Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Standards; Incorporation by Reference of a New State Procedures Manual (SPM)

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Part 384</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0269]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2126-AC68</RIN> <SUBJECT>Commercial Driver's License (CDL) Standards; Incorporation by Reference of a New State Procedures Manual (SPM)</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> FMCSA proposes to amend the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to incorporate by reference the most recent edition of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Inc. (AAMVA) Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) State Procedures Manual (SPM), Version c.0. This would require all State driver's licensing agencies (SDLAs) to use this edition of the manual to provide guidance on the information systems procedures of the commercial driver's license (CDL) program. Such information includes, but is not limited to, CDL standards, State compliance with CDL programs, qualifications of drivers, and credentials and security threats assessments. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before March 21, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-2023-0269 using any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal:</E> Go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0269/document.</E> Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. • <E T="03">Mail:</E> Dockets Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001. • <E T="03">Hand Delivery or Courier:</E> Dockets Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, 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. • <E T="03">Fax:</E> (202) 493-2251. Viewing incorporation by reference material: You may inspect the material proposed for incorporation by reference at U.S. Department of Transportation Library, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is (202) 366-1812. Copies of the material are available as indicated in the “Executive Summary” section of this preamble. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Ms. Rebecca Rehberg, CDL Division, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; (850) 728-2034, <E T="03">cdlcompliance@dot.gov.</E> If you have questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Dockets Operations at (202) 366-9826. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> FMCSA organizes this NPRM as follows: <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Public Participation and Request for Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Submitting Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Viewing Comments and Documents</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Privacy</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Purpose and Summary of the Regulatory Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Abbreviations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Legal Basis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Discussion of Proposed Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Severability</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VIII. Section-by-Section Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IX. Regulatory Analyses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. E.O. 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), E.O. 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), E.O. 14094 (Modernizing Regulatory Review), and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Congressional Review Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Assistance for Small Entities</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. E.O. 13132 (Federalism)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Privacy</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. E.O. 13175 (Indian Tribal Governments)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Rulemaking Summary</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Public Participation and Request for Comments</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Submitting Comments</HD> If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this NPRM (FMCSA-2023-0269), indicate the specific section of this document to which your comment applies, and provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. 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 FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding your submission. To submit your comment online, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0269/document,</E> click on this NPRM, click “Comment,” and type your comment into the text box on the following screen. If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8 <FR>1/2</FR> by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. FMCSA will consider all comments and material received during the comment period. <HD SOURCE="HD3">Confidential Business Information (CBI)</HD> CBI is commercial or financial information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to the NPRM contain commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to the NPRM, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission that constitutes CBI as “PROPIN” to indicate it contains proprietary information. FMCSA will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the Freedom of Information Act, and they will not be placed in the public docket of the NPRM. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Brian Dahlin, Chief, Regulatory Evaluation Division, Office of Policy, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001 or via email at <E T="03">brian.g.dahlin@dot.gov.</E> At this time, you need not send a duplicate hardcopy of your electronic CBI submissions to FMCSA headquarters. Any comments FMCSA receives not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket for this rulemaking. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Viewing Comments and Documents</HD> To view any documents mentioned as being available in the docket, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2023-0269/document</E> and choose the document to review. To view comments, click this NPRM, then click “Browse Comments.” If you do not have access to the internet, you may view the docket online by visiting Dockets Operations on the ground floor of the DOT West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 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. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. Privacy</HD> In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its regulatory process. DOT posts these comments, including any personal information the commenter provides, to <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> as described in the system of records notice DOT/ALL 14 (Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)), which can be reviewed at <E T="03">https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices.</E> The comments are posted without edit and are searchable by the name of the submitter. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Executive Summary</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Purpose and Summary of the Regulatory Action</HD> In this NPRM, FMCSA proposes to incorporate by reference version c.0 of the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) State Procedures Manual (SPM), which the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Inc. (AAMVA) released in September 2023. In 2014, FMCSA incorporated by reference version 5.3.2.1 of the CDLIS SPM, which AAMVA released in August 2013 (79 FR 59450 (Oct. 14, 2014)). Version c.0 of the CDLIS SPM has replaced the 2013 version. The CDLIS SPM (version c.0) provides guidance on the information system procedures of the CDL program. This change reflects a routine update of the referenced SPM (version c.0) to include changes introduced to exchange driver history record information (EEE) procedures and drug and alcohol clearinghouse (DACH II or Clearinghouse) information exclusively electronically. This NPRM discusses all updates to the currently incorporated 2013 edition of the SPM (version c.0). FMCSA is providing the public an opportunity to comment on the incorporation by reference of version c.0 of the SPM. The material is available, and will continue to be available, for inspection at the Department of Transportation Library by the means identified in <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> . Copies of the SPM (version c.0) may also be obtained through AAMVA. Further details and contact addresses and telephone numbers are provided in proposed § 384.107 in the amendatory text of this NPRM. AAMVA plans to ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 76k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━