Withdrawal of Proposed Wetlines Rule to Be Published
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced on Dec. 28 that the Federal Register will publish its withdrawal of a notice of a final rule requiring tank truck carriers who haul flammable liquids to either retrofit their existing tankers to protect their wetlines or install a system to purge product from those lines.
The withdrawal of the rule was mandated by Congress’ passage of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act and its signing into law by President Obama on Dec. 18.
The proposed regulation would have given tank truck operators 12 years after publication of a final rule to make the changes on existing tanks that carry flammable liquids. Any trailer manufactured two years after the effective date of the regulation would have had to be equipped with redesigned lines, accident damage protection similar to a rear bumper or a system that would purge wetlines of all but one liter of product in each line.
The proposed rule dates to 1998, when the NTSB recommended that PHMSA prohibit the carrying of hazardous materials in wetlines following a fatal accident in Yonkers, N.Y. After PHMSA withdrew a proposed rule in 2006 following widespread industry opposition, the agency reviewed 6,800 commercial vehicle accidents from 1999 to 2009 and documented a total of 172 accidents in which wetlines were either damaged or ruptured. Of those, 18 involved fires, resulting in five fatalities, four injuries and millions of dollars in property damage. However, a 2013 Government Accountability Office study blasted the agency for using faulty crash data to support the proposed 2011 rule that is now being withdrawn.
Although PHMSA is withdrawing its rulemaking proposal, the agency said that it will continue to consider methods to improve the safety of transporting flammable liquid by cargo tank motor vehicle.
