Mexico Trucker Online

On May 1, 2007, FMCSA announced the initiation of a project to demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the United States beyond the commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border (72 FR 23883). The demonstration project will allow up to 100 Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the United States for one year. Up to 100 U.S.-domiciled motor carriers will be granted reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period. Participating Mexican carriers and drivers must comply with all applicable U.S. Laws and regulations, including those concerned with motor carrier safety, customs, immigration, vehicle emissions, vehicle registration and taxation, and fuel taxation. The Agency explained the safety performance of the participating carriers will be tracked closely by FMCSA and its State partners, a joint U.S.-Mexico monitoring group, and an evaluation panel independent of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The FMCSA indicated the resulting data will be considered carefully before further decisions are made concerning the implementation of the NAFTA trucking provisions. The comment period for the notice ended on May 31.

On May 25, 2007, the President signed into law the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (the Act), (Pub. L. 110–28). Section 6901 of the Act requires that certain actions be taken by the Department of Transportation (the Department) as a condition of obligating or expending appropriated funds to grant authority to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border. Section 6901(a) of the Act requires that granting of such authority be tested as part of a ‘‘pilot program.’’ The pilot program must comply with section 350 of the DOT and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Pub. L. 107–87, 115 Stat. 833, at 864) and 49 U.S.C. 31315(c), concerning requirements for pilot programs.

Section 6901(a)—Fulfilling the Requirements of Section 350

Section 350 of the DOT Appropriations Act, 2002 (Pub. L. 107– 87), prohibited FMCSA from using

Federal funds to review or process applications from Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the border commercial zones until certain conditions and safety requirements were met. The requirements of section 350 have been reenacted in each subsequent DOT Appropriations Act since 2002.

The rulemaking requirements of section 350 were met by a series of rules published on March 19, 2002 (67 FR 12652, 67 FR 12702, 67 FR 12758, 67 FR 12776) and a further rule published on May 13, 2002 (67 FR 31978).

In November 2002, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta certified, as required by section 350(c)(2), that authorizing Mexican carrier operations beyond the border commercial zones does not pose an unacceptable safety risk to the American public. Later that month, the President modified the longstanding moratorium to permit Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to provide cross-border cargo

transportation beyond the border commercial zones. The Secretary’s certification was made in response to the June 25, 2002, report of DOT’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) on the implementation of safety requirements at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a January 2005 follow-up report, the OIG concluded that FMCSA had sufficient staff, facilities, equipment, and procedures in place to substantially meet all eight requirements under section 350 the OIG was required to review. In consideration of the above OIG reports which are available in docket FMCSA–2007–28055, and FMCSA’s May 1, 2007, announcement that participating carriers will be required to comply with all rules issued in response to section 350 (in addition to full compliance with all safety regulations applicable to U.S.-domiciled motor carriers), the Agency believes the provision in the 2007 supplemental appropriations act mandating that the demonstration project satisfy the requirements of section 350 has already been satisfied. The Agency requests public comment on this issue.

Section 6901(a)—Fulfilling the Requirements of 49 U.S.C. 31315

Section 4007 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA– 21) amended 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and

31315 concerning the Secretary of Transportation’s authority to grant waivers from the Federal Motor Carrier

Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for those seeking regulatory relief from those requirements. With the enactment of TEA–21, FMCSA may grant a waiver or exemption that relieves a person from compliance in whole or in part with a regulation if the Agency determines that the waiver is in the public interest, and

the waiver or exemption would be likely to achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved by complying with the applicable regulation. Section 4007 of TEA–21 also permits FMCSA to conduct pilot programs to evaluate alternatives to regulations relating to motor carrier,

commercial motor vehicle (CMV), and driver safety..

In a pilot program, the FMCSA collects specific data for evaluating alternatives to the regulations or

innovative approaches to safety while ensuring that the safety performance goals of the regulations are satisfied. A pilot program may not last more than 3 years. The number of participants in a pilot program must be large enough to ensure statistically valid findings. Pilot programs must include an oversight

plan to ensure that participants comply with the terms and conditions of participation, and procedures to protect the health and safety of study participants and the general public. As part of a pilot program, temporary regulatory relief from one or more FMCSR may be given to a person or class of persons subject to the regulations, or a person or class of persons who intend to engage in an activity that would be subject to the regulations. During the pilot program, these participants would be given an exemption from one or more sections or parts of the regulations.

The FMCSA believes the requirement that the demonstration project satisfy the pilot program statutory provision is satisfied through the May 1, 2007, notice, and the additional details contained in this notice. The Agency notes that during the demonstration project participating Mexico-domiciled motor carriers would not be provided with relief from any of the rules implementing section 350, or any of the

safety regulations.

Section 6901(b)(2)(B) of the Act provides that FMCSA must request public comment on five specific aspects of the demonstration project. For the convenience of the reader, these items are listed below.

A complete copy of section 6901 is included in the docket FMCSA–2007–28055.

(1) Comprehensive data and information on the pre-authorization safety audits (PASAs) conducted before and after the date of enactment of this Act of motor carriers domiciled in Mexico that are granted authority to operate beyond the United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border;

(2) Specific measures to be required to protect the health and safety of the public, including enforcement measures and penalties for noncompliance;

(3) Specific measures to be required to ensure compliance with section 391.11(b)(2) of title 49, CFR, concerning FMCSA’s English language proficiency requirement, and section 365.501(b) of title 49, CFR, concerning FMCSA’s prohibition against Mexico-domiciled drivers engaging in the transportation of domestic freight within the U.S.;

(4) Specific standards to be used to evaluate the pilot program and compare any change in the level of motor carrier safety as a result of the pilot program;

and

(5) A list of Federal motor carrier safety laws and regulations, including the commercial driver’s license (CDL) requirements, for which the Secretary of Transportation will accept compliance with a corresponding Mexican law or regulation as the equivalent to compliance with the United States law or regulation, including for each law or regulation an analysis as to how the corresponding United States and Mexican laws and regulations differ.