Transportation of Fuel for Agricultural Aircraft Operations

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Part 383</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0121]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 2126-AC59</RIN> <SUBJECT>Transportation of Fuel for Agricultural Aircraft Operations</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> FMCSA amends the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to allow States to waive the hazardous materials (HM) endorsement requirement for holders of Class A commercial driver's licenses (CDL) who transport no more than 1,000 gallons of aviation grade jet fuel in support of seasonal agricultural aircraft operations. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Effective March 10, 2026. Petitions for reconsideration of this final rule must be submitted to the FMCSA Administrator no later than February 9, 2026. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Ms. Rebecca Rehberg, Transportation Specialist, CDL Division, Office of Safety Programs, FMCSA; (850) 728-2034; <E T="03">rebecca.rehberg@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 final rule as follows: <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Availability of Rulemaking Documents</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Purpose and Summary of the Regulatory Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Costs and Benefits</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Abbreviations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Legal Basis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Discussion of Proposed Rulemaking and Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Proposed Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Comments and Responses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. International Impacts</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Section-by-Section Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VIII. Regulatory Analyses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. E.O. 14192 (Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Congressional Review Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Assistance for Small Entities</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. E.O. 13132 (Federalism)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Privacy</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. E.O. 13175 (Indian Tribal Governments)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 </FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Availability of Rulemaking Documents</HD> To view any documents mentioned as being available in the docket, go to <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2024-0121/document</E> and choose the document to review. To view comments, click this final rule, then click “Browse Comments.” If you do not have access to the internet, you may view the docket online by visiting Dockets Operations at U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001, between 9 a.m. and 5p.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="HD1">II. Executive Summary</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Purpose and Summary of the Regulatory Action</HD> FMCSA amends the CDL regulations to allow States additional flexibility to waive the HM endorsement  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> requirement for certain drivers transporting aviation fuel in furtherance of agricultural aircraft operations. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> Many farm operations rely on aircraft to apply pesticides or fertilizers to their crops. Agricultural aviation companies often deliver aircraft fuel to staging areas some distance from their headquarters. These companies, particularly in remote, rural areas have difficulty finding CDL holders with HM endorsements to complete these deliveries. Under the current regulations found in 49 CFR 383.93(b)(4), most CDL holders must obtain an HM endorsement before transporting fuels. However, 49 CFR 383.3(i) provides a limited exception to this requirement and allows States to waive the requirement of an HM endorsement if the holder of a Class A CDL is transporting diesel fuel (1) in the CDL holder's State of domicile or in another State that has adopted the waiver and (2) as an employee of four specific agriculture-related businesses. The four business categories are custom harvesters, farm retail outlets and suppliers, agrichemical businesses, and livestock feeders. This final rule gives States authority to waive the HM endorsement requirement in an additional category for Class A CDL holders who transport up to 1,000 gallons of aviation grade jet fuel (often called Jet A, referred to as <E T="03">jet fuel</E> for the purposes of this preamble) in the CDL holder's State of domicile (or in another State that has adopted the waiver) and in support of agricultural aircraft operations. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">Endorsement,</E> as defined in § 383.5, means an authorization to an individual's commercial learner's permit (CLP) or CDL required to permit the individual to operate certain types of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  FMCSA notes that the term “waive” or “waiver” is used throughout this preamble in the ordinary sense of those terms, rather than in the sense of the term “waiver” as contemplated by 49 CFR 381.200, which permits only temporary regulatory relief from the specified regulations for up to three months. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Costs and Benefits</HD> This final rule may result in costs to States and their licensing agencies, and may result in cost savings to drivers and to agricultural aircraft operations. States and their State driver's licensing agencies (SDLAs) may incur costs for updating their websites to reflect the changes in requirements for Class A CDL holders transporting HM and for training roadside officers. The final rule will result in cost savings for agricultural aircraft operators and the drivers these operators hire to mix, load, and transport jet fuel in quantities of 1,000 gallons or less in participating States. Class A CDL holders affected by the final rule will avoid approximately $260 in costs associated with obtaining an HM endorsement, and agricultural aircraft operations will be able to run their businesses more efficiently by making use of satellite airstrips. FMCSA does not expect that this final rule will negatively impact commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety. For various reasons, drivers who transport jet fuel operate in low-risk safety conditions and rarely experience crashes. More in depth discussion of the potential impacts resulting from this rule are found in the regulatory analyses section below. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Abbreviations</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ARDOT Arkansas Department of Transportation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CDL Commercial driver's license</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CE Categorical exclusion</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CFR Code of Federal Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CLP Commercial learner's permit</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CMV Commercial motor vehicle</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CMVSA Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DOT Department of Transportation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FAST Act Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FHWA Federal Highway Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FR Federal Register</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">HM Hazardous materials</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">IRFA Initial regulatory flexibility analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NAAA National Agricultural Aviation Association</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NAICS North American Industry Classification System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NATA Nebraska Aviation Trades Association</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NEIA Nebraska-Iowa Aviation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NPRM Notice of proposed rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">PHMSA Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">PIA Privacy Impact Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">PTA Privacy Threshold Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SBA Small Business Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SDLA State driver's licensing agency</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">STA Security Threat Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">TPR Training Provider Registry</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">TSA Transportation Security Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">UMRA Unfunded Mandates Reform Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">U.S.C. United States Code</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Legal Basis</HD> The CDL regulations are based on the authority of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA). Section 12013 of the CMVSA allowed the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), FMCSA's predecessor agency, to “waive, in whole or in part, application of any provision of this title or any regulation issued under this title with respect to class of persons or class of commercial motor vehicles if the Secretary of Transportation determines that such waiver is not contrary to the public interest and does not diminish the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles” (Pub. L. 99-570, Title XII, 100 Stat. 3207-170, 3207-186, Oct. 27, 1986, codified at 49 U.S.C. app. 2711). On the basis of section 12013, FHWA authorized the States to waive the knowledge and skills tests ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 72k characters. 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