One state's battle over the federal government's crackdown on non-domiciled commercial driver's license issuance is now in the courts.
New York State Friday filed suit in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District in New York in response the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's decision to withhold almost $74 million in highway funds. The FMCSA's move came in response to an audit of the state's Department of Motor Vehicles process for issuing non-domiciled CDLs to foreign drivers.
Named in the suit are the Department of Trsnpoirtation and its Secretary Sean Duffy, and the FMCSA and its Administrator Derek Barrs
The FMCSA said it found more than half of those licenses were invalid and should be revoked. When the state declined, the FMCSA announced it was withholding $73,502,543 in Federal Highway Administration Funds.
The state's suit claims the FMCSA's ruling exceeded its statutory authority and said the agency's "final determination is predicated on an erroneous reading of its own long-standing regulations governing the issuance of CDLs to non-domiciled individuals, and the relevant standards for establishing a finding of substantial noncompliance. FMCSA’s decision does not acknowledge that its novel interpretation of these preexisting regulations represents a substantive change in agency position, and it has failed to account for the substantial reliance interests that this change upends. For these and other reasons, petitioners ask that FMCSA’s final determination be held unlawful and set aside."
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the FMCSA's decision was “putting jobs and communities at risk.”
In response to the suit, Duffy said, "“My message to New York’s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads.”
New York is among a number of states Duffy has threatened with the loss of funds because of the findings of audits of their processes for issuing non-domiciled CDLs. California, Illinois, Colorado and Pennsylvania also faced Duffy's demands for changes.
The issue of non-domiciled foreign truckers came to light following several high-profile fatal accidents involving such drivers. It also comes on the heels of the federal government requiring all drivers to speak and read road signs in English, and demands that CDL testing be in Eng;ish only.
