§§383.5, 383.93, 383.141 and 384.233 The FMCSA adopted those requirements of the interim final rule (IFR) published on May 5, 2003 (2003 IFR), and the IFR published on April 29, 2005 (2005 IFR), which have not previously been finalized, as final without change. The 2003 IFR amended the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to prohibit States from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading a commercial driver's license (CDL) with a hazardous materials endorsement unless the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the Department of Homeland Security has first conducted a security threat assessment and determined that the applicant does not pose a security risk warranting denial of the hazardous materials endorsement, as required by the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act). The 2005 IFR amended the FMCSRs to conform to the TSA's compliance date and reduce the amount of advance notice that States must provide to drivers that a security threat assessment will be performed when they renew a hazardous materials endorsement. In addition, this rule incorporates a provision of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 and two provisions of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which together authorize a State to issue a license to operate a motor vehicle transporting hazardous material in commerce to an individual who holds a valid transportation security card. In particular, the Agency incorporated TSA's definition of a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) as equivalent to a Transportation Security Card (TSC).

§§325, 350, 365, 380, 382, 383, 385, 387, 389, 391, 392, 395 and 396 FMCSA amended its regulations by making technical corrections throughout the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The Agency made minor changes to correct inadvertent errors and omissions, remove or update obsolete references, and improve the clarity and consistency of certain regulatory provisions. The Agency also made nondiscretionary, ministerial changes that are statutorily mandated.

§§383.51 384.301 This final rule revised the list of offenses permanently disqualifying individuals from operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) for which a commercial drivers' license or a commercial learner's permit is required. This final rule reflects a change made by Congress in the "No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act” (the Act) which prohibits an individual from operating a CMV for life if that individual uses a CMV in committing a felony involving a severe form of human trafficking, adding to the list of other disqualifying offenses identified in statute. A list of these disqualifying offenses already exists in the FMCSRs; this final rule is necessary to update that list to include the new disqualifying offense established by the Act. This final rule also sets a deadline for States to come into substantial compliance with this requirement. The FMCSA corrected a final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on July 23, 2019. The document included an incorrect compliance date for States to come into substantial compliance with the provisions in the final rule and an incorrect paragraph designation for this provision.

§395.3 FMCSA amended its hours-of-service (HOS) requirements applicable to drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) to remove provisions requiring that a 34-hour restart include two periods between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. and limiting use of a restart to once every 168 hours — provisions that were promulgated in December 2011. In a series of Appropriations Acts, Congress suspended these provisions, pending completion of a naturalistic study comparing the effects of the restart provisions in effect under the 2011 rule versus provisions in effect prior to the 2011 rule's compliance date. The 2017 naturalistic study found no statistically significant benefits from the restart rule. Pursuant to a 2017 Appropriations Act, the 2011 restart rules are therefore void by operation of law. Although not in effect, the provisions remain in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which could cause confusion for some stakeholders.

§§390.5, 390.5T, 390.21, 390.21T, 390 SubPart F and 390 SubPart G FMCSA amended its May 27, 2015, final rule on Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of Passengers (2015 final rule) in response to petitions for rulemaking. This final rule narrows the applicability of the 2015 final rule by excluding certain contracts and other agreements between motor carriers of passengers that have active passenger carrier operating authority registrations with FMCSA from the definition of lease and the associated regulatory requirements. For passenger carriers that remain subject to the leasing and interchange requirements, FMCSA returns the bus marking requirement to its July 1, 2015, state with slight modifications to add references to leased vehicles; revises the exception for the delayed writing of a lease during certain emergencies; and removes the 24-hour lease notification requirement.

Appendices A and B to §386 (revised) In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, this final rule provided the 2019 inflation adjustment to civil penalty amounts that may be imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations.

§§385.4 and 385.415 FMCSA amended its Hazardous Materials Safety Permit regulations to incorporate by reference the April 1, 2018, edition of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) “North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria and Level VI Inspection Procedures and Out-of-Service Criteria for Commercial Highway Vehicles Transporting Transuranics and Highway Route Controlled Quantities of Radioactive Materials as defined in 49 CFR part 173.403.” The Out-of-Service Criteria provide uniform enforcement tolerances for roadside inspections to enforcement personnel nationwide, including FMCSA's State partners.

§40.26 and Appendix H to Part 40 This final rule made minor technical corrections to the OST, FAA, FTA, and PHMSA regulations governing drug testing for safety-sensitive employees to ensure consistency with the recent amendments made to the Department of Transportation's regulation, "Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs,” which added requirements to test for oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, and hydromorphone to DOT-regulated drug testing programs. The changes to the Department's regulation make it necessary to refer to these substances, as well as the previously covered drugs morphine, 6-acetylmorphine, and codeine, by the more inclusive term "opioids,” rather than "opiates.” This rule amended the term in the FAA, FTA, and PHMSA regulations to ensure that all DOT drug testing rules are consistent with one another and with the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs. In addition, this rule made a conforming amendment to include the term "opioids” in the wording of the Department's annual information collection requirement and clarifications to section 40.26 and Appendix H regarding the requirement for employers to follow the Department's instructions for the annual information collection.

§380.707 FMCSA corrected the entry-level driver training (ELDT) final rule published on March 6, 2019, titled "Commercial Driver's License Upgrade from Class B to Class A." The March 6, 2019 final rule contained an error in the amendatory instruction that is being corrected in order to ensure the regulatory text matches the discussion of the change being made in the preamble to the document.

§§383.3, 383.5, 383.21, 383.23, 383.31, 383.33, 383.37, 383.51, 383.75, 383.91, 383.93, 383.95, 383.113, 383.153, 384.209, 384.231 Regulatory Guidance (revised) FMCSA revised certain regulatory guidance concerning the "Commercial Driver's License Standards; Requirements and Penalties" and "State Compliance with Commercial Driver's License Program" rules. FMCSA seeks comment specifically on the deletion of 47 FMCSA guidance statements because: The rule is clear and further guidance is not needed; the deleted guidance was unclear; the deleted guidance is duplicative of other guidance statements; or the guidance is obsolete due to rulemakings completed since the guidance was issued. In addition, other guidance statements were revised for clarity and reorganized so that like content is grouped together. While this guidance is effective immediately, FMCSA is also seeking comments on the revisions to this guidance regarding commercial driver's license standards, requirements, and penalties and may issue additional changes if comments demonstrate a need. It is noted, however, that the Commercial Driver's License (CDL) regulations are not amended.

§380.707 and Appendix A to Part 380 FMCSA amended the entry-level driver training (ELDT) regulations published on December 8, 2016, titled "Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators" (ELDT final rule), by adopting a new Class A CDL theory instruction upgrade curriculum to reduce the training time and costs incurred by Class B commercial driver's license (CDL) holders upgrading to a Class A CDL. This final rule does not change the regulatory text proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). The Agency believes that this modest change in the Class A theory training requirements for Class B CDL holders upgrading to a Class A CDL maintains the same level of safety established by the ELDT final rule, and the regulatory burden reduction will result in annualized cost savings of $18 million.

§367.50 (revised) and §367.60 (added) This rule established reductions in the annual registration fees collected from motor carriers, motor private carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies for the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan and Agreement for the registration years 2019, 2020 and thereafter.

§§383.25 and 383.73 FMCSA amended the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) to allow States the option of issuing a commercial learner's permit (CLP) with an expiration date of up to one year from the date of initial issuance. The CLP must be valid for no more than one year from the initial date of issuance without requiring the CLP holder to retake the general and endorsement knowledge tests. CLPs issued for a period of less than one year may be renewed provided the CLP is not valid for more than one year from the date of initial issuance. This rule does not require a State to revise its current CLP issuance practices, unless it chooses to do so. This rule is a deregulatory action as defined by Executive Order (E.O.) 13771, "Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs."

§390.300T FMCSA extended the compliance date of the May 27, 2015, final rule titled "Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of Passengers," from January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2021. The final rule received 37 petitions for reconsideration. To address the concerns in the petitions, FMCSA initiated a new notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that also included a proposal to extend the compliance date of the 2015 final rule from January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2021. This extension of the compliance date is necessary to provide time to consider all the issues raised in comments to the NPRM and to publish a final rule, while giving motor carriers sufficient time to comply with the revised requirements.

Appendices A and B to Part 386 (revised) In accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, the DOT issued a final rule which provides the 2018 inflation adjustment to civil penalty amounts that may be imposed for violations of certain DOT regulations.