[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17049-17050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8165]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

49 CFR Chapter I

[Docket No. HM-222; Notice No. 95-5]


Improving the Hazardous Materials Safety Program; Public Meetings 
and Request for Comments Related to Regulatory Review and Customer 
Service

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Public meetings and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a nationwide series of seven public 
meetings during April and May to seek information from the public on 
regulatory reform and improved customer service for RSPA's hazardous 
materials safety program.

DATES: Meetings: Public meetings will be held as follows:

(1) April 19, 1995, in San Francisco, California.
(2) April 20, 1995 in Chicago, Illinois.
(3) April 26, 1995 in Clearwater Beach, Florida.
(4) April 27, 1995 in Tampa, Florida.
(5) April 28, 1995 in Tampa, Florida.
(6) May 16, 1995 in Houston, Texas.
(7) May 18, 1995 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

    Comments: This notice invites comments on both regulatory reform 
and improved customer service. Participation in the meeting is not a 
prerequisite for the submission of written comments. Please submit 
comments before May 31, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Meetings: See Supplementary Information for specific times, 
locations and agendas.
    Comments: Please address written comments to the Dockets Unit (DHM-
30), Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Comments may also be faxed 
to (202)366-3753. Comments should identify the docket (Docket No. HM-
222). The Dockets Unit is located in room 8421 of the Nassif Building, 
400 Seventh Street S.W., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Office hours are 
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on public 
holidays when the office is closed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edmund J. Richards, Interagency 
Hazardous Materials Program Coordinator, (202) 366-0656; or Suezett 
Edwards, Training and Information Specialist, (202) 366-4900; Hazardous 
Materials Safety, RSPA, Department of Transportation, Washington, DC 
20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 4, 1995, President Clinton issued a 
memorandum to heads of departments and agencies calling for a review of 
all agency regulations and elimination or revision of those that are 
outdated or in need of reform. The President also directed that front 
line regulators ``* * * get out of Washington and create grassroots 
partnerships'' with people affected by agency regulations. RSPA is 
reviewing the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-
180), and associated procedural rules (49 CFR Parts 106 and 107), in 
response to the President's directive.
    On September 11, 1993, the President signed an Executive Order on 
setting customer service standards. The Executive Order requires 
continual reform of the executive branch's management practices and 
operations to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the 
best service available in the private sector. RSPA is seeking 
information from customers of its hazardous materials safety program to 
determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of 
satisfaction with existing services.

Conduct of Meetings

    Meetings will be informal, intended to produce a dialogue between 
agency personnel and those persons directly affected by the hazardous 
materials safety programs, regulations and customer services. The 
meeting officer reserves the right to limit time allocated to speakers, 
if necessary, to ensure that all have an opportunity to speak. 
Conversely, meetings may conclude before the scheduled time if all 
persons wishing to participate have been heard.

Meeting Schedule and Agendas

    The public meetings will be held as follows:
    (1) April 19, 1995, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., in San Francisco, 
California, EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 
California 94105, 1st floor conference rooms. This meeting will have an 
open agenda.
    (2) April 20, 1995, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Chicago, 
Illinois, Banker's Building (Health and Human Services Facility), 105 
West Adams Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603, Floor/Room: 10th/1015. This 
meeting will have an open agenda.
    (3) April 26, 1995, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Clearwater 
Beach, Florida, Sheraton Sand Key Resort Hotel, 1160 Gulf Boulevard, 
Clearwater Beach, Florida 34630. This meeting, held immediately after a 
previously scheduled Compressed Gas Association meeting, will focus 
primarily on the manufacture, maintenance and testing of compressed gas 
cylinders.
    (4) April 27, 1995, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Tampa, Florida, 
Crowne Plaza, Sabal Park, 10221 Princess Palm Avenue, Tampa, Florida 
33610. This meeting will have an open agenda.
    (5) April 28, 1995, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., in Tampa, 
Florida, Crowne Plaza, Sabal Park, 10221 Princess Palm Avenue, Tampa, 
Florida 33610. This meeting will focus primarily on pyrotechnics 
(fireworks) transportation issues.
    (6) May 16, 1995, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Houston, Texas, 
Sheraton Crown Hotel & Conference Center, 15700 John F. Kennedy 
Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032. This meeting will have an open agenda.
    (7) May 18, 1995, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Minneapolis, 
Minnesota, Radisson Hotel South & Plaza Tower, 7800 Normandie 
Boulevard, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55539. This meeting will have an open 
agenda.
    Five of the seven meetings (April 19 in San Francisco, April 20 in 
Chicago, [[Page 17050]] April 27 in Tampa, May 16 in Houston, and May 
18 in Minneapolis) will have an open agenda, based on interests of the 
participants. Two meetings to be held in Florida will have focus areas 
as follows:
    (1) April 26 in Clearwater Beach: This meeting, held in association 
with a Compressed Gas Association meeting, will focus primarily on the 
manufacture, maintenance and testing of compressed gas cylinders.
    (2) April 28 in Tampa: This meeting, held with the cooperation of 
the American Pyrotechnics Association, will focus primarily on 
pyrotechnics (fireworks).
    Even though these latter two meetings will have focus areas, they 
will be open to all interested persons and speakers may address any 
area pertinent to RSPA's hazardous materials safety program.

Areas of Regulatory Concern

    In calling on agencies to cut obsolete regulations, the President 
directs each agency to consider the following issues in its review of 
the regulations:
     Is this regulation obsolete?
     Could its intended goal be achieved in more efficient, 
less intrusive ways?
     Are there better private sector alternatives, such as 
market mechanisms, that can better achieve the public good envisioned 
by the regulation?
     Could private business, setting its own standards and 
being subject to public accountability, do the job as well?
     Could the States or local governments do the job, making 
Federal regulation unnecessary?
    RSPA suggests that persons commenting on the hazardous materials 
safety program consider these issues.
    The President's call for regulatory reform provides opportunities 
for eliminating or improving hazardous materials safety regulations. 
RSPA has undertaken a page-by-page review of the HMR and has identified 
certain sections of the HMR that are candidates for elimination, 
revision, clarification or relaxation. Although RSPA does not wish to 
imply that discussion is limited to these items, the items listed below 
are suggested as candidates for discussion at the public meetings:
    (1) There appear to be jurisdictional issues that need resolution. 
For example, there is a question as to whether certain rail storage 
practices are ``storage in transportation'' and, thus, subject to the 
HMR, and whether the HMR should apply to rail tank car unloading 
operations, not involving rail carriers, which occur on private 
facilities. Other issues concern whether RSPA should continue to 
exercise jurisdiction in areas where other Federal agencies also 
exercise jurisdiction. For example, should RSPA remove regulatory 
provisions concerning hazardous waste manifests in deference to EPA 
requirements for manifesting? Should RSPA continue to regulate 
hazardous materials, such as fireworks, that are subject to regulations 
of the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco and Firearms? Should RSPA defer to the requirements of other 
agencies having occupational safety responsibilities which affect 
transportation, such as the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA), and OSHA agreement States? RSPA anticipates 
coordinating with other Federal agencies that regulate hazardous 
materials to resolve any multi-jurisdictional problems identified 
through the review.
    (2) The modal-specific portions of the HMR--Part 174 for rail, Part 
175 for air, Part 176 for water and Part 177 for highway--appear to 
contain a number of provisions that should be eliminated or revised. 
For example, many of the special handling requirements and accident 
response requirements appear obsolete.
    (3) There may be opportunities for relaxing certain regulatory 
provisions without unduly impacting safety, such as by increasing the 
time interval for recurrent training or providing additional small 
quantity exceptions from incident reporting.

Improvements to Customer Service

    RSPA is soliciting comments on the kind and quality of services its 
customers want and their level of satisfaction with the services 
currently provided by the hazardous materials safety program. RSPA will 
use the comments to establish service standards and measure results 
against them; provide customers with choices in both the sources of 
service and the means of delivery; make information, services, and 
complaint systems easily accessible; and provide the means to address 
customer complaints. RSPA's current customer services include providing 
guidance in understanding and complying with the HMR and processing 
exemptions, approvals, registrations, grant applications, and 
enforcement actions. Other customer services include conduct of multi-
modal hazardous materials seminars, operation of the Hazardous 
Materials Information Exchange (HMIX) electronic bulletin board, and 
development and dissemination of training and informational materials.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 30, 1995.
Alan I. Roberts,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.
[FR Doc. 95-8165 Filed 4-3-95; 8:45 am]
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