Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration April 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice is designed to inform the interested public that the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) will hold a public Research and Development Forum that will be held May 16 and 17, 2018, in Washington, DC. OHMS will host the forum to present the results of recently completed projects, brief new project plans with stakeholder input, and discuss the direction of current and future research projects. During the meeting, OHMS will solicit comments related to new research topics that may be considered for inclusion in its future work. OHMS also reviews research needs statements from industry, academia, and other stakeholders. OHMS is particularly interested in the research gaps associated with energetic materials characterization and transport, safe transport of energy products, safe containment and transportation of compressed gasses, safe packaging and transportation of charge storage devices, and others. One focus will be a discussion on the safety gaps recently identified in a 2017 cooperative research report completed by the National Academy of Sciences titled ``Safely Transporting Hazardous Liquids and Gases in a Changing U.S. Energy Landscape.'' The identification of other research gaps related to the transportation of hazardous materials will be encouraged in an effort to meet the holistic needs of the transportation community and the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) strategic goals: Safety, investment in infrastructure, innovation and accountability.

In accordance with the procedures governing the application for, and the processing of, special permits from the Department of Transportation's Hazardous Material Regulations, 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 special permit is requested is indicated by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1 Motor vehicle, 2Rail freight, 3Cargo vessel, 4Cargo aircraft only, 5Passenger-carrying aircraft.

On February 12, 2018, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a notice in the Federal Register (83 FR 6088) inviting comments on the information collection identified by OMB control number 2137-0049 that expires on April 30, 2018. PHMSA is requesting an extension with no change for this information collection. During the public comment period, PHMSA received no comments in response to the information collection. PHMSA received six comments that did not pertain to the information collection request. PHMSA is publishing this notice to provide the public with an additional 30 days to comment on the renewal of the information collection referenced above and to announce that the Information Collection Request will be submitted to OMB for approval.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, PHMSA invites comments on an information collection pertaining to hazardous materials transportation for which PHMSA intends to request from the Office of Management and Budget.