President Obama has yet to respond to a request from House transportation leaders to withdraw the proposed hours-of-service rule.

Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica’s Sept. 23 letter to Obama asked that the proposal be withdrawn and for continuing the current rule. The Florida Republican wrote that the proposed rule would be an unnecessary and costly regulatory burden on truckers, given the improved record of truck safety since the 2008 rule became effective.

Three other Republican committee members signed the letter: Tennessee’s John Duncan, highway subcommittee chairman; Pennsylvania’s Bill Schuster, chairman of the railroads, pipelines and hazardous materials subcommittee; and Missouri’s Sam Graves, committee member and Small Business Committee chairman.

The president had not responded to their letter as of Sept. 28, according to Justin Harclerode, transportation committee communications director. Should the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proceed with the new rule, the four House members would weigh options that could include hearings or legislation.

On Aug. 30, Obama responded to House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) request for pending regulations with compliance costs of more than $1 billion. Seven proposed rules qualified, including the HOS proposal at more than $1 billion and electronic on-board recorders at $2 billion.

Harclerode noted that soon after issuing that list, Obama withdrew the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ozone proposal, which would have been by far the costliest at $19 billion to $90 billion. On Jan. 26, the House transportation committee released its oversight and investigation plan, which included monitoring HOS developments.