FMCSA Withdraws EOBR Rule For Review, Possible Expansion

By Sean McNally and Eric Miller, Staff Reporters

This story appears in the Feb. 2 print edition of Transport Topics.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has pulled back its formal proposal to require some carriers to use electronic onboard recorders, with indications the Obama administration may want to expand their use.

The rule was pulled back Jan. 23 from the Office of Management and Budget, which was reviewing it as part of standard federal procedure.

In addition to reviewing and possibly broadening the EOBR mandate, President Obama also has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to revisit its 2007 denial of California’s request to implement its own tailpipe emissions standard.

Sources close to FMCSA told Transport Topics that the new administration would like EOBRs to be required on more trucks than the Bush administration’s proposed regulation would have done.

Sent to the White House in November, FMCSA’s final EOBR rule would have expanded the agency’s original proposal, said former Administrator John Hill.

Details of the rule weren’t released, but Hill told TT on Jan. 28, “It was a significant expansion.”

In its initial proposal, FMCSA’s mandate would have applied only to carriers that fail two compliance reviews in a two-year period. Hill indicated previously that the final rule would consider fatigue-related crashes as a way to expand the number of carriers forced to use the technology.

FMCSA staffers have gotten “indications” from the Obama administration that they “want the reach expanded,” a source told TT.

The source, however, was not clear on whether the EOBR rule would expand beyond FMCSA’s original proposal or the agency’s revised final rule.

Steve Keppler, director of policy and programs with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said he had “heard” the new regime was interested retooling the rule but that the “wild card is what Congress is going to do.”

In the past, congressional leaders have expressed an interest in a more universal mandate for the technology.

Dave Osiecki, vice president of safety, security and operations for American Trucking Associations, speculated that because the EOBR rule “is controversial . . . it’s going to get the most attention” from the new administration.

The review followed a Jan. 20 White House order withdrawing all proposed rules and possibly extending the effective date of all final rules published in the waning days of the Bush administration but that had not taken effect.

“It is important that President Obama’s appointees and designees have the opportunity to review and approve any new or pending regulations,” Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff, said.

Osiecki said he was “not at all surprised” that the EOBR rule was pulled, but he thought other rules published late last year, such as the intermodal chassis maintenance regulation and the revised audit process for new carriers, would go forward “because they are noncontroversial.”

CVSA’s Keppler said FMCSA officials had told the enforcement group that everything except EOBR, is “on track.”

The fate of the EOBR rule remains uncertain, but it appeared that Obama is taking steps to reverse the Bush administration’s positions on global warming and vehicle emissions standards.

On Jan. 26, Obama ordered EPA to review its earlier decision denying California the right to set its own greenhouse gas emissions regulations for cars and light trucks.

The state seeks the waiver because the California standards exceed those in the federal Clean Air Act. California regulators have said their tailpipe standards are aimed mainly at cutting carbon dioxide emissions but also would improve average fuel economy in cars to 36 miles per gallon.

Obama has said publicly that he disagrees with the Dec. 19, 2007, decision and has vowed to reverse it.

At least 13 other states have adopted similar standards but also have been waiting for the California waiver.

“The federal government must work with, not against, states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Obama said. “California has shown bold and bipartisan leadership through its effort to forge 21st century standards, and over a dozen states have followed its lead.”

However, Obama said the EPA’s past political considerations have stood in the way of allowing California and others to adopt their own tougher standards.

“The days of Washington dragging its heels are over,” Obama said. “My administration will not deny facts. We will be guided by them.”

California Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger, a Republican, said his state now has a “partner” in Washington and that he is confident EPA will grant the waiver.

“The president’s action is a great victory for California and for cleaning the air around the nation for generations to come,” he said.

Automobile manufacturers, which have been lobbying against the California waiver, did not immediately criticize Obama’s decision but argued for a national standard.

“We are ready to work with the administration on developing a national approach,” said Dave McCurdy, president and chief executive officer of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a group that represents 11 manufacturers.