PHMSA 7-07

Monday, October 1, 2007
 

DOT Grants $12.8 Million to First Responders and Emergency Workers to Improve Hazardous Materials Planning and Training

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today announced grants to states, territories and Native American tribes totaling $12.8 million for planning and training to improve the nation¿s response to hazardous materials transportation incidents. The grants help train first responders to react to incidents involving hazardous materials and to meet the challenges posed by new chemicals and alternative energy products like ethanol.

¿This program is a valuable tool that builds upon and enhances the foundation of emergency response capabilities,¿ Secretary Peters said. ¿The umbrella of hazardous materials safety offered from this DOT-funded specialized training is extensive.¿

The grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation¿s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are funded by user fees paid by shippers and carriers of certain hazardous materials. Since 1993, over 2 million emergency responders and others have received training assistance nationwide using HMEP grants. Assistance was also given in fiscal year 2006 to approximately 1,700 local emergency planning committees in preparing and exercising hazardous materials emergency response plans and in conducting commodity flow studies that identify transportation hazards.
All 50 states, U.S. territories and many North American tribes received funding this year.