Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration January 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As required by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is proposing to amend the Hazardous Materials Regulations to adopt provisions contained in certain widely-used or long-standing special permits that have an established safety record. The proposed revisions are intended to provide wider access to the regulatory flexibility offered in special permits and eliminate the need for numerous renewal requests, thus reducing paperwork burdens and facilitating commerce while maintaining an appropriate level of safety. PHMSA conducted an extensive analysis of all active special permits and, in this rulemaking, those special permits deemed suitable are being proposed for adoption. PHMSA is inviting all interested persons to provide comments on both those special permits deemed suitable and proposed to be adopted into the HMR and those that are deemed not suitable for adoption. In addition, PHMSA is also requesting comments on a proposed requirement for special permit applicants to include regulatory text in their applications, when appropriate.

On October 28, 2014, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice in the Federal Register (79 FR 64249) inviting comments on two information collections that will be expiring on May 31, 2015. PHMSA will request an extension with no change for the information collections identified by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control numbers 2137-0049 and 2137-0594. PHMSA received one comment in response to that notice. PHMSA is publishing this notice to provide the public with an additional 30 days to comment on the renewal of the information collections referenced above and announce that the Information Collections will be submitted to OMB for approval.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations (49 CFR part 107, subpart B), notice is hereby given of the actions on special permits applications in (October to October 2014). The mode of transportation involved are identified by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1-Motor vehicle, 2-Rail freight, 3-Cargo vessel, 4-Cargo aircraft only, 5-Passenger-carrying aircraft. Application numbers prefixed by the letters EE represent applications for Emergency Special Permits. It should be noted that some of the sections cited were those in effect at the time certain special permits were issued.

In accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5117(c), PHMSA is publishing the following list of special permit applications that have been in process for 180 days or more. The reason(s) for delay and the expected completion date for action on each application is provided in association with each identified application.

PHMSA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations to maintain alignment with international standards by incorporating various amendments, including changes to proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations, and vessel stowage requirements. These revisions are necessary to harmonize the Hazardous Materials Regulations with recent changes made to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code, the International Civil Aviation Organization's Technical Instructions (ICAO TI) for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air, the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN Model Regulations) and subsequently address three petitions for rulemaking.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits 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 applications described herein. This notice is abbreviated to expedite docketing and public notice. Because the sections affected, modes of transportation, and the nature of application have been shown in earlier Federal Register publications, they are not repeated here. Requests for modification of special permits (e.g. to provide for additional hazardous materials, packaging design changes, additional mode of transportation, etc.) are described in footnotes to the application number. Application numbers with the suffix ``M'' denote a modification request. These applications have been separated from the new application for special permits to facilitate processing.

In accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5117(c), PHMSA is publishing the following list of special permit applications that have been in process for 180 days or more. The reason(s) for delay and the expected completion date for action on each application is provided in association with each identified application.