[Federal Register: May 16, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 95)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 27059-27060]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16my01-41]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 365, 385, and 387

[Docket No. FMCSA 97-2709 (formerly FHWA-97-2709)]
RIN 2126-AA26 (formerly RIN 2125-AE01)

 
Registration of For-Hire Motor Carriers, Property Brokers, and 
Freight Forwarders; Withdrawal

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM); withdrawal.

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SUMMARY: The FMCSA withdraws the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 
relating to proposed interim rules on the registration of for-hire 
motor property and passenger carriers, property brokers, and freight 
forwarders published in the Federal Register at 63 FR 7362 on February 
13, 1998. This NPRM will be superseded by three rulemaking proceedings 
now in development that will impact the registration process: 
registration rules for new entrants as required by the Motor Carrier 
Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (MCSIA); registration rules for Mexican 
motor carriers operating in the United States under the North American 
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and rules implementing a unified carrier 
registration system as required by the Interstate Commerce Commission 
Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA). Maintaining an open docket on the 
proposed interim registration rules would be inconsistent with changes 
that FMCSA will propose in these proceedings.

DATES: The notice of proposed rulemaking published on February 13, 1998 
at 63 FR 7362 is withdrawn as of June 15, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angeli Sebastian, Chief, Driver and 
Carrier Operations, MC-PSD, (202) 366-4001, Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Interstate Commerce Commission 
Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA) (Pub. L.104-88, 109 Stat. 803) required 
the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations replacing: (1) the 
current DOT identification number system, (2) the single State 
registration system under 49 U.S.C. 14504, (3) the registration system 
for for-hire motor carriers, property brokers and freight

[[Page 27060]]

forwarders under chapter 139 of title 49, and (4) the financial 
responsibility information system under 49 U.S.C. 13906 with a single 
on-line Federal system. Before implementation of this unified system, 
the ICCTA authorized the Secretary to continue registering for-hire 
motor carriers, property brokers and freight forwarders under the 
system in effect prior to the Act's January 1, 1996 effective date.
    On February 13, 1998, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 
(the agency responsible for registering motor carriers, property 
brokers and freight forwarders after the demise of the ICC and before 
the creation of the FMCSA) proposed revisions to the old ICC 
registration rules (recodified as 49 CFR part 365) to conform to 
statutory changes made by the ICCTA (63 FR 7362). These proposed 
regulations were to be interim rules because they were intended to 
remain in effect only until implementation of the unified registration 
system required by section 13908.
    The FHWA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) 
on August 26, 1996, inviting public comment on the elements of the 
unified system envisioned by section 13908 (61 FR 43816). The FMCSA, 
after considering these comments, is developing a notice of proposed 
rulemaking that will supersede the proposed rules published on February 
13, 1998. Furthermore, the FMCSA intends to soon propose additional 
revisions to part 365 in response to the new entrant requirements of 
section 210 of the MCSIA and has already proposed changes to part 365 
to accommodate the anticipated expansion of Mexican motor carrier 
operations within the United States in accordance with NAFTA. Because 
of these developments, the NPRM is being withdrawn.

    Issued on: May 10, 2001.
Julie Anna Cirillo,
Acting Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-12348 Filed 5-15-01; 8:45 am]
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