Beginning with the new year, all safety inspections, audits and compliance reviews will only be conducted by the federal, state and local government employees who meet certification requirements
of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Training requirements for inspectors and those who conduct safety reviews have been in effect for a number of years, but the certification requirement was one of the mandates passed by Congress in 1999.
It was one of three interim final rules set aside last January by a U.S. Court of Appeals. Those rules, published in March 2002, were intended mainly to establish application procedures and safety monitoring procedures for Mexican carriers operating in the U.S.
The court ruled that the legally required environmental impact was inadequate.
FMCSA says it has prepared an environmental assessment for this compliance rule and found that it will have no adverse environmental consequences. Certification requirements will be posted on FMCSA’s web site at www.fmcsa.dot.org.