§31148 Certified motor carrier safety auditors

Summary

The Secretary of Transportation must finish a set of rules within 1 year after this law is passed. The rules must improve training and create a certification for motor carrier safety auditors, including private contractors, so they can do safety inspection audits and reviews. Within 1 year after those rules are finished, any safety audit or review required under this law and done after December 31, 2002 must be done by a certified auditor or by a Federal or State employee who was already qualified to do such audits on the law’s enactment date. If the Secretary cannot meet that second 1‑year deadline, the Secretary may delay it up to 12 months but must tell the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and explain why. The Secretary may not give private contractors the power to issue ratings or operating authority. The Secretary also has authority over certified auditors, including the power to decertify them.