Medical Review Board Public Meeting

Larry W. Minor
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
October 1, 2012

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 190 (Monday, October 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60007-60008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24146]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2008-0362]


Medical Review Board Public Meeting

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Medical Review Board (MRB) public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The FMCSA announces that the Agency's MRB will hold a 
committee meeting on October 19, 2012, in accordance with the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The meeting will provide the public an 
opportunity to observe and participate in MRB deliberations and 
recommendations for updating the field-of-vision (FOV) requirements in 
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation (FMCSR) medical standards.

DATES: Meeting Date: The MRB meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
on October 19, 2012. For specific information, please note the 
preliminary agenda for this meeting in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this Notice.
    Written Comment Dates: You may submit written comments to the 
Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) on this topic beginning Friday, 
October 5, 2012, through Friday, October 12, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at the Hilton-Alexandria Old 
Town, 1767 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. You may submit written 
comments bearing the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Docket ID 
FMCSA-2008-0362 using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20003-3302.
     Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
ET., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and FDMS 
Docket ID for this Notice. Note that DOT posts all comments without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information included in a comment. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below for further information.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or Room 
W12-140 on the ground level of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays. The FDMS is available 24 hours 
each day, 365 days each year. If you want acknowledgment that we 
received your comments, please include a self-addressed, stamped 
envelope or postcard or print the acknowledgement page that appears 
after submitting comments on-line.
    Privacy Act: Anyone may search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or of the person signing the comment, if 
submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
    You may review the DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477). This 
information is also available at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Ward, Nurse Consultant, Medical 
Programs Division, (202) 366-4001, fmcsamedical@dot.gov. Office

[[Page 60008]]

hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities

    For information on facilities or services for individuals with 
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact 
Angela Ward on (202) 366-4001 or at fmcsamedical@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The preliminary agenda for the meeting 
includes:

1:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m. Call to Order, Introduction and Agenda Review
1:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Field of Vision Updated Evidence Report
1:45 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Break
2:00 p.m.-3:45 p.m. MRB Deliberation on Field of Vision
3:45 p.m.-4:45 p.m. Public Comment Period
4:45 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Call to Adjourn

    The agenda and breaks may be adjusted according to schedule changes 
and other meeting requirements.

Background

    The MRB is comprised of five medical experts who serve staggered, 
2-year terms. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation announced those 
currently serving on the MRB on November 2, 2010, and June 13, 2012. 
Section 4116 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), [Pub. L. 
109-59, 119 Stat. 1144, Aug. 10, 2005] requires the Secretary of 
Transportation, with the advice of the MRB and the chief medical 
examiner, to establish, review, and revise ``medical standards for 
operators of commercial motor vehicles that will ensure that the 
physical condition of operators of commercial motor vehicles is 
adequate to enable them to operate the vehicles safely.''
    The MRB operates in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (FACA) as announced in the Federal Register (70 FR 57642, October 
3, 2005). The MRB is charged initially with the review of all current 
FMCSA medical standards (49 CFR 391.41), as well as proposing new 
science-based standards and guidelines to ensure that drivers operating 
commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce, as defined in 
49 CFR 390.5, are physically capable of doing so.

Visual Field Loss in CMV Drivers

    Federal safety standards at 49 CFR 391.41(b)(10) state in part, 
that a person is medically qualified to drive a CMV if the person, 
``has a field of vision of at least 70[deg] in the horizontal meridian 
in each eye.'' The Agency updated the evidence report released in 2008 
on visual field loss and CMV driver safety \1\ and the MRB will use the 
updated report in deliberations during the October 19, 2012 meeting. 
The updated evidence report, titled ``Visual Field Loss and Commercial 
Motor Vehicle Driver Safety,'' was released in 2012 and is available on 
the MRB Web site at http://mrb.fmcsa.dot.gov and in the docket for this 
Notice.
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    \1\ ``Vision and Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety,'' Volume 1: 
Evidence Report, June 6, 2008.
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Meeting Participation

    Attendance is open to the interested public, including medical 
examiners, motor carriers, drivers, and representatives of medical and 
scientific associations. Oral comments on the topic from the public 
will be heard during the last hour (3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.) of the 
meeting. Oral comments may be limited depending on how many persons 
wish to comment, and will be accepted on a first come, first serve 
basis as requestors register at the meeting.

    Issued on: September 24, 2012.
Larry W. Minor,
Associate Administrator of Policy.
[FR Doc. 2012-24146 Filed 9-28-12; 8:45 am]
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