Action
Final rule.
Summary
RSPA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to: Require facilities that build, repair, and ensure the structural integrity of tank cars, to develop and implement a quality assurance program (QAP); allow the use of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, in lieu of currently prescribed periodic hydrostatic pressure tests, for fusion welded tank cars; require thickness measurements of tank cars; allow the continued use of tank cars, with limited reduced shell thicknesses, for certain hazardous materials; increase the frequency for inspection and testing of tank cars for added safety; clarify tank car pretrip inspection requirements; expand the use of thermal protection systems and head protection on tank cars to include certain other high hazard materials; add new requirements for bottom-discontinuity protection; require the use of protective coatings on insulated tank cars; prohibit the use of self-energized manways located below the liquid level of the tank; remove ``grandfather'' provisions allowing certain uses of tank cars; and improve the puncture resistance of tank cars used for certain high hazard materials, including those that are poisonous-by-inhalation (PIH) and those determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pose health and environmental risks. These actions are being taken to enhance the safe transportation of hazardous materials in tank cars. The intended effects of these actions are to improve the crashworthiness of tank cars and to increase the probability of detecting critical tank car defects.