Two U.S. senators last week introduced different bills that would require tougher background checks for truckers getting licenses to haul hazardous materials. Many are concerned in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks that terrorists could use hazardous materials trucks as weapons of mass destruction.

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) is introducing legislation (S1557) to require applicants for commercial drivers licenses to carry hazardous materials to undergo mandatory background checks.
Snowe's legislation is based on security guidelines developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration following the attacks. The agency's guidelines for hazardous material carriers recommend "increasing the level of awareness of hazardous materials carriers to terrorist threats," and suggests more stringent guidelines for applicants.
Snowe's bill would codify these guidelines as requirements for all such applicants, including requiring fingerprinting and photographs of applicants in the employment process, and conducting criminal background checks on applicants who would have access to very sensitive hazardous materials.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), in the proposed "Hazardous Material in Transportation Protection Act of 2001" (S1569), would require that the Secretary of Transportation determine that potential hazardous materials drivers do not pose a security risk before states can issue or renew a hazardous materials endorsement.
Hatch's bill would require the Attorney General to do a background records check on each individual, including a search of criminal history databases and, in the case of an alien, a check to make sure the alien is a legal immigrant.