WASHINGTON – In an Oct. 7 media release, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced a proposed rule the agency says would provide close to $100 million in annual cost savings for businesses and consumers. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) would improve supply chains by modernizing and simplifying hazardous material transportation regulations that impact truck drivers hauling fuels.
The release stated that the proposed rule would also enhance safety standards across highway, rail, and vessel modes of transportation.
“Hazardous materials are a significant share of the essential goods routinely shipped in the United States, and the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make it more affordable and straightforward to safely move these materials through our supply chains,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “The proposal we’re announcing today streamlines requirements while maintaining safety measures, helping to reduce costs for businesses and consumers and make it easier for drivers to do their job.”
Specifically, the proposed rule updates and modernizes regulations to accommodate the latest technologies, business practices, and understandings of hazardous materials, including updates in packaging practices for hazmat transportation.
Highlights of the proposed rule include:
- Reducing burdens for U.S. truck drivers by simplifying hazard communication requirements for fuels including gasoline that are transported in tanker trucks.
- Encouraging innovation and safety improvements to hazardous materials rail cars by reducing review times for tank car design improvements and addressing National Transportation Safety Board recommendations regarding improved design standards for rail tank cars.
- Modernizing standards for essential agricultural equipment by codifying manufacturing standards for newly built fertilizer tanks and permitting the use of video and fiber optics technologies when inspecting and calibrating cargo tanks in both agricultural and non-agricultural operations.
“This proposal focuses on ways to reduce regulatory burdens for America’s truck drivers and increases the overall efficiency of America’s critical energy transportation supply chains that impact every job and industry throughout our economy,” said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown. “These proposed changes build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s successful work to ensure America’s supply chains are the safest and most efficient in the world, utilizing the latest data and transportation technologies.”
The proposed rule was submitted to the Federal Register in conjunction with additional actions announced on National Manufacturing Day (October 4) by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure the future is Made in America. The proposed rule aims to support supply chains vital to the transportation sector—ensuring manufacturers can safely and affordably get resources they need to make, package, and ship goods to markets across America and throughout the world.
The proposed rule has been submitted to the Office of the Federal Register for publication and can be viewed on PHMSA’s website at www.phmsa.dot.gov. PHMSA will accept comments on the proposed rule up to 90 days after it publishes in the Federal Register.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
