The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the status of several proposed new rules recently.
More than a year after being sent to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to mandate speed limiters on trucks is still hung up, and its projected publication date has once again been pushed back again. The DOT now projects the rule to be published by the end of this summer. The previous projection was for it to publish by the end of spring.
However, the publication date of the Final Rule for the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is still on track for Aug. 29, according to the Department of Transportation’s monthly regulatory update, published this week. The rulemaking was sent to the OMB May 18. It will require carriers to report failed drug tests and test refusals of CDL holders to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The joint rule between the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to implement the next phase of fuel efficiency and emissions standards, which was sent to the OMB June 3, is set to be published Sept. 12, according to the DOT’s report. The standards will begin taking effect for trailers for model year 2018 units and 2021 for tractors. The plan goes through 2027, when the entire vehicle – engine, truck and trailer – will be required to meet certain standards.
