The U.S. Department of Transportation has warned that actions taken after last year’s terrorist attacks and anthrax threat may have delayed or even prevented the receipt of comments on some rulemakings and preemption proceedings.

The grounding of commercial aircraft for several days following Sept. 11 caused significant delays in overnight shipments. Traces of anthrax at the District of Columbia’s Brentwood postal facility prompted DOT to halt most mail deliveries until it could put appropriate safety measures in place. Mail in transit between Oct. 13 and Oct. 22 may still be in quarantine.
DOT says it will do everything possible to ensure that comments received after the closing date are considered. It also advised anyone filing a comment around that time to check the Dockets web page, http://dms.dot.gov, to see if those comments have been posted. If not, comments should be resubmitted electronically, faxed to (202) 493-2251, or mailed according to instructions on the rulemakings. Because DOT mail must be X-rayed and packages must be screened, it now takes up to eight business days to process a document into the system.