The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have released a “Frequently Asked Questions” document on implementing the upcoming phase-out of DOT-111 specification tank cars from ethanol service.
ASLRRA PERSPECTIVE, RAILWAY AGE APRIL 2023 ISSUE: It has been a tumultuous two months of railroad reporting, commentary, and legislative and regulatory proposals since the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio—some factual, some speculative,
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), on March 22 released a safety advisory, which it said was to “re-emphasize previously raised concerns about the survivability of DOT-111 tank cars and encourage tank car owners and shippers of flammable liquids to voluntarily upgrade their tank car fleets to the newest, and safest, available tank car design authorized for flammable liquid service—the DOT-117 specification tank car.”
Following the completion of damage assessment inspections of the 11 Norfolk Southern (NS) hazardous materials (hazmat) tank cars, including the five carrying vinyl chloride, that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it is “concerned that aluminum protective housing covers on some tank cars melted or were consumed when pressure relief devices (PRDs) vented burning gas while functioning as designed to relieve tank pressure.”
White House Senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu and former Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Howard R. “Skip” Elliott are featured speakers at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s (ASLRRA) Annual Conference & Exhibition, to be held April 2-4 in New Orleans, La.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Feb. 7 announced that it is now accepting proposals for funding ranging from $150,000 to $200,000 from its Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) to “spur research and commercialization of innovative transportation technologies in select research areas,” including the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is amending Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to harmonize U.S. laws with numerous international standards, including better alignment with Transport Canada’s Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the potential use of electronic hazard communication as an alternative to physical, paper-based documents.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) proposed temporary suspension of its regulations authorizing the transportation of liquefied natural gas by rail have prompted not only the Railway Supply Institute to weigh in, but also the Republican members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a coalition of attorneys general from 14 states and Washington, D.C.; all submitted comments on the agency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking released late last year.
On Nov. 8, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would suspend the transportation of liquefied natural gas by rail “until more research and testing can be done to ensure the safety of moving this commodity by rail.” The NPRM would presumably negate a Final Rule issued in 2019.
