[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 127 (Monday, July 3, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37974-37975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10371]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2006-25169, Notice No. 1]


Hazardous Materials: Improving the Safety of Railroad Tank Car 
Transportation of Hazardous Materials

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of establishment of public docket; notice of 
availability.

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SUMMARY: FRA and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration (PHMSA), operating administrations of DOT, have 
initiated a

[[Page 37975]]

comprehensive review of design and operational factors that affect the 
safety of railroad tank car transportation of hazardous materials. In 
order to facilitate public involvement in this review, FRA and PHMSA 
held a public meeting on May 31 and June 1, 2006, and FRA has 
established a public docket to provide all interested parties with a 
central location to both send and review relevant information 
concerning improving the safety of railroad tank car transportation of 
hazardous materials. The docket established for this purpose is 
designated Docket No. FRA-2006-25169. A copy of the transcript of the 
May 31 and June 1, 2006 public meeting is available in the docket.

ADDRESSES: The public is invited to submit both relevant information 
and relevant comments to the docket. Written submissions should refer 
to the docket number of this notice (Docket No. FRA-2006-25169) and may 
be submitted by any of the following methods:
    Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
    Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-001.
    Hand Delivery: Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 on the Plaza 
level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, 
between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
Holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) 
has authority over all areas of railroad safety (49 U.S.C. 20101 et 
seq.), and has delegated this authority to FRA. FRA has issued a 
comprehensive set of Federal regulations governing the safety of all 
facets of freight and passenger railroad operations (49 CFR parts 200-
244). FRA also conducts research and development to enhance railroad 
safety. The Secretary is also responsible for ``prescrib[ing] 
regulations for the safe transportation, including security, of 
hazardous material in intrastate, interstate, and foreign commerce.'' 
49 U.S.C. 5103. The Secretary has delegated this authority to PHMSA. 
FRA inspects railroads and shippers for compliance with both FRA 
railroad safety regulations and PHMSA regulations governing the 
transportation of hazardous materials in commerce.
    As detailed in PHMSA's ``Notice of public meeting'' published on 
May 24, 2006 (71 FR 30019), in the last several years, there have been 
a number of railroad accidents which resulted in hazardous material 
releases from tank cars. 71 FR at 30020. As noted in the May 24, 2006 
notice, some of these accidents are of particular concern because they 
involved materials that were poisonous or toxic by inhalation (TIH 
materials). Id. In addition, several other railroad accidents have 
occurred in recent years that, while not involving TIH materials, also 
involve the breach of railroad tank cars containing DOT regulated 
hazardous materials. These accidents include tank car failures at 
Eunice, LA (May 27, 2000), Council Bluffs, IA (October 8, 2004), 
Milford, UT (January 12, 2005), Creighton, PA (February 2, 2005) and 
Cleveland, OH (January 27, 2006). A primary causative factor of each of 
these accidents (those involving TIH materials and those involving 
other than TIH materials) was railroad operations, a failed tank 
structure, or a combination of the two.
    FRA and PHMSA have initiated a comprehensive review of design and 
operational factors that affect the safety of railroad tank car 
transportation of hazardous materials. As noted in the May 24, 2006 
notice, this review will not consider security issues. Id. PHMSA and 
FRA have been working closely with the Transportation Security 
Administration of the Department of Homeland Security, on developing 
proposed regulations to enhance the security of rail shipments of 
hazardous materials. These regulatory proposals will be issued in 
separate proceedings open to public comment as appropriate in the 
future.
    In order to facilitate public involvement in DOT's comprehensive 
review of the safety of railroad tank car transportation of hazardous 
materials, PHMSA and FRA invited interested persons to participate in a 
public meeting in Washington, DC on May 31 and June 1, 2006 to share 
concerns and comments related to the safe transportation of hazardous 
materials in tank cars. In order to facilitate further public 
involvement, FRA has established a docket to provide interested parties 
with a central location to both send and review relevant information 
concerning the safety of railroad tank car transportation of hazardous 
materials. The docket established for this purpose is designated Docket 
No. FRA-2006-25169. The information submitted to the docket will aid 
FRA and/or PHMSA in determining whether future rulemakings will be 
necessary to improve the safety of railroad tank car transportation of 
hazardous materials. A copy of the transcript of the May 31 and June 1, 
2006 public meeting is available for review in the docket. Also 
included in the docket is a copy of the June 13, 2006 written statement 
of the FRA Administrator before the House Subcommittee on Railroads 
concerning current issues in rail transportation of hazardous 
materials. The Administrator's testimony discusses hazardous material 
releases and steps FRA is taking to improve the safety of the rail 
movement of hazardous materials. The public is invited to submit both 
information and comments relevant to DOT's comprehensive review of the 
safety of railroad tank car transportation of hazardous materials to 
the docket identified in this notice.

Privacy

    Anyone is able to search all comments received into any of our 
dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or 
signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, 
business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 
665, Number 7, Pages 19477-78). The statement may also be found at 
http://dms.dot.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC on June 28, 2006.
Jo Strang,
Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. E6-10371 Filed 6-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P