Action
Final rule; response to petitions for reconsideration.
Summary
RSPA is revising and extending requirements issued in an interim final rule (IFR) on February 19, 1997. Revisions are being made to address commenters' concerns particularly in the area of operator attendance requirements and to improve safety. The rule adopts temporary requirements for cargo tank motor vehicles in certain liquefied compressed gas service. It requires a specific marking on affected cargo tank motor vehicles and requires motor carriers to comply with additional operational controls intended to compensate for the inability of passive emergency discharge control systems to function as required by the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The interim operational controls specified in this rule will improve safety while the industry and government continue to work to develop a system that effectively stops the discharge of hazardous materials from a cargo tank if there is a failure of a transfer hose or piping. These operational controls are necessary because a substantial portion of the industry failed to comply with an important excess flow requirement, which has been in place since 1941, and has failed to comply with the IFR. Because of this widespread non-compliance, RSPA also published in today's Federal Register an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) soliciting data to serve as a basis for future rulemaking. This advance notice addresses a number of other issues, including the ability of industry to meet a possible 1-, 2- or 3-year retrofit schedule; standards for the qualification, testing and use of hoses used in unloading; safety procedures for persons performing unloading operations; and, whether the Federal government should continue to regulate in this area.