The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published on Oct. 28, 2024, a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that recommends modernizing and simplifying the hazardous material regulations. The proposed standards will enhance safety standards across rail, highway and vessel transportation while also providing $100 million in annual cost savings for businesses and consumers.
The NPRM proposes extensive revisions to the rail tank car hazardous materials regulations. It addresses the following:
- Removing the Association of American Railroads exclusive authority over tank car design approval and Quality Assurance Program (QAP) approval and replacing it with a Design Certifying Engineer (DCE) approval program.
- Reducing review times for tank car design approvals and addressing National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations regarding improved design standards for tank cars.
- Revising rail tank car use requirements as recommended by the Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC).
- Updating the Association of American Railroads (AAR) material incorporated by reference.
To view the entire NPRM, see the Federal Register publication. Comments on the proposed rulemaking are due by Jan. 27, 2025.
I. Railroad Safety Advisory Committee
The Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) provides information, advice and recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regarding railroad safety. PHMSA proposes to adopt elements of RSAC consensus recommendations including requiring tank car facilities to apply for and receive a DOT registration letter from PHMSA assigning a registration number prior to qualifying tank cars for service; incorporating by reference industry standards such as the Association of American Railroads Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices Section C-III Specifications for Tank Cars (M-1002); and revising the requirements for One Time Movement Approvals.
II. Association of American Railroads’ Authority
Currently, the hazardous materials regulations delegate tank car and service equipment design, materials, construction and conversion or alteration approval to the AAR Tank Car Committee (TCC). The AAR TCC also handles approval of tank car facility QAPs. PHMSA and FRA provide regulatory oversight of the AAR TCC. However, the AAR TCC is also responsible for conducting facility audits, and the audit scheduling, procedure and subsequent recommendation for approval or denial are conducted wholly within the discretion of AAR while the significant costs associated with the audits rest wholly on the facility. The focus of the tank car hazardous materials regulations on AAR approval has led to significant bottlenecks and delays that negatively impact tank car safety, increase costs for the transport industry and cause delays in the transport of materials. PHMSA’s NPRM targets these issues.
In the NPRM, PHMSA proposes to remove the requirement that tank car and service equipment designs be approved solely by the AAR TCC and replace it with a requirement for tank car designs to be approved by a tank car DCE. A tank car DCE must have an engineering degree and at least one year of work experience in tank car structural or mechanical design or be registered currently as a professional engineer by an appropriate authority of a state of the United States or a province of Canada. All DCEs must register with PHMSA before providing approvals and must provide PHMSA with information on the types of design review the DCE will conduct. The DCEs must review the same information and drawings currently required in the AAR Form 4-2.
The NPRM also proposes process and documentation requirements for DCE approvals in order to increase government oversight of the design approval process beyond what currently applies to the AAR TCC. Permitting DCEs to approve tank car and service equipment designs will make the tank car hazardous materials regulations consistent with the current highway cargo tank design review and approval process.
The NPRM also proposes to remove the requirement for tank car facilities to have a QAP approved by the AAR TCC and replaces it with a requirement for tank car facilities to register with PHMSA, maintain a QAP and certify that the facility’s QAP meets the quality assurance program requirements laid out in 49 CFR § 179.7. Tank car facilities would also be required to include an executive summary of their QAP with their registration statement. The NPRM would allow PHMSA to modify, suspend or terminate tank car facility registration in the following situations: a change in circumstances occurred such that the registration is no longer needed or would no longer be granted if applied for; the application contained inaccurate or incomplete information and would not have been granted had complete information been provided; the application contained deliberately inaccurate or incomplete information; or the registration holder knowingly violated the terms of the registration or an applicable regulatory requirement. FRA, in conjunction with PHMSA, will oversee tank car facility QAPs through regular facility compliance audits.
Finally, the NPRM revises the definition of “tank car facility” in Section 179.2 to the following: “Tank car facility means an entity that qualifies a tank car to ensure its conformance to part 179 or part 180 of this subchapter. A tank car facility must register with PHMSA in accordance with part 107, subpart J, of this chapter.” The proposed revision clarifies that the definition applies to facilities that qualify a tank car for service and clarifies what activities require a qualification of a tank car. PHMSA also proposes revising the definition of “service equipment” to clarify that service equipment encompasses pressure or lading retaining equipment such as relief devices, valves, manway covers, devices used for loading and unloading, interior heating coals, and vents. Clarifying these definitions conveys that the removal of service equipment from the tank car and replacement or re-installation of the service equipment is a qualification event that triggers the need for a leakage pressure test to verify that the tank car is leak-tight at the connection. A leakage pressure test is a qualification event that must be performed by a tank car facility. The NPRM explains that a facility that only manufacturers, maintains or repairs service equipment is not considered a tank car facility.
III. Tank Car Regulatory Amendments for Material Incorporated by Reference
For many years, the AAR has developed industry standards for the construction and maintenance of tank cars. These standards are incorporated by reference into the hazardous materials regulations. Currently, 49 C.F.R. § 171.7 incorporates by reference the December 2000 edition of the AAR Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, Section C-III, Specifications for Tank Cars, Specification, M-1002 (AAR Specifications for Tank Cars). The incorporated material applies to parts 173 (Shippers-General Requirements for Shipments and Packagings), 179 (Specifications for Tank Cars), and 180 (Continuing Qualification and Maintenance of Packagings). PHMSA and RSAC propose to update the incorporated standard from the December 2000 edition of the AAR Specifications for Tank Cars to the November 2014 edition. PHMSA also proposes to separate the incorporated-by-reference material in § 171.7 into component chapters and appendices in order to allow more streamlined updates for new editions that may be released in the future.
The NPRM proposes to incorporate by reference the portion of the November 2014 edition of the AAR Specifications for Tank Cars M-1002, Chapter 2, Section 2.2.1.2 into § 179.102-3 to create a requirement for shell and head material Charpy impact testing at the time of manufacture for pressure tank cars that transport poisonous-by-inhalation material. This update would address NTSB Safety Recommendation R-19-001, which requests that PHMSA promulgate a final standard for pressure tank cars used to transport poison inhalation materials.
In line with the NPRM’s proposed revisions to the AAR approval process for tank car designs and facility quality assurance programs, PHMSA proposes to remove the material incorporated by reference that requires designs and quality assurance programs be sent to AAR for approval.