U.S. Legislative News

Registration Open for FMCSA CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced that registration is now open for its Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (Clearinghouse). The Clearinghouse is a secure online database that will give employers, the FMCSA, State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs), and State law enforcement personnel real-time information about commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders’ drug and alcohol program violations.

The Clearinghouse will be fully implemented on January 6, 2020, and FMCSA is actively encouraging commercial motor vehicle stakeholders to get registered ahead of the implementation date.

The rule requires FMCSA-regulated employers, Medical Review Officers (MROs), Substance Abuse Professionals (SAPs), consortia/third party administrators (C/TPAs), and other service agents to report to the Clearinghouse information related to violations of the drug and alcohol regulations in 49 Code of Federal Regulations, parts 40 and 382 by current and prospective employees.

This will require employers to query the Clearinghouse for current and prospective employees’ drug and alcohol violations before permitting those employees to operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) on public roads. Employers will also be required to query the Clearinghouse for each driver they currently employ annually.

 

Senate Passes Partial Government Funding Package

The Senate was successful in passing a package of noncontroversial funding bills (H.R.3055) for Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD appropriations on October 31 by a vote of 84-9. Of note for fleets, the Senate has included over $85 million in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grants for 2020. This amount is approximately $30 million higher than the funding number included by the House appropriators. The House and Senate will now work out differences between the different versions of the bill passed by their chambers to come to a consensus on 2020 funding for part of the government.

DERA grants have helped improve air quality for communities across the country. They are one of the most effective strategies to replace older heavy-duty vehicles and equipment with newer, cleaner options. NAFA has been active in advocating for increased DERA funding alongside members of the DERA coalition and will continue such efforts throughout the bill conferencing process.

 

NIOSH Highlights Importance of Preparing Fleets for AVs

The CDCs National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published an article stressing the need for organizations to incorporate policies on vehicles with automated driving technology into their current fleet safety management systems. The material is centered around findings presented in a report published by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the ANSI/ASSP Z15.3 Technical Report: Management Practices for the Safe Operation of Partially and Fully Automated Vehicles.

The authors of the article discuss the enormous opportunity vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) present for fleet safety management. However, they also focus on practical issues for consideration, such as educating fleet vehicle operators on the technology, monitoring and navigating jurisdictional regulations, and updating company policies to cover potential liabilities.

NAFA supports efforts to improve the standards governing self-driving vehicle technology in a way that ensures public safety, as self-driving vehicle technology has enormous potential to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities associated with on-road accidents.

 

White House Expected to Soften on Rollback of Auto Efficiency Standards

Administration officials have reported that additional portions of the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule that were expected to cap fleet fuel efficiency requirements at 37 mpg average through 2026 may be altered require a 1.5% annual increase in fleetwide efficiency of new autos. This would still be a reduction from the current Obama-era regulations that would require a fleetwide average of 54.5 mpg by model-year 2025, and many stakeholders remain unmoved by the potential changes to the forthcoming rule.

This past summer, amid the back and forth on the pending SAFE Vehicles Rule, Honda, Ford, Volkswagen, and BMW signed a compromise with California and agreed to a 3.7% annual fleetwide efficiency increase. Just recently, another group of automakers, including GM, Toyota, and Fiat-Chrysler, announced that they plan to intervene on the Administration’s behalf in a legal challenge over its authority to revoke California’s Clean Air Act Waiver that allowed it to set its own emissions standards. The auto industry’s segmented stance on elements of the SAFE Vehicles Rule is expected to create additional hurdles in the rulemaking process.

NAFA supports the move towards increased sustainability and believes that a unified national standard helps automakers maintain prices on autos and auto parts, which is extremely important for fleets as they consider a vehicle’s total cost of ownership.