In two actions published in today’s Federal Register, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has made an application to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for an administrative determination on whether Federal hazardous materials laws would pre-empt requirements put in place by the cities of New York, NY and Pittsburgh, PA.
US Federal Railroad Administration Announces Intent to Issue NPRM — Mandate Train Crew Sizes, Other Measures
Fallout from the Lac Megantic, Quebec train derailment in July of 2013 continues for the rail industry in general with the issuance today of a press release by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) which announces FRA’s intent to issue a proposed rulemaking (or, NPRM) which will for the first time mandate the size of train…
USDOT/PHMSA Submits Paper for Upcoming UN Session on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) continues to respond to the disastrous train derailment in La Megantic, Quebec on July 6th, 2013. In that incident, an unmanned and unattended Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic (MM&A) freight train carrying crude oil derailed after a brake failure and subsequent uncontrolled…
PHMSA Releases Special Permit Actions
The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a set of actions on a wide variety of special permit activities in today’s Federal Register.
PHMSA Releases Special Permit Incorporations
The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has published a final rule in today’s Federal Register which takes the important step of incorporating the terms of a number of Special Permits and/or Competent Authority Approvals into the regulations as standard language.
USDOT Issues Further Emergency Order Related to Crude Oil Transport and Classification
At approximately 1:15 AM EST on July 6th, 2013, a unit freight train of the cross-border operating Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic Railroad (MM&A) loaded with crude oil from the Bakken Shale Formations in North Dakota in the western United States suffered an as-yet unexplained failure of its automatic and manual braking systems while left unattended…
Crude Shippers face fallout from “Operation Classification”
Shippers of crude oil have now faced the initial fallout from the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT)/Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency’s (PHMSA)/Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) new “Operation Classification,” a spot inspection regimen designed to verify the accuracy of petroleum product classification and to try to increase the safety of crude shipments, particularly (but…
2013 Year-end Compliance Highlights (Part 2 of 3)
On Friday, December 6th, Labelmaster published the first in our three part series on 2013 Year-end Compliance Highlights that will continue to have an impact on workplace and transportation practices well into 2014. In the second installment, we highlight PHMSA DOT Final Rule. This final rule was published in Federal Register on October 31st and…
FRA/PHMSA Expand on Emergency Order 28 in Response to Quebec Derailment
FRA/PHMSA conduct “Operation Classification” enforcement action. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) continue to respond to the disastrous railroad derailment in La Megantic, Quebec on July 6th, 2013. In that incident, an unmanned and unattended Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic (MM&A) freight train carrying crude oil derailed after…
PHMSA Releases Halloween Revisions to the 49 CFR
With the end of the government’s partial shutdown, USDOT/PHMSA has returned to full operation and has joined the ranks of government agencies promulgating new, revised, or corrected regulatory information. On October 31st, 2013, the Federal Register contained a set of revisions to the 49 CFR representing the first substantive change to the regulations in the…