Appeals Court Pauses Challenge to FMCSA CDL Rule
Delay Gives Agency Time to Consider Full Rewrite of Non-Domiciled CDL Laws
Key Takeaways:
- The D.C. Circuit agreed Dec. 3 to pause a legal challenge to FMCSA’s emergency interim rule on non-domiciled commercial driver licenses while the agency reviews more than 8,000 public comments.
- FMCSA said the feedback could change the final rule and potentially moot the challenge, as states continue heightened enforcement that has already led to thousands of revoked licenses and permits.
- The court ordered FMCSA to file status reports every 90 days starting March 3 while the agency advances a permanent rewrite of its licensing regulations.
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A federal court has agreed to delay action on a pending challenge to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interim rule that tightened restrictions on issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver licenses and permits.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Dec. 3 granted the agency’s Nov. 19 request to hold the case in abeyance, effectively putting the case on hold.
FMCSA in September issued an emergency interim rule directing states to halt issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and CDPs while it considers an official rewrite of the rules. The court on Nov. 13 pending consideration of a legal challenge.
Meanwhile, FMCSA is proceeding with a rulemaking to consider a permanent rewrite of the rules. As of a Nov. 28 deadline, it had received more than 8,000 comments on the proposal. The court agreed with FMCSA’s reasoning that it needed time to review the comments.
The agency told the court that public comments could lead to changes in the final rule, potentially rendering the challenge to the interim rule moot.
RELATED:Why an Appeals Court Paused FMCSA’s Non-Domiciled CDL Order
Meanwhile, states have been stepping up CDL enforcement. Already, thousands of non-domiciled licenses and permits have been revoked for violations that include drivers remaining in the U.S. beyond their legal permission to do so.
FMCSA posted a notice on its website explaining that the court ruling is preventing its interim rule from taking effect. Therefore, states no longer are prohibited from issuing non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs.
However, states that were audited and put on notice about noncompliance with FMCSA regulations before the interim rule “must continue to comply with the requirements” of FMCSA corrective action plans.
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Under the court order, FMCSA must file status reports every 90 days starting March 3.
The interim rule was announced Sept. 29 by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The move followed a review of preliminary findings from an FMCSA national audit that identified problems with some states’ issuance of commercial licenses and permits.
“The facts are clear: our national audit has exposed a complete breakdown in how states issue non-domiciled licenses — allowing thousands of dangerous drivers to operate trucks,” Duffy said in an X post at the time. “Our new rule CLOSES a loophole that let foreign drivers get a trucking license without proving they qualify. That’s absurd, and a DIRECT THREAT to the public. Just look at the recent crashes by these drivers, which killed a dozen of innocent Americans. This is a CRISIS that requires immediate action.”
The proposed regulation was billed by the Department of Transportation — within which FMCSA is housed — as restoring the integrity of CDL-issuing processes “by significantly limiting the authority” for state driver licensing agencies to issue and renew non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs.
FMCSA has threatened to withhold millions of dollars from states for noncompliance with federal regulations. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington have been issued preliminary notices of noncompliance and directed to complete corrective action plans.
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One issue prevalent across states, according to the FMCSA audit, involves holders of non-domiciled CDLs with citizenship in Mexico and Canada — even though those countries’ domestic CDLs have reciprocity with the U.S. A regulation barring this practice predates the interim rule.
An FMCSA audit of Nevada compelled the state to cancel nearly 1,000 non-domiciled CDLs after determining 99.5% of permit holders failed to comply with the interim rule. The state also decided to permanently stop issuance of non-domiciled licenses and permits.
Most states have historically issued non-domiciled CDLs and CDPs. Only a handful do not.
Separately, Duffy has vowed to fight the court’s Nov. 13 temporary pause on the interim rule.
