, October 19.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

MCSAC

    Section 4144 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, Pub. L. 109-
59, 119 Stat. 1144, August 10, 2005) required the Secretary of 
Transportation to establish the MCSAC. The Moving Ahead for Progress in 
the 21st Century Act (MAP-21, Pub. L. 112-141) reauthorized the MCSAC 
through September 30, 2013, at which time its statutory authority 
expired, necessitating the establishment of MCSAC as a discretionary 
committee under FACA. Secretary Foxx established that effective 
September 30, 2013, through September 30, 2015. MCSAC provides advice 
and recommendations to the FMCSA Administrator on motor carrier safety 
programs and regulations, and operates in accordance with the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (FACA, 5 U.S.C. App 2).
    The MCSAC began considering Task 16-1, Review of Regulatory 
Guidance, at its June 2016 meeting to provide recommendations to the 
Agency concerning implementation of section 5203 of the FAST Act to: 
(1) Prioritize regulatory guidance that should be incorporated into the 
safety regulations to promote clear, consistent, and enforceable rules; 
(2) identify regulatory guidance that appears to be inconsistent with 
the intent of the safety regulations or makes enforcement of key safety 
requirements difficult; and (3) identify guidance that should remain in 
place.
    Additionally, the MCSAC and MRB began considering Joint Task 15-3, 
on Driver Health and Wellness, at its joint meeting in September 2015. 
The task is to provide recommendations to the Agency on the structure, 
content, and methods for determining the effectiveness of a public-
private partnership to promote commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver 
wellness. To reach that goal, the MCSAC and MRB chairmen appointed a 
joint subcommittee that included members of both advisory committees 
and stakeholders.

[[Page 71170]]

MRB

    Section 4116 of SAFETEA-LU requires the Secretary of 
Transportation, with the advice of the MRB and the chief medical 
examiner, to establish, review, and revise ``medical standards for 
operators of commercial motor vehicles that will ensure that the 
physical condition of operators of commercial motor vehicles is 
adequate to enable them to operate the vehicles safely.'' The MRB 
operates in accordance with FACA under the terms of its charter, filed 
November 25, 2013.
    At its meeting in August 2016, the MRB began consideration of Task 
16-1, which is to provide recommendations to the Agency on the 
disposition of comments from medical professionals and associations to 
the Agency's and the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Advance 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on safety-sensitive rail and 
commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers with moderate to severe 
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

II. Meeting Participation

    Oral comments from the public will be heard throughout the meeting, 
at the discretion of the MCSAC and MRB chairmen. Members of the public 
may submit written comments on the topics to be considered during the 
meeting by Wednesday, October 19, to Federal Docket Management System 
(FDMC) Docket Number FMCSA-2008-0362 for the MRB and FMCSA-2006-26367 
for the MCSAC using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Room W12-140, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., E.T. Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

    Issued on: October 7, 2016.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2016-24927 Filed 10-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P