|
August
24, 2004
Note:
To print this newsletter in its entirety,
simply press the print button
on your web browser.
CLICK
HERE to send us your comments about this newsletter.
Headline
News
FMCSA Offers Public Listening Sessions on Comprehensive Safety Analysis
2010
The
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a notice
in the August 20, Federal Register announcing the scheduling
of a series of public listening sessions to solicit input on ways the
agency can improve the process of monitoring and assessing the safety
of the nation’s motor carriers and ensure their compliance with
federal regulations. This multi-year review project, known as the Comprehensive
Safety Analysis 2010 initiative (CSA-2010), starts next month with a
series of six public listening sessions. The agency will ask the motor
carrier industry, insurance and safety advocacy groups, traffic enforcement
professionals and the general public for their views on the ideal ways
to measure the safety of truck and bus operations and take effective
action. The public listening sessions will include a morning plenary
session and up to four facilitated afternoon breakout sessions. The
participants will be invited to discuss a number of questions related
to the agency’s current compliance review process for determining
motor carrier safety fitness. To facilitate this discussion, in the
August 20 FMCSA notice the agency poses a number of questions on this
issue, which will be the focal point of the listening session discussions.
All of the listening sessions will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00
p.m. at the following dates and locations:
- Session 1: September
21, 2004 – Doubletree Hotel, Mission Valley, 7450 Hazard Center
Drive, San Diego, CA
- Session 2: September
28, 2004 – Sheraton Atlanta, 165 Courtland Street at International
Boulevard, Atlanta, GA
- Session 3: October
5, 2004 – Hampton Inn & Suites, Dallas/Mesquite, 1700 Rodeo
Drive, Mesquite, TX
- Session 4: October
12, 2004 – Wyndham Chicago, 633 North St. Clair, Chicago, IL
- Session 5: October
19, 2004 – Fairview Park Marriott, 3111 Fairview Park Drive,
Falls Church, VA
- Session 6: October
26, 2004 – Sheraton Springfield, One Monarch Place, Springfield,
MA
Registration for
each of these sessions is limited. Online registration is available
at www.Acteva.com/go/FMCSA
or by telephone by calling Telephone Touchstone Consulting at (202)
449-7354. Please note that registration will open at 9:00 a.m. EDT on
Monday August 30, 2004 and will end at 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding
each session. TCA will be attending the session on October 19th in Falls
Church, VA. For general information about this FMCSA initiative, contact
Bill Quade FMCSA Office of Enforcement and Compliance at (202) 366-2172.
A copy of the August 20 Register notice can be found by clicking
here for a PDF and here
for an HTML.
Top
TSA Moves One Step Closer to a Transportation Worker ID Cards
The Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) announced on August 10, 2004, the award
of a $12 million contract to Bearing Point, Inc. to begin the Prototype
Phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
program. This is the third phase in developing a program to improve
security at seaports, airports, rail, pipeline, trucking and mass transit
facilities creating a nationwide credential that will prevent unauthorized
persons from gaining access to secure areas.
The goal of the
seven-month prototype is to analyze the administrative and business
processes involved in collecting transportation worker data, performing
background checks, issuing credentials and studying the day-to-day use
of the cards. In the prototype, about 150,000 workers from maritime,
rail, aviation and ground modes of transportation are expected to participate
at over 40 sites in six states.
Prototype operations will be conducted in the following three regions
of the country:
1) Camden, NJ;
Islip, NY; Philadelphia, PA, and Wilmington, DE;
2) the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA; and
3) the 14 major port facilities in the state of Florida.
Participation in
this program is voluntary and will include truckers, longshoremen and
container terminal and airport personnel.
The TWIC involves
a technology wherein an individual applicant goes through a background
check, digital fingerprinting and photograph, retinal scan, etc. All
relevant information is then entered into a microchip that is embedded
into what resembles a credit card. The objective of the TWIC is the
same as that of the proposed fingerprint checks for hazardous materials
(HM) endorsements on the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) --
i.e., verifying the identity of the cardholder. Several industry groups
have suggested to TSA that the planned January 30, 2005 implementation
date for the fingerprint-based program be put aside until this current
testing of the TWIC has been completed and the results evaluated. However,
TSA has not issued any statement regarding changes to the January 30,
2005 implementation.
TSA began the TWIC
program in the spring of 2002. Phase I, the Planning Phase, of the project
was completed in the spring of 2003 and Phase II, the Technology Evaluation
Phase, closed in October of that year. As stated earlier, Phase III
will last approximately seven months and then the TSA will then perform
a further review and prepare for Phase IV, the nationwide rollout of
the TWIC card. For more information on the TWIC card program, go to
TSA’s website at www.tsa.gov.
For any further questions or comments on this issue, contact Rich Clemente
at (703) 838-8847 or email: rclemente@truckload.org.
Top
Transmitting
Electronic Cargo Information to Customs - What Is The Carrier's Responsibility?
The U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), published a notice in the August 17, 2004 Federal
Register which officially informs motor carriers when they will
be required to transmit advance electronic cargo information to the
CBP regarding cargo they are bringing into the United States.The dates
when truck carriers will be required to comply vary depending on the
port of entry at which the carrier will be arriving in the U.S. Section
343(a) of the Trade Act of 2002 required CBP, 90 days prior to mandating
advance electronic information at a port of entry, to publish notice
in the Register informing affected carriers that the electronic
data interchange (EDI) system is in place and fully operational. The
implementation schedule will be staggered between three deadlines: November
15, 2004; December 15, 2004; and January 14, 2005 – depending
upon on the point of entry. The specific port locations for each of
these dates are all specifically listed in the August 17 Register
notice.
In the December
5, 2003 Register, the CBP had published a final rule to effectuate
the provisions of the Trade Act. In that ruling, inbound trucks carrying
commercial cargo must submit its electronic manifest one hour in advance.
Motor carriers participating under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST)
program may submit its manifest no later than 30 minutes prior to arrival
in the U.S. The agency said that the information received from trucking
companies would be compared with law enforcement and commercial databases
to target potentially dangerous shipments.
To effect the advance
electronic transmission of the required truck cargo information to CBP,
the agency has approved two interim EDI systems, for use until the Automated
Commercial Environment Truck Manifest becomes fully operational. Those
two systems are the Pre-Arrival Processing System (PAPS) and QP/WP (an
Automated Broker Interface - ABI) in-bond processing system that allows
ABI filers to create and process in-bound shipments.) Truck carriers
bringing commercial cargo subject to advance cargo information requirements
into the U.S. must use one of these two systems, with the two exceptions
being the Customs Automated Forms Entry System (CAFES) or the Border
Release Advanced Screening and Selectivity (BRASS) programs.
A copy of the August
17 Register announcement can be found by clicking
here for a PDF and here
for an HTML. If you have any questions or comments please contact
Rich Clemente at TCA (703) 838-8847 or by email: rclemente@truckload.org.
Top
Questions
on FMCSA Waivers, Exemptions, and Pilot Programs?
The Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in the August 20, Federal
Register, issued a Final Rule which adopts as final its interim
regulations at 49 CFR Part 381, on Waivers, Exemptions and Pilot Programs.
This Final Rule establishes the procedures applicants must follow to
request waivers and apply for exemptions from the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and CDL requirements, and procedures to
propose and manage pilot programs. Furthermore, it establishes procedures
that govern how the agency will review, grant, or deny requests for
waivers, applications for exemptions, and proposals for pilot programs.
Finally, it also establishes the requirements for publishing notice
of exemption applications or proposals for pilot programs through the
Register while affording the public an opportunity for comment.
On December 8, 1998,
the then Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published an Interim
Final Rule (IFR) adding 49 CFR Part 381 to the FMCSRs to implement section
4007 of the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century (TEA-21).
This IFR explained procedures that a person must follow when requesting
a waiver and applying for an exemption to the FMCSRs, and also described
steps to be taken by the agency when it processes requests for waivers
and applications for exemptions, and considers proposals for pilot programs.
TEA-21:
1) authorized
the agency to grant short-term waivers for special situations without
requesting public comment, and without providing public notice;
2) directed the agency to publish notice of an exemption request in
the Register, announcing that a request had been filed and
justification as to why the exemption is required; and
3) directed the agency if they denied a request for exemption to publish
a notice in the Register identifying the person who was denied
the exemption and the reasons for the denial.
FHWA afforded the
public a 60-day comment period to that IFR and the comments received
“were generally favorable to having regulations in the FMCSRs
that concern waivers and exemptions, and pilot programs within FMCSA.”
With that said,
the FMCSA adopted the IFR with no revisions, and the interim regulations
at part 381 were adopted without change. The effective date is September
20, 2004, and a copy of the August 20 Register notice can be
accessed by clicking
here for a PDF and here
for an HTML. For further questions or comments contact Rich Clemente
at (703) 838-8847 or email: rclemente@truckload.org.
Top
|