The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has announced a proposal to simplify regulations for truck drivers hauling fuel.
According to PHMSA, the notice of proposed rulemaking would provide nearly $100 million in cost savings to businesses and consumers, as well as enhance transportation safety standards.
“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,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “The proposal we’re announcing … streamlines requirements while maintaining safety measures, helping to reduce costs for businesses and consumers and make it easier for drivers to do their job.”
The agency said that the proposed rule would update and modernize regulations to accommodate the latest technologies and business practices.
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,” PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown said.
Once the notice of proposed rulemaking is published in the Federal Register, it will be open to a 90-day public comment period. The agency will then use those comments to determine whether it will move forward with a final rule. LL
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