With the responsibility for hazmat background checks shifting away from the Department of Transportation, the department’s deputy inspector general took a recent opportunity to offer some advice to the Department of Homeland Security on handling the checks.

Speaking before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on May 11, Deputy Inspector General Todd Zinser highlighted the requirements for hazmat background checks and pointed out some areas for DHS to watch closely.

Zinser said there is still a long way to go in implementing background checks on CDL holders authorized to carry hazardous materials.

"(The Transportation Security Administration) estimates that there are 2.7 million U.S. CDL holders authorized to carry hazardous materials," he said. "However, criminal history record checks and intelligence checks of these individuals have only recently begun and are far from completed."

Mandatory fingerprinting and background checks go into effect May 31 for CDL holders renewing their hazmat endorsements. Drivers applying for new hazmat endorsements have been subject to the mandatory fingerprinting and background checks since Jan. 31. Last month, a TSA official said that about 15,000 truckers had applied for new hazmat endorsements since Jan. 31. Of those that had been processed, as of March 30, about 100 had been denied. An undisclosed number of applications were still pending at that time.

Zinser said that, with TSA now a component of the Department of Homeland Security, there is now a clear separation of duties between TSA and the DOT. The DOT, he said, does not have the authority to audit TSA’s programs, including its process for implementing background checks.

What the DOT can do, he said, is audit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s oversight efforts to ensure that states comply with the requirements for CDL’s with hazmat endorsements.

"But we have not done so since the background records check requirement is just now underway," he said.

Zinser said as far as background checks go, TSA is on its own. But he did have several other recommendations as TSA moves forward with its background check program.

First, he said, TSA needs to be aware of the problems posed by computer systems used to communicate hazmat information between TSA, the FMCSA and the states.

"Tests of the computer systems are important because in the past we have found that systems did not always work properly," he said. "For instance, states did not use convictions to disqualify drivers even when the convictions had been received by the states because the state computer systems did not properly identify records that merited disqualification."

Zinser said it is also important to monitor data to identify potential problems.

"For example," he said, "we have found that FMCSA was not routinely monitoring trend data on the operation of states' testing and licensing processes. Thus, one state had not sent data to the central site on 30,000 new commercial drivers over a 20-month period, but no one had noticed the situation."

Zinser also recommended additional oversight of states’ adherence to the hazmat rules, which may require additional compliance review steps and added expertise.

And finally, Zinser said FMCSA’s experience in conducting regular, on-site reviews of state CDL programs would help it ensure that all states are on the same page as far as implementation of hazmat endorsements.

"We previously recommended clarifying federal regulations on residency requirements to correct variations found across the states we visited," he said. "Similarly, FMCSA should look into whether the states capture and record the results of CDL holders' background checks in a consistent and uniform manner."

- By Terry Scruton, senior writer
terry_scruton@landlinemag.com