The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in consultation with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has issued a final rule modifying current security plan requirements for the commercial transportation of hazardous materials by air, rail, vessel, and highway.
Current hazardous material regulations require transporters to develop and implement security plans for a range of hazardous products, including explosives and poison-inhalation-hazard (PIH) materials such as ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia. At a minimum, these security plans must address personnel security, unauthorized access, and en route security. The final rule narrows the list of materials subject to security plan requirements and reduces the associated regulatory costs and paperwork burden.
Regarding PIH materials such as anhydrous ammonia, current regulations require security planning requirements for any quantity that is transported. PHMSA said it is maintaining the existing “any quantity” threshold in the final rule. PHMSA said it received several comments regarding the inclusion of anhydrous ammonia as a Division 2.3 material, noting that the Association of American Railroads, the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) all requested clarification of the requirements applicable to anhydrous ammonia. PHMSA noted that anhydrous ammonia meets the definition of a PIH material and poses “a significant inhalation hazard.”
PHMSA did make a change to ammonium nitrate transportation requirements. Current regulations require security plans for ammonium nitrate in quantities that require placarding. The new rule clarifies the threshold quantity, requiring security plans for perchlorates and ammonium nitrate when transported in quantities greater than 3,000 kg (6,614 lbs.) for solids and 3,000 liters (793 gallons) for liquids in a single package.
PHMSA first published a notice of proposed rulemaking in October 2008 to propose modifications to the list of materials for which a security plan is required. PHMSA said it consulted with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the TSA, and considered specific transportation scenarios in which terrorists could use hazardous materials to cause large-scale casualties and property damage. The final rule takes effect Oct. 1, 2010.
In a related development, The Chlorine Institute has asked the FRA to correct what it sees as a flawed cost-benefit analysis in FRA’s recently published positive train control (PTC) rule, which calls for the implementation and development of new technologies to enhance safety and security on passenger and freight rail lines. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 requires the deployment of interoperable PTC systems on mainline tracks that carry passenger trains or PIH materials by Dec. 31, 2015.
The FRA describes PTC as “an integrated set of technologies that will help avert train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by excessive speed, accidents caused by human error or misaligned switches, and harm to roadway workers.” PTC systems use digital radio links, global positioning systems, and wayside computer control systems to send and receive a continuous stream of data transmitted by wireless signals about the location, speed, and direction of trains.
The final PTC rule, announced on Jan. 12 and published in the Federal Register on Jan. 15, said that railroads should immediately begin finalizing their PTC implementation plans and submit them to the FRA by April 16, 2010. “Safety is our highest priority, and we believe the installation of this equipment will make our nation’s railroads safer,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
According to a study commissioned by The Chlorine Institute and performed by L.E. Peabody & Associates, however, the PTC rule underestimates the net direct and indirect benefits of the rule’s implementation by more than $12 billion. In a March 30 letter to the Department of Transportation, TFI also pointed out what it described as “fundamental flaws with the final rule’s cost-benefit analysis that have profound implications for shippers of toxic-byinhalation (TIH) materials.”
According to The Chlorine Institute, the PTC rule’s faulty cost-benefit analysis “could foster a situation that would allow railroads to impose an unfairly large share of the costs of applying PTC technology on shippers of chlorine” and other TIH chemicals.
In a recent earnings call, CSX said it will invest $170 million in 2010 for PTC, with a multi-year investment estimated at $1.2 billion. Arthur Dungan, president of The Chlorine Institute, said the railroads have announced that they will attempt to recover their investment in PTC from shippers of TIH materials.
“These efforts will have a direct and substantial impact on prospective TIH rail shippers and a strong incentive to move TIH shipments from the safer rail mode to the less-safe highway mode of transportation,” Dungan said. “Certainly, TIH shippers also will be negatively impacted by the railroads rolling their PTC investments on regulated shipments into their regulatory rate base, thereby leading to a double recovery of PTC costs well into the future.”
The FRA announced on April 7 that it will begin accepting grant applications for the deployment of PTC systems and complementary advanced technologies under a new $50 million rail safety technology program. The program requires that the funded PTC projects or related systems be ready for deployment within 24 months of the grant award.