On Feb. 3, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a bill that would reauthorize federal hazardous materials safety programs for five years, with provisions that would require more economic analysis of proposed regulations.
The hazmat stipulations are part of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7). The bill authorizes $260 billion in spending for federal surface transportation programs through fiscal year 2016.
The surface transportation package would authorize $39 million a year in funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) Office of Hazardous Materials Safety.
The bill is expected to move to the House floor next week.
The hazardous materials safety title of the House transportation bill contains a number of provisions that would change PHMSA's regulatory process, including language that would require the Department of Transportation to consider the potential costs and economic impacts of a proposed rule before moving ahead with a final regulation.
The House proposal also contains language to require PHMSA to initiate a rulemaking to establish fitness criteria for the issuance of special permits, mandate an independent study of the transportation of flammable liquids in the “wetlines” of tanker trucks, and ensure federal regulatory jurisdiction over the loading and unloading of hazardous materials from bulk containers.
A version of a hazardous materials safety reauthorization bill was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in December 2011, which is expected to be combined with other legislation to form a comprehensive surface transportation package for Senate floor consideration.
