[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34227-34228]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11298]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2022-0033 (Notice No. 2023-05)]


Hazardous Materials: Adjusting Registration and Fee Assessment 
Program; Notice of Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: PHMSA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety will hold a 
public meeting to solicit input on potential adjustments to the 
statutorily mandated hazardous materials registration and fee 
assessment program. The potential adjustment of fees may be necessary 
to fund PHMSA's national emergency preparedness grant programs at the 
newly authorized level in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment 
and Jobs Act of 2021.

DATES: The meeting will be held virtually on June 28, 2023, from 1:00 
p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Requests to attend the 
meeting must be received by June 21, 2023. Requests for accommodations 
for a disability must be received by June 21, 2023. Persons requesting 
to speak during the meeting must submit a written copy of their remarks 
to DOT by June 21, 2023. Requests to submit written materials to be 
reviewed during the meeting must be received no later than June 21, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held virtually at the following: https://usdot.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItde2gqzgtGcv6ewzeLw34nzwwtO_IY68.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yul B. Baker Jr., Standards and 
Rulemaking Division, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, 202-366-
8553, PHMSA, East Building, PHH10, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) 
is considering an adjustment to our statutorily mandated registration 
and fee assessment program for persons who offer for transportation or 
transport certain categories and quantities of hazardous materials. 
PHMSA conducts a national hazardous materials registration program 
under the mandate in 49 U.S.C. 5108 for a person who offers \1\ for 
transportation (i.e., shippers) or transports certain hazardous 
materials in intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce. The 
registration program implements the mandate for persons to file a 
registration statement with the Secretary of Transportation--as 
delegated to PHMSA--and collects registration and processing fees from 
persons required to file a registration statement (hereafter referred 
to as ``registrants'') to fund the Emergency Preparedness (EP) grants. 
EP grants support hazardous materials emergency response planning and 
training activities by states, local governments, and Native American 
tribes. EP grants also fund nonprofit organizations to provide ``train-
the-trainer'' programs for hazardous materials emergency response 
training and hazardous materials employee training. Additionally, EP 
grants support the development of the Emergency Response Guidebook 
(ERG) that assists emergency responders in determining appropriate 
response measures and provides funds for grantee monitoring and 
technical assistance. Congress recognized in the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 \2\ (IIJA) (as evidenced by increased 
authorization levels for the EP Grant Program), and as congressional 
testimony was reinforced in the aftermath of the 2023 Norfolk Southern 
train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, there is an increasing need 
for Federal support for first responders, particularly responders to 
hazardous materials related incidents, such as are supported through 
the EP grants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Defined in 49 CFR 171.8.
    \2\ Public Law 117-58.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To raise additional revenue to meet the increasing needs for the EP 
Grant Program, PHMSA has discretion to require additional persons to 
register--beyond those who offer, and transport certain categories and 
quantities of hazardous materials listed in 49 U.S.C. 5108(a)(1)--and 
to set the annual registration fee between the statutorily mandated 
minimum and maximum amounts. See 49 U.S.C. 5108(b), 5116, and 5128(b). 
PHMSA may currently set an annual registration fee between a minimum of 
$250 and maximum of $3,000. In the HM-208J Advanced Noticed of Proposed 
Rulemaking (ANPRM),\3\ PHMSA presented a fee scenario table and options 
to solicit feedback from stakeholders on potential methods and any 
alternative methods to achieve the increased funding. PHMSA presented 
nine options for consideration, grouped between a scenario where the 
maximum fee remains $3,000 per year, and an alternative scenario where 
Congress increases the maximum fee. The options included:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 87 FR 57859 (Sept. 22, 2022).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If registration fees remain at a maximum $3,000 per year, PHMSA is 
considering the following options for comment:
    1. Keep the existing registration requirements (see 49 CFR 107.601) 
and raise the registration fee for large businesses from $2,575 to 
$3,000.
    2. Keep the existing registration requirements and apply a nominal 
fee (e.g., $25) for each facility or geographic location from which a 
registered person (i.e., a company) offers for transportation, or 
transports, certain hazardous materials.

[[Page 34228]]

    3. Modify assignment of the registration fee and/or amount based on 
the commensurate hazard posed (e.g., shipping Packing Group I materials 
vs. Packing Group III materials) \4\ or risk profile (e.g., frequent 
vs. infrequent shipments).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Packing group means a grouping according to the degree of 
danger presented by hazardous materials. Packing Group I indicates 
great danger; Packing Group II, medium danger; Packing Group III, 
minor danger.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    4. Expand the registration requirements. For example, certain 
hazardous materials are not subject to placarding when shipped 
domestically. Therefore, a person who offers for transportation, or 
transports, these materials is generally exempt from registration, but 
these requirements could be expanded with appropriate risk-based 
justifications.
    5. Expand the registration fee requirements to include certain 
persons who acquire approvals or special permits from PHMSA that 
otherwise are not subject to registration, but which should be based on 
a public risk-based justification.
    If Congress allows an increase in the maximum fee, PHMSA is 
considering the following options for comment:
    1. Maintain the current maximum registration fees and create an 
upper tier of a higher fee for a certain category of very large 
businesses. If this approach is preferred, how should PHMSA define a 
``very large business?'' Specifically, what risk factors should go into 
determining a very large business classification to better account for 
market-based risks to the public as well as equity factors between 
applicants.
    2. Change the registration requirements to reduce the overall 
number of registrants.
    3. Keep the existing registration requirements and raise the 
registration fee for large businesses from $2,575 to a dollar value 
below the Congressionally authorized maximum fee (e.g., if the maximum 
allowed were increased from $3,000 to $5,000).
    4. Raise fees for specific business types, classes of material, or 
commodities (e.g., poisonous by inhalation material), which are 
considered extremely high risk.
    Once the comment period concluded for the ANPRM, PHMSA received 
seven sets of comments from the regulated community--which provided 
some insight on how to adjust the mandated registration and fee 
assessment program. Some ideas expressed within the comments PHMSA 
received were:
    1. Maintaining a two-tiered fee structure and raising HAZMAT 
registration fees in a manner that will not disproportionately impact 
small businesses.
    2. Endorsing the current two-tiered fee system based on the level 
of commercial activity assigned to business entities by the Small 
Business Administration (SBA) and opposing broadening the universe of 
registrants beyond shippers and carriers of placarded loads.
    3. Raising the $3,000 per registrant fee cap.
    4. Supporting the current two-tiered fee structure as well 
established and capable of generating the additional funds authorized 
in the IIJA, minimizing complexity, and providing clear identification 
of those who are required to pay the appropriate fees.
    5. Opposing additional criteria, revising the defining criteria for 
small or non-small businesses, or adding additional types of businesses 
that would need to register.
    Due to the limited number of comments received, PHMSA is holding 
this public meeting in hopes of garnering more substantive feedback and 
information on the most appropriate and equitable manner to adjust the 
registration and fee assessment program to meet the authorized increase 
set forth in the IIJA.

II. Meeting Agenda

    At this meeting, PHMSA will address the following topics:
    1. Data points PHMSA has garnered from an independent working 
group.
    2. Establishing a new registration group (e.g., packaging 
manufacturers) and potentially raising registration fees on businesses 
other than small businesses based on risk-based transport of hazardous 
materials.
    3. Open floor--any items not covered in the ANPRM, or new 
suggestions mentioned by commenters to the ANPRM.

III. Public Participation

    The meeting will be open to the public; however, any member of the 
public who wishes to attend must RSVP in advance using the following: 
https://usdot.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItde2gqzgtGcv6ewzeLw34nzwwtO_IY68.
    PHMSA is committed to providing equal access for all citizens and 
ensuring that information is available in appropriate alternative 
formats to meet the requirements of persons who have a disability. If 
you require an alternative version of files provided or alternative 
accommodations, please contact [email protected] no later 
than June 21, 2023.

     Issued in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2023, under the authority 
delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.
William S. Schoonover,
Associate Administrator for Hazard Materials Safety, Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2023-11298 Filed 5-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P