(a) Each agency providing transportation services must ensure that persons who drive vehicles used to provide such services, at a minimum:

(1) in States where such licenses are granted, have a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) for vehicles in the same class as the vehicle the driver will operating; and

(2) meet any physical, mental, and other requirements established under applicable law or regulations as necessary to perform job-related functions with any necessary reasonable accommodations.

(b) Each agency providing transportation services must ensure that there is an applicant review process for use in hiring drivers, that applicants for driver positions must be advised of the specific background checks required at the time application is made, and that there are criteria for the rejection of unacceptable applicants. The applicant review procedure must include, at minimum:

(1) all elements specified in 45 CFR 1304.52(b), with additional disclosure by the applicant of all moving traffic violations, regardless of penalty;

(2) a check of the applicant's driving record through the appropriate State agency, including a check of the applicant's record through the National Driver Register, if available in the State; and

(3) after a conditional offer of employment to the applicant and before the applicant begins work as a driver, a medical examination, performed by a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathy, establishing that the individual possesses the physical ability to perform any job-related functions with any necessary accommodations.

(c) As provided in 45 CFR 1310.2(a), this section does not apply to transportation services to children served under the home-based option for Head Start and Early Head Start.