[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 142 (Thursday, July 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44579-44580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15949]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0195 (Notice No. 2020-07)]


Hazardous Materials: Information Collection Activities

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, PHMSA 
invites comments on a revision to the information collection pertaining 
to hazardous materials public sector training and planning grants for 
which PHMSA intends to request a renewal with revision from the Office 
of Management and Budget.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or August 
24, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Andrews or Shelby Geller, 
Standards and Rulemaking Division, (202) 366-8553, Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 1320.8 (d), title 5, Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) requires PHMSA to provide interested members of the 
public and affected agencies an opportunity to comment on information 
collection and recordkeeping requests. This notice identifies an 
information collection request that PHMSA will be submitting to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for revision. Specifically, PHMSA 
is notifying the public of its intent to seek additional information in 
hazardous materials planning grant applications. This information 
collection is contained in 49 CFR 171.6 of the Hazardous Materials 
Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180). PHMSA has revised burden 
estimates, where appropriate, to reflect current reporting levels or 
adjustments based on a proposed revision to this information 
collection. The following information is provided for this information 
collection: (1) Title of the information collection, including former 
title if a change is being made; (2) OMB control number; (3) summary of 
the information collection activity; (4) description of affected 
public; (5) estimate of total annual reporting and recordkeeping 
burden; and (6) frequency of collection. PHMSA will request a 3-year 
term of approval for this information collection activity.
    On February 28, 2019, PHMSA published a final rule titled 
``Hazardous Materials: Oil Spill Response Plans and Information Sharing 
for High-Hazard Flammable Trains (FAST Act)'' [HM-251B; 84 FR 6910] 
which revised and clarified requirements for Comprehensive Oil Spill 
Response Plans (COSRPs) and expanded their applicability based on 
petroleum oil thresholds that apply to an entire train consist. The 
final rule also requires a railroad to share information about high-
hazard flammable train (HHFT) operations with each State emergency 
response commissions (SERC), Tribal Emergency Response Commission 
(TERC), or other appropriate State-delegated agency in each State 
through which it operates to improve community preparedness. At a 
minimum, railroads must provide: (1) A reasonable estimate of the 
number of HHFTs that the railroad expects to operate each week, through 
each county within the State or through each tribal jurisdiction; (2) 
the routes over which the HHFTs will operate; (3) a description of the 
hazardous materials being transported and all applicable emergency 
response information required by the shipping papers and emergency 
response information requirements of the HMR; (4) an HHFT point of 
contact; and (5) a description of the response zones (including 
counties and states) and the contact information for the qualified 
individual and alternate as specified under Sec.  130.120(c) if a route 
identified above is additionally subject to the comprehensive spill 
plan requirements. In addition, the HHFT notification must be 
maintained and transmitted in accordance with the following: (1) 
Railroads must update the notifications for changes in volume greater 
than 25%; (2) notifications and updates may be transmitted 
electronically or by hard copy; (3) if the disclosure includes 
information that a railroad believes is security sensitive or 
proprietary and exempt from public disclosure, the railroad should 
indicate that in the notification; (4) each point of contact must be 
clearly identified by name or title, and contact role (e.g., qualified 
individual, HHFT point of contact) in association with the telephone 
number. One point of contact may fulfill multiple roles; and (5) copies 
of the railroad's notifications made under this section must be made 
available to the Department of Transportation upon request.
    Following an audit conducted by the General Accounting Office 
(GAO), PHMSA received a recommendation (GAO-17-91) to develop a process 
for regularly collecting information from SERCs on the distribution of 
the railroad-provided hazardous materials shipping information to local 
planning entities. In response to this recommendation, PHMSA will have 
grant applicants declare if SERCs have received copies of the railroad-
provided information detailed above. In addition, PHMSA will determine 
if the SERCs are disseminating this information to local planning 
entities. PHMSA expects that requesting grantees to provide this 
additional information will add approximately 2 minutes of burden time 
per respondent. For 62 grantees, this is approximately 2 additional 
burden hours (62 grantees x 2 minutes).
    A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on this information collection was published on November 26, 
2019 [84 FR 65213].
    PHMSA received no comments to the 60-day notice.

[[Page 44580]]



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                                                  Responses per      Number of       Hours per     Total burden
        Question/topic            Respondents      respondent        responses       response          hours
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General Grantee and Sub-                    62                 1              62              16             992
 grantee information..........
Information on LEPCs..........              62                 1              62              16             992
Assessment of Potential                     62                 1              62               8             496
 Chemical Threats.............
Assessment of Response                      62                 1              62               8             496
 Capabilities for Accidents/
 Incidents....................
HMEP Planning and Training                  62                 1              62               7             434
 Grant Reporting..............
HMEP Planning Goals and                     62                 1              62               7             434
 Objectives...................
HMEP Training and Planning                  62                 1              62               7             434
 Assessment...................
Hazmat Transportation Fees....              62                 1              62            3.23          200.26
Grant Applicant is NIMS                     62                 1              62             5.5             341
 Compliant/Grant Application
 Is Reviewed By SERC..........
HMEP Grant Program                          62                 1              62             5.5             341
 Administration...............
HHFT Information Sharing                    62                 1              62           0.033           2.067
 Compliance Questions.........
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    As described above, PHMSA currently estimates the OMB Control 
Number 2137-0586 burden to be revised as follows:
    Title: Hazardous Materials Public Sector Training and Planning 
Grants
    OMB Control Number: 2137-0586
    Summary: Part 110 of 49 CFR sets forth the procedures for 
reimbursable grants for public sector planning and training in support 
of the emergency planning and training efforts of States, Territories, 
and Indian tribes to manage hazardous materials emergencies, 
particularly those involving transportation. Sections in this part 
address information collection reporting requirements regarding the 
application for grants, the monitoring of expenditures, and the 
reporting and requesting of modifications.

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                                                                   Total annual      Hours per     Total annual
             Information collection                 Respondents      responses       response      burden hours
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Hazardous Materials Public Sector Training &                  62              62           83.26           5,162
 Planning Grants................................
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    Affected Public: State and local governments, Indian tribes.
    Increase in Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:
    Increase in Annual Respondents: 0.
    Increase in Annual Responses: 0.
    Increase in Annual Burden Hours: 2.
    Frequency of collection: Annually.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
William A. Quade,
Deputy Associate Administrator of Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline 
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2020-15949 Filed 7-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P