Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration December 11, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 is publishing this notice as a general informational announcement concerning the issuance of a special permit. The special permit authorizes the grantee to transport Methane, refrigerated liquid (i.e., liquefied natural gas or LNG) by rail tank car. The special permit and documents supporting the special permit decision have been added to PHMSA's LNG by Rail Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket (Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025) for consideration by the public because the subject matter of the special permit overlaps with the subject matter of PHMSA's rulemaking proposing to authorize the transport of LNG in rail tank cars. PHMSA reviewed comments to the draft environmental assessment (Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0100) published for public review on June 6, 2019. These comments informed PHMSA's decision making in issuing the special permit and will also help to inform PHMSA's deliberations with respect to a potential LNG by rail final rule. PHMSA will consider any additional comments on the operational controls included in the special permit that are filed to the LNG rulemaking docket to aid the agency in determining what, if any, operational controls may be appropriate for inclusion in a potential final rule.