[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4649-4651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01283]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0152]


National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners: Proposed 
Removal of Medical Examiners for Noncompliance With Login.gov 
Requirement

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed removal from the National Registry of 
Certified Medical Examiners (National Registry).

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SUMMARY: FMCSA proposes to remove medical examiners (ME) from its 
National Registry who have failed to

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access their National Registry account using login.gov and have failed 
to update the profile information in their National Registry account as 
required. Since June 2018, by using the email, physical address, and 
telephone number these MEs provided to the Agency in their National 
Registry account, FMCSA has attempted to notify them of the requirement 
to access their account using login.gov. There are approximately 15,727 
MEs who have not accessed their National Registry account using 
login.gov and as a result, are not able to fulfill regulatory 
requirements such as reporting results of physical qualification 
examinations performed on commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers, 
receiving FMCSA communications, and completing required training. MEs 
who are removed from the National Registry will no longer be certified 
to perform physical qualification examinations of CMV drivers. To avoid 
being removed from the National Registry, MEs to whom this notice 
applies must complete the corrective actions set forth below. A list of 
MEs subject to this notice is provided in the docket for this 
proceeding.

DATES: On or before February 23, 2024, MEs who are subject to this 
Notice must: (1) create a login.gov account using the same email 
address as their National Registry account or sign into the National 
Registry with an existing login.gov account using the same email 
address as their National Registry account, through the National 
Registry website at https://nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov (Select 
``Login''); and (2) once logged in, correct all outdated contact 
information in their National Registry profile. MEs who fail to 
complete these actions will be removed from the National Registry on 
February 26, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Christine A. Hydock, Chief, 
Medical Programs Division, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001; (202) 366-4001; [email protected]. If you 
have questions on viewing documents in the docket, contact Dockets 
Operations, (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Availability of Documents

    To view the list of MEs subject to this Notice, go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0152/document and choose the 
document to review. If you do not have access to the internet, you may 
view the docket online by visiting Dockets Operations at DOT, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-
0001, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 
366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before visiting Dockets Operations.

II. Legal Basis

    FMCSA is required to establish and maintain a current national 
registry of MEs who are qualified to perform physical qualification 
examinations and issue medical examiner's certificates to operators of 
CMVs (49 U.S.C. 31149(d)(1)). FMCSA is also required to remove from the 
registry the name of any ME who fails to meet or maintain the 
requirements established by the Agency for being listed in the registry 
(49 U.S.C. 31149(d)(2)).
    Accordingly, by publication of this Notice, FMCSA provides written 
notice of proposed removal of the affected MEs from the National 
Registry and sets forth corrective actions necessary for the MEs to 
remain listed. This Notice provides actual or constructive notice of 
the Agency's action (44 U.S.C. 1507).

III. Background

    Among the requirements to be certified as an ME on the National 
Registry, MEs are required to register on the National Registry website 
and establish an account by providing current contact information and 
other required information (49 CFR 390.103(a)(2)). MEs are also 
required to update their National Registry account within 30 days of 
any changes in such information (49 CFR 390.111(a)(2)).
    On June 22, 2018, FMCSA implemented a new security requirement for 
all National Registry users to access their account using login.gov. 
Login.gov is a secure sign-in service used by FMCSA to allow users to 
securely access certain FMCSA information systems. The use of login.gov 
is required to meet National Institute of Standards and Technology 
requirements for secure validation and verification. As a result of 
this requirement, FMCSA notified all National Registry users by email, 
using the email address provided in each user's National Registry 
account, that they must access their National Registry account using 
login.gov. The notification explained that the use of login.gov is a 
requirement and would provide an extra layer of security to help 
protect National Registry accounts against security breaches. Once the 
email notification was sent to all National Registry users, it was 
posted on the National Registry page of the FMCSA website and later 
posted in the Resource Center of the National Registry website.
    When registering to become certified by FMCSA, and on an annual 
basis, each ME agrees to accept any written communication from FMCSA 
relating to their participation on the National Registry by electronic 
mail at the email address(es) they provided in their National Registry 
account. In response to the email notifications regarding the login.gov 
requirement, FMCSA was notified that an email delivery failure had 
occurred for the MEs now proposed for removal. Accordingly, FMCSA 
determined that the email addresses in the National Registry accounts 
of those MEs were not valid and had not been updated by the MEs as 
required. Therefore, FMCSA staff made repeated attempts to contact 
those MEs through phone calls and/or letters sent by U.S. mail. When 
those efforts were also unsuccessful, the Agency made attempts as 
recently as June 2023 to contact Medical Examiner Administrative 
Assistants and Third Party Organizations designated by the MEs proposed 
for removal to obtain current contact information for these MEs. The 
MEs proposed for removal have not responded to FMCSA's attempts to 
contact them and have failed to access their National Registry account 
using login.gov.
    On February 28, 2022, FMCSA launched a new National Registry system 
and has continued its efforts to ensure the accuracy of the data in the 
system. This includes removing any MEs who are not in compliance with 
the regulatory requirements. FMCSA wants to ensure when the public is 
searching for an ME on the website, that only MEs who are compliant 
with the regulatory requirements are listed as certified by FMCSA and 
that those who are not will be listed as removed. There are 92,625 MEs 
listed on the National Registry who have been certified by FMCSA to 
conduct physical qualification examinations. Approximately 76,898 of 
these MEs are accessing their National Registry account using login.gov 
and 38,707 of these MEs are actively performing physical qualification 
examinations and reporting results to the National Registry. To date, 
FMCSA has not received any complaints from CMV drivers indicating 
difficulties in locating MEs and scheduling appointments for their 
physical qualification examinations. In addition, the Agency continues 
to monitor the geographic distribution of MEs to identify potential 
challenges for drivers in locating MEs. Therefore, FMCSA does not 
anticipate any concerns that there are too few MEs to meet the

[[Page 4651]]

demand for physical qualification examinations and the possible removal 
of approximately 15,727 MEs, as proposed in this Notice, will not have 
any impact on the availability of certified MEs to perform physical 
qualification examinations of CMV drivers.
    It is imperative that FMCSA remove these MEs from the National 
Registry now, before the final provisions of the Medical Examiner's 
Certification Integration (NRII) final rule are implemented on June 23, 
2025 (80 FR 22790, Apr. 23, 2015). On that date, FMCSA will begin 
electronically transmitting medical certification information for CMV 
drivers required to hold a commercial learner's permit or a commercial 
driver's license from the National Registry to the State Driver's 
Licensing Agencies (SDLAs). If an ME does not access their National 
Registry account using login.gov and report results of physical 
qualification examinations performed, FMCSA will not be able to 
electronically transmit those results to the SDLA for posting to the 
drivers' records.

IV. Proposed Action To Remove Medical Examiners

    FMCSA proposes to remove MEs from its National Registry who have 
failed to access their National Registry account using login.gov and 
have failed to update their National Registry account information.
    There are approximately 15,727 MEs who have not accessed their 
National Registry account using login.gov and as a result, are not able 
to fulfill regulatory requirements such as reporting results of 
physical qualification examinations performed on CMV drivers, receiving 
FMCSA communications, and completing required training. Despite 
multiple attempts, FMCSA staff has not been able to reach these MEs. 
Accordingly, FMCSA is proposing to remove these MEs from the National 
Registry for failure to comply with the requirement to access their 
National Registry account using login.gov and to maintain current 
contact information. A list of the MEs whom FMCSA proposes to remove 
can be found in the docket for this proceeding (see https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0152/document).

V. Required Corrective Actions

    MEs proposed for removal must complete the following corrective 
actions on or before February 23, 2024 to avoid being removed from the 
National Registry: (1) create a login.gov account using the same email 
address as their National Registry account or sign into the National 
Registry with an existing login.gov account using the same email 
address as their National Registry account, through the National 
Registry website at https://nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov (Select 
``Login''); and (2) once logged in, correct all outdated contact 
information in their National Registry profile. MEs who do not complete 
these corrective actions will be removed from the National Registry on 
February 24, 2024. If assistance is needed to complete these corrective 
actions, affected MEs may contact the National Registry Technical 
Support Help Desk at [email protected] or (617) 494-3003.

VI. Effect of Removal From the National Registry

    Removal of an ME pursuant to this Notice will not invalidate any 
Medical Examiner's Certificates, Form MCSA-5876, issued by that ME to 
CMV drivers prior to the date they are removed from the National 
Registry. However, after an ME has been removed from the National 
Registry, they will no longer be authorized to perform physical 
qualification examinations of CMV drivers and issue Medical Examiner's 
Certificates, Form MCSA-5876 (49 U.S.C. 31149(d)(3)). MEs removed from 
the National Registry will continue to appear on the public website for 
3 years following the date of their removal with an indication that 
they are no longer certified as an ME and have been removed from the 
National Registry with a removal date. FMCSA encourages CMV drivers and 
other stakeholders to use the National Registry website public search 
feature to verify that an ME is certified by FMCSA, as this will have 
the most current information, including a removal date where 
applicable.
    MEs who are removed from the National Registry pursuant to this 
Notice may request reinstatement to the National Registry after 
completing the corrective actions set forth in Section V above. To 
request reinstatement MEs must log in to their National Registry 
account, select ``My Profile'' from the main menu on the left side of 
the screen, select ``Request Reinstatement,'' follow the instructions 
provided, and submit the reinstatement request to FMCSA for 
consideration.

Robin Hutcheson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2024-01283 Filed 1-23-24; 8:45 am]
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