572
Opinion of the Court
condition of operators of commercial motor vehicles is adequate to enable them to operate the vehicles safely"),17 with
49 U. S. C. App. § 2505(f) (1988 ed.) ("After notice and an opportunity for comment, the Secretary may waive, in whole or in part, application of any regulation issued under this section with respect to any person or class of persons if the Secretary determines that such waiver is not contrary to the public interest and is consistent with the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles").18 Safe operation is supposed to be the touchstone of regulation in each instance.
As to the general visual acuity regulations in force under the former provision,19 affirmative determinations that the selected standards were needed for safe operation were indeed the predicates of the DOT action. Starting in 1937, the federal agencies authorized to regulate commercial motor vehicle safety set increasingly rigorous visual acuity standards, culminating in the current one, which has remained unchanged since it became effective in 1971.20 When
17 This provision is currently codified at 49 U. S. C. § 31136(a)(3).
18 Congress recently amended the waiver provision in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Pub. L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107. It now provides that the Secretary of Transportation may issue a 2-year renewable "exemption" if "such exemption would likely achieve a level of safety that is equivalent to, or greater than, the level that would be achieved absent such exemption." See § 4007, 112 Stat. 401, 49 U. S. C. § 31315(b) (1994 ed., Supp. IV).
19 At the time the FHWA promulgated the current visual acuity standard, the agency was acting pursuant to § 204(a) of the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended by the Motor Carrier Act, 49 U. S. C. § 304(a) (1970 ed.), see n. 1, supra, which likewise required the agency to regulate to ensure "safety of operation."
20 The Interstate Commerce Commission promulgated the first visual acuity regulations for interstate commercial drivers in 1937, requiring "[g]ood eyesight in both eyes (either with or without glasses, or by correction with glasses), including adequate perception of red and green colors." 2 Fed. Reg. 113120 (1937). In 1939, the vision standard was changed to require "visual acuity (either without glasses or by correction with glasses) of not less than 20/40 (Snellen) in one eye, and 20/100 (Snellen) in the other eye; form field of not less than 45 degrees in all meridians from the point of fixation; ability to distinguish red, green,
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