Today the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration
(PHMSA) published a final
rule in the Federal Register (84 FR 6910-6952) on “Oil Spill Response Plans
and Information Sharing for High-Hazard Flammable Trains”. The notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) was
published in July 2016. The rulemaking modifies existing requirements for comprehensive
oil spill response plans (COSRPs), establishing petroleum oil thresholds that
apply to an entire train consist. The rule also requires railroads to share
information about high-hazard flammable train (HHFT) operations with State and
tribal emergency response commissions to improve community preparedness. It
also incorporates a new voluntary standard for testing initial boiling point of
crude oil; ASTM D7900.
The preamble to the rule makes it clear that the final rule
implements the provisions of the NPRM “with minor changes
for plain language or clarification in consideration of the comments received
to the NPRM”. The preamble provides tables with the summary of the differences
between the NPRM and the final rule:
No changes were made to the portion of the rule
incorporating the new initial boiling point test method.
The effective date for this rule is April 1st,
2019.
Commentary
As I have stated before, while I think that the change in
threshold requirements for COSRPs is appropriate, it continues to fail to
address the planning requirements for addressing the fire and explosion response
planning necessary for Highly Hazardous Flammable Trains (HHFT). Unfortunately,
neither PHMSA nor the Federal Railroad Administration have been provided authority
to require such emergency response planning. This is going to require
congressional action.
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