HR 3383 Introduced – Rail Hazmat Notification

Last week the GPO published a copy of HR 3383, the Safe Transportation of Hazardous Materials Act of 2011, which had been introduced the week before by Rep. Gonzales (D,TX). The bill would require every rail carrier that transports hazardous materials to have a plan in place, and working, to notify emergency response personnel 48 hours in advance of when a hazmat shipment transits their jurisdiction. The plan would have to be updated annually.

Not all emergency response agencies would be required to be notified. An agency would have to specifically request notification from the railroad. The bill also provides that the notification could be made through county or State government agencies.

The bill does not differentiate between different categories of hazardous materials. Thus it ignores the possibility that the required information may be protected under other federal statutes. TIH routing information, for example is considered Special Security Information.