Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 207 / Monday, October 27, 2014 / Notices 64001 

In addition, any person may, upon 

request, inspect the application, notice 

and other documents relevant to the 

application in person at the Paris Cox 

Field Airport, telephone number (903) 

784–9292. 

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on October 15, 

2014. 

Byron K. Huffman, 

Acting Manager, Airports Division. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25517 Filed 10–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2014–0010] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Vision 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to exempt 35 individuals from 

the vision requirement in the Federal 

Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 

(FMCSRs). They are unable to meet the 

vision requirement in one eye for 

various reasons. The exemptions will 

enable these individuals to operate 

commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in 

interstate commerce without meeting 

the prescribed vision requirement in 

one eye. The Agency has concluded that 

granting these exemptions will provide 

a level of safety that is equivalent to or 

greater than the level of safety 

maintained without the exemptions for 

these CMV drivers. 

DATES: The exemptions were granted 

September 30, 2014. The exemptions 

expire on September 30, 2016. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elaine M. Papp, R.N., Chief, Medical 

Programs Division, (202) 366–4001, 

fmcsamedical@dot.gov, FMCSA, 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Room W64– 

224, Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 

p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. If you have questions 

on viewing or submitting material to the 

docket, contact Docket Services, 

telephone (202) 366–9826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Electronic Access 

You may see all the comments online 

through the Federal Document 

Management System (FDMS) at http://

www.regulations.gov. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to http://

www.regulations.gov and/or Room 

W12–140 on the ground level of the 

West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 

SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. 

and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

except Federal holidays. 

Privacy Act: Anyone may search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of DOT’s dockets by 

the name of the individual submitting 

the comment (or of the person signing 

the comment, if submitted on behalf of 

an association, business, labor union, or 

other entity). You may review DOT’s 

Privacy Act Statement for the Federal 

Docket Management System (FDMS) 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 17, 2008 (73 FR 3316). 

II. Background 

On August 29, 2014, FMCSA 

published a notice of receipt of 

exemption applications from certain 

individuals, and requested comments 

from the public (79 FR 51643). That 

notice listed 35 applicants’ case 

histories. The 35 individuals applied for 

exemptions from the vision requirement 

in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10), for drivers who 

operate CMVs in interstate commerce. 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, 

FMCSA may grant an exemption for a 

2-year period if it finds ‘‘such 

exemption would likely achieve a level 

of safety that is equivalent to or greater 

than the level that would be achieved 

absent such exemption.’’ The statute 

also allows the Agency to renew 

exemptions at the end of the 2-year 

period. Accordingly, FMCSA has 

evaluated the 35 applications on their 

merits and made a determination to 

grant exemptions to each of them. 

III. Vision and Driving Experience of 

the Applicants 

The vision requirement in the 

FMCSRs provides: 

A person is physically qualified to 

drive a commercial motor vehicle if that 

person has distant visual acuity of at 

least 20/40 (Snellen) in each eye 

without corrective lenses or visual 

acuity separately corrected to 20/40 

(Snellen) or better with corrective 

lenses, distant binocular acuity of a least 

20/40 (Snellen) in both eyes with or 

without corrective lenses, field of vision 

of at least 70° in the horizontal meridian 

in each eye, and the ability to recognize 

the colors of traffic signals and devices 

showing red, green, and amber (49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10)). 

FMCSA recognizes that some drivers 

do not meet the vision requirement but 

have adapted their driving to 

accommodate their vision limitation 

and demonstrated their ability to drive 

safely. The 35 exemption applicants 

listed in this notice are in this category. 

They are unable to meet the vision 

requirement in one eye for various 

reasons, including prosthetic eye, 

retinal detachment, corneal scar, 

aphakia, exotropia, amblyopia, complete 

loss of vision, cataract, retinal scar, 

esotropia, secondary amblyopia, 

refractive amblyopia, macular 

degeneration, retinal sclopeteria, 

myopic astigmatism, strabismic 

amblyopia, and macular scar. In most 

cases, their eye conditions were not 

recently developed. Twenty-five of the 

applicants were either born with their 

vision impairments or have had them 

since childhood. 

The 10 individuals that sustained 

their vision conditions as adults have 

had it for a range of two to 43 years. 

Although each applicant has one eye 

which does not meet the vision 

requirement in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10), 

each has at least 20/40 corrected vision 

in the other eye, and in a doctor’s 

opinion, has sufficient vision to perform 

all the tasks necessary to operate a CMV. 

Doctors’ opinions are supported by the 

applicants’ possession of valid 

commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) or 

non-CDLs to operate CMVs. Before 

issuing CDLs, States subject drivers to 

knowledge and skills tests designed to 

evaluate their qualifications to operate a 

CMV. 

All of these applicants satisfied the 

testing requirements for their State of 

residence. By meeting State licensing 

requirements, the applicants 

demonstrated their ability to operate a 

CMV, with their limited vision, to the 

satisfaction of the State. 

While possessing a valid CDL or nonCDL, these 35 drivers have been 

authorized to drive a CMV in intrastate 

commerce, even though their vision 

disqualified them from driving in 

interstate commerce. They have driven 

CMVs with their limited vision in 

careers ranging from 2.5 to 42 years. In 

the past three years, two of the drivers 

were involved in crashes and two were 

convicted for moving violations in a 

CMV. 

The qualifications, experience, and 

medical condition of each applicant 

were stated and discussed in detail in 

the August 29, 2014 notice (79 FR 

51643). 

IV. Basis for Exemption Determination 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 31315, 

FMCSA may grant an exemption from 

the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10) if the exemption is likely 

to achieve an equivalent or greater level 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
64002 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 207 / Monday, October 27, 2014 / Notices 

of safety than would be achieved 

without the exemption. Without the 

exemption, applicants will continue to 

be restricted to intrastate driving. With 

the exemption, applicants can drive in 

interstate commerce. Thus, our analysis 

focuses on whether an equal or greater 

level of safety is likely to be achieved by 

permitting each of these drivers to drive 

in interstate commerce as opposed to 

restricting him or her to driving in 

intrastate commerce. 

To evaluate the effect of these 

exemptions on safety, FMCSA 

considered the medical reports about 

the applicants’ vision as well as their 

driving records and experience with the 

vision deficiency. 

To qualify for an exemption from the 

vision requirement, FMCSA requires a 

person to present verifiable evidence 

that he/she has driven a commercial 

vehicle safely with the vision deficiency 

for the past 3 years. Recent driving 

performance is especially important in 

evaluating future safety, according to 

several research studies designed to 

correlate past and future driving 

performance. Results of these studies 

support the principle that the best 

predictor of future performance by a 

driver is his/her past record of crashes 

and traffic violations. Copies of the 

studies may be found at Docket Number 

FMCSA–1998–3637. 

FMCSA believes it can properly apply 

the principle to monocular drivers, 

because data from the Federal Highway 

Administration’s (FHWA) former waiver 

study program clearly demonstrate the 

driving performance of experienced 

monocular drivers in the program is 

better than that of all CMV drivers 

collectively (See 61 FR 13338, 13345, 

March 26, 1996). The fact that 

experienced monocular drivers 

demonstrated safe driving records in the 

waiver program supports a conclusion 

that other monocular drivers, meeting 

the same qualifying conditions as those 

required by the waiver program, are also 

likely to have adapted to their vision 

deficiency and will continue to operate 

safely. 

The first major research correlating 

past and future performance was done 

in England by Greenwood and Yule in 

1920. Subsequent studies, building on 

that model, concluded that crash rates 

for the same individual exposed to 

certain risks for two different time 

periods vary only slightly (See Bates 

and Neyman, University of California 

Publications in Statistics, April 1952). 

Other studies demonstrated theories of 

predicting crash proneness from crash 

history coupled with other factors. 

These factors—such as age, sex, 

geographic location, mileage driven and 

conviction history—are used every day 

by insurance companies and motor 

vehicle bureaus to predict the 

probability of an individual 

experiencing future crashes (See Weber, 

Donald C., ‘‘Accident Rate Potential: An 

Application of Multiple Regression 

Analysis of a Poisson Process,’’ Journal 

of American Statistical Association, 

June 1971). A 1964 California Driver 

Record Study prepared by the California 

Department of Motor Vehicles 

concluded that the best overall crash 

predictor for both concurrent and 

nonconcurrent events is the number of 

single convictions. This study used 3 

consecutive years of data, comparing the 

experiences of drivers in the first 2 years 

with their experiences in the final year. 

Applying principles from these 

studies to the past 3-year record of the 

35 applicants, two of the drivers were 

involved in crashes and two were 

convicted of moving violations in a 

CMV. All the applicants achieved a 

record of safety while driving with their 

vision impairment, demonstrating the 

likelihood that they have adapted their 

driving skills to accommodate their 

condition. As the applicants’ ample 

driving histories with their vision 

deficiencies are good predictors of 

future performance, FMCSA concludes 

their ability to drive safely can be 

projected into the future. 

We believe that the applicants’ 

intrastate driving experience and history 

provide an adequate basis for predicting 

their ability to drive safely in interstate 

commerce. Intrastate driving, like 

interstate operations, involves 

substantial driving on highways on the 

interstate system and on other roads 

built to interstate standards. Moreover, 

driving in congested urban areas 

exposes the driver to more pedestrian 

and vehicular traffic than exists on 

interstate highways. Faster reaction to 

traffic and traffic signals is generally 

required because distances between 

them are more compact. These 

conditions tax visual capacity and 

driver response just as intensely as 

interstate driving conditions. The 

veteran drivers in this proceeding have 

operated CMVs safely under those 

conditions for at least 3 years, most for 

much longer. Their experience and 

driving records lead us to believe that 

each applicant is capable of operating in 

interstate commerce as safely as he/she 

has been performing in intrastate 

commerce. Consequently, FMCSA finds 

that exempting these applicants from 

the vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10) is likely to achieve a level 

of safety equal to that existing without 

the exemption. For this reason, the 

Agency is granting the exemptions for 

the 2-year period allowed by 49 U.S.C. 

31136(e) and 31315 to the 35 applicants 

listed in the notice of August 29, 2014 

(79 FR 51643). 

We recognize that the vision of an 

applicant may change and affect his/her 

ability to operate a CMV as safely as in 

the past. As a condition of the 

exemption, therefore, FMCSA will 

impose requirements on the 35 

individuals consistent with the 

grandfathering provisions applied to 

drivers who participated in the 

Agency’s vision waiver program. 

Those requirements are found at 49 

CFR 391.64(b) and include the 

following: (1) That each individual be 

physically examined every year (a) by 

an ophthalmologist or optometrist who 

attests that the vision in the better eye 

continues to meet the requirement in 49 

CFR 391.41(b)(10) and (b) by a medical 

examiner who attests that the individual 

is otherwise physically qualified under 

49 CFR 391.41; (2) that each individual 

provide a copy of the ophthalmologist’s 

or optometrist’s report to the medical 

examiner at the time of the annual 

medical examination; and (3) that each 

individual provide a copy of the annual 

medical certification to the employer for 

retention in the driver’s qualification 

file, or keep a copy in his/her driver’s 

qualification file if he/she is selfemployed. The driver must have a copy 

of the certification when driving, for 

presentation to a duly authorized 

Federal, State, or local enforcement 

official. 

V. Discussion of Comments 

FMCSA received no comments in this 

proceeding. 

IV. Conclusion 

Based upon its evaluation of the 35 

exemption applications, FMCSA 

exempts the following drivers from the 

vision requirement in 49 CFR 

391.41(b)(10), subject to the 

requirements cited above (49 CFR 

391.64(b)): 

Ronald A. Bolyard (WV) 

Jackson C. Braithwaite (OH) 

Howard T. Bubel (ND) 

Raymond E. Burrus (CO) 

Dionicio Carrera (TX) 

Lee A. Clason (NE) 

Jeff W. Claussen (IL) 

David A. Coburn, Sr. (VT) 

Edward Cunningham (MI) 

Eric P. Demers (NH) 

Martin H. Duncan (WA) 

Ronald D. Holshouser (MO) 

Oscar Juarez (ID) 

Kelly R. Knopf, Sr. (SC) 

Edward J. Kosior (NY) 

Todd A. Krough (IA) 

Lester E. Lathrop III (MN) 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 207 / Monday, October 27, 2014 / Notices 64003 

Mathew A. Lind (PA) 

Frazier A. Luckerson (GA) 

Carl M. Lude (ME) 

Ross A. Miceli II (PA) 

Timothy L. Miller (IA) 

Donald L. Minney (OH) 

Philip L. Neff (PA) 

Brian S. Nelson (MN) 

Peter S. Rosenkranse III (NY) 

Antonio Sanchez (NJ) 

Lawrence P. Siegler (MN) 

Rick J. Smart (NH) 

Clifford W. Smith (OR) 

Robert L. Strange (NC) 

David L. Von Hagen (IA) 

Donald Wallace (IL) 

Loran J. Weiler (IA) 

Frederick J. Zuech (NY) 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) 

and 31315, each exemption will be valid 

for 2 years unless revoked earlier by 

FMCSA. The exemption will be revoked 

if: (1) The person fails to comply with 

the terms and conditions of the 

exemption; (2) the exemption has 

resulted in a lower level of safety than 

was maintained before it was granted; or 

(3) continuation of the exemption would 

not be consistent with the goals and 

objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136 and 31315. 

If the exemption is still effective at the 

end of the 2-year period, the person may 

apply to FMCSA for a renewal under 

procedures in effect at that time. 

Issued On: October 16, 2014. 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25449 Filed 10–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2014–0378] 

Qualification of Drivers; Exemption 

Applications; Epilepsy and Seizure 

Disorders 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of applications for 

exemptions; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces receipt of 

applications from 6 individuals for an 

exemption from the prohibition against 

persons with a clinical diagnosis of 

epilepsy or any other condition which 

is likely to cause a loss of consciousness 

or any loss of ability to operate a 

commercial motor vehicle (CMV) from 

operating CMVs in interstate commerce. 

The regulation and the associated 

advisory criteria published in the Code 

of Federal Regulations as the 

‘‘Instructions for Performing and 

Recording Physical Examinations’’ have 

resulted in numerous drivers being 

prohibited from operating CMVs in 

interstate commerce based on the fact 

that they have had one or more seizures 

and are taking anti-seizure medication, 

rather than an individual analysis of 

their circumstances by a qualified 

medical examiner. If granted, the 

exemptions would enable these 

individuals who have had one or more 

seizures and are taking anti-seizure 

medication to operate CMVs for 2 years 

in interstate commerce. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before November 26, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

bearing the Federal Docket Management 

System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA– 

2014–0378 using any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility; 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery: West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except Federal 

Holidays. 

• Fax: 1–202–493–2251. 

Each submission must include the 

Agency name and the docket ID for this 

Notice. Note that DOT posts all 

comments received without change to 

http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information included in a 

comment. Please see the Privacy Act 

heading below. 

Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments, go to http://

www.regulations.gov at any time or 

Room W12–140 on the ground level of 

the West Building, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. The 

FDMS is available 24 hours each day, 

365 days each year. If you want 

acknowledgment that we received your 

comments, please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope or 

postcard or print the acknowledgement 

page that appears after submitting 

comments on-line. 

Privacy Act: Anyone may search the 

electronic form of all comments 

received into any of our dockets by the 

name of the individual submitting the 

comment (or of the person signing the 

comment, if submitted on behalf of an 

association, business, labor union, etc.). 

You may review the DOT’s complete 

Privacy Act Statement in the Federal 

Register published on January 17, 2008 

(73 FR 3316; January 17, 2008). This 

information is also available at http://

Docketinfo.dot.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elaine Papp, Chief, Medical Programs 

Division, (202) 366–4001, or via email at 

fmcsamedical@dot.gov, or by letter 

FMCSA, Room W64–113, Department of 

Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590– 

0001. Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31315 and 31136(e), 

FMCSA may grant an exemption for a 

2-year period if it finds ‘‘such 

exemption would likely achieve a level 

of safety that is equivalent to or greater 

than the level that would be achieved 

absent such exemption.’’ The statutes 

also allow the Agency to renew 

exemptions at the end of the 2-year 

period. The 6 individuals listed in this 

notice have recently requested an 

exemption from the epilepsy 

prohibition in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(8), 

which applies to drivers who operate 

CMVs as defined in 49 CFR 390.5, in 

interstate commerce. Section 

391.41(b)(8) states that a person is 

physically qualified to drive a 

commercial motor vehicle if that person 

has no established medical history or 

clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any 

other condition which is likely to cause 

the loss of consciousness or any loss of 

ability to control a CMV. 

FMCSA provides medical advisory 

criteria for use by medical examiners in 

determining whether drivers with 

certain medical conditions should be 

certified to operate CMVs in intrastate 

commerce. The advisory criteria 

indicate that if an individual has had a 

sudden episode of a non-epileptic 

seizure or loss of consciousness of 

unknown cause which did not require 

anti-seizure medication, the decision 

whether that person’s condition is likely 

to cause the loss of consciousness or 

loss of ability to control a CMV should 

be made on an individual basis by the 

medical examiner in consultation with 

the treating physician. Before 

certification is considered, it is 

suggested that a 6-month waiting period 

elapse from the time of the episode. 

Following the waiting period, it is 

suggested that the individual have a 

complete neurological examination. If 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES