Federal Tranportation Officials Seek Comments on Sleep Apnea

Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the long-awaited publication of its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While the ANPRM doesn’t establish or propose any new regulations regarding OSA, it does launch somewhat of a fishing expedition for FMCSA on the issue in an attempt to gather information from potential covered stakeholders FMCSA may use to propose new OSA regulations at a later date. To be accurate, the ANPRM comes from both FMCSA and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), requesting comments from stakeholders about potential costs, benefits, impediments, medical requirements and experiences, to name a few, related to treating and managing commercial motor vehicle drivers (such as concrete mixer truck drivers) with OSA or who might be at risk of OSA. FMCSA and FRA are specifically asking for answers to 20 different questions listed in the Federal Register notice the agencies deem will provide them the necessary information before making a determination on moving forward with a proposed rule.

Comments on the ANPRM are due June 8, 2016. The agencies have stated they plan to hold listening sessions on the ANPRM in Washington, DC, Chicago and Los Angeles. Dates on the listening sessions have yet to be published. NRMCA will be providing comments on the ANPRM and participating in the upcoming listening sessions.

Click here and here for more information or to view the ANPRM. You may also contact either Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or 
Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.