Commercial License - HazMat and Background Checks

Additional information about the new federal HME application and Security Threat Assessment requirements may be found on the TSA website (search by keyword "hazmat"), or you may call the TSA Contact Center toll-free at 866.289.9673.

If you receive notification from the TSA indicating that you do not meet the established qualifications for carrying an HME, you must immediately surrender your endorsement to MVD. If otherwise qualified to hold a CDL, you may remove the HME and apply for a duplicate CDL for a $12 fee.

Current holders of a Class A or B CDL with an HME that do not meet the qualification requirements established by the TSA — but are otherwise qualified to hold a CDL — must visit an MVD office to relinquish the endorsement. There will be a $12 fee for the reissuance of a Class A or B CDL without the HME.

Upon successful completion of the Security Threat Assessment, the TSA will only approve issuance of your HME for up to five years. It is the responsibility of the driver to arrange for a new Security Threat Assessment no later than 30 days prior to the expiration of the current TSA approval to avoid cancellation of the CDL.

After completing all required road/skills tests, you may choose to receive a CDL without the HME for use until the TSA approval is received. However, once TSA approval is received, you will need to return to the MVD CDL office and apply for the HazMat-endorsed CDL. Because the endorsement fee was already paid, there will be no additional fee charged when exchanging a CDL issued in the interim, for the CDL reflecting the HME.

All applicants for a new HME are now subject to the federal Security Threat Assessment requirement, which includes current CDL holders without a valid HME applying to upgrade their CDL by adding the HME.

The TSA will notify you of the Security Threat Assessment results by mail whether approved or disapproved for the HME. If approved for the HME, the applicant may return to the MVD CDL office for issuance of the CDL reflecting the HME.

The Transportation Security Administration indicates that the Security Threat Assessment may take from one to eight weeks to complete.

Please visit https://universalenroll.dhs.gov/hme-home for current fee information.

Prior to visiting a TSA-authorized fingerprint collection site, you must provide TSA with all of the information requested on the Driver License Hazardous Materials Endorsement Application to be submitted one of two ways:

Apply to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) with all of the information requested on the Driver License Hazardous Materials Endorsement Application to be submitted in one of two ways:

• Online through the TSA at https://universalenroll.dhs.gov/hme-home

• By phone (toll-free) through the TSA HazMat Call Center at 855.347.8371

TSA will not accept handwritten HME applications.

Upon successful completion of the written tests, MVD will provide you with a HazMat Background Check Authorization form to present to a TSA authorized fingerprint collection site identified below.

You may begin the Security Threat Assessment process only after MVD has determined that you have fully qualified for the endorsement by successfully completing all required CDL and HME written tests.

New HME applications can be processed at any MVD offices.

Currently, federal regulations require that all new commercial driver license (CDL) applicants or current CDL holders who are requesting an HME successfully complete a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) fingerprint-based Security Threat Assessment prior to issuance of the endorsement.

The requirement is a result of the U.S. PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107-56, Section 1012), the Safe Explosives Act (Public Law 107-296, Section 1121-1123), ARS § 28-3103(A)(2) and 49 CFR 1572.

No. The three-year testing requirement is a federal regulation for employers transporting hazardous materials to test their drivers every three years.

The Arizona HazMat test is required only when applying for an original CDL, adding the H endorsement to an existing CDL, renewing a CDL or transferring an out-of-state CDL to Arizona while retaining the H endorsement.