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Norton Asks Transportation Committee to Hold Hearing on Newly Released Study of Bus and Truck Safety

June 27, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ranking Member of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, urged Congress and the Administration to waste no time in responding to a newly released National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) study on truck and bus safety. The NASEM study on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program was released today. The study was mandated by Congress in the "Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act" (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94).

"This study represents the first step in getting important safety information on truck and bus companies into public view," Norton said. "Before the NASEM study was released, I called on the Highways and Transit Subcommittee to hold a hearing on NASEM's recommendations. Today, about 85 percent of carriers have no safety rating. A hearing would allow Members to hear directly from the NASEM, stakeholders such as truck carriers, and the Administration on how to improve upon safety oversight, and when the traveling public can expect to reap the benefits of enhanced monitoring."

The FAST Act required FMCSA to remove certain safety scores of motor carriers of property from public view, pending the results of the NASEM study and a responsive corrective action by FMCSA. Norton's letter requesting a hearing on NASEM's study is below.

June 22, 2017

The Honorable Sam Graves
Chairman
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
U.S. House of Representatives
2251 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Graves:

I very much appreciate your leadership of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit and our continued partnership on surface transportation issues in the 115th Congress. Knowing of our shared interest in improving the safety and efficiency of goods movement, I write to request a hearing on issues related to the upcoming release of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's (NASEM) study on FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. Such a hearing would help the Subcommittee ensure that, going forward, FMCSA accurately and adequately assesses the safety of motor carriers.

Based on the interest in this issue from Members on both sides of the aisle during FAST Act negotiations, I believe a hearing would be a welcome addition to the Subcommittee's agenda. As you know, the FAST Act required FMCSA to commission a study by NASEM on the agency's CSA program in order to respond to concerns from Congress and trucking industry stakeholders regarding the data, methodology and public availability of "CSA scores" utilized by FMCSA. NASEM is expected to release its report, which I have not seen, later this month. After the report is released, I believe it would be helpful for the Subcommittee to hear directly from NASEM on the study's recommendations and to answer questions Members may have about its findings. Such a hearing could also include testimony from FMCSA, industry representatives and safety experts.

CSA underpins a wide range of safety activities conducted by FMCSA. In particular, FMCSA's goal to more fully utilize roadside inspection data to improve and expand its safety fitness determination rating system depends on the reliability and accuracy of the data in the CSA program. Currently, the vast majority of carriers (about 85 percent) have no safety rating at all from FMCSA, creating safety risks for the traveling public and challenges for shippers in identifying safe carriers.

The House-passed version of the FAST Act included language designed to provide more legal certainty for shippers. That compromise provision was not included in the final bill. Separately, in January 2016, FMCSA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register that would have utilized CSA data to assign safety ratings to a larger portion of the industry. However, earlier this year, FMCSA announced that it was withdrawing that proposed rule, citing, among other things, a need to review NASEM's study on the CSA program.

Congress has an opportunity and a responsibility to learn from the findings in NASEM's study and ensure FMCSA makes necessary improvements to its CSA program and safety rating system. A hearing would provide Members an opportunity to get their views and concerns on the record on this critical safety issue. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Highway and Transit