[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 58 (Monday, March 27, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15811-15813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-7416]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[FRA Emergency Order No. 17, Notice No. 3]
Owners of Railroad Tank Cars; Modification of Emergency Order
Requiring Inspection and Repair of Stub Sill Tank Cars
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the United States
Department of Transportation finds that Emergency Order No. 17, Notice
No. 1 (57 FR 41799; September 11, 1992) and Notice No. 2 (58 FR 8647;
February 16, 1993) should be modified. This notice will require owners
of stub sill tank cars to comply with the Association of American
Railroads' O&M Circular No. 1, Supplement No. 2 (CPC-1030) issued on
August 10, 1994.
Effective Date: This amendment is effective March 27, 1995.
For Further Information Contact: Edward W. Pritchard, Chief,
Hazardous Materials Division, Office of Safety Enforcement, Federal
Railroad Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.
20590, (202) 366-9252 or Thomas A. Phemister, Trial Attorney, Office of
Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad Administration, 400 Seventh Street,
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590, (202) 366-0635.
Authority
Authority to enforce the Federal railroad safety laws, including
laws pertaining to the transportation of hazardous materials by
railroad, has [[Page 15812]] been delegated by the Secretary of
Transportation to the Federal Railroad Administrator. 49 CFR 1.49.
Railroads, shippers of hazardous materials, and owners of tank cars are
subject to FRA's safety jurisdiction under the Federal railroad safety
laws, 49 U.S.C. 20101 et seq., and the Federal hazardous materials
transportation safety laws, 49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. FRA is authorized to
issue emergency orders where an unsafe condition or practice creates
``an emergency situation involving a hazard of death or personal
injury.'' 49 U.S.C. 20104. These orders may immediately impose
``restrictions and prohibitions * * * that may be necessary to abate
the situation.'' (Ibid.)
Background
On September 3, 1992, FRA issued Emergency Order No. 17, Notice No.
1 (57 FR 41799) requiring owners of stub sill tank cars to comply with
the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Tank Car Stub Sill
Inspection Program, and the AAR Tank Cars Stub Sill Inspection
Procedure, placed in effect in the AAR's O&M Circular No. 1, issued to
members and private car owners on July 17, 1992. Under EO17 and the O&M
circular, owners of stub sill tank cars must inspect them and shall not
return them to service until all defects have been repaired and the
cars are in full compliance with Federal railroad safety regulations
and the AAR Tank Car Manual. Inspection priorities were established
based on characteristics discovered in other inspections and based on
accumulated mileage.
FRA received numerous questions regarding the implementation of EO
17. FRA issued EO 17, Notice No. 2, on February 8, 1993, responding to
those questions and clarifying its enforcement policy regarding the
tank car stub sill inspection program. FRA's goal was to establish
understanding and to facilitate compliance early in the program.
Towards the end of the first year of the stub sill inspection program,
FRA's monitoring efforts disclosed some irregularities in inspection
data and a generalized lack of standardized inspection techniques and
written procedures. These findings sparked investigations into shops
performing the required inspections. From these investigations, it
became apparent that the AAR's O&M Circular No. 1 needed to be revised
to eliminate these early imperfections in the stub sill program.
FRA believed that AAR could be instrumental in influencing tank car
owners to develop written procedures for inspections and could also
provide assistance if necessary. Accordingly, on February 14, 1994, FRA
wrote AAR and asked that certain subgroups of tank cars be placed into
an 18-month priority inspection program. Further, FRA requested tank
car manufacturers and owners to develop written procedures for each
design of stub sill tank car for distribution to repair facilities
performing the required inspections. AAR agreed and ordered several
subgroups of tank cars into an 18-month priority inspection program. In
addition, on August 10, 1994, AAR issued a supplement to its original
O&M Circular No. 1. Supplement No. 2 (to O&M Circular No. 1), copy
attached as Appendix A, requests owners to develop written procedures
that encompass: (1) Identifying structurally significant components and
welds; (2) a means of access to these components and welds, including
removal of the jacket, insulation, or thermal coating, if required; (3)
inspection techniques to ensure the detection of damage; and (4) proper
identification, measurement, and reporting of cracks by line item on
the required inspection report form (AAR Form SS-2). Supplement No. 2
also requests owners to forward a copy of the inspection procedures to
the inspecting parties and to AAR.
This notice amends Emergency Order No. 17 by incorporating O&M
Circular No. 1, Supplement No. 2, thus making tank car owners who do
not respond to the request to develop design-specific inspection
procedures liable for civil penalties. This notice will also add a
requirement that copies of the design-specific inspection procedures
must be sent to FRA as well as to AAR. For now, FRA will not review and
approve these procedures but will use the copies sent to it as
information for its monitoring program. Naturally, FRA reserves the
authority to review and approve design-specific inspection procedures
if, in the judgment of the agency, experience with their implementation
warrants such action.
After spot-checking several repair facilities, FRA has discovered
that, some 7 months after AAR's supplement was issued, shops and repair
facilities still do not have design-specific procedures for conducting
inspections under this emergency order. FRA cannot accept this lack of
responsiveness to a program vital to transportation safety.
Accordingly, this order will also require car owners to submit to AAR
and to FRA their design-specific procedures within 60 days of the date
of this order and will prohibit, as of the first anniversary of the
AAR's Supplement No. 2 (August 10, 1995), any person from performing
further inspections pursuant to this Emergency Order unless the owner
has supplied the parties performing the inspection with an inspection
procedure applicable to that specific design type.
FRA is aware of some concern within the community of tank car
owners that O&M Circular Letter No. 1, Supplement No. 2 could be read
to require duplicate, and potentially contradictory, effort by owners
to develop inspection plans and procedures. FRA does not find anything
in AAR's supplement to justify this concern. On the contrary, FRA
encourages owners of stub sill tank cars to cooperate with each other,
share information about the designs and the inspection techniques
necessary for each, and develop inspection procedures based on the
broadest spectrum of knowledge possible for each unique stub sill
design. As outlined in FRA's February 1994 letter to AAR, the agency
agrees that the written procedures should include the following
elements:
Identification of structurally significant components and
welds;
Access means to these components and welds, including
removal of jacket, insulation, or thermal coating, if required;
Inspection techniques to use to ensure the detection of
damage; and,
Proper identification, measurement and reporting of cracks
by line item on AAR Form SS-2.
This notice makes no substantive changes in the manner of obtaining
relief from Emergency Order No. 17 or in the penalties for violating
it.
Finding and Order
I find that the unsafe conditions causing an emergency situation
involving a hazard of death or personal injury that led to the issuance
of Emergency Order No. 17 still exist and, accordingly, pursuant to the
authority in 49 U.S.C. 20104, delegated to me by the Secretary of
Transportation (49 CFR 1.49), it is ordered:
1. That, in addition to the requirements of Emergency Order No. 17,
Notice No. 1, owners of stub sill tank cars shall also comply with the
AAR Tank Car Stub Sill Inspection Program placed in effect in the
Association of American Railroads' O&M Circular No. 1, Supplement No.
2, issued to members and private car owners on August 10, 1994, a copy
of which is attached hereto as Appendix A and incorporated herein by
reference;
2. That, in addition to furnishing copies of the procedures to AAR
and to the inspecting parties, as required by Circular No. 1,
Supplement No. 2, owners are required, within 60 days of the date this
Notice was issued, to [[Page 15813]] furnish a copy of the procedures
to FRA by sending it to the FRA Office of Safety Enforcement, Hazardous
Materials Division, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590;
3. That each owner of stub sill tank cars is responsible for
distribution of the procedures to the parties performing the
inspections and ensuring that the inspecting parties understand and
follow the written procedures; and
4. That, effective August 10, 1995, no person may inspect a tank
car pursuant to this Emergency Order unless the owner has supplied the
inspection point with an inspection procedure applicable to that
specific design type.
Relief
Tank car owners may obtain relief from this Emergency Order by
inspecting the affected cars as required and repairing them as
necessary.
Penalties
Any violation of this order shall subject the person committing the
violations to a civil penalty of up to $20,000. 49 U.S.C. 21301. FRA
may, through the Attorney General, also seek injunctive relief to
enforce this order. 49 U.S.C. 20112.
Notice to Affected Persons
This Notice No. 3 will be published in the Federal Register and
will be sent by mail or facsimile to the Association of American
Railroads, The American Short Line Railroad Association, the Regional
Railroads of America, the Railway Progress Institute, all members of
the AAR Tank Car Committee, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and
the American Petroleum Institute. These organizations are encouraged to
make wide distribution of this modification of Emergency Order No. 17
within their membership and to other known interested parties.
Issued in Washington, D.C. on March 20, 1995.
Donald M. Itzkoff,
Deputy Administrator.
Appendix A--Association of American Railroads' O&M Circular No. 1,
Supplement No. 2
The text of the Association of American Railroads' O&M Circular No.
1, Supplement No. 2 (CPC-1030), as issued on August 10, 1994, over the
signature of Mr. J.J. Robinson, Senior Assistant Vice President,
Operations and Maintenance Department, Casualty Prevention Division is
as follows:
AAR O&M Circular No. 1; Supplement No. 2 Tank Car Stub Sill Inspection
Program
1. Audits of the inspections being performed at several tank car
facilities have revealed the need for each tank car owner to develop
written inspection procedures for each unique stub sill design
represented in his or her fleet, to distribute the procedures to the
parties performing the inspections, and to ensure that the inspecting
parties fully understand and consistently follow the written
procedures. These written procedures should include the following
elements:
Identification of structurally significant components and
welds;
Access means to these components and welds, including
removal of jacket, insulation or thermal coating, if required;
Inspection techniques to use to ensure the detection of
damage; and,
Proper identification, measurement and reporting of cracks
by line item on AAR Form SS-2.
In order to ensure the quality of the data and consistency of the
inspection results, owners are requested to develop these procedures
and to forward them to the inspecting parties as soon as possible. A
copy of the procedures should also be filed with AAR, to the attention
of the Manager - Freight & Tank Car Design; 50 F Street NW; Washington,
DC 20001. Owners should contact the builders for assistance in the
development of these procedures.
2. The SILSPEC software used to report the results of stub sill
inspections has been updated to include a more comprehensive ``look-
up'' of builders and stub sill design styles. A paper copy of the look-
up table and the referenced Figures is enclosed, as is a table of Stub
Sill Design Style Templates, which defines weld locations that must and
must not be reported for each design. If there is a need to report cars
built to any of the designs that have been added to the table, a copy
of the updated software may be obtained from Paul Kinnecom at 202/639-
2147 (FAX 202/639-2930).
(Note: Because the AAR's O&M Circular No. 1, Supplement No. 2
has been sent to all AAR members and to private car owners, FRA is
not reproducing the inspection program's table and figures in the
Federal Register.)
[FR Doc. 95-7416 Filed 3-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
