Attachment E, Comment to 60-day Federal Register Notice

American Trucking Associations
950 N. Glebe Road, Suite 210, Arlington, VA 22203

Driving Trucking’s Success

December 12, 2013
Via Regulations.gov
Paul Bomgardner
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue., SE
Washington, DC 20590
Dear Mr. Bomgardner:
Re: Docket FMCSA-2013-0305: Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of an
Approved Information Collection Request: Transportation of Hazardous Materials, Highway
Routing
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed extending its
present State hazardous materials (hazmat) route reporting requirements without change.1 But,
the proposed extension without change does not comport to the requirements of Public Law 112141, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21)2 Specifically, American
Trucking Associations3 (ATA) believes three changes will bring the information collection into
compliance with FMCSA’s delegated functions and enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity
of the collected information:




FMCSA should clarify that States must, rather than may, submit hazmat routing
information to it;
FMCSA should change the State reporting requirements to every two years or within 60
days of making a routing change, whichever is sooner; and
FMCSA should regularly publish a national routing list in the Federal Register.

States Must Submit Highway Routing Information
FMCSA proposes to “request that each State and Indian tribe…provide information
identifying hazardous materials routing designations within its jurisdiction.”4 FMCSA proposes
to do so in accordance with 49 C.F.R. § 397.73, which states that “Information on [NonRadioactive Hazardous Materials] routing designations must be made available by the States and
1

See 78 Federal Register 205, Agency Information Collection Activities; Extension of an Approved Information
Collection Request: Transportation of Hazardous Materials, Highway Routing, 63280 (October 23, 2013).
2
§ 33013, 126 Stat. 405 (July 6, 2012) (modifying 49 U.S.C. §§ 5112, 5125).
3
ATA is a united federation of motor carriers, state trucking associations, and national trucking conferences created
to promote and protect the interests of the trucking industry. Directly and through its affiliated organizations, ATA
encompasses over 30,000 motor carriers and suppliers of every type and class of operation in the United States,
Canada, and Mexico.
4
78 Federal Register 205, 63280.

Comments of the American Trucking Associations
Page 2 of 3
Indian tribes to the public in the form of maps, lists, road signs, or some combination thereof.” 5
49 C.F.R. § 397.73(a) mirrors the statutory language, which similarly mandates that States must
provide this information.6
Both the Code of Federal Regulations7 and the U.S. Code8 mandate that States provide
this information. FMCSA proposes only to request it. To more effectively compel States to
publish their routing information, ATA suggests that FMCSA replace “request” with “require” in
the notice to more adequately reflect States’ responsibility to report.
FMCSA Should Modify the Proposed Reporting Frequency to Comport to MAP-21
Requirements
The proposal would require States to report their highway route designations annually.9
MAP-21 mandates that this reporting period be changed to at least once every two years and not
later than sixty days after a hazmat route designation is established, amended, or discontinued.10
ATA suggests that FMCSA modify the reporting frequency requirements accordingly. Such a
requirement ensures that States are reporting their most up to date hazmat routes and that carriers
operating in interstate commerce can appropriately follow those routes.
FMCSA Should Publish Highway Routing Designations in the Federal Register
Although not part of the information collection requirement here discussed, FMCSA has
a responsibility to publish national hazmat route designations. 11 This requirement becomes
doubly important because State hazmat routing designations are no longer enforceable until
published in FMCSA’s hazmat route registry.12 Instead, new or changed routes are enforceable
only 60 days after FMCSA adds them to it.13
FMCSA has not published a comprehensive Hazardous Materials Route Registry in the
Federal Register for over a decade.14 FMCSA maintains another list on its website, but it has
not been updated in over five years.15 ATA recognizes that States are not required to change
their hazmat routes. Still, ATA questions whether no State has updated their route designations
in the last five years. Therefore, FMCSA should also publish updates to the registry in the
Federal Register at least annually.

5

49 C.F.R. § 397.73(a) (2012) (emphasis added).
49 U.S.C. § 5112(c)(2) (2006) (as modified by P.L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405, § 33013(a)(2) (July 6, 2012)).
7
49 C.F.R. § 397.73(a)
8
49 U.S.C. § 5112(c)(2) (2006) (as modified by P.L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405, § 33013(a)(2) (July 6, 2012)).
9
78 Federal Register 205, 63280 (2013).
10
49 U.S.C. § 5112(c)(2)(B) (2006) as modified by P.L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405, § 33013(a)(2)(B) (July 6, 2012))
(emphasis added).
11
49 U.S.C. § 5112(c)(1) (2006).
12
49 U.S.C. § 5125(c) (2006) as modified by P.L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405, § 33013(b) (July 6, 2012)).
13
Id.
14
65 Federal Register 233, Transportation of Hazardous Materials; Designated, Preferred and Restricted Routes,
75771 (December 4, 2000).
15
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, National HM Route Registry, http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safetysecurity/hazmat/national-hazmat-route.aspx (last accessed December 4, 2013) (showing the current routing list as
accurate as of 2008).
6

Comments of the American Trucking Associations
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Conclusion
FMCSA’s proposed information collection does not comply with the route reporting
requirement changes in MAP-21. FMCSA should modify the information collection to ensure
that the information to be collected comports to the authorizations granted to it by Congress.
First, FMCSA should require States to submit their route designations and amendments. Second,
FMCSA should update its reporting frequency requirements to two years and within 60 days of
any State route modification. Finally, although not technically part of the information to be
collected, FMCSA should regularly publish updates to its national hazmat route registry so that
motor carriers are aware of current routes and so that States can enforce their own routing laws.
These three changes ensure that the national hazmat route registry program is performed
as a proper FMCSA function and that the information collected is high quality, useful, and clear.
Should you wish to discuss this matter in greater detail, please contact the undersigned at
[email protected] or at (703) 838-7982.

Best,

Boyd Stephenson
Director, Hazardous Materials Policy
American Trucking Associations