Senior Reporter
Appropriators Urged to Delay Safety Fitness Determination Rulemaking
A group of lawmakers are calling on the leaders of the House transportation funding panel to delay a rulemaking on a safety fitness determination proposal.
The House members are asking that appropriators deny Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration funds to proceed with the proposed rulemaking until the agency concludes a reform of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program.
FMCSA is required by a 2015 highway law to reform CSA’s scoring methodology.
“Our greatest concern is that the new proposed methodology utilizes flawed Compliance, Safety, Accountability/Safety Measurement System (CSA/SMS) data,” the 33 lawmakers wrote to transportation funding leaders Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and David Price (D-N.C.) on March 17.
“Incorporating misleading safety data and analysis into a new safety fitness determination will not provide the desired safety to the traveling public,” they added.
Appropriators have yet to schedule consideration of a fiscal 2017 transportation funding bill.
Earlier this month, FMCSA extended through May 23 the public-comment period for its safety fitness determination proposed rule. The rule would use data from agency and roadside inspections and investigations to evaluate monthly whether a carrier is fit to operate. Trucking leaders have criticized the accuracy of CSA scores.
