II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1669 

To reform the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2015 

Mrs. FISCHER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To reform the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trucking Rules Up5 dated by Comprehensive and Key Safety Reform Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘TRUCK Safety Reform Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. QUINQUENNIAL REVIEW OF RULES, GUIDANCE, 

8 REGULATIONS, AND ENFORCEMENT POLI9 CIES. 

10 (a) REVIEW.—Not less frequently than once every 5 

11 years, the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier 

12 Safety Administration (referred to in this Act as the 


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1 ‘‘FMCSA’’) shall conduct a comprehensive review of its 

2 rules, regulations, regulatory guidance, and enforcement 

3 policies. 

4 (b) SCHEDULE.—At the beginning of each 5-year re5 view period, the Administrator shall publish a schedule 

6 that— 

7 (1) describes the order in which the FMCSA 

8 will review regulations and enforcement policies; and 

9 (2) sets forth the work plan timeframe for com10 pleting the full review within 5 years. 

11 (c) NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES.—During each re12 view period, the Administrator shall address any changes 

13 to the schedule published pursuant to subsection (b) and 

14 notify the public of such changes. 

15 (d) REPORT.—At the conclusion of each review under 

16 subsection (a), the Administrator shall post a report on 

17 a publicly accessible website that includes— 

18 (1) an inventory of technical rules and guidance 

19 issued during the previous 5-year period; 

20 (2) the full details of the review conducted 

21 under this section; 

22 (3) a determination of whether the regulations 

23 and enforcement policies under the jurisdiction of 

24 the FMCSA are— 

25 (A) consistent and clear; 


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1 (B) current and consistent with the state 

2 of the motor carrier industry; and 

3 (C) uniform and consistently enforceable; 

4 and 

5 (4) a statement indicating whether guidance 

6 from the Administration is still necessary. 

7 (e) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 24 months after 

8 the completion of each review under this section, the Ad9 ministrator shall amend the regulations and enforcement 

10 policies under the jurisdiction of the FMCSA to ensure 

11 that such regulations and enforcement policies are con12 sistent and uniform. 

13 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE. 

14 Section 31136 of title 49, United States Code, is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(g) REGULATORY GUIDANCE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary, in con18 sultation with the Administrator of the Federal 

19 Motor Carrier Safety Administration (referred to in 

20 this section as the ‘Administrator’), shall publish all 

21 newly issued or reissued regulatory guidance and in22 terpretations in the Federal Register on the date of 

23 issuance. 

24 ‘‘(2) REISSUANCE.—If the Administrator, in a 

25 review conducted pursuant to section 2 of the 


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1 TRUCK Safety Reform Act, determines that guid2 ance issued by the Administration has not been in3 corporated into a regulation, such guidance shall 

4 cease to be effective on the date that is 24 months 

5 after the conclusion of such review unless the Ad6 ministrator reissues the guidance by publishing the 

7 guidance in the Federal Register with the date on 

8 which the guidance was last revised and contact in9 formation for an official at the Administration who 

10 can answer questions about the guidance. 

11 ‘‘(h) MEDICAL GUIDANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

13 paragraph (2), the Administrator shall conduct a 

14 formal notice and comment process when issuing 

15 medical guidance. 

16 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

18 may use informal rulemaking when issuing 

19 medical guidance that is directly related to a 

20 public health emergency. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—In determining 

22 whether a public health emergency necessitates 

23 informal rulemaking, the Administrator shall 

24 consult with the Secretary of Health and 


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1 Human Services and the Centers for Disease 

2 Control.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS, ADVANCED NOTICE OF PROPOSED 

4 RULEMAKING, AND NEGOTIATED RULE5 MAKINGS. 

6 Section 31136 of title 49, United States Code, as 

7 amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at 

8 the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) REGULATORY EVALUATIONS.—When analyzing 

10 the impact of regulations and enforcement policies, the 

11 Administrator shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) specify how the Administration will evalu13 ate future rules; and 

14 ‘‘(2) allow stakeholders to comment on why per15 formance-based targets would be preferable to a pro16 posed regulation. 

17 ‘‘(j) COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before promulgating any 

19 new regulation on or after the date of the enactment 

20 of the TRUCK Safety Reform Act, the Adminis21 trator shall include, within the Administration’s 

22 cost-benefit analysis, a wider selection and scope of 

23 motor carriers. 

24 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.—The analysis conducted under 

25 this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall be based upon data generated 

2 from a statistically significant and representa3 tive sample of commercial vehicle operators, 

4 motor carriers, or both, that will be covered 

5 under the proposed regulation; 

6 ‘‘(B) shall focus on examining commercial 

7 truck and bus carriers of all sizes, various oper8 ation types and sectors, including various types 

9 of commercial busses, long haul, regional, short10 haul, flat-bed, dry-van, refrigerated, various 

11 commercial busses and tank operations to the 

12 extent appropriate and practicable; and 

13 ‘‘(C) shall be subject to independent peer 

14 review, to the maximum extent practicable, by 

15 a balanced panel of individuals with relevant 

16 areas of expertise suitable for the review being 

17 conducted, including statistical expertise. 

18 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—This subsection shall not apply 

19 if the Administrator, for good cause, finds (and in20 corporates the finding and a brief statement of rea21 sons for such finding in the final rule) that con22 ducting the cost-benefit analysis described in para23 graph (2) would be impracticable, unnecessary, or 

24 contrary to the public interest. 

25 ‘‘(k) REQUEST FOR COMMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before promulgating a No2 tice of Proposed Rulemaking, in accordance with 

3 section 553 of title 5, that is reasonably likely to 

4 lead to the promulgation of a major rule (as defined 

5 in section 804 of such title), the Administrator of 

6 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

7 shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) issue an Advance Notice of Proposed 

9 Rulemaking; 

10 ‘‘(B) determine whether a negotiated rule11 making is necessary; or 

12 ‘‘(C) otherwise publish a request for com13 ment in the Federal Register, seeking ideas and 

14 data to inform the formulation of a potential 

15 proposed rule. 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each Advance Notice of 

17 Proposed Rulemaking or Negotiated Rulemaking 

18 issued under paragraph (1) shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) identify the compelling public concern 

20 for a potential regulatory action, such as mate21 rial failures of private markets to protect or im22 prove the safety of the public, the environment, 

23 or the well-being of the American people; 

24 ‘‘(B) identify and request public comment 

25 on the best available science or technical inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1669.IS S1669

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1 mation on the need for regulatory action and on 

2 the potential regulatory alternatives; 

3 ‘‘(C) request public comment on the bene4 fits and costs of potential regulatory alter5 natives reasonably likely to be included or ana6 lyzed as part of the notice of proposed rule7 making; 

8 ‘‘(D) request public comment on the avail9 able alternatives to direct regulation, including 

10 providing economic incentives to encourage the 

11 desired behavior; and 

12 ‘‘(E) request data on how safety will be 

13 quantifiably improved by the regulation. 

14 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—This subsection shall not apply 

15 if the Administrator, for good cause, finds (and in16 corporates the finding and a brief statement of rea17 sons for such finding in the final rule) that an Ad18 vance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is impracti19 cable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public inter20 est. 

21 ‘‘(l) FEEDBACK.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During the development of 

23 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice 

24 of Proposed Rulemaking, the Administrator shall no25 tify and receive written feedback from the TransporVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Jun 27, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1669.IS S1669

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1 tation Research Board at the National Academy of 

2 Sciences or the Inspector General of the Department 

3 of Transportation to consider and determine the ap4 propriate universe for the various types of carriers 

5 referred to in subsection (k)(2). 

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—If the Administrator, in 

7 conducting a rulemaking, does not utilize the statis8 tically significant and representative sample rec9 ommendations provided by the Transportation Re10 search Board or the Inspector General of the De11 partment of Transportation, the Administrator shall 

12 publish an explanation in the Federal Register of 

13 why the data collected by the Administration for the 

14 cost-benefit analysis required under subsection (k) 

15 meets the statistically significant and representative 

16 requirements under that subsection. 

17 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION.—The Administrator shall 

18 publish, in the Federal Register, a certification that 

19 the Administration has attempted, to the maximum 

20 extent possible, to consider various aspects of the 

21 commercial trucking and bus industry that are im22 pacted by the rule referred to in paragraph (2) in 

23 the Administration’s collection of data for the pur24 poses of cost-benefit analysis.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. PETITIONS AND OTHER PROVISIONS. 

2 Section 31136 of title 49, United States Code, as 

3 amended by sections 3 and 4, is further amended by add4 ing at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(m) STATUTORY RULEMAKING AND PETITIONS.— 

6 The Administrator shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) first respond to all statutory requirements 

8 for rulemaking; 

9 ‘‘(2) prioritize stakeholder petitions based on 

10 the likelihood of safety improvements; 

11 ‘‘(3) not later than 6 months after a petition is 

12 submitted, formally respond to such petition by— 

13 ‘‘(A) indicating whether the Administration 

14 will accept or deny the petition; and 

15 ‘‘(B) including a safety value assessment, 

16 prioritization, and description of the policy 

17 goals of the Administration related to the sub18 ject matter of the petition; and 

19 ‘‘(4) post and maintain an inventory of all peti20 tions received by the Administration, including infor21 mation about the disposition of such petitions, on a 

22 publicly accessible website.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISION. 

2 Nothing in the amendments made by section 3 

3 through 5 may be construed to limit the contents of any 

4 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. 

Æ 


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