DOT Takes Additional Actions on Crude Oil Trains – FRA EO 30

This is part of a detailed look at several actions that the Department of Transportation (DOT) took on Friday to reduce the hazards associated with the transport of crude oil and other flammable liquids by train. Earlier posts in this discussion include:

DOT Takes Additional Actions on Crude Oil Trains

This post will look at the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) emergency order concerning the maximum speed in selected urban areas for certain trains transporting large quantities of Class 3 flammable liquids.

Affected Trains

EO 30 will specifically apply to trains containing a continuous block of 20 tank cars or a total of 35 tank cars carrying Class 3 flammable liquids. At least one of the tank cars must be DOT 111 (including those built to the CPC 1232 standards).

This definition of affected trains was apparently designed to address criticism of the 20 tank car standard included in HHFT NPRM could apply to trains carrying single cars of flammable liquids from 20 different shippers, hardly the intent. The hazard for flammable liquids in rail car derailments is that the failure of containment from a single car could result in a pool fire that would cause the catastrophic failure of adjacent cars, compounding the disaster.

One could certainly make an argument for a smaller block of cars. Even a block of two cars raises the potential hazard for secondary involvement. But given the fact that very few derailments involve even the majority of cars in an affected train some number of train cars above two in a block would provide adequate protection against secondary involvement. It would be nice, however, for PHMSA to outline in detail how the number 20 was arrived at.

High-Threat Urban Areas

This Emergency Order would only affect the speed limit for trains transiting high-threat urban areas (HTUA) as defined in 49 CFR 1580.3. That definition from the rail transportation security regulations describes an HTUA as “an area comprising one or more cities and surrounding areas including a 10-mile buffer zone, as listed in appendix A [link added] to this part.” Maps of each of the current 46 HTUAs are currently available on the Transportation Security Administration web site.

A quick look at the Los Angeles, CA HTUA for instance shows that there are large urban populations and highly concentrated suburban populations outside of the designated HTUA. Given that there are only 46 designated HTUAs in the United States, it is easy to see that there are significant number of large urban areas that are not covered by this EO.

Speed Limit

The EO sets a maximum speed limit of 40 mph for affected trains in HTUAs. This is the same speed limit for HTUAs that was included as one of the three options for specific reduced speed limits in the HHFT NPRM. The other two options provided in the NPRM also set a 40 mph speed limit, but provided a different standard for the application of that limit. The first was to apply the limit to all HHFT trains carrying DOT 111 rail cars in flammable liquid service and the other was to define the area for the speed limit so as to include all areas with a census population greater than 100,000.

Effective Date

The effective date for this emergency order was listed as immediately (presumably yesterday’s date; 4-17-15) and the compliance date for the speed limits is April 24^th, 2015. I expect that we will see this EO published in the Federal Register next week, but that should not affect the effective date nor the compliance date.

HHFT Final Rule Insight

I would assume that the differences between this Emergency Order and the earlier HHFT NPRM reflect responses to comments to that NPRM. That should mean that the definition of HHFT in the final rule will probably be the same as outlined in this Order. Similarly, I would expect that the speed limits area definition here will be reflected in the final HHFT rule.

HTUA Maps Missing

I have had a number of folks visiting my site looking for information about the maps of the High Threat Urban Areas (HTUA) that are an integral part of the TSA Rail Transportation Security Rule (49 CFR 1580). I did a quick check and can see why; the link to the TSA HTUA maps is dead again. This is a recurring problem for TSA.

This is a regulatory issue since these maps are the only way that facilities have of checking to see if they are covered by provisions of §1580. Well, that isn’t entirely true, they can call the TSA Freedom Center (703-563-3240 or 1-877-456-8722).

TSA HTUA Map Late

It has been two weeks now since the bulk of the TSA Rail Security Rule went into effect. Since receivers of Rail Security Sensitive Materials (RSSM) are only affected by the rule if they are in a High Threat Urban Area (HTUA), TSA promised in their final rule to have a map of HTUAs on their web site. This was noted in the preamble to the rule, “Before the effective date of this final rule, TSA will provide on its website maps of each of the 46 HTUAs that TSA will use to inspect for compliance with the applicable sections of this regulation” (73 FR 72150). As of this morning there is still not HTUA Map on the TSA web site. To be fair to TSA they did note that these maps would be for “general guidance purposes only”. They stated in the same section of the preamble to the final rule that: “TSA encourages any regulated party with questions concerning the applicability of this final rule to its operations to contact TSA directly.” Facilities that receive railcar quantities of RSSM and are located in (or within 10 miles of the boundary of) any of the urban areas listed in Appendix A to § 1580 of 49 CFR should have already contacted the TSA Freedom Center (703-563-3240 or 1-877-456-8722) to verify their HTUA status.