This information request is mandatory for offerors and carriers of certain hazardous materials to develop and implement a security plan. This collection is a reporting and recordkeeping requirement, which must be evaluated on an annual basis, as long as the hazardous materials subject to security plan requirements are still offered and/or carried. Security plans are required to be maintained at the principal place of business and must be made available, at a reasonable time and location, to an authorized official of the Department of Transportation or Department of Homeland Security. This information collection requires the evaluation of transportation security risks, including site-specific or location-specific risks associated with facilities at which the hazardous materials are prepared for transportation, stored, or unloaded incidental to movement. In addition, rail carriers of certain hazardous materials, are subject to additional security plan requirements, including the selection of the most practicable route posing the least overall safety and security risk. Security plans reduce the possibility that a hazardous material shipment will be used as a weapon of opportunity by terrorists.
This proposed request for revision of this OMB control number is due to the publication of the HM-265 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) titled âHazardous Materials: Advancing Safety of Highway, Rail, and Vessel Transportationâ published in the federal register on October 28, 2024. This NPRM proposes to revise the HMR to adopt several modal-specific amendments that would enhance the safe transportation of hazardous materials in commerce. PHMSA, in consultation with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the United States Coast Guard, proposes amendments identified during Departmental review and from industry petitions for rulemaking.
US Code:
49 USC 5101-5125
Name of Law: Hazardous Materials Transportation Law
PHMSA estimates this rulemaking will result in a change in the current estimated burden based on the new exception from alternate route analysis. Specifically, PHMSA proposes to add §â172.820(d)(3) to provide an exception where no alternate route exists. PHMSA estimates that approximately 10 percent of Class II and III railroad routes will no longer have to develop alternate route analysis. This leads to a reduction of 1,400 total burden hours for both Class II and III railroads. However, §â172.820(d)(3) requires that to take the alternate route analysis exception, the railroad must develop remediation or mitigation measures and certify that no alternative route exists. Therefore, PHMSA estimates that there will be 132 railroads (32 Class II and 100 Class III railroads), with 47 routes where no alternate route exists. PHMSA estimates it will take 30 minutes to develop the written measures and certification and this new requirement will result in a total of 24 annual burden hours. Because there is no change in the number of Class II and III railroads who are subject to alternate route analysis requirements, there is an increase in respondents and responses, but there is an overall decrease in burden hours and salary costs.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
2137-0612 Justification HM-265 NPRM.docx
Calculation Data for 2137-0612 HM-265.xlsx
Certifying that No Alternative Route Exist