FMCSA Raises Fines, Penalties as Part of MAP-21

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Oct. 1 announced 17 regulatory changes mandated by last year’s transportation law, ranging from increased civil penalties to expanding some of the agency’s power to more severely punish other regulatory violations.

Because the regulatory changes are “nondiscretionary,” they are either already in effect or are effective immediately and not subject to the usual rulemaking process and public comment requirements,  FMCSA said in a Federal Register posting.

“The majority of these statutory changes went into effect on October 1, 2012, while others will go into effect on October 1, 2013,” the rule said. “It is necessary to make conforming changes to ensure that FMCSA’s regulations are current and consistent with the applicable statutes.”

The changes include a provision that would allow the agency to put a motor carrier out of service if even one of its trucks violated registration requirements. Another standard allows regulators to punish a carrier when it “knows or should reasonably know” that any of its drivers have had their licenses suspended, revoked, or canceled.

The new rule also raises the fine for violating registration requirements to $10,000 from $500, and raises the penalty for transporting hazmat waste without the appropriate registration from a maximum of $20,000 to a minimum of $20,000 and maximum of $40,000.

The rule also:

• Raises the minimum broker bond to $75,000.
• Requires that initial safety audits be made 12 months after a carrier begins operations.
• Permits the agency to fine a hazmat carrier up to $175,000 for fatal or serious injury accidents.
• Increases the penalty to motor carriers found violating an out-of-service order to as much as $25,000 a day, up from $16,000 a day.