The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (OHMS) of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the Department of Transportation (DOT) invites you to mark your calendars for our annual Research and Development forum. The 2017 R&D Forum to be held on March 21 and 22, 2017, in Washington, DC. OHMS will host the forum to present the results of recently completed projects, brief on new project plans with stakeholders input, and discuss the direction of current and future research projects.

During the meeting OHMS will solicit comments related to new research topics that may be considered for inclusion in its future work. OHMS will accept research needs statements from industry, academe, and other stakeholders. Some examples of particular interest to OHMS are the research gaps associated with energetic materials characterization and transport, safe transport of energy products (STEP), safe containment and transportation of compressed gasses, safe packaging and transportation of charge storage devices, etc. Identification of other research gaps related to the transportation of hazardous materials will be encouraged in an effort to meet the holistic needs of the transportation community and the DOT’s goals: safety, infrastructure repair, environmental responsibility, quality communities, and economic competitiveness. The official R&D forum notice will be published in the federal register soon. Please feel free to circulate this email to peers and other interested parties.

TIME AND LOCATION: TBD

REGISTRATION: The DOT requests that attendees pre-register for these meetings by completing the form at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WZTCKLL. Failure to pre-register may delay your access into the NTSB building. Additionally, if you are attending in-person, arrive early to allow time for security checks necessary to access the building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Veda Bharath or Tiffany Fossett, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, Research and Development, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-0626 and (202) 366-4545. Email: satyaveda.bharath@dot.gov and tiffany.fossett.ctr@dot.gov.