The Senate’s 2016 DOT funding bill would set deadlines by which FMCSA must produce rules mandating electronic logging devices and speed limiters.The transportation subcommittee of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee on Tuesday passed a bill that would, if implemented, set specific dates by which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration must publish the final version of its electronic logging device mandate and a proposed speed limiter rule.
The text of the bill has not yet been released, however, so what those deadline dates are is not yet known.
The bill, the Senate’s version of a 2016 Department of Transportation funding bill, is set to go before the full Appropriations Committee on Thursday. The $55 billion spending package essentially continues DOT funding at the rate set for 2015’s fiscal year. It gives FMCSA a 2016 operating budget of $572 million, according to the summary of the bill.
If any other trucking-related provisions are included in the bill, they were not mentioned in the subcommittee’s summary of the legislation.
The House’s DOT-funding bill did not include deadlines for rules on ELDs or speed limiters, but it did include a continuation of the current suspension of certain hours-of-service regulations and blocked FMCSA from pursuing a rule to increase the amount of liability insurance required to be held by motor carriers.
More on the Senate bill will be posted once the bill’s text has been published.
