[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 113 (Monday, June 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35847-35849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12720]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2021-0109; Notice No. 2022-10]
Hazardous Materials: Frequently Asked Questions--Applicability of
the Hazardous Materials Regulations; Extension of Comment Period and
Notice of Public Informational Webinar
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice; extension of comment period and informational webinar
announcement.
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SUMMARY: On March 22, 2022, PHMSA announced an initiative to convert
historical letters of interpretation applicable to the Hazardous
Materials Regulations (HMR) that have been issued to specific
stakeholders into broadly applicable frequently asked questions on its
website. PHMSA requested comment on the initiative and input on the
prioritization of future sets of frequently asked questions. In this
notice, PHMSA is extending the comment period from May 23, 2022, until
July 22, 2022. In addition, PHMSA plans to host a webinar to discuss
the process and intent of this initiative with stakeholders on June 27,
2022.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
July 22, 2022. Comments received after that date will be considered to
the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket Number
PHMSA-2021-0109 by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management System; U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Routing
Symbol M-30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: Docket Management System; Room W12-140 on
the ground floor of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
Docket Number (PHMSA-2021-0109) for this notice. To avoid duplication,
please use only one of these four methods. All comments received will
be posted without change to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)
and will include any personal information you provide.
Docket: For access to the dockets to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or DOT's Docket
Operations Office (see ADDRESSES).
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits
comments from the public. DOT posts these comments, without edit,
including any personal information the commenter provides, to http://www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/
ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at http://www.dot.gov/privacy.
Confidential Business Information (CBI): CBI is commercial or
financial information that is both customarily and actually treated as
private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5
U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments
responsive to this notice contain commercial or financial information
that is customarily treated
[[Page 35848]]
as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or
responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate
the submitted comments as ``CBI.'' Please mark each page of your
submission containing CBI as ``PROPIN.'' Submissions containing CBI
should be sent to Arthur Pollack, 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. Any commentary that PHMSA receives which is
not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public docket
for this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Arthur Pollack, 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:
I. Webinar Details and Public Participation
The webinar will take place on June 27, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. EST and
will be open to the public. Attendees must register on the meeting
website at https://opsweb.phmsa.dot.gov/hm_seminars/faq_webinar.asp.
II. Background
Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5101 et
seq.) directs the Secretary of Transportation (``the Secretary'') to
establish regulations for the safe and secure transportation of
hazardous materials in commerce. The Secretary is authorized to apply
those regulations to (1) persons who transport hazardous materials in
commerce, (2) persons who cause hazardous materials to be transported
in commerce, (3) persons who manufacture or maintain a packaging or a
component of a packaging that is represented, marked, certified, or
sold as qualified for use in the transportation of a hazardous material
in commerce, (4) persons who indicate by marking or other means that a
hazardous material being transported in commerce is present in a
package or transport conveyance when it is not, and (5) persons who
tamper with a package or transport conveyance used to transport
hazardous materials in commerce or a required marking, label, placard,
or shipping description.
In 49 CFR 1.97, the Secretary delegated authority to issue
regulations for the safe and secure transportation of hazardous
materials in commerce to the PHMSA Administrator. The PHMSA
Administrator issues the HMR under that delegated authority. The HMR
prescribes requirements for the safe transportation in commerce of
hazardous materials, including provisions for classification,
packaging, and hazard communication.
To facilitate its safety mission and promote better awareness of
its programs and compliance requirements, the Office of Hazardous
Materials Safety (OHMS) periodically issues agency guidance in the
Federal Register and on its publicly available website \1\ for use by
the regulated community, PHMSA staff, and federal, state, and local
partners. This information is non-binding material given to the public
pertaining to information and resources useful to comply with the HMR
and is also used to make the public aware of safety issues or best
practices. PHMSA issues this information through posted frequently
asked questions (FAQs), advisory bulletins, publications, and policy
manuals. PHMSA also answers questions from stakeholders through its
staff and the Hazardous Materials Information Center (HMIC) \2\ and by
issuing letters of interpretation (LOIs). As provided in 49 CFR 105.20
(Guidance and Interpretations), a member of the public may request
information and answers to questions on HMR compliance by contacting
the OHMS Standards and Rulemaking Division or the HMIC.\3\ OHMS
receives an average of 250 requests for LOIs each year. Some of these
requests for interpretations have previously been asked, answered, and
published on PHMSA's Online Code of Federal Regulations (oCFR) website
at https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/phmsas-online-cfr-ocfr.
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\1\ https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/guidance?keywords=security&issued_date_from=&field_issued_date_value_1=.
\2\ The HMIC can be reached at 1-800-467-4922 and
[email protected]. For additional information visit: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/hazardous-materials-information-center.
\3\ To request a formal letter of interpretation, persons may
also write to: Mr. Shane Kelley, Director, Standards and Rulemaking
Division, U.S. DOT/PHMSA (PHH-10), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, East
Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590. To obtain information and
answers pertaining to statute compliance and preemption, persons
must, as prescribed by 49 CFR 105.20(b), contact the office of the
Chief Counsel at: Office of the Chief Counsel, U.S. DOT/PHMSA (PHC-
10), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, East Building, Washington, DC 20590,
or at (202) 366-4400.
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The purpose of the FAQ initiative is to optimize the effectiveness,
reach, and impact of the OHMS LOI process. Through publishing FAQs,
PHMSA will memorialize in broadly applicable guidance its historical
LOIs for, and applicable to, specific stakeholders regulated by the
HMR. Specifically, this initiative adapts currently available
stakeholder engagement functions to more directly appeal to a broader
regulated community, develop a systematic process in managing/curating
agency information that can be incorporated conveniently into existing
workflows, and create helpful tools for current stakeholders. The
success of this initiative will be measurable by monitoring PHMSA's
website engagement, the rate of incoming calls to the HMIC, and the
volume of incoming LOI requests. A successful project should see an
increase in website engagement with either static or reduced rates of
calls to the HMIC and a reduced volume of incoming LOI requests. In
addition, the interpretation workflow should reflect more efficient
processing and productivity.
III. Federal Register Notice
On March 22, 2022, PHMSA published Notice No. 2022-02 [87 FR 16308]
announcing an initiative to publish FAQs on its website to facilitate
better public understanding and awareness of the hazardous materials
regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171 through 180). The FAQs in the notice
are intended to clarify, explain, and promote better understanding of
the HMR. FAQs are not substantive rules, and do not create legally
enforceable rights, assign duties, or impose new obligations not
otherwise contained in the existing regulations and standards, but are
provided to help the regulated community understand how to comply with
the regulations.
PHMSA is creating a repository of these questions, which will
reduce the need for issuing duplicative LOIs to multiple stakeholders
and will assist PHMSA in streamlining the use of its resources by
significantly reducing frequently asked LOIs. This initiative will
provide additional value to PHMSA's oCFR tool found at https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/phmsas-online-cfr-ocfr.
The oCFR tool is an interactive web-based application that allows users
to navigate with a single click between all content, including LOIs
connected to an HMR citation. The oCFR tool includes the ability to
sort, filter, and export search results.
PHMSA expects this initiative to ultimately allow the agency to
devote resources to other hazardous materials transportation safety
projects such as petitions for rulemakings, public
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outreach and engagement, and regulatory and policy improvements.
IV. Comment Period Extension
PHMSA initially provided a 60-day comment period for the March 22,
2022, Federal Register notice with a May 23, 2022, closing date. In
response to a request to extend the comment period from the Dangerous
Goods Advisory Council, PHMSA is extending the comment period an
additional 60 days. The comment period will now close on July 22, 2022.
This extension provides the public additional time to provide comment
on the FAQ initiative. In addition, PHMSA will host a webinar to
provide detailed information on the process and intent of the FAQ
initiative. The webinar will be held on June 27, 2022.
Signed in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2022, under authority
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
William S. Schoonover,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-12720 Filed 6-10-22; 8:45 am]
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