Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration May 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

PHMSA is publishing this notice to seek public comments on four special permit requests received from the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC). AGDC is seeking compliance relief from certain requirements in the federal pipeline safety regulations for the construction of an integrated liquefied natural gas project with interdependent facilities for transporting and liquefying supplies of natural gas in Alaska.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requests (ICRs) discussed below will be forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal and extension. These ICRs describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burdens. A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on these ICRs was published in the Federal Register on February 25, 2019 under Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0114 (Notice No. 2018-24). PHMSA received two comments in response to the February 25, 2019 notice. One comment from Bruce Grimm was supportive of PHMSA continuing to collect information related to subsidiary hazards under OMB control number 2137-0613. The other comment was outside the scope of this notice.

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.

PHMSA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) will hold a public meeting to solicit input on the development of the 2020 edition of the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2020). The meeting will take place on June 17, 2019, in Washington, DC. PHMSA developed the United States version of the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) for use by emergency services personnel to provide guidance for initial response to hazardous materials transportation incidents. Since 1980, it has been PHMSA's goal that all public emergency response personnel (e.g., fire-fighting, police, and rescue squads) have free and immediate access to the ERG. To date, PHMSA has distributed more than 14.5 million copies of the ERG to emergency service agencies and developed free online resources and downloadable mobile applications to make the ERG more accessible. Since 1996, PHMSA, Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communication and Transport of Mexico have collaborated in development of the ERG, with interested parties from government and industry providing additional assistance, including Argentina's Chemical Information Center for Emergencies (CIQUIME). ERG2020 will be published in English, French, and Spanish and will increase public safety by providing consistent emergency response procedures for hazardous materials transportation incidents throughout North America. During the meeting, PHMSA will respond to stakeholder requests for a public discussion of the methodology used to determine the appropriate response protective distances for poisonous vapors resulting from spills involving dangerous goods considered toxic by inhalation in the ERG2016 ``Green Pages.'' To pursue our objective of continually improving the ERG, PHMSA will solicit comments related to new methodologies and considerations for future editions of the ERG. Additionally, the meeting will include discussions on the outcomes of field experiments, ongoing research efforts to better understand environmental effects on airborne toxic gas concentrations, and updates to be published in the ERG2020. Time and Location: The meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Transportation Conference Center at 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590 on June 17, 2019, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Registration: DOT requests that attendees pre-register for this meeting by completing the form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ 82Z6KYM. Conference call-in and ``live meeting'' capability will be provided. Specific information about conference call-in and live meeting access will be posted, when available, at: https:// www.phmsa.dot.gov/research-and-development/hazmat/rd-meetings -and- events. DOT is committed to providing equal access for all Americans and ensuring that information is available in appropriate alternative formats to meet the requirements of persons who have a disability. If you require an alternative version of files provided or alternative accommodations, please contact PHMSA-Accessibility@dot.gov no later than June 3, 2019.

PHMSA is issuing this advisory bulletin to remind owners and operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines of the potential for damage to pipeline facilities caused by earth movement from both landslides and subsidence in variable, steep, and rugged terrain and for varied geological conditions. These conditions can pose a threat to the integrity of pipeline facilities if those threats are not identified and mitigated.