The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an administrative stay pending further legal review of an interim final rule announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in September to limit the ability of non-domiciled workers to obtain commercial driver’s licenses.
The Nov. 10 ruling on a case filed by a DACA recipient and an asylum seeker, who were blocked from getting non-domiciled CDLs, allows states to continue issuing the licenses as well as commercial learner’s permits (CLPs). Duffy responded Friday by announcing an emergency action to “drastically restrict” the eligibility for non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs. The U.S. Department of Transportation also clarified states subject to a corrective action plan from the FMCSA must continue to adhere to the final rule.
A nationwide audit by FMCSA of these non-domiciled commercial drivers uncovered systemic non-compliance by several states, “the worst and most egregious” in California. FMCSA said 25 percent of non-domiciled CDLs in the state were improperly issued. The agency ordered California as well as Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington to immediately pause the issuance of the non-domiciled CDLs, identify all non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations and revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the new federal regulations.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is among the organizations supporting the FMCSA interim rule while the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are in favor of last week’s court stay.
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