Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of Passengers

FMCSA proposes to amend its May 27, 2015, Lease and Interchange of Vehicles; Motor Carriers of Passengers final rule in response to petitions for rulemaking and extend the January 1, 2019, compliance date to January 1, 2021. Today's proposal would narrow the applicability of the rule, by excluding from the definition of lease and the associated regulatory requirements, certain contracts and other agreements between motor carriers of passengers that have active passenger carrier operating authority registrations with FMCSA. For passenger carriers that would remain subject to the leasing and interchange requirements, FMCSA proposes to return the bus marking requirement to its July 1, 2015, state with slight modifications to add references to leased vehicles; revise the delayed writing of a lease during certain emergencies; and remove the 24-hour lease notification requirement. This proposal would be a deregulatory action as defined by Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs.''