2024-00837. Hazardous Materials: Information Collection Activities

AGENCY:

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, PHMSA invites comments on three Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control numbers pertaining to hazardous materials transportation. PHMSA intends to request renewal and extension for these three control numbers from OMB.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before March 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments identified by the Docket Number PHMSA–2024–0001 (Notice No. 2024–01) by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

• Fax: [phone].

• Mail: Docket Management System; U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12–140, Routing Symbol M–30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.

• Hand Delivery: To the Docket Management System; Room W12–140 on the ground floor of the West Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and Docket Number (PHMSA–2024–0001) for this notice at the beginning of the comment. To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. All comments received will be posted without change to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) and will include any personal information you provide.

Requests for a copy of an information collection should be directed to Steven Andrews or Nina Vore, Standards and Rulemaking Division, (202) 366–8553, [e-mail], Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590–0001.

Docket: For access to the dockets to read background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or DOT's Docket Operations Office (see ADDRESSES ).

Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.dot.gov/​privacy.

Confidential Business Information: Confidential Business Information (CBI) is commercial or financial information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to this notice contain commercial or financial information that is customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and that is relevant or responsive to this notice, it is important that you clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page of your submission containing CBI as “PROPIN.” PHMSA will treat such marked submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and they will not be placed in the public docket of this notice. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to Steven Andrews or Nina Vore, Standards and Rulemaking Division, and addressed to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590–0001 or [e-mail]. Comments received by PHMSA which are not specifically designated as “CBI” will be placed in the public docket for this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven Andrews or Nina Vore, Standards and Rulemaking Division, (202) 366–8553, [e-mail], Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590–0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 1320.8(d), title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires PHMSA to provide interested members of the public and affected agencies an opportunity to comment on information collection and recordkeeping requests. This notice identifies information collection requests PHMSA will be submitting to OMB for renewal and extension. These information collections are contained in 49 CFR 171.6 of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171–180). PHMSA has revised burden estimates, where appropriate, to reflect current reporting levels or adjustments based on changes in proposed or final rules published since the information collections were last approved. The following information is provided for each information collection: (1) title of the information collection, including former title if a change is being made; (2) OMB control number; (3) summary of the information collection activity; (4) description of affected public; (5) estimate of total annual reporting and recordkeeping burden; and (6) frequency of collection. PHMSA will request a 3-year term of approval for each information collection activity and will publish a notice in the Federal Register upon OMB's approval.

PHMSA requests comments on the following information collections:

Title: Cargo Tank Specification Requirements.

OMB Control Number: 2137–0014.

Summary: This information collection consolidates and describes the information collection provisions in parts 107, 178, and 180 of the HMR involving the manufacture, qualification, maintenance, and use of all specification cargo tank motor vehicles. It also includes the information collection and recordkeeping requirements for persons who are engaged in the manufacture, assembly, requalification, and maintenance of DOT specification cargo tank motor vehicles. The types of information collected include:

(1) Registration Statements: Cargo tank manufacturers and repairers, as well as cargo tank motor vehicle assemblers, are required to be registered with DOT and must furnish information relative to their qualifications to perform the functions in accordance with the HMR. DOT uses the registration statements to identify these persons to ensure they possess the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the required functions and that they are performing the specified functions in accordance with the applicable regulations.

(2) Requalification and Maintenance Reports: These reports are prepared by persons who requalify or maintain cargo tanks. This information is used by cargo tank owners, operators and users, and DOT compliance personnel to verify that the cargo tanks are requalified, maintained, and in proper condition for the transportation of hazardous materials.

(3) Manufacturers' Data Reports, Certificates, and Related Papers: These reports are prepared by cargo tank manufacturers and certifiers. They are used by cargo tank owners, operators, users, and DOT compliance personnel to verify that a cargo tank motor vehicle was designed and constructed to meet all requirements of the applicable specification. The following information collections and their burdens are associated with this OMB Control Number. Please note that these estimates may be rounded for readability:

Affected Public: Manufacturers, assemblers, repairers, requalifiers, certifiers, and owners of cargo tanks.

Information collection	Annual respondents	Total annual responses	Time per response	Total annual burden hours
Registration—Cargo Tank Manufacturers	24	24	20 minutes	8
Registration—Repair Facilities	33	33	20 minutes	11
Registration—Design Certifying Engineers & Registered Inspectors	1,110	1,110	20 minutes	370
Registration—Recordkeeping	117	117	15 minutes	29
Updating a Cargo Tank Registration	145	145	15 minutes	36
Design Certificates for Prototypes	55	55	2.5 hours	138
Design Certificates for Prototypes—Recordkeeping	7	7	15 minutes	2
Manufacturer's Data Reports or Certificate and Related Papers	145	6,960	30 minutes	3,480
Manufacturer's Data Reports or Certificate and Related Papers—Recordkeeping	700	700	15 minutes	175
Completion of Manufacturer's Data Report—New Cargo Tanks	145	4,785	30 minutes	2,393
Completion of Manufacturer's Data Report—Remanufactured Cargo Tanks	145	1,015	30 minutes	508
Completion of Manufacturer's Data Report—Recordkeeping	145	580	15 minutes	145
Cargo Tank Repair/Modification Reports	195	15,015	5 minutes	1,251
Testing and Inspection of Cargo Tanks—Visual Inspections	1,654	24,600	30 minutes	12,300
Testing and Inspection of Cargo Tanks—External Visual Inspections	1,654	123,000	30 minutes	61,500

Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:

Number of Respondents: 6,274.

Total Annual Responses: 178,146.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 82,346.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

Title: Testing, Inspection, and Marking Requirements for Cylinders.

OMB Control Number: 2137–0022.

Summary: Requirements in § 173.301 for the qualification, maintenance, and use of cylinders include periodic inspections and retesting to ensure continuing compliance with packaging standards. Information collection requirements address registration of retesters and marking of cylinders by retesters with their identification number and retest date following the completion of required tests. The cylinder owner or designated agent must keep records showing the results of inspections and retests until either expiration of the retest period or until the cylinder is re-inspected or retested, whichever occurs first. These requirements ensure that retesters have the qualifications to perform tests and identify to cylinder fillers and users that cylinders are qualified for continuing use. Information collection requirements in § 173.303 require that fillers of acetylene cylinders keep, for at least 30 days, a daily record of the representative pressure to which cylinders are filled. The following information collections and their burdens are associated with this OMB Control Number. Note, that these estimates may be rounded for readability:

Information collection	Annual respondents	Total annual responses	Time per response	Total annual burden hours
Cylinder Manufacture Marking	225	101,250	7.17 minutes	12,099
Cylinder Manufacture Inspector's Report	225	225	30 minutes	113
Cylinder Manufacture Inspector's Report—Recordkeeping	30	30	12 minutes	6
Record of Alloy Added to Cylinder	23	23	1 hour	23
Cylinder Requalification Marking	15,000	14,550,000	46 seconds	185,917
Cylinder Requalification Recordkeeping	15,000	14,550,000	45 seconds	181,875
Cylinder Requalification Record—Recordkeeping	330	330	6 minutes	33
Recent Recalibration Record	2,300	4,600	5 minutes	383
Repair, Rebuilding, or Reheat Treatment Records	47	2,350	12 minutes	470
Repair, Rebuilding, or Reheat Treatment Records—Recordkeeping	6	6	10 minutes	1
Changing Marked Service Pressure	8	8	15 minutes	2

Affected Public: Fillers, owners, users, and retesters of reusable cylinders.

Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:

Number of Respondents: 33,194.

Total Annual Responses: 29,208,822.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 380,922.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

Title: Container Certification Statements.

OMB Control Number: 2137–0582.

Summary: Shippers of explosives, in freight containers or transport vehicles by vessel, are required to certify on shipping documentation that the freight container or transport vehicle meets minimal structural serviceability requirements. This requirement ensures an adequate level of safety for the transport of explosives aboard vessel and consistency with similar requirements in international standards. The following information collections and their burdens are associated with this OMB Control Number. Please note that these estimates may be rounded for readability:

Information collection	Annual respondents	Total annual responses	Time per response (minutes)	Total annual burden hours
Freight Container Packing Certification	620	890,000	1	14,833
Class 1 (explosives) Container Structural Serviceability Statement	30	4,500	1	75

Affected Public: Shippers of explosives in freight containers or transport vehicles by vessel.

Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:

Number of Respondents: 650.

Total Annual Responses: 894,500.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 14,908.

Frequency of Collection: On occasion.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 11, 2024, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 1.97.

T. Glenn Foster,

Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.