[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 13, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27370-27371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10914]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Safety Advisory 2014-01]
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
[Docket No. PHMSA-2014-0049; Notice No. 14-07]
Recommendations for Tank Cars Used for the Transportation of
Petroleum Crude Oil by Rail
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Safety Advisory.
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SUMMARY: This safety advisory provides notice to all persons who offer
for transportation, or transport, in tank cars by rail in commerce to,
from or within the United States, a bulk quantity of UN 1267, petroleum
crude oil, Class 3, that originates in or is sourced from the Bakken
formation in the Williston Basin (Bakken crude oil). The purpose of
this advisory is to encourage offerors and rail carriers to take
additional precautionary measures to enhance the safe shipment of bulk
quantities of Bakken crude oil by rail throughout the United States.
Specifically, in light of recent accidents involving the shipment of
Bakken crude oil by rail, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) urge
offerors and carriers of Bakken crude oil by rail tank car to select
and use the railroad tank car designs with the highest level of
integrity reasonably available within their fleet for shipment of these
hazardous materials by rail in interstate commerce. Further, FRA and
PHMSA advise offerors and carriers of Bakken crude oil to avoid the use
of older, legacy DOT Specification 111 or CTC 111 tank cars for the
shipment of such oil to the extent reasonably practicable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl Alexy, Staff Director, FRA
Hazardous Materials Division, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC
20590-0001, telephone (202) 493-6245 or Charles Betts, Director,
Standards and Rulemaking Division, telephone (202) 366-8553, Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Changes in railroad operations over the last
several years, including increased rail traffic, higher in-train forces
due to the transportation of hazardous materials tank cars at higher
gross rail loads, and the likelihood of individual tank cars
accumulating more miles annually, have resulted in tank car design
changes to accommodate these increased stresses and to significantly
reduce the chances of a catastrophic failure (i.e., the sudden and
total failure of the tank resulting in a release of the tank's
contents). Design changes include new tank car steel and improvements
of structural features. Older ``legacy'' tank cars, however, without
more modern construction and design enhancements, continue to be used
to transport hazardous materials, including Bakken crude oil. Petroleum
crude oil (including petroleum crude oil from the Bakken) is a
hazardous material subject to regulation under 49 CFR 172.101 of the
Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171 to 180).
While the overall number of railroad accidents and derailments has
actually decreased over the past several years, the number and type of
railroad accidents involving Bakken crude oil that have occurred during
the last year has increased, and the quantity of petroleum crude oil
released as a result of those accidents is higher than past precedents.
Due to the volume of Bakken crude oil currently being offered for rail
transportation resulting in the demonstrated recent propensity for rail
accidents involving trains transporting Bakken crude oil to occur, and
the subsequent releases of large quantities of such oil, FRA and PHMSA
recommend that offerors and carriers of Bakken crude oil select and use
the tank car designs with the highest level of integrity reasonably
available within their fleet.
The United States has experienced a rapid growth in the quantity of
petroleum crude oil being shipped by rail in recent years. The growth
has largely been sparked by developments in North Dakota, where the
Bakken formation in the Williston Basin (the Bakken) has become a major
source of petroleum crude oil in the United States. Much of the Bakken
crude oil is shipped via rail to refineries located near the U.S. Gulf
Coast or to pipeline connections, most notably to connections located
in Oklahoma.\1\
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\1\ See Association of American Railroads' (AAR) December 2013
paper ``Moving Crude Oil by Rail'', available online at: https://www.aar.org/keyissues/Documents/Background-Papers/Crude-oil-by-rail.pdf.
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Shipping hazardous materials is inherently dangerous. Transporting
petroleum crude oil can be problematic if released into the environment
because it is flammable. This risk of ignition is compounded in the
context of rail transportation because petroleum crude oil is commonly
shipped in unit trains that consist of over 100 loaded tank cars. With
the rising demand for rail carriage of Bakken crude oil \2\ throughout
the United States, the risk of rail incidents increases.
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\2\ In 2011 there were 65,751 originations of tank car loads of
crude oil. In 2012, there were 233,811 originations. AAR, Moving
Crude Petroleum by Rail, https://www.aar.org/keyissues/Documents/Background-Papers/Moving%20Crude%20Petroleum%20by%20Rail%202012-12-10.pdf (December 2012).
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In light of the above discussion, and in an effort to maintain the
safety of the Nation's rail system and the communities through which
trains transporting Bakken crude oil travels, FRA and PHMSA recommend
that offerors and carriers of Bakken crude oil by rail select and only
use the tank car designs with the highest level of integrity reasonably
available within their fleet. The features that offerors should
consider in assessing tank car integrity include, without limitation,
tank shell jacket systems, head shields, and top fittings protection.
Further, FRA and PHMSA advise offerors and carriers of Bakken crude oil
to avoid the use of older, legacy DOT Specification 111 or CTC 111 tank
cars for the shipment of such oil to the extent reasonably practicable.
[[Page 27371]]
Issued in Washington, DC on May 7, 2014.
Robert C. Lauby,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer,
Federal Railroad Administration.
Magdy El-Sibaie,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2014-10914 Filed 5-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P