Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration May 2014 – 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 (49 CFR part 107, Subpart B), notice is hereby given of the actions on special permits applications in (April to April 2014). The mode of transportation involved are identified by a number in the ``Nature of Application'' portion of the table below as follows: 1Motor vehicle, 2Rail freight, 3Cargo vessel, 4Cargo aircraft only, 5Passenger-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.

This notice is to advise interested persons that on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, PHMSA will conduct a public meeting to discuss proposals in preparation for the 45th session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE TDG) to be held June 23 to July 2, 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland. During the public meeting, PHMSA is also soliciting comments relative to potential new work items which may be considered for inclusion in its international agenda. Also, on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administartion (OSHA) will conduct a public meeting (See Docket No. OSHA-H022k-2006-0062) to discuss proposals in preparation for the 27th session of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UNSCEGHS) to be held July 2 to 4, 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requests (ICR) abstracted below will be forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. The ICRs describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on these collections of information was published in the Federal Register on February 12, 2014 [79 FR 8535] under Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0002 (Notice No. 14-1). PHMSA did not receive any comments in response to February 12, 2014 notice.

PHMSA is issuing an advisory bulletin to inform all pipeline owners and operators of the deficiencies identified in Enbridge's integrity management (IM) program that contributed to the release of hazardous liquid near Marshall, Michigan, on July 25, 2010. Pipeline owners and operators are encouraged to review their own IM programs for similar deficiencies and to take corrective action. Operators should also consider training their control room staff as teams to recognize and respond to emergencies or unexpected conditions. Further, the advisory encourages operators to evaluate their leak detection capabilities to ensure adequate leak detection coverage during transient operations and assess the performance of their leak detection systems following a product release to identify and implement improvements as appropriate. Additionally, operators are encouraged to review the effectiveness of their public awareness programs and whether local emergency response teams are adequately prepared to identify and respond to early indications of ruptures. Finally, this advisory reminds all pipeline owners and operators to review National Transportation Safety Board recommendations following accident investigations. Owners and operators should evaluate and implement recommendations that are applicable to their programs.

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.