Wetlines Proposal’s Cost-Benefit Analysis is Flawed, GAO Says

The federal agency that regulates hazardous materials did not properly consider the costs and benefits of a proposed mandate that tank truck lines be purged of flammable liquids, the Government Accountability Office said Sept. 11.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration does not even have the right processes in place to count how often collisions occur involving flammable liquids in tank trucks’ unprotected loading and unloading lines, also known as wetlines, GAO said in its report.

“PHMSA’s analysis overstated the number of fatalities the proposed rule would prevent when considering actual past incidents,” GAO said, adding that PHMSA did not consider uncertainties in the analysis for its 2011 wetlines proposal, an action that is required under federal law.

The trucking industry strongly rejected the proposal, which would have required that tank trucks be retrofitted with devices that would purge the flammable liquids from lines that are not as well protected as the main tank.

National Tank Truck Carriers said it was “extremely pleased” with GAO’s findings. “Based on this study, I now urge PHMSA to withdraw [the proposal] and allow the carrier and enforcement communities to collectively focus their talents and resources on legitimate safety concerns,” NTTC President Daniel Furth said in a Sept. 12 statement.

Congress asked GAO to study the proposal in last year’s MAP-21 and blocked PHMSA from implementing it until the study is complete.