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Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved Information Collection: 391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form Publication: Federal Register Agency: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Byline: Thomas P. Keane Date: 3 February 2023 Subjects: American Government  , Driver Licensing
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 23 (Friday, February 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7514-7516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02236]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
[Docket No. FMCSA-2022-0133]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Renewal of an Approved
Information Collection: 391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA
announces its plan to submit the renewal Information Collection Request
(ICR) described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and approval and invites public comment. FMCSA requests approval
to renew an ICR titled, ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form.'' This
Information Collection (IC) is voluntary and may be utilized by Medical
Examiners (MEs) responsible for issuing Medical Examiner's
[[Page 7515]]
Certificates (MECs) to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. MEs that
choose to use this IC do so to communicate with treating healthcare
professionals who are responsible for prescribing certain medications,
so that the ME fully understands the reasons the medications have been
prescribed. The information obtained by the ME when utilizing this IC
assists the ME in determining if the driver is medically qualified and
ensures that there are no disqualifying medical conditions or
underlying medical conditions and prescribed medications that could
adversely affect their safe driving ability or cause incapacitation
constituting a risk to the public. FMCSA received one comment in
response to the Federal Register notice published on September 8, 2022.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before March 6,
2023.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed IC
should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this information collection by
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments''
or by using the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Christine A. Hydock, Medical
Programs Division, DOT, FMCSA, West Building 6th Floor, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001; (202) 366-0421;
christine.hydock@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: 391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form.
OMB Control Number: 2126-0064.
Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Prescribing healthcare professionals.
Estimated Number of Respondents: Up to 1,163,160 (total number of
prescribing healthcare providers in the U.S.).
Estimated Time per Response: 8 minutes.
Expiration Date: April 30, 2023.
Frequency of Response: Other (use of this IC is optional so there
is no required collection frequency).
Estimated Total Annual Burden: 279,465 hours.
Background
FMCSA's primary mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and
fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The Secretary of
Transportation has delegated to FMCSA its responsibility under 49
U.S.C. 31136 and 31502 to prescribe regulations that ensure CMVs are
operated safely. As part of this mission, the Agency's Medical Programs
Division works to ensure that CMV drivers engaged in interstate
commerce are physically qualified and able to safely perform their
work.
The public interest in, and right to have, safe highways requires
the assurance that drivers of CMVs can safely perform the increased
physical and mental demands of their duties. FMCSA's physical
qualification standards provide this assurance by requiring drivers to
be examined and medically certified as physically and mentally
qualified to drive.
The purpose for this voluntary IC is to assist the ME in
determining if the driver is medically qualified under Sec. 391.41 and
to ensure that there are no disqualifying medical conditions that could
adversely affect their safe driving ability or cause incapacitation
constituting a risk to the public. Under Sec. 391.41(b)(12), a person
is physically qualified to drive a CMV if that person does not use any
drug or substance identified in 21 CFR 1308.11 Schedule I, an
amphetamine, a narcotic, or other habit-forming drug; and does not use
any non-Schedule I drug or substance that is identified in the other
Schedules in 21 CFR part 1308 except when the use is prescribed by a
licensed medical practitioner, as defined in Sec. 382.107, who is
familiar with the driver's medical history and has advised the driver
that the substance will not adversely affect the driver's ability to
safely operate a CMV.
The use of this IC is at the discretion of the ME and facilitates
communication with treating healthcare professionals who are
responsible for prescribing certain medications so that the ME fully
understands the reasons the medications have been prescribed. This
information assists the ME in determining whether the underlying
medical condition and the prescribed medication will impact the
driver's safe operation of a CMV. Therefore, there is no required
collection frequency.
The ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895,'' may be
downloaded from the FMCSA website. Prescribing healthcare providers are
also able to fax or scan and email the report to the certified ME.
Consistent with OMB's commitment to minimizing respondents'
recordkeeping and paperwork burdens and the increased use of secure
electronic modes of communication, the Agency believes that
approximately 50 percent of the ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Forms,
MCSA-5895,'' are transmitted electronically.
The information collected from the ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication
Form, MCSA-5895,'' is used by the certified ME that requested the
completion of the form. The ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-
5895,'' is attached to the ``Medical Examination Report Form, MCSA-
5875,'' which becomes part of the CMV driver's record maintained by the
certified ME. The information is not available to the public. The
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations covering driver physical
qualification records are found at Sec. 391.43, which specify that a
medical examination be performed on CMV drivers subject to part 391 who
operate in interstate commerce. The results of the examination must be
recorded in accordance with the requirements set forth in that section.
MEs are required to maintain records of the CMV driver medical
examinations they conduct.
Discussion of Comment Received
FMCSA received one comment from the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) in response to the 60-day Federal Register notice
published on September 8, 2022 (87 FR 55077). The NTSB's comments are
outlined below, along with FMCSA's response.
The NTSB supports the renewal of the IC, but suggested FMCSA revise
the IC to make it a significantly more effective evaluation tool. It
specifically recommended the following:
Revise the ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-
5895,'' to include all medications (prescriptions, non-prescriptions,
supplements) that the provider is aware the driver uses and all medical
conditions that the provider is aware the driver has, regardless of
whether those conditions are treated with medications.
Do not limit the IC to cases with known potentially
impairing medications by removing the sentence on the form that states,
``During the medical evaluation, it was determined this individual is
taking medication(s) that may impair his/her ability to safely operate
a CMV.''
Clarify what is being asked of responding providers by
removing all reference to regulations from the instructions and
clarifying that the responding provider is expected only to list
medications/medical conditions and to give a medical opinion on safety,
not to apply medical certification standards, which is the
responsibility solely of the ME.
Enable responding providers to give complete medical
opinions by revising item 4 to ask the responding provider's medical
opinion about whether any of the driver's known medications or medical
conditions pose a risk to safe CMV operation, to provide the item
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with a third response option (``yes/no/unsure''), and to include a
field for any clarifying comments.
FMCSA Response
FMCSA considered the NTSB's comments but does not believe its
recommendations would enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of
the form based on the purpose for which the form was intended to be
used. The ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895,'' was
developed and intended to be used as a tool to supplement the
information obtained from the ``Medical Examination Report Form, MCSA-
5875,'' from the driver during the ME's review of the driver's health
history, and from the physical examination conducted by the ME. The
``Medical Examination Report Form, MCSA-5875,'' already provides the ME
with a complete health history for the driver including all current
medications (prescriptions, non-prescriptions, supplements) and medical
conditions as reported by the driver.
The ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895,'' specifically
addresses medication(s) that may impair the driver's ability to safely
operate a CMV so that the ME fully understands the reasons the
medications have been prescribed and can consider the impact the
medication(s) and medical conditions for which the medication(s) has
been prescribed may have on the driver. This information combined with
the information obtained from the ``Medical Examination Report Form,
MCSA-5875,'' from the driver during the ME's review of the driver's
health history, and from the physical examination conducted by the ME,
is used by the ME when making a physical qualification determination.
The ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895,'' contains
information regarding the driver's role and regulation in Sec.
391.41(b)(12) as a reference for healthcare professionals and does not
indicate that the healthcare professional must interpret the
regulation. The ``391.41 CMV Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895,''
clearly states what is and is not expected of the healthcare
professional completing the form by requesting the healthcare
professional review the regulation provided, complete the form, and
return it to the ME. The form explains that the final determination as
to whether the individual listed on the form is physically qualified to
drive a CMV will be made by the certified ME. Question 4 was
specifically intended to obtain the medical opinion of the healthcare
professional completing the form regarding the specific medication(s)
they have prescribed to the driver for a particular medical
condition(s). It is the responsibility of the ME to use the information
provided by the healthcare professional completing the ``391.41 CMV
Driver Medication Form, MCSA-5895,'' as a tool to assist them in making
a physical qualification determination.
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including: (1) whether the proposed
collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2)
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for FMCSA to enhance the
quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4)
ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of
the collected information.
Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2023-02236 Filed 2-2-23; 8:45 am]
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