2011-30621. Information Collection Activities

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces that the Information Collection Requests (ICR) abstracted below will be forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. The ICRs describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on these collections of information was published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2011 [76 FR 56872] under Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0223 (Notice No. 11-9).

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before December 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Attention: Desk Officer for PHMSA, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503. Comments are invited on: whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. A comment to OMB is most effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven Andrews or T. Glenn Foster, U.S. Department of Transportation, Standards and Rulemaking Division (PHH-10), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC. 20590-0001, Telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 1320.8(d), Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations requires Federal agencies 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 that PHMSA will be submitting to OMB for renewal and extension. These information collections are contained in 49 CFR Parts 172 and 173 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) abstract of the information collection activity; (4) description of affected persons; (5) estimate of total annual reporting and recordkeeping burden; and (6) frequency of collection. PHMSA will request a three-year term of approval for each information collection activity and, when approved by OMB, publish notice of the approvals in the Federal Register.

PHMSA requests comments on the following information collections:

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

OMB Control Number: 2137-0022.

Summary: Requirements in § 173.301 for qualification, maintenance and use of cylinders require that cylinders be periodically inspected and retested 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. Records showing the results of inspections and retests must be kept by the cylinder owner or designated agent until expiration of the retest period or until the cylinder is re-inspected or retested, whichever occurs first. These requirements are intended to ensure that retesters have the qualifications to perform tests and to 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. PHMSA did not receive any comments pertaining to this OMB control number in response to the Federal Register Notice published on September 14, 2011.

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

Recordkeeping:

Number of Respondents: 139,352.

Total Annual Responses: 153,287.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 171,642.

Frequency of collection: On occasion.

Title: Hazardous Materials Security Plans.

OMB Control Number: 2137-0612.

Summary: To assure public safety, shippers and carriers must take reasonable measures to plan and implement procedures to prevent unauthorized persons from taking control of, or attacking, hazardous materials shipments. Part 172 of the HMR requires persons who offer or transport certain hazardous materials to develop and implement written plans to enhance the security of hazardous materials shipments. The security plan requirement applies to shipments of: (1) A highway route-controlled quantity of a Class 7 (radioactive) material; (2) more than 25 kg (55 lbs) of a Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 (explosive) material; (3) more than 1 L (1.06 qt) per package of a material poisonous by inhalation in hazard zone A; (4) a shipment of hazardous materials in a bulk packaging with a capacity equal to or greater than 13,248 L (3,500 gal) for liquids or gases, or greater than 13.24 cubic meters (468 cubic feet) for solids; (5) a shipment that requires placarding; and (6) select agents. Select agents are infectious substances identified by CDC as materials with the potential to have serious consequences for human health and safety if used illegitimately. A security plan will enable shippers and carriers to reduce the possibility that a hazardous materials shipment will be used as a weapon of opportunity by a terrorist or criminal. This information collection was originally included in the Federal Register Notice published on September 14, 2011 [76 FR 56872] under Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0223 (Notice No. 11-9). However, since the September 14 publication, this information collection has been renewed in a separate OMB action. The expiration date has been extended until August 31, 2014.

Affected Public: Shippers and carriers of hazardous materials in commerce.

Recordkeeping:

Number of Respondents: 54,999.

Total Annual Responses: 44,880.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 372,064.

Frequency of collection: On occasion.

Title: Subsidiary Hazard Class and Number/Type of Packagings.

OMB Control Number: 2137-0613.

Summary: The HMR require that shipping papers and emergency response information accompany each shipment of hazardous materials in commerce. In addition to the basic shipping description information, we also require the subsidiary hazard class or subsidiary division number(s) to be entered in parentheses following the primary hazard class or division number on shipping papers. This requirement was originally required only by transportation by vessel. However, the lack of such a requirement posed problems for motor carriers with regard to complying with segregation, separation, and placarding requirements, as well as posing a safety hazard. For example, in the event the motor vehicle becomes involved in an accident, when the hazardous materials being transported include a subsidiary hazard such as “dangerous when wet” or a subsidiary hazard requiring more stringent requirements than the primary hazard, there is no indication of the subsidiary hazards on the shipping papers and no indication of the subsidiary risks on placards. Under circumstances such as motor vehicles being loaded at a dock, labels are not enough to alert hazardous materials employees loading the vehicles, nor are they enough to alert emergency responders of the subsidiary risks contained on the vehicles. Therefore, we require the subsidiary hazard class or subsidiary division number(s) to be entered on the shipping paper, for purposes of enhancing safety and international harmonization.

We also require the number and type of packagings to be indicated on the shipping paper. This requirement makes it mandatory for shippers to indicate on shipping papers the numbers and types of packages, such as drums, boxes, jerricans, etc., being used to transport hazardous materials by all modes of transportation.

Shipping papers serve as a principal means of identifying hazardous materials during transportation emergencies. Firefighters, police, and other emergency response personnel are trained to obtain the DOT shipping papers and emergency response information when responding to hazardous materials transportation emergencies. The availability of accurate information concerning hazardous materials being transported significantly improves response efforts in these types of emergencies. The additional information would aid emergency responders by more clearly identifying the hazard. PHMSA did not receive any comments pertaining to this OMB control number in response to the Federal Register Notice published on September 14, 2011.

Affected Public: Shippers and carriers of hazardous materials in commerce.

Recordkeeping:

Number of Respondents: 250,000.

Total Annual Responses: 6,337,500.

Total Annual Burden Hours: 17,604.

Frequency of collection: On occasion.

Issued in Washington, DC on November 22, 2011.

Delmer F. Billings,

Senior Regulatory Advisor, Standards and Rulemaking Division.