Truck Groups Want More Comment Time Trucking groups say they need more time to analyze and comment on impacts of new proposed limits on hours-of-service for truck drivers, a rule with significant potential impacts on aggregate transportation. The American Trucking Associations and other groups are asking the Clinton administration to extend the comment period deadline from July to late October. The proposal would require long-haul and regional drivers to spend a period of 10 consecutive hours off duty within each 24-hour cycle. Local drivers, meaning those who operate within six hours driving distance of their work reporting location, must have at least 12 consecutive hours off during each 24-hour period. Weekends, or their functional equivalent, would be required to include a minimum rest period that includes two consecutive periods from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association noted the proposed rule would eliminate several current exemptions from hours-of-service limits, including an exemption applying to industry truck drivers operating within a 100-mile radius of their home base. The limits, proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), are expected to go into effect six months after a final version of the rule is published. FMCSA has scheduled seven public hearings across the country on the proposal.

OSHA Targets Summer 2001 for Silica Action The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is targeting June 2001 for issuing a proposal to regulate occupational exposure to crystalline silica, according to the agency's newest regulatory agenda. OSHA's Loretta Schuman indicated the agency's plans for industry stakeholders meetings remain tentatively scheduled for early October in Washington D.C. and early November in Atlanta, with the Atlanta meeting to focus on the construction industry. The format of the meetings will involve roundtable discussion of central issues among six OSHA officials and about 35 invited stakeholders, Schuman said. There will be very limited space available for observers, she said.

MSHA to Move on Several Rules On a separate track, MSHA will develop a proposed rule to regulate respirable crystalline silica by February 2001, but only if it chooses to pursue rule making; that decision has not been made. In its new regulatory agenda, MSHA said a final hazard communication rule for the mining industry will be issued late this summer. The rule has been in the works since 1988. MSHA also said it will issue final regulations governing diesel particulate this fall. The rule would set a concentration limit for diesel particulate matter and mandate engineering and work practice controls to reduce emissions.

Property Rights Advocates Blast Land Bill Private property rights advocates are vowing to block House-passed public lands legislation pushed through by the House Resources Committee's odd couple, conservative Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) and super-liberal ranking Democrat George Miller (Calif.). Property rights advocates oppose the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 701), also known as CARA, because they fear some provisions will encourage further federal encroachment on land. The legislation would mandate that a significant chunk of receipts from off-shore oil fees be directed to land purchases for conservation.