[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67768-67769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26614]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025: Notice No. 19-XX]


Hazardous Materials: Notice of Issuance of Special Permit 
Regarding Liquefied Natural Gas

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: PHMSA is publishing this notice as a general informational 
announcement concerning the issuance of a special permit. The special 
permit authorizes the grantee to transport Methane, refrigerated liquid 
(i.e., liquefied natural gas or LNG) by rail tank car. The special 
permit and documents supporting the special permit decision have been 
added to PHMSA's LNG by Rail Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket 
(Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025) for consideration by the public because 
the subject matter of the special permit overlaps with the subject 
matter of PHMSA's rulemaking proposing to authorize the transport of 
LNG in rail tank cars. PHMSA reviewed comments to the draft 
environmental assessment (Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0100) published for 
public review on June 6, 2019. These comments informed PHMSA's decision 
making in issuing the special permit and will also help to inform 
PHMSA's deliberations with respect to a potential LNG by rail final 
rule. PHMSA will consider any additional comments on the operational 
controls included in the special permit that are filed to the LNG 
rulemaking docket to aid the agency in determining what, if any, 
operational controls may be appropriate for inclusion in a potential 
final rule.

DATES: Comments must be received to Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025 by 
December 23, 2019. To the extent practicable, PHMSA will consider late-
filed comments in development of a potential final rule.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket Number 
PHMSA-2018-0025 (HM-264) via any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management System; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Routing 
Symbol M-30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: To the Docket Management System; Room W12-
140 on the ground floor of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
Docket Number (PHMSA-2018-0025) or RIN (2137-AF40) for this rulemaking 
at the beginning of the comment. To avoid duplication, please use only 
one of these four methods. All comments received will be posted without 
change to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) and will include 
any personal information you provide. If sent by mail, comments must be 
submitted in duplicate. Persons wishing to receive confirmation of 
receipt of their comments must include a self-addressed stamped 
postcard.
    Docket: For access to the dockets to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or DOT's Docket 
Operations Office (see ADDRESSES).
    Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both 
customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the 
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from 
public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain 
commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as 
private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or 
responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate 
the submitted comments as CBI. Pursuant to 49 CFR 105.30, you may ask 
PHMSA to give confidential treatment to information you give to the 
agency by taking the following steps: (1) Mark each page of the 
original document submission containing CBI as ``Confidential''; (2) 
send PHMSA, along with the original document, a second copy of the 
original document with the CBI deleted; and (3) explain why the 
information you are submitting is CBI. Unless you are notified 
otherwise, PHMSA will treat such marked submissions as confidential 
under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of 
this notice. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Michael 
Ciccarone, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, Standards and 
Rulemaking Division, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. 
SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Any commentary that PHMSA receives which 
is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the LNG by Rail 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket (Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald Burger, Approvals and Permits 
(PHH-30), Telephone (202) 366-4535, or Michael Ciccarone, Standards and 
Rulemaking Division (PHH-10),

[[Page 67769]]

Telephone (202) 366-8553. U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline 
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 6, 2019, PHMSA published a Notice of 
Draft Environmental Assessment for a Special Permit Request for 
Liquefied Natural Gas by Rail (PHMSA-2019-0100-0002) in the Federal 
Register. PHMSA solicited comment on the draft environmental assessment 
(EA) for a special permit request from Energy Transport Solutions, LLC. 
The notice requested comment on potential safety, environmental, and 
any additional impacts that should be considered as part of the special 
permit evaluation. See Docket No. PHMSA-2019-0100 for further 
information on the draft special permit.
    The comment period closed on August 7, 2019. PHMSA received 
approximately 2,985 comments to the docket for the notice. In 
consideration of the request for special permit and the 2,985 comments 
received to the notice, PHMSA completed a technical evaluation and a 
revised EA. For more information on the comments received please see 
the revised EA, Section 6 PHMSA's Response to Public Comments, included 
in both this docket and the docket for the draft EA and special permit. 
PHMSA invites public comments relevant to the rulemaking on these 
materials to be submitted to the rulemaking docket (Docket No. PHMSA-
2018-0025).
    The special permit--as issued--includes certain operational 
controls that were not included in the draft special permit, draft EA, 
and the ``Hazardous Materials: Liquefied Natural Gas by Rail'' (HM-264) 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Specifically, paragraph 7.c of 
the special permit states the following:
    7.c. OPERATIONAL CONTROLS:
    (1) Each tank car must be operated in accordance with Sec.  173.319 
except as specified in paragraph 7.a. above.\1\
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    \1\ Paragraph 7.a. authorizes DOT-113C120W tank cars for bulk 
transport of LNG and specifies that each tank car must have a 
maximum permitted filling density (percent by weight) of 32.5%; a 
maximum operating pressure of 15 psig when offered for 
transportation; and remote sensing for detecting and reporting 
internal pressure, location, and leakage.
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    (2) Shipments are authorized between Wyalusing, PA and Gibbstown, 
NJ, with no intermediate stops.
    (3) Within 90 days after issuance, the grantee shall prepare and 
submit a plan providing per shipment quantities, timelines, and other 
actions to be taken for moving from single car shipments to multi-car 
shipments, and subsequently to unit trains (20 or more tank cars).
    (4) Trains transporting 20 or more tank cars authorized under this 
special permit must be equipped and operated with a two-way end of 
train device as defined in 49 CFR 232.5 or distributed power as defined 
in 49 CFR 229.5.
    (5) Prior to the initial shipment of a tank car under this special 
permit, the grantee must provide training to emergency response 
agencies that could be affected between the authorized origin and 
destination. The training shall conform to NFPA-472,\2\ including known 
hazards in emergencies involving the release of LNG, and emergency 
response methods to address an incident involving a train transporting 
LNG.
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    \2\ NFPA-472 is a voluntary consensus standard developed by the 
National Fire Protection Association establishing minimum 
competencies for responding to hazardous materials emergencies.
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    (6) While in transportation, the grantee must remotely monitor each 
tank car for pressure, location, and leaks.
    These operational controls were added as a result of PHMSA's 
consideration of the comments received to the draft EA, PHMSA invites 
comments on these operational controls to be submitted to the 
rulemaking docket (Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025). We encourage commenters 
to provide data on the safety or economic impacts associated with 
operational controls in the special permit, including analysis of the 
safety benefits and the potential cost-benefit impact of implementing 
these or other operational controls.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2019.
William S. Schoonover,
Associate Administrator of Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2019-26614 Filed 12-10-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-60-P


