TSA grants renewal exemption for truckers with hazmat endorsement

A temporary exemption for commercial truck drivers renewing their hazardous material endorsement has been granted by the Transportation Security Administration.

TSA recently announced it will temporarily exempt the TSA Security Threat Assessment requirement for hazardous material endorsement holders whose endorsements expired or will expire before the end of calendar year.

“This exemption allows state licensing agencies to permit those with expiring, or recently expired hazardous material endorsements to remain fully authorized by TSA to transport hazardous materials during this time period,” TSA acting Administrator David Pekoske said in a news release. “The commercial truck drivers impacted by this decision are subject to recurrent vetting during the exemption period, and their businesses will continue to provide safe and efficient transportation.”

Public interest

TSA said it determined that it is in the public interest to grant a temporary exemption for commercial truck drivers renewing their hazmat endorsement and who have previously passed the threat assessment.

Currently, there are 250,000 truck drivers with security threat assessments that have expired or are set to expire in 2022. About 22,500 truckers’ security threat assessments expire each month. For the duration of this exemption, states may extend the expiration date for a period of up to180 days for all hazmat endorsement credentials that expire between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 27, 2022.

Supply chain requirements have increased the demand for drivers with a valid hazmat endorsement, according to the TSA. In addition, the agency said increased hazmat endorsement enrollments have extended adjudication times for some drivers.

TSA published a similar temporary exemption for hazmat endorsement renewals on April 8, 2020, to provide regulatory relief during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure full capacity of authorized drivers were available to support an uninterrupted supply chain.

The commercial truck drivers affected by this decision are subject to recurrent vetting during the exemption period.

The exemption remains in effect through Dec. 27 unless otherwise modified by TSA through a notice published in the Federal Register. LL