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"Final" Crude-by-Rail updated rules announced


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 30 April 2015 - 04:28 PM

DOT News Advisory, 4/30:

 

MEDIA ADVISORY

 

 U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada to Make Rail Car Safety Announcement

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, May 1 at 10:30 a.m., U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Canada’s Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt will hold a press conference to announce the next generation of stronger, safer rail tank cars for the transportation of flammable liquids in North America. Secretary Foxx will also announce other aspects of DOT’s final rule.  The press conference will be streamed live online here.

 

WHO:             U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx

                        Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt

 

WHAT:          Press Conference

 

WHERE:       U.S. Department of Transportation

                        Media Center  

                        1200 New Jersey Ave, SE

                        Washington, D.C.

 

WHEN:          Friday, May 1, 2015

                       10:30 a.m. EST

                       

RSVP:            Credentialed media who plan to attend the event, please RSVP to: PressOffice@dot.gov to receive additional details. If you’re unable to attend, the press conference will be streamed live here.

 

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#2 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 08:48 AM

USDOT news release:

 

 
DOT Announces Final Rule to Strengthen Safe Transportation of Flammable Liquids by Rail

Friday, May 1, 2015

Rule Will Make Significant and Extensive Changes to Improve Accident Prevention, Mitigation, and Emergency Response

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced a final rule for the safe transportation of flammable liquids by rail. The final rule, developed by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), in coordination with Canada, focuses on safety improvements that are designed to prevent accidents, mitigate consequences in the event of an accident, and support emergency response.

 

The rule:

  1. Unveils a new, enhanced tank car standard and an aggressive, risk-based retrofitting schedule for older tank cars carrying crude oil and ethanol;
  2. Requires a new braking standard for certain trains that will offer a superior level of safety by potentially reducing the severity of an accident, and  the “pile-up effect”;
  3. Designates new operational protocols for trains transporting large volumes of flammable liquids, such as routing requirements, speed restrictions, and information for local government agencies; and
  4. Provides new sampling and testing requirements to improve classification of energy products placed into transport.

Canada’s Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt, joined Secretary Foxx to announce Canada’s new tank car standards, which align with the U.S. standard.

 

“Safety has been our top priority at every step in the process for finalizing this rule, which is a significant improvement over the current regulations and requirements and will make transporting flammable liquids safer,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  “Our close collaboration with Canada on new tank car standards is recognition that the trains moving unprecedented amounts of crude by rail are not U.S. or Canadian tank cars – they are part of a North American fleet and a shared safety challenge.”

 

“This stronger, safer, more robust tank car will protect communities on both sides of our shared border,” said Minister Raitt.  “Through strong collaboration we have developed a harmonized solution for North America’s tank car fleet. I am hopeful that this kind of cooperation will be a model for future Canada-U.S. partnership on transportation issues.”

 

Other federal agencies are also working to make transporting flammable liquids safer.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Energy (DOE), in coordination with the White House, are pursuing strategies to improve safety.  DOE recently developed an initiative designed to research and characterize tight and conventional crude oils based on key chemical and physical properties, and to identify properties that may contribute to increased likelihood and/or severity of combustion events that can arise during handling and transport.

 

This final rule represents the latest, and most significant to date, in a series of nearly 30 actions that DOT has initiated over the last nineteen months, including additional emergency orders, safety advisories and other actions. 

 

Additional information about the rule:

(Unless stated otherwise, the rule applies to “high-hazard flammable trains” (HHFTs)—a continuous block of 20 or more tank cars loaded with a flammable liquid or 35 or more tank cars loaded with a flammable liquid dispersed through a train.).

 

Enhanced Standards for New and Existing Tank Cars for use in an HHFT—New tank cars constructed after October 1, 2015, are required to meet the new DOT Specification 117 design or performance criteria. The prescribed car has a 9/16 inch tank shell, 11 gauge jacket, 1/2 inch full-height head shield, thermal protection, and improved pressure relief valves and bottom outlet valves. Existing tank cars must be retrofitted with the same key components based on a prescriptive, risk-based retrofit schedule (see table). As a result of the aggressive, risk-based approach, the final rule will require replacing the entire fleet of DOT-111 tank cars for Packing Group I, which covers most crude shipped by rail, within three years and all non-jacketed CPC-1232s, in the same service, within approximately five years.

 

Enhanced Braking to Mitigate Damage in Derailments—The rule requires HHFTs to have in place a functioning two-way end-of-train (EOT) device or a distributed power (DP) braking system.  Trains meeting the definition of a “high-hazard flammable unit train,” or HHFUT (a single train with 70 or more tank cars loaded with Class 3 flammable liquids), with at least one tank car with Packing Group I materials, must be operated with an electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) braking system by January 1, 2021. All other HHFUTs must have ECP braking systems installed after 2023.  This important, service-proven technology has been operated successfully for years in certain services in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere.

 

Reduced Operating Speeds—The rule restricts all HHFTs to 50 mph in all areas and HHFTs containing any tank cars not meeting the enhanced tank car standards required by this rule are restricted to operating at a 40 mph speed restriction in high-threat urban areas.  The 40 mph restriction for HHFTs without new or retrofitted tank cars is also currently required under FRA’s Emergency Order No. 30.

 

Rail Routing – More Robust Risk Assessment—Railroads operating HHFTs must perform a routing analysis that considers, at a minimum, 27 safety and security factors, including “track type, class, and maintenance schedule” and “track grade and curvature,” and select a route based on its findings.  These planning requirements are prescribed in 49 CFR §172.820.

 

Rail Routing – Improves Information Sharing—Ensures that railroads provide State and/or regional fusion centers, and State, local and tribal officials with a railroad point of contact for information related to the routing of hazardous materials through their jurisdictions. This replaces the proposed requirement for railroads to notify State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs) or other appropriate state-designated entities about the operation of these trains through their States.

 

More Accurate Classification of Unrefined Petroleum-Based Products—Offerors must develop and carry out sampling and testing programs for all unrefined petroleum-based products, such as crude oil, to address the criteria and frequency of sampling to improve and ensure accuracy. Offerors must certify that hazardous materials subject to the program are packaged in accordance with the test results, document the testing and sampling program outcomes, and make that information available to DOT personnel upon request.

 

The actions taken today address several recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board, including: requiring enhanced safety features for tank cars carrying ethanol and crude oil and an aggressive schedule to replace or retrofit existing tank cars; requiring thermal protection and high-capacity pressure relieve valves for tank cars in flammable liquid service, expanding hazardous materials route planning and selection requirements for trains transporting flammable liquids; inspecting shippers to ensure crude oil is properly classified and requiring shippers to sufficiently test and document both physical and chemical characteristics of hazardous materials; and providing a vehicle for reporting the number of cars retrofitted.

 

You can view a summary of the rule here and the entire rule here.  For additional information on the steps the Department of Transportation has already taken to help strengthen the safe transport of crude oil by rail, please visit www.dot.gov/mission/safety/rail-chronology.

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#3 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 08:51 AM

NTSB news release:

 

Statement of NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart

 

May 1, 2015

I am pleased that the Department of Transportation issued a rule today concerning the safety of rail tank cars carrying flammable liquids, one of the issues on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of transportation improvements. The Board has long been concerned about the safety of rail transportation of hazardous materials. This new rule is a significant step toward improving the safety of transporting crude oil and ethanol by rail. We will be analyzing the rule to see how it aligns with our outstanding safety recommendations and will be releasing the results in the near future.

 

 



#4 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 08:55 AM

Transport Canada news release:

Minister Raitt and U.S. Secretary Foxx announce next generation of stronger, safer rail tank cars
 
A new class of tank car for the transportation of flammable liquids in North America

 

May 1, 2015 – Washington, DC – Transport Canada

 

Today the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, was joined by U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, to unveil a new class of rail tank car for flammable liquids. This newer, stronger tank car will be used for the transportation of flammable liquids, such as crude oil and ethanol. The new standard is the result of collaboration on both sides of the border, with a joint goal of strengthening the safety of the two countries’ inter-connected rail networks.

 

The new TC-117 standard includes enhanced safety features that represent a considerable improvement over previous tank car standards. The new tank car regulations will be applied first to cars carrying crude oil by all railway companies in Canada and the United States.  This will translate into better protection for communities in both countries. The new TC-117 tank car will be jacketed and constructed with thicker steel, thermal protection, a full head shield, top fitting protection and a new bottom outlet valve.

 

Transport Canada has taken a holistic, integrated approach to safeguarding the public during the transportation of dangerous goods by rail. This regulation builds on previous regulatory actions including enhancements to train operations, track inspections, train speeds, sharing of information with municipalities, emergency response assistance plans and classification. 

 

The tank car regulations formalize the commitment made by the Minister on April 23, 2014, to phase-out the DOT-111 tank cars. The regulations establish the prescriptive and performance requirements to retrofit a tank car, as well as the retrofit schedule for DOT-111 and CPC 1232 tank cars used to transport flammable liquids.

 

This approach removes the least crash resistant tank cars from crude oil carriage first, focusing industry’s efforts on the highest risk areas. 

Quick Facts
  • The tank car regulations require any new tank car used for flammable liquid dangerous goods service manufactured on or after October 1, 2015, to be built to the TC-117 standard.
  • In developing the tank car regulations, the department consulted its partners in the U.S. as well as members of the container manufacturing industry, tank car users and regulatory bodies.
  • Through the Regulatory Cooperation Council, Transport Canada works closely with its U.S. counterparts to deepen regulatory cooperation in areas like this, to enhance economic competitiveness while maintaining standards on health, safety and the environment.
Quotes

“The Government of Canada is delivering on the promise made one year ago to develop a stronger, safer, more robust tank car. The TC-117 offers a new standard of protection to complement the actions taken to protect communities on both sides of the border. I am hopeful the kind of cooperation we have pursued to develop these measures will be a model for future Canada-U.S. collaboration on transportation issues.”
The Honourable Lisa Raitt
Minister of Transport

Related Products Associated Link

 

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#5 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 11:34 AM

USDOT "Fast Lane"  blog, 5/1:

 

New Final Rule offers improved rail safety
Posted byAnthony Foxx
 

Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation is issuing a final rule that will enhance the safety of transporting flammable liquids –including crude oil and ethanol– by rail.

Sec-Foxx-Minister-Raitt.JPG

We are in the midst of an unprecedented increase in North American energy production.  This boom in continental production has pushed America's dependence on foreign oil to a 40 year low, created jobs, and helped grow our economy.

 

It also means that petroleum crude oil and ethanol are being shipped by rail in much larger quantities, and over much greater distances. In 2014, nearly 500,000 carloads containing more than 410 million barrels of Canadian and U.S. crude oil were transported by rail in the United States, and 99.9 percent reached their destination without incident. 

ND%20Bakken%20Graph.png

The accidents that have occurred, though –involving both crude and ethanol– have had significant and devastating consequences to local communities and the environment. They have shown us that 99.9 percent isn’t good enough. We have to strive for perfection.

 

The final rule applies to trains transporting large volumes of flammable liquids and regulates their operation.  It includes a new requirement for a modern, robust braking system that will be a game-changer in mitigating damage in the event of an accident. It requires significant safety improvements in tank car design standards, for both new cars and existing cars used for flammable liquid service. It addresses the need for greater accuracy in the sampling and classification of the products being put into those tank cars. And it requires selective routing requirements and contact with public safety and emergency first responders so they know what is being transported through their jurisdictions and can better prepare.

 

Our goal was to develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent accidents, mitigate damage if an accident occurs, and support emergency response efforts. I believe the interdependent pieces of today's Final Rule work together to do exactly that.

DOT-117-RAIL-CAR_043015_lowres-Red-rescu

Our rule also builds on the more than two dozen actions our Department has taken prior to today's announcement to enhance the safe transport of crude –from issuing emergency orders and safety advisories to increasing inspections and outreach efforts. Other federal agencies –including the Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce, and Environmental Protection Agency– have been doing their part, and it will be even more of an inter-agency effort as we move forward.

 

Throughout the rulemaking process, we also worked closely with Transport Canada to ensure safety across the North American continent. Today, Canada’s Minister of Transport, Lisa Raitt, joined me to announce Canada’s new tank car standards, which align with our standard.

 

Let us be absolutely clear: This rule is not the final act.  Addressing the risks associated with moving unprecedented volumes of crude oil by rail is not something that can be accomplished with one rule or emergency order. 

 

There is no question that the number one priority for the U.S. Department of Transportation is safety. And as we continue to move the unprecedented quantities of energy products that have boosted our economy, we nations will continue looking for ways to protect people, communities, and the environment.

 

We encourage you visit our website to learn more about the Final Rule issued today by DOT's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration.



#6 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 01:07 PM

CP news release:

 

 

CP applauds US DoT and Transport Canada move to harmonize tank car standards
May 1, 2015 Calgary, AB

​​​​​

Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) applauds the Canadian and U.S. governments for working together on harmonizing new tank car standards and fully supports their leadership in the full implementation of these new cars for transporting dangerous goods.

 

The new tank car announced today, the TC-117/DOT-117, will include outer jackets, thermal protection, thicker steel shells, head shields and improved bottom valves to protect against leaks during a potential incident. The rules also call for the full phase out or retrofitting of all older tank cars that do not meet the new standards.

 

"CP has long been a proponent of improving tank car safety, as well as implementing other options to enhance the secure transportation of dangerous goods," said CP CEO E. Hunter Harrison. "From our customers to our employees to all the communities within which we operate, the implementation of a safer tank car standard benefits all."

 

Given that much of the traffic moved in tank cars is cross-border and the North American economy is highly integrated, the harmonizing of rail rules and regulations is essential. CP believes that new tank car standards are the most important component in enhancing the safe movement of dangerous goods.

 

"We look forward to continued collaboration and cooperation between regulators, shippers and railroads to ensure the safe movement of the industrial commodities that form the building blocks of the North American economy," Mr. Harrison said.​

 

CP meets or exceeds all federal transportation regulations and is committed to the safe movement of all freight.

 



#7 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 06:27 PM

Reuters, 5/1:

 

 
FACTBOX-U.S. and Canadian officials lay out new rules for crude rail
NEW YORK
 
 

May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. and Canadian officials released new rules Friday that will govern how crude oil and other highly flammable liquids are carried along railways.

 

Here is a summary of the new regulations.

 

Summary here.



#8 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 06:31 PM

Reuters, 5/1:

 

North American rail industry angered by new brake rule

 

May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took on the powerful rail industry on Friday, announcing plans to require expensive, high-tech braking technology the railways insist is unproven and unreliable.

 

Regulators say the new electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes could reduce the severity of crashes, preventing pile-ups. Canada has promised to "harmonize" its regulations with the United States.

 

Continue here.

 

Additional information:

Railway Technical Web Pages:  Electrically Controlled Pneumatic Brakes



#9 CNJRoss

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Posted 02 May 2015 - 06:44 PM

The Wall Street Journal, 5/1:

 
U.S. Lays Down Strict Railcar Rules Oil trains required to have electronic brakes, sturdier tanks

 

BF-AJ716_TANKCA_16U_20150501180313.jpg

 

 

U.S. transportation regulators Friday issued tough new rules for railroads hauling crude oil and ethanol that will require trains be equipped with expensive new brake systems.

 

The regulations also require that sturdier tank cars be built for hauling oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids and prescribes upgrades for an estimated 154,500 tank cars already carrying flammables.

 

SNIP

 

The rules, unveiled Friday in a joint announcement by U.S. and Canadian regulators, were tougher than expected. The electronically controlled pneumatic brakes deploy faster than the air brakes now used on freight trains.

 

Freight railroads maintain that installing them on existing railcars and locomotives would be prohibitively expensive and take years of work fully implement. The cost of installing ECP brakes on an existing railcar is estimated at $8,000 to $10,000, according to rail industry consultants. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Canadian regulators will also require electronic brakes.

 

Read more here.



#10 CNJRoss

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Posted 06 May 2015 - 08:33 AM

The Globe and Mail, Toronto 5/4:
 

Globe editorial

New Transport Canada rail safety rules move way too slowly

 

Here is what Transport Canada knows:

 

That the average train derailment in Canada and the United States involving crude oil costs the rail industry $13.2-million;

 

That the most expensive such derailment to date, the one in Lac-Mégantic, Que., in 2013, with its loss of 47 lives and the annihilation of the heart of a small town, cost the industry $1.5-billion (or would have, if industry had to pay all the costs);

 

That new Transport Canada regulations on tank-car construction that phase in over 10 long years will cost the rail industry a tad more than $1-billion;

 

SNIP

 

Is it a fair trade-off? No. The slow progress of the regulations only benefits industry. Transport Canada and its U.S. counterpart should have demanded quicker change.

 

Instead, they have told the rail industry that there is an acceptable amount of loss and mayhem that will be borne by everyone else. And that’s not good enough.

More here.






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