Believe it or not, it’s already the calendrical Midsummer’s Day—the night of which, if you are a devotee of the works of William Shakespeare, when the woods, meadows, and forest fields are at their most magical, filled with sprites and faeries ready to set we mere mortals on paths of bold adventure—if you dare to enter their domain!  In contrast to the current slow pace of regulatory activity in our nation’s capitol, that sounds pretty neat.  Here’s the latest for a quiet week:

FMCSA

• The motor carrier safety agency announced regulatory guidance clarifying that State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs) may agree to facilitate the commercial learner’s permit (CLP) application process and to administer the commercial driver’s license (CDL) general knowledge test to individuals who are not domiciled in the State. SDLAs may accept applications for CLPs and administer the general knowledge test to individuals taking commercial motor vehicle driver training in that State, but who are not domiciled there, provided that: The SDLA administering the general knowledge test transmits the test results directly, securely, and electronically to the applicant’s State of domicile; and the State of domicile agrees to accept the test results and issue the CLP. The regulatory guidance is applicable August 3, 2017 and expires August 3, 2022.  See it here
• The agency also proposes to amend its rulemaking procedures by revising the process for preparing and adopting rules, petitions, and direct final rules. Also, the Agency intends to add new definitions, and makes general administrative corrections throughout its rulemaking procedures. These proposed actions are authorized under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and are designed to streamline and ease the administrative process for all stakeholders. Comments on this document must be received on or before October 6, 2017. See the plan here

PHMSA

Despite a quiet regulatory summer, special permit activity continues, with the agency announcing a number of applications.  As often seems to be the case, most of the request center around pressure cylinders and—you guessed it—lithium batteries.  See the links here for all the latest action:

• https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-08-04/pdf/2017-16443.pdf
• https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-08-04/pdf/2017-16444.pdf
• https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-08-04/pdf/2017-16445.pdf

CPSC

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that there will be an opportunity for oral comments on the petition requesting that the Commission initiate rulemaking under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) to declare several categories of products containing additive organohalogen flame retardants to be ‘‘banned hazardous substances.’’ These compounds offer useful fire retardant properties but are of concern account their claimed negative impact to human health.  A ban could impact manufacturing across many industrial sectors.  The meeting is at 10 a.m., September 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Find your pathway to comment right here

Mexico Dangerous Goods

Our neighbors to the south announced a new set of contact information for their Competent Authority, which may prove useful to our many readers doing business across the border.  Here it is:

Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes
Dirección General de Autotransporte Federal
Calzada de las Bombas 411, 2do. Piso
Col. Los Girasoles, Coyoacán
Ciudad de México
Coordinador Logístico del CCNN-TT: Lic. Joshua Cruz Camacho
Tele: +52 57-23-93-00 x20627
General Inquiries Email: [email protected]

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