Update: The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will consider the bill Sept. 19.
A bill introduced Sept. 12 in the House would prevent the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from issuing “guidance” that would recommend certain obese truck drivers be screened and treated for sleep apnea and allow such action only in a formal rulemaking process.
In a letter to fellow House members, Reps. Larry Buschon (R-Ind.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) said sleep apnea screening and treatment could exceed $1 billion for commercial drivers.
“With such tremendous potential costs to the truck and bus industry, ensuring that any potential policy is developed through a formal rulemaking process is imperative in order to evaluate both the costs and benefits of proposed regulations,” they said. “Such an analysis is not required and will not be conducted for the issuance of guidance.”
American Trucking Associations said it agrees that the rulemaking process, along with the required analysis and public comment, is the right path. “The rulemaking process allows for medical experts, the regulated community, including professional drivers, to provide valuable data and input for the agency to consider in developing its regulations,” ATA President Bill Graves said in a Sept. 12 statement.
FMCSA has said it will issue guidance to medical examiners that commercial drivers with a body mass index above 35 should be screened for sleep apnea and treated if they are diagnosed. It will propose a formal rule after the guidance, but officials want to issue the guidance in order to confront the issue more quickly than it would under a rulemaking process.
