N.Y., N.J. Senators Press Chao on Halting Sleep Apnea Rule
The information that prompted the U.S. Department of Transportation to recently withdraw from a rulemaking process that would have eventually led to policy for sleep apnea workers is being sought by four U.S. senators from Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Booker
Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez of New Jersey as well as Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer of New York asked for relevant decision-making details. They also would like to see Chao reconsider the withdrawal from the sleep apnea rulemaking to “help avoid future fatigue-related tragedies.”
Schumer
“Due to our serious concern over this decision to vacate this potentially life-saving rule, please provide our offices all data and information used to make the decision to withdraw the rule and DOT’s plan to identify and treat operators suffering from obstructive sleep apnea before more fatal tragedies take place,” the senators said in a letter to Chao on Aug. 21.
Guidelines for workers with sleep apnea are needed to help avoid crashes, they argued, citing a 2016 NJ Transit crash at the Hoboken terminal in New Jersey that injured more than 100 people and killed one person. It was revealed the train engineer involved in the crash had been working with undiagnosed sleep apnea.
This month, federal transportation regulators withdrew a 2016 advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comments on the adoption of standards for transportation workers in safety sensitive positions with apnea.
