“To amend title 49, United States Code, with respect to employment screening for the motor carrier industry, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises motor carrier safety performance history screening requirements under the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (i.e., 49 U.S.C. 31150) to cover current operators in addition to operator-applicants (previously limited to preemployment screening of operator-applicants). It further requires that, prior to any adverse action (as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 U.S.C. 1681a(k)]) based in whole or in part on Motor Carrier Management Information System data, the motor carrier must provide notice consistent with FCRA procedures (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)(3)) and a reasonable period for the operator or operator-applicant to appeal under the section's existing process and receive a final disposition. (Thus, motor carriers gain expanded authority to review safety records of current operators but face new FCRA-like protections limiting adverse employment actions without due process.)
This section revises the preemployment screening access provisions for the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS)—which provides motor carriers electronic access to commercial motor vehicle operators' crash, inspection, and serious violation reports, subject to privacy protections under the Fair Credit Reporting Act—by (1) inserting "safety" into the definition of serious driver-related violation (now in redesignated subsection (f)); (2) requiring the Secretary of Transportation, not later than one year after enactment of the Motor Carrier Safety Screening Modernization Act, to label contested safety violations as such in MCMIS and related databases—including the Employment Screening Program, Safety Measurement System, and Analysis and Information Online—until review is complete (new subsection (d)); and (3) requiring the Secretary, not later than one year after enactment, to promulgate DataQs program participation guidelines directing states receiving Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program funds to establish an appeals process for data review dispositions, to be decided in a reasonable time by someone other than the violation issuer (new subsection (e)). (Thus, these changes enhance accuracy and due process in FMCSA safety data used for hiring decisions.)