[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67768-67769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26614]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025: Notice No. 19-XX]
Hazardous Materials: Notice of Issuance of Special Permit
Regarding Liquefied Natural Gas
AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: PHMSA is publishing this notice as a general informational
announcement concerning the issuance of a special permit. The special
permit authorizes the grantee to transport Methane, refrigerated liquid
(i.e., liquefied natural gas or LNG) by rail tank car. The special
permit and documents supporting the special permit decision have been
added to PHMSA's LNG by Rail Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket
(Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025) for consideration by the public because
the subject matter of the special permit overlaps with the subject
matter of PHMSA's rulemaking proposing to authorize the transport of
LNG in rail tank cars. PHMSA reviewed comments to the draft
environmental assessment (Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0100) published for
public review on June 6, 2019. These comments informed PHMSA's decision
making in issuing the special permit and will also help to inform
PHMSA's deliberations with respect to a potential LNG by rail final
rule. PHMSA will consider any additional comments on the operational
controls included in the special permit that are filed to the LNG
rulemaking docket to aid the agency in determining what, if any,
operational controls may be appropriate for inclusion in a potential
final rule.
DATES: Comments must be received to Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025 by
December 23, 2019. To the extent practicable, PHMSA will consider late-
filed comments in development of a potential final rule.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket Number
PHMSA-2018-0025 (HM-264) via any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management System; U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Routing
Symbol M-30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: To the Docket Management System; Room W12-
140 on the ground floor of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
Docket Number (PHMSA-2018-0025) or RIN (2137-AF40) for this rulemaking
at the beginning of the comment. To avoid duplication, please use only
one of these four methods. All comments received will be posted without
change to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) and will include
any personal information you provide. If sent by mail, comments must be
submitted in duplicate. Persons wishing to receive confirmation of
receipt of their comments must include a self-addressed stamped
postcard.
Docket: For access to the dockets to read background documents or
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or DOT's Docket
Operations Office (see ADDRESSES).
Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business
Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both
customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from
public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as
private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or
responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate
the submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 CFR 105.30, you may ask
PHMSA to give confidential treatment to information you give to the
agency by taking the following steps: (1) Mark each page of the
original document submission containing CBI as ``Confidential''; (2)
send PHMSA, along with the original document, a second copy of the
original document with the CBI deleted; and (3) explain why the
information you are submitting is CBI. Unless you are notified
otherwise, PHMSA will treat such marked submissions as confidential
under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of
this notice. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Michael
Ciccarone, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, Standards and
Rulemaking Division, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave.
SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Any commentary that PHMSA receives which
is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the LNG by Rail
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket (Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald Burger, Approvals and Permits
(PHH-30), Telephone (202) 366-4535, or Michael Ciccarone, Standards and
Rulemaking Division (PHH-10),
[[Page 67769]]
Telephone (202) 366-8553. U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 6, 2019, PHMSA published a Notice of
Draft Environmental Assessment for a Special Permit Request for
Liquefied Natural Gas by Rail (PHMSA-2019-0100-0002) in the Federal
Register. PHMSA solicited comment on the draft environmental assessment
(EA) for a special permit request from Energy Transport Solutions, LLC.
The notice requested comment on potential safety, environmental, and
any additional impacts that should be considered as part of the special
permit evaluation. See Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0100 for further
information on the draft special permit.
The comment period closed on August 7, 2019. PHMSA received
approximately 2,985 comments to the docket for the notice. In
consideration of the request for special permit and the 2,985 comments
received to the notice, PHMSA completed a technical evaluation and a
revised EA. For more information on the comments received please see
the revised EA, Section 6 PHMSA's Response to Public Comments, included
in both this docket and the docket for the draft EA and special permit.
PHMSA invites public comments relevant to the rulemaking on these
materials to be submitted to the rulemaking docket (Docket No. PHMSA-
2018-0025).
The special permit--as issued--includes certain operational
controls that were not included in the draft special permit, draft EA,
and the ``Hazardous Materials: Liquefied Natural Gas by Rail'' (HM-264)
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Specifically, paragraph 7.c of
the special permit states the following:
7.c. OPERATIONAL CONTROLS:
(1) Each tank car must be operated in accordance with Sec. 173.319
except as specified in paragraph 7.a. above.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Paragraph 7.a. authorizes DOT-113C120W tank cars for bulk
transport of LNG and specifies that each tank car must have a
maximum permitted filling density (percent by weight) of 32.5%; a
maximum operating pressure of 15 psig when offered for
transportation; and remote sensing for detecting and reporting
internal pressure, location, and leakage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) Shipments are authorized between Wyalusing, PA and Gibbstown,
NJ, with no intermediate stops.
(3) Within 90 days after issuance, the grantee shall prepare and
submit a plan providing per shipment quantities, timelines, and other
actions to be taken for moving from single car shipments to multi-car
shipments, and subsequently to unit trains (20 or more tank cars).
(4) Trains transporting 20 or more tank cars authorized under this
special permit must be equipped and operated with a two-way end of
train device as defined in 49 CFR 232.5 or distributed power as defined
in 49 CFR 229.5.
(5) Prior to the initial shipment of a tank car under this special
permit, the grantee must provide training to emergency response
agencies that could be affected between the authorized origin and
destination. The training shall conform to NFPA-472,\2\ including known
hazards in emergencies involving the release of LNG, and emergency
response methods to address an incident involving a train transporting
LNG.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ NFPA-472 is a voluntary consensus standard developed by the
National Fire Protection Association establishing minimum
competencies for responding to hazardous materials emergencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(6) While in transportation, the grantee must remotely monitor each
tank car for pressure, location, and leaks.
These operational controls were added as a result of PHMSA's
consideration of the comments received to the draft EA, PHMSA invites
comments on these operational controls to be submitted to the
rulemaking docket (Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025). We encourage commenters
to provide data on the safety or economic impacts associated with
operational controls in the special permit, including analysis of the
safety benefits and the potential cost-benefit impact of implementing
these or other operational controls.
Issued in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2019.
William S. Schoonover,
Associate Administrator of Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-26614 Filed 12-10-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P