§384.301 Substantial compliance—general requirements.

Change NoticePrevious Text

(a) Compliance, generally. To be in substantial compliance with 49 U.S.C. 31311(a), the State must meet each and every standard of subpart B of this part by means of the demonstrable combined effect of its statutes, regulations, administrative procedures and practices, organizational structures, internal control mechanisms, resource assignments (facilities, equipment, and personnel), and enforcement practices.

(b)(1) Commercial driver's license program improvements and noncommercial motor vehicle violations. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, a State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2002) as soon as practical, but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than September 30, 2005.

(2) School bus endorsement exception. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR 383.123 (revised as of Oct. 1, 2002) not later than September 30, 2006.

(c) Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for User (SAFETEA–LU). A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2007) as soon as practical but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than September 4, 2010.

(d) Commercial driver's license medical certification requirements. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2009), as soon as practical, but not later than January 30, 2012.

(e) Limiting the use of wireless communication devices. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2010, as amended at 75 FR 59118, 59135, in effect as of Oct. 27, 2010) as soon as practical, but not later than October 28, 2013.

(f) Commercial driver's license testing and commercial learner's permit standards. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2011), and 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2012, as amended at 78 FR 17875, 17881, in effect as of Apr. 24, 2013) as soon as practical but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than July 8, 2015.

(g) Commercial driver's license information system state procedures manual. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2011, as amended at 76 FR 68328, 68332, in effect as of Dec. 5, 2011) as soon as practicable, but not later than January 30, 2012.

(h) Restricting the use of cellular phones for commercial motor vehicle drivers. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2011, as amended at 76 FR 68328, 68332 and further amended at 76 FR 75470, 75486, in effect as of Jan. 3, 2012) as soon as practical, but not later than January 3, 2015.

(i) Medical examiner's certification integration. A State must come into substantial compliance with the requirements of 49 CFR parts 383 and 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2015) as soon as practical, but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than June 23, 2025.

(j) Commercial driver's license requirements of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act and the Military Commercial Driver's License Act of 2012. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR parts 383 and 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2016, as amended at 81 FR 70634, 70646, in effect as of Dec. 12, 2016) as soon as practicable, but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than December 12, 2019.

(k) Minimum training requirements for entry-level commercial vehicle operators. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR parts 383 and 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2017) not later than February 7, 2022.

(l) Military licensing and state commercial driver's license reciprocity. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2019) and 49 CFR parts 383 (revised as of Oct. 1, 2018, as amended at 83 FR 48964, 48975, in effect as of Nov. 27, 2018) as soon as practicable, but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than November 27, 2021.

(m) Lifetime disqualification for human trafficking. A State must come into substantial compliance with 49 CFR part 383 (revised as of Oct. 1, 2021) as of September 23, 2019, or as soon as practicable, but not later than September 23, 2022.

(n) Exclusively electronic exchange of driver history record information. A State must come into substantial compliance with the requirements of 49 CFR parts 383 and 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2022) as soon as practicable, but not later than August 22, 2024.

(o) State driver's licensing agency non-issuance/downgrade of commercial driver's license related to controlled substances and alcohol testing. A State must come into substantial compliance with the requirements of 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2024) as soon as practicable, but, unless otherwise specifically provided in this part, not later than November 18, 2024.

(p) State procedures manual. A State must come into substantial compliance with the requirements of 49 CFR part 384, subpart B (revised as of Oct. 1, 2024) as soon as practicable, but not later than August 22, 2024.

(q) Non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses. A State must come into substantial compliance with the requirements of subpart B of this part, in effect as of February 13, 2026, and part 383 of this chapter, in effect as of February 13, 2026, prior to issuing (which includes amending, correcting, reprinting, or otherwise duplicating a previously issued CLP or CDL), transferring, renewing, or upgrading a non-domiciled CLP or CDL.

[62 FR 37152, July 11, 1997; 67 FR 49755, July 31, 2002; 70 FR 56593, Sep. 28, 2005; 72 FR 36788, July 5, 2007; 73 FR 73126, Dec. 1, 2008; 75 FR 59135, Sept. 27, 2010; 76 FR 26896, May 9, 2011; 76 FR 39019, July 5, 2011; 76 FR 68332, Nov. 4, 2011; 76 FR 75486, Dec. 2, 2011; 78 FR 17882, March 25, 2013; 80 FR 22812, April 23, 2015; 81 FR 70646, Oct. 13, 2016; 81 FR 88803, Dec. 8, 2016; 83 FR 22876, May 17, 2018; 83 FR 28781, June 21, 2018; 83 FR 48976, Sept. 28, 2018; 84 FR 35339, July 23, 2019; 84 36840, July 30, 2019; 85 FR 6101, Feb. 4, 2020; 86 FR 32650, June 22, 2021; 86 FR 38940, July 23, 2021; 86 FR 55743, Oct. 7, 2021; 89 FR 50240, June 13, 2024; 90 FR 46526, Sept. 29, 2025; 91 FR 7103, Feb. 13, 2026; 91 FR 45659, July 21, 2026]