H.R. 10123: Strengthening Transportation Oversight and Preventing Improper Licensing Act

This bill would require the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to review how each state issues non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses—that is, commercial driver’s licenses given to people who are not legally domiciled in that state.

What the bill would require

• Nationwide audits: Within 3 years of enactment, FMCSA would have to audit every state’s process for issuing these licenses.

• Random sampling: The audits would use randomly selected samples of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to check whether states complied with federal laws and regulations.

• Focus areas: The audits would pay special attention to licenses that may have been issued improperly to:

  • people who kept a license after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired; and
  • people who were issued a license without first verifying lawful presence in the U.S.

• Public reporting: FMCSA would have to share audit results with each state, allow 30 days for comments, then publish final findings online and submit a report to Congress.

What happens if problems are found

• If the audit shows a state may be substantially out of compliance, FMCSA would send the state corrective measures to implement.

• The state would have 60 days to either confirm it has fixed the issue or submit a corrective action plan if it needs more time.

• If a state’s audited sample shows an error rate above 10% but below 25%, FMCSA would do another follow-up audit within 2 years.

• If the error rate is above 25%, FMCSA would conduct annual follow-up audits for 3 years.

Enforcement

• If a state does not respond within the required 60 days, FMCSA would notify the state that it is about to make a final finding of substantial noncompliance.

• If the state still does not respond, FMCSA would formally issue that finding and give instructions for returning to compliance.

• Once a final finding of substantial noncompliance is made, FMCSA would withhold all FMCSA funding from that state until it comes back into compliance.

• FMCSA would also have to notify Congress whenever it makes such a finding and whenever a state returns to compliance.

Key definitions

The bill defines “substantial noncompliance” as a significant violation of the act. In deciding whether a violation is substantial, FMCSA would consider factors such as how many rules were broken, whether the violation was a major legal problem or just a technical one, whether it was part of a broader pattern, whether the state tried to fix it, and whether the violation was knowing and willful.

Relevant Companies

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