Rail Associations Call for Stricter Tank Car Standards

Two industry associations representing virtually all North American Railroads have called for the USDOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to require tank cars carrying flammable liquids be built to more stringent standards, or be upgraded for existing tank cars. The Association of American Railroads (AAR), and the American Shortline and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), jointly tendered comments to the PHMSA today. A copy of the joint filing is attached here.

Despite the excellent overall safety record of haz mat transport by rail, the Associations cited the recent Lac Megantic catastrophe as motivation for the industry to reevaluate tank car standards, which in fact had been increased just in 2011. Among the proposals AAR and ASLRRA make are to require newly built tank cars carrying flammable liquids to have steel jackets around the tank car, thermal protection, full car-height head shields, and high flow capacity pressure release valves. In addition to newly built cars, the comments call for the retrofit of cars built since 2011, and before, to comply with any new construction standards, and to phase out older cars that cannot be retrofitted.

The PHMSA docket at issue is PHMSA-2012-0082 - "Hazardous Materials: Rail Petitions and Recommendations to Improve the Safety of Rail Tank Car Transportation."

Joint Rule Requires Truck Clearance At Grade Crossings

The USDOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) have jointly issued a final rule that prohibits truck drivers carrying certain hazardous materials "from entering onto a highway-rail grade crossing unless there is sufficient space to drive completely through the grade crossing without stopping." The rule was published yesterday, and takes effect on October 25, 2013.

The intent of the rule is of course to reduce highway-rail grade crossing crashes, and amends 49 CFR parts 177 and 392, specifically a revision to 49 CFR 177.804, and the creation of 49 CFR 392.12.

The new requirements apply to vehicles transporting a quantify of hazardous materials requiring placarding under 49 CFR 172, or any amount of a material listed as a toxin under 42 CFR 73.

Rail Safety Advisory Committee Holds Emergency Meeting on Haz Mat

Yesterday, the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), met to consider additional regulatory or other safety measures in response to the Lac-Megantic, Quebec incident in June. The emergency meeting follows the issuance of an Emergency Order and Safety Advisory on August 2, 2013 - see here for my prior post on those issues, and links to the Order and Safety Advisory.

The attached press release from the FRA states the RSAC has accepted four tasks: appropriate crew size, requirements for securing trains, operational testing of employees to ensure compliance with rules, and issues relating to the operational control and handling of hazardous materials in transportation. The RSAC will now establish working groups to address the tasks which will propose recommendations to FRA in April 2014.