Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration April 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises operators of gas, hazardous liquid and carbon dioxide pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), intends to issue an Advisory Bulletin to begin collecting annual drug and alcohol testing data for contractor employees performing covered functions in the pipeline industry. The collection of contractor testing data is necessary for the calculation of the minimum annual percent rate for random drug testing, which is based on the reported positive rate for the entire industry. No regulatory change is necessary because the current rule already requires operators to report testing data for covered employees to OPS. The Advisory Bulletin will end the deferment period addressed in the preamble to the current rule for reporting contractor data and suggest a method for reporting the data that minimizes the problems associated with duplication. This notice proposes a method for reporting contractor data, seeks public comment on the method, and encourages suggestions for alternative approaches for reporting contractor testing data.

This notice seeks participants and provides information about the certification study project affecting individuals who operate computer-based systems for controlling the operation of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines (pipeline controllers) and the associated pilot program required by Section 13(b) of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (PSIA). This notice describes the purpose and scope of a project being undertaken by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) (formerly the Research and Special Programs Administration) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to determine what actions it should recommend for additional assurance that individuals who operate computer-based systems for controlling the operation of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines are adequately qualified and, if deemed necessary, certified to perform their job responsibilities. The public is invited to inquire about this project through the contact information below, and is encouraged to provide comments.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, PHMSA invites comments on certain information collections pertaining to hazardous materials transportation for which PHMSA intends to request renewal from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, exemptions from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations (49 CFR Part 107, Subpart B), notice is hereby given that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has received the application described herein. Each mode of transportation for which a particular exemption is requested is indicated by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1Motor vehicle, 2Rail freight, 3Cargo vessel, 4Cargo aircraft only, 5Passenger-carrying aircraft.

The Research and Special Programs Administrationthe predecessor agency to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final rules in 1980 requiring that a manifest accompany each shipment of hazardous waste during transportation. In 49 CFR 172.205, PHMSA provided that the uniform manifest ``may be used as the shipping paper required by'' the Hazardous Materials Regulations, so long as it contained all the required information. On May 22, 2001, EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to revise the hazardous waste manifest system. One of EPA's proposed changes would have allowed the uniform manifest to be prepared and transmitted electronically from the generator to the disposal facility, rather than requiring it to accompany the shipment. EPA is deferring final action on the electronic manifest pending further analysis, outreach, and possible supplemental proposals. Therefore, PHMSA is withdrawing an NPRM published on August 8, 2001, that would have amended the Hazardous Materials Regulations on the use of the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest for shipments of hazardous wastes. The changes proposed in that NPRM would have accommodated changes proposed by EPA. PHMSA proposed to require that, if the generator of a hazardous waste prepares an electronic manifest, either a physical copy of the electronic manifest or another document containing the information required for a shipping paper must accompany the hazardous waste in transportation.

Enstar Natural Gas Company (Enstar) has petitioned the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) for a waiver of the pipeline safety regulation that prohibits tracer wire from being wrapped around the pipe.