PHMSA Publishes SP Incorporation Final Rule

Today the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule in the Federal Register (81 FR 3635-3686) that incorporates 96 existing special permits (SP) into the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR). Nine SPs that were included in the January 2015 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) were not adopted in this rulemaking. Four SPs (SP 11624, SP 13052, SP 14712, and SP 15235) that were not included in the NPRM were added to this final rule.

The discussion of the SPs adopted is done by similar functionally defined areas to those used in the NPRM. Those areas in the final rule were:

Cylinders, general;

Cylinders, non-destructive testing, aerosols;

Cargo tanks, rail cars, portable tanks;

Operational air, vessels;

Operational highway, rail, shipper, others;

Non-bulk packaging specification, IBC;

The existing SPs covered in this rulemaking will cease to exist on the mandatory compliance date listed below. Because there were some changes made in the regulatory language that were slightly different than that found in the original SP, some current SP holders may not be able to comply with the new wording. They can request a renewal or modification of the SPs if appropriate.

The effective date of this rulemaking is February 2^th, 2016. Voluntary compliance is authorized on that date. Unless otherwise specified in the rulemaking, mandatory compliance is required on January 17^th, 2017.