Document ID: FMCSA-2008-0272-0001
Agency: fmcsa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Medical Review Board Public Meeting
Posted Date: 2008-09-09T04:00Z

[Federal Register: September 9, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 175)]
[Notices]               
[Page 52450-52451]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09se08-161]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2008-0272]

 
Medical Review Board Public Meeting

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Medical Review Board (MRB) Public Meeting.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA announces a public meeting of the Agency's MRB. The MRB 
public meeting will provide the public an opportunity to observe and 
participate in MRB deliberations about FMCSA's medical standards, in 
accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

DATES: The MRB meeting will be held from 9 a.m.-12:45 p.m. on Monday, 
October 6, 2008. Please refer to the preliminary agenda for this 
meeting in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice for 
specific information.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at the Embassy Suites Old Town 
Alexandria, 1900 Diagonal Road, Virginia Ballroom-Salon A, Alexandria, 
VA 22314. You may submit comments bearing the Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Docket ID FMCSA-2008-0272 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 self-addressed, 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 April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19476). This information is 
also available at http://Docketinfo.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Mary D. Gunnels, Director, Medical 
Programs, (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.
    Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities: For 
information on facilities or services for individuals with disabilities 
or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact Jennifer 
Musick at 703-998-0189 ext. 237.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The preliminary agenda for the meeting 
includes:

0900-0920 Call to Order, Introduction and Agenda Review
0920-0930 Medical Review Board (MRB) Administrative Discussion
0930-1000 Hearing and Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Driver Safety 
Evidence Report
1000-1015 Public Comment on Hearing and CMV Driver Safety
1015-1030 MRB Deliberations on Hearing and CMV Driver Safety
1030-1100 Psychiatric Disorders and CMV Driver Safety--Evidence Report 
Findings
1100-1130 MRB Discussions on Psychiatric Disorders and CMV Driver 
Safety
1130-1200 MRB Discussions on Stroke and CMV Driver Safety
1200-1230 Public Comment on Psychiatric and Stroke Disorders and CMV 
Driver Safety
1245 Call to Adjourn

    * Breaks will be announced on meeting day and may be adjusted 
according to schedule changes, other meeting requirements.

Background

    The U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced on March 7, 2006, 
the five medical experts who serve on FMCSA's Medical Review Board 
(MRB). Section 4116 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, Public Law 
109-59) requires the Secretary of Transportation with the advice of the 
MRB to ``establish, review, and revise medical standards for operators 
of Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) that will ensure that the physical 
condition of operators is adequate to enable them to operate the 
vehicles safely.'' FMCSA is planning updates to the physical 
qualification regulations of CMV drivers, and the MRB will provide the 
necessary science-based guidance to establish realistic and responsible 
medical standards.
    The MRB operates in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (FACA) as announced in the Federal Register (70 FR 57642, October 
3, 2005). The MRB is charged initially with the review of all current 
FMCSA medical standards (49 CFR 391.41), as well as making 
recommendations for new science-based standards and guidelines to 
ensure that drivers operating CMVs in interstate commerce, as defined 
in CFR 390.5, are physically capable of doing so.

Meeting Participation

    Attendance is open to the interested public, including medical 
examiners,

[[Page 52451]]

motor carriers, drivers, and representatives of medical and scientific 
associations. Written comments for this MRB meeting will also be 
accepted beginning on September 9, 2008 and continuing until October 
20, 2008, and should include the docket ID that is listed in the 
ADDRESSES section.
    During the MRB meeting (1200-1230), oral comments may be limited 
depending on how many persons wish to comment; and will be accepted on 
a first come, first serve basis as requestors register at the meeting. 
The comments must directly address relevant medical and scientific 
issues on the MRB meeting agenda. For more information, please view the 
following Web site: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mrb.

    Issued on: September 3, 2008.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development.
[FR Doc. E8-20887 Filed 9-8-08; 8:45 am]

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