Background Information

The 9/11 Commission Act directed the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with DHS, to promulgate regulations that require rail carriers of “security-sensitive materials” to “select the safest and most secure route to be used in transporting” those materials, based on the rail carrier’s analysis of the safety and security risks on primary and alternative transportation routes over which the carrier has authority to operate.

On November 26, 2008, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a component of DOT, in coordination with the FRA, published Hazardous Materials: Enhancing Rail Transportation Safety and Security for Hazardous Materials Shipments (PHMSA Rail Security Rule).

Each rail carrier transporting in commerce one or more of the following materials is subject to the PHMSA Rail Security Rule:

• More than 2,268 kg (5,000 lbs) in a single carload of a Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 explosive;
• A bulk quantity of a material poisonous by inhalation in a single bulk packaging; or
• A highway route-controlled quantity of a Class 7 (radioactive) material.

Commodity Data

No later than ninety (90) days after the end of each calendar year, a rail carrier must compile commodity data for the previous calendar year for the materials which subject the carrier to the PHMSA Rail Security Rule.  The commodity data must be collected by route, a line segment, or series of line segments as aggregated by the rail carrier.  Within the rail carrier selected route, the commodity data must identify the geographic location of the route and the total number of shipments by UN identification number.

Rail Transportation Route Analysis

Each calendar year, a rail carrier must analyze the safety and security risks for the transportation route(s) identified in the commodity data it has collected.  The route analysis must be in writing and include factors set forth in Appendix D to Part 172 (Rail Risk Analysis Factors).

The safety and security risks present must be analyzed for the route and railroad facilities along the route.  The rail carrier must seek relevant information from state, local, and tribal officials, as appropriate, regarding security risks to high-consequence targets along or in proximity to the route(s) utilized.  If unable to acquire such information, the rail carrier must document that in its analysis.

Alternative Route Analysis

Each calendar year, a rail carrier must identify practicable alternative routes over which it has authority to operate, if an alternative exists, as an alternative route for each of the transportation routes analyzed in accordance with the PHMSA Rail Security Rule.  The rail carrier must perform a safety and security risk assessment of the alternative routes for comparison to the route analysis of the primary route.  The alternative route analysis must be in writing and include the factors set forth in Appendix D to Part 172 (Rail Risk Analysis Factors).

When determining practicable alternative routes, the rail carrier must consider the use of interchange agreements with other rail carriers as well as:

• Safety and security risks presented by use of the alternative route(s);
• Comparison of the safety and security risks of the alternative(s) to the primary rail transportation route, including the risk of a catastrophic release from a shipment traveling along each route;
• Any remediation or mitigation measures implemented on the primary or alternative route(s); and
• Potential economic effects of using the alternative route(s), including but not limited to the economics of the commodity, route, and customer relationship.

The rail carrier should seek relevant information from state, local, and tribal officials, as appropriate, regarding security risks to high-consequence targets along or in proximity to the alternative routes.  If a rail carrier determines that it is not appropriate to seek such information, it must explain its reasoning for that determination in its analysis.

Route Selection

Rail carriers must use the route analysis information to select the route to be used in moving the hazardous materials covered by the PHMSA Rail Security Rule and must consider any remediation measures implemented on a route.  Using this process, at least annually, the carrier must review and select the practicable route posing the least overall safety and security risk.  The carrier must retain in writing all route review and selection decision documentation and restrict the distribution, disclosure, and availability of information contained in the route analysis to covered persons with a need-to-know.  This documentation should include, but is not limited to, comparative analyses, charts, graphic, or rail system maps.

Completion of Route Analysis

sis, alternative route analysis, and route selection process must be completed no later than the end of the calendar year following the year to which the analyses apply.  The initial analysis and route selection determinations must include a comprehensive review of the entire system.  Subsequent analyses and route selection determinations must include a comprehensive, system-wide review of all operational changes, infrastructure modifications, traffic adjustments, changes in the nature of high-consequence targets located along, or in proximity to, the route, and any other changes affecting the safety or security of the movements of the hazardous materials subject to the PHMSA Rail Security Rule.

Storage, Delays in Transit, and Notification

Rail carriers must ensure the safety and security plan it develops and implements includes all of the following:

• A procedure under which the rail carrier must consult with offerors and consignees in order to develop measures for minimizing, to the extent practicable, the duration of any storage of the material incident to movement;
• Measures to prevent unauthorized access to the materials during storage or delays in transit;
• Measures to mitigate risk to population centers associated with in-transit storage;
• Measures to be taken in the event of an escalating threat level for materials stored in transit; and
• Procedures for notifying the consignee in the event of a significant delay during transportation.  Such notification must be completed within forty-eight (48) hours after the carrier has identified the delay and must include a revised delivery schedule.

Rail Carrier Point of Contact

Each rail carrier must identify a point of contact (including the name, title, phone number and e-mail address) on routing issues involving the movement of the hazardous materials subject to the PHMSA Rail Security Rule in its security plan.  It must provide this information to:

• State and/or regional Fusion Centers that have been established to coordinate with state, local, and tribal officials on security issues and which are located within the area encompassed by the rail carrier’s rail system; and
• State, local, and tribal officials in jurisdictions that may be affected by a rail carrier’s routing decisions and who directly contact the railroad to discuss routing decisions.

Recordkeeping

Each rail carrier must maintain a copy of the route and alternative route analysis, as well as route selection information that is accessible at, or through, its principal place of business and must make the record available upon request, at a reasonable time and location, to an authorized DOT or DHS official.  Records must be maintained for a minimum of two (2) years.  Rail carriers must restrict the distribution, disclosure, and availability of these records to covered persons with a need-to-know.