Rule2026-08438
Removal of Obsolete References to “Water Carriers”; Correction
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 30, 2026
Effective
April 30, 2026
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Abstract
In a final rule published in the Federal Register on February 19, 2026, FMCSA amended its regulations to remove obsolete references to "water carriers" in the FMCSA regulations (FMCSRs). The final rule contained an error in the amendatory instructions. The Agency corrects this error.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 83 (Thursday, April 30, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 83 (Thursday, April 30, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 23173-23174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08438]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 390
[Docket No. FMCSA-2025-0112]
RIN 2126-AC86
Removal of Obsolete References to ``Water Carriers''; Correction
AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Correcting amendments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In a final rule published in the Federal Register on February
19, 2026, FMCSA amended its regulations to remove obsolete references
to ``water carriers'' in the FMCSA regulations (FMCSRs). The final rule
contained an error in the amendatory instructions. The Agency corrects
this error.
DATES: This correction is effective April 30, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey L. Secrist, Chief,
Registration Division, DOT, FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590; (202) 385-2367; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2c46494a4a025f494f5e455f586c484358024b435a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="503a3536367e2335332239232410343f247e373f26">[email protected]</span></a>. If you have
questions on viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Dockets
Operations at (202) 366-9826.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 19, 2026, FMCSA published a
final rule (91 FR 7856) that removed obsolete references to ``water
carriers'' in the FMCSRs. FMCSA removed the words ``water carrier'' or
``water carriers'' from 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
365.107T,\1\ 370.1, 379.1, Appendix B to part 386, and Appendix A to
part 390. The terms are remnants carried over from FMCSA's predecessor
Agencies and are obsolete, as FMCSA does not have regulatory
jurisdiction over water carriers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ On January 17, 2017, FMCSA suspended certain regulations
relating to the electronic Unified Registration System and delayed
their effective date indefinitely (82 FR 5292). The suspended
regulations were replaced by temporary provisions that contain the
requirements in place on January 13, 2017. Section 365.107 was one
of the sections suspended and Sec. 365.107T, which is currently in
effect, was one of the replacement sections added (82 FR 5299).
There is no reference to water carrier or water carriers in the
current existing Sec. 365.107 (non-temporary) provision.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Through amendatory instruction number 10 in the final rule, the
Agency sought to revise a subsection of Appendix A to part 390 but did
not clearly identify which section of regulatory text was to be
revised. The Agency corrects this error by providing the full text of
the Hotel Related Passenger Transportation subsection and removing the
term ``water carrier'' from that subsection.
The Administrative Procedure Act specifically provides exceptions
to its notice and comment rulemaking procedures when an agency finds
there is good cause to dispense with them, and incorporates the
finding, and a brief statement of reasons therefore, in the rules
issued (5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B)). Good cause exists when an agency
determines that notice and public comment procedures are impractical,
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. The amendment made in
this notice corrects an error in amendatory language in the final rule.
The correction does not impose any new material requirements or
increase compliance obligations. For these
[[Page 23174]]
reasons, FMCSA finds good cause that notice and public comment for this
correction notice are unnecessary.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 390
Highway safety, Intermodal transportation, Motor carriers, Motor
vehicle safety, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
In consideration of the foregoing, FMCSA corrects 49 CFR part 390
by making the following correcting amendments:
PART 390--FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS; GENERAL
0
1. The authority citation for part 390 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 113, 504, 508, 31132, 31133, 31134, 31136,
31137, 31144, 31149, 31151, 31502; sec. 114, Pub. L. 103-311, 108
Stat. 1673, 1677; secs. 212 and 217, Pub. L. 106-159, 113 Stat.
1748, 1766, 1767; sec. 229, Pub. L. 106-159 (as added and
transferred by sec. 4115 and amended by secs. 4130-4132, Pub. L.
109-59, 119 Stat. 1144, 1726, 1743, 1744), 113 Stat. 1748, 1773;
sec. 4136, Pub. L. 109-59, 119 Stat. 1144, 1745; secs. 32101(d) and
32934, Pub. L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405, 778, 830; sec. 2, Pub. L.
113-125, 128 Stat. 1388; secs. 5403, 5518, and 5524, Pub. L. 114-94,
129 Stat. 1312, 1548, 1558, 1560; sec. 2, Pub. L. 115-105, 131 Stat.
2263; and 49 CFR 1.81, 1.81a, 1.87.
0
2. In appendix A to part 390, under section III. Specific Example
Scenarios, revise ``Hotel Related Passenger Transportation'' to read as
follows:
Appendix A to Part 390--Applicability of the Registration, Financial
Responsibility, and Safety Regulations to Motor Carriers of Passengers
* * * * *
III. Specific Example Scenarios
* * * * *
Hotel Related Passenger Transportation
Scenario 1: A hotel in Cincinnati, OH offers a courtesy van to
take its guests to and from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport in KY. The van is designed to transport 15
passengers, including the driver, and has a GVW and GVWR of less
than 10,000 pounds. All passenger transportation occurs within a
zone encompassed by a 25-mile radius of the boundary of the airport.
Guidance: This scenario describes for-hire transportation by a
CMV as a part of continuous interstate movement, though some
exemptions apply. Though the safety regulations apply to
transportation in a CMV within a single State if the transportation
is a continuation of interstate transportation, the hotel's van
operation is eligible for the limited exception to safety regulation
applicability in Sec. Sec. 390.3T(f)(6) and 390.3(f)(6) based on
the size of the vehicle and how compensation is received. The
hotel's van is designed and used to transport 9 to 15 passengers
(including the driver), and payment for transportation is not
received directly. If the hotel complies with the applicable
provisions listed in Sec. Sec. 390.3T(f)(6) and 390.3(f)(6), then
this passenger transportation is compliant with the safety
regulations contained in 49 CFR parts 350 through 399. Because the
vehicle is a CMV under Sec. 390.5 and the limited exception does
not exempt the hotel from USDOT registration requirements, the hotel
must register by following the procedures in 49 CFR part 390 subpart
E. The hotel's 15-passenger van is not a CMV under Sec. 383.5,
therefore drivers of these vehicles are not required to have CDLs
and are not subject to the drug and alcohol testing regulations in
49 CFR part 382.
Operating authority registration under 49 CFR part 365, subpart
A, however, is not required. The hotel is providing service subject
to the exemption in 49 U.S.C. 13506(a)(8)(A) and Sec. 372.117(a) of
this chapter. The hotel's shuttle transportation of passengers is
(1) incidental to transportation by aircraft, (2) limited to the
transportation of passengers who have had an immediately prior or
will have an immediately subsequent movement by air, and (3)
confined to a zone encompassed by a 25-mile radius of the boundary
of the airport at which the passengers arrive or depart. The hotel
does not meet the exemption requirements of 49 U.S.C. 13506(a)(3)
for a motor vehicle owned or operated by or for a hotel and only
transporting hotel patrons between the hotel and the ``local station
of a carrier.'' The definition of carrier within this exemption
includes motor carrier and freight forwarder, but does not include
air carrier. 49 U.S.C. 13102(3). However, the hotel only needs to
meet the requirements of one exemption to not be subject to
operating authority registration.
The hotel is providing indirectly compensated, for-hire
transportation of passengers in interstate commerce in a vehicle
with a seating capacity of 15 and is required under Sec. Sec.
387.33T and 387.33 of this chapter to maintain $1.5 million of
financial responsibility.
Scenario 2: A hotel in Winchester, VA, located 12 miles outside
of the zone encompassed by a 25-mile radius of the boundary of
Washington Dulles International Airport, offers a courtesy van to
take its guests to and from the airport in Dulles, VA. The van is
designed to transport 15 passengers, including the driver, and has a
GVW and GVWR of less than 10,000 pounds.
Guidance: This scenario describes for-hire transportation by a
CMV as a part of continuous interstate movement, though some
exemptions apply. Though the hotel is providing interstate
transportation in a CMV, a 9 to 15 passenger vehicle operated for
compensation, the hotel's van operation is eligible for the limited
exception to regulatory applicability in Sec. Sec. 390.3T(f)(6) and
390.3(f)(6).
This exemption does not relieve the hotel of the requirements in
49 CFR part 365 for operating authority registration. The hotel is
providing interstate for-hire transportation (the costs for
operating the shuttle van are included in the cost of the room, as
an amenity) outside the zone that would qualify it for the
incidental to air travel exemption within 49 U.S.C. 13506(a)(8)(A)
and Sec. 372.117(a) of this chapter. Also, the hotel's
transportation does not meet the exemption requirements of 49 U.S.C.
13506(a)(3) for a motor vehicle owned or operated by or for a hotel
and only transporting hotel patrons between the hotel and the local
station of a carrier. The definition of carrier applicable to this
exemption, at 49 U.S.C. 13102(3), does not include air carrier. The
hotel must register by following the procedures in 49 CFR part 365
subpart A and part 390 subpart E. The hotel is also required under
Sec. Sec. 387.33T and 387.33 of this chapter to obtain, file, and
maintain $1.5 million of financial responsibility.
The hotel's 15-passenger van is not a CMV under Sec. 383.5 of
this chapter. Therefore, drivers of these vehicles are not required
to have CDLs and are not subject to the drug and alcohol testing
regulations in 49 CFR part 382.
* * * * *
Issued under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.87.
Derek Barrs,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2026-08438 Filed 4-29-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 30, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.