(a) This subpart prescribes procedures by which:

(1) Any person, including a State, political subdivision thereof, or Indian tribe, directly affected by any highway routing designation for hazardous materials may apply to the Administrator for a determination as to whether that highway routing designation is preempted under 49 U.S.C. 5125, or §397.69 or §397.203 of this part; and

(2) A State, political subdivision thereof, or Indian tribe may apply to the Administrator for a waiver of preemption with respect to any highway routing designation that the State, political subdivision thereof, or Indian tribe acknowledges to be preempted by 49 U.S.C. 5125, or §397.69 or §397.203 of this part, or that has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be so preempted.

(b) Unless otherwise ordered by the Administrator, an application for a preemption determination which includes an application for a waiver of preemption will be treated and processed solely as an application for a preemption determination.

(c) For purposes of this part:

Act means 49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq., formerly known as the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.

Administrator means the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, who is the chief executive of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Transportation, or his/her designate.

Hazardous material means a substance or material, including a hazardous substance, which has been determined by the Secretary of Transportation to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, or property, when transported in commerce, and which has been so designated.

Indian tribe has the same meaning as contained in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act, 25 U.S.C. 450b.

Person means an individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, including any trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, or government, Indian tribe, or agency or instrumentality of any government or Indian tribe when it offers hazardous materials for transportation in commerce or transports hazardous materials in furtherance of a commercial enterprise, but such term does not include the United States Postal Service.

Political subdivision includes a municipality; a public agency or other instrumentality of one or more States, or a public corporation, board, or commission established under the laws of one or more States.

Routing agency means the State highway agency or other State agency designated by the Governor of a State, or an agency designated by an Indian tribe, to supervise, coordinate, and approve the highway routing designations for that State or Indian tribe. Any highway routing designation made by a political subdivision of a State shall be considered a designation made by that State.

Routing designation includes any regulation, limitation, restriction, curfew, time of travel restriction, lane restriction, routing ban, port-of-entry designation, or route weight restriction applicable to the highway transportation of hazardous materials over a specific highway route or portion of a route.

State means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, or any other territory or possession of the United States designated by the Secretary.

[57 FR 44132, Sept. 24, 1992, as amended at 59 FR 51834, Oct. 12, 1994; 78 FR 58486, Sept. 24, 2013]