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

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 and extension from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

In accordance with statutory requirements, PHMSA is publishing a notice of delay in processing the American Trucking Associations, Inc.'s (ATA) application for a preemption determination concerning requirements of the New York City Fire Department for a permit to transport certain hazardous materials by motor vehicle through New York City, or for transshipment from New York City, and the fee for the permit. PHMSA is conducting fact-finding and legal analysis in response to the request, and is delaying issuance of its determination in order to allow time for appropriate consideration of the issues raised by the application.

FRA and PHMSA are issuing this notice to remind railroads operating a ``high hazard flammable train'' (HHFT)defined as a train comprised of 20 or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid in a continuous block, or a train with 35 or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid across the entire trainas well as the offerors of Class 3 flammable liquids transported on such trains, that certain information may be required by PHMSA and/or FRA personnel during the course of an investigation immediately following an accident.

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 sun (``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.

On February 2, 2015, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice in the Federal Register (80 FR 5617) inviting comments on an information collection titled ``Pipeline Safety: Periodic Underwater Inspection and Notification of Abandoned Underwater Pipelines'' identified by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 2137-0618. This information collection will be expiring on August 31, 2015. PHMSA will request an extension with no change for this information collection. PHMSA received no comments 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 this information collection and announce that the Information Collection will be submitted to OMB for approval.

This notice is announcing a one-day public workshop to discuss the recent Pipeline Safety Management Systems (SMS) national consensus standard. The meeting will include participation from all major pipeline sectors, state and Federal regulators, and public safety advocates. This workshop will detail the development process of the SMS standard. The workshop will also emphasize the core elements of the standard including: Leadership and management commitment; risk management; emergency preparedness and response; competence awareness and training; management review and continuous commitment, and the critical role of safety culture.