Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration June 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises the public that PHMSA is currently reviewing numerous administrative appeals (i.e., petitions for reconsideration) on recently issued final rules. In accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, this notice provides notification to parties having brought certain administrative appeals of the anticipated delay in processing these administrative appeals.

PHMSA amends the Hazardous Materials Regulations by removing saccharin and its salts from the list of hazardous substances and reportable quantities. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, requires PHMSA to list and regulate all hazardous substances designated by statute or by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA recently removed saccharin and its salts from their list of hazardous substances through notice and comment rulemaking. This final rule simply harmonizes the lists to better enable shippers and carriers to identify the affected hazardous substances, comply with all applicable regulatory requirements, and make required notifications if the release of a hazardous substance occurs.

This rule expedites the program implementation deadlines in the Control Room Management/Human Factors regulations in order to realize the safety benefits sooner than established in the original rule. The deadline for pipeline operators to implement the procedures for roles and responsibilities, shift change, change management, and operating experience, fatigue mitigation education and training is now October 1, 2011, 16 months sooner than the original regulation. The deadline for pipeline operators to implement the other procedures for adequate information, shift lengths, maximum hours-of-service, and alarm management is now August 1, 2012, six months sooner than the original regulation. In general, training procedures must also be implemented by August 1, 2012, with certain exceptions.

This notice advises the public that PHMSA has recently confirmed an undetermined number of certain (aluminum) cylinders were improperly marked and represented as DOT specification 3AL cylinders. The cylinders were neither marked nor certified by an authorized independent inspection agency (IIA) with its official mark and date, in accordance with the applicable regulatory requirements. Therefore, the cylinders are unauthorized for hazardous materials service. Prior to filling these cylinders, a person must verify that the IIA's official mark is stamped between the month and year manufactured. The evidence suggests that if the cylinder is marked with a period (.) rather than the official IIA mark, the cylinder did not undergo the complete series of safety tests and inspections required by the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) and may not possess the structural integrity to safely contain its contents under pressure during normal transportation and use. Extensive property damage, serious personal injury, or death could result from a rupture of the cylinder. Individuals who identify a cylinder marked with only a period (.) between the month and year are advised to remove these cylinders from service and contact PHMSA directly at the below address for further instructions.