DOT, EPA Ease Regulations to Cope With Rita

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

s it did with Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Department of Transportation has suspended rules limiting hours of service for truck drivers in the regions affected by Hurricane Rita so emergency and repair crews will be able to work as needed to support evacuation, recovery and repair operations.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a reformulated gasoline waiver for the Houston and Galveston, Texas, area. Conventional gasoline will be available for distribution and sale in this area from Sept. 21 through Sept. 26, EPA said.

Rita was downgraded Friday afternoon to a Category 3 storm from a stronger Category 4, the National Hurricane Center said, but was still forecast to bring a huge storm surge overnight to the Texas-Louisiana Coastal Area.

DOT said it was sending a tanker of diesel fuel, six trucks of tarps, five trucks of plastic sheeting, two trailers filled with cots, one trailer filled with tents and one filled with sleeping bags to staging areas in the region, in addition to supplies already provided as part of the Katrina response.

It also said it was putting ten trucks on standby at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio to move additional supplies as needed.

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said it had positioned 45 truckloads of water and 45 truckloads ice and 25 truckloads of meals are pre-staging at federal facilities in Texas.

DOT said it was working with state and local officials to assess transportation infrastructure in the region, which are developing plans to quickly repair and rebuild roads, bridges, ports, pipelines and airports that could be damaged by the storm.

Weather reports said a storm surge could bring water in as far as Interstate 10 near Port Arthur, Texas, and forecasters were concerned the huge storm may stall once over land, bringing more rain to the region.