PHMSA Withdraws Crude Oil Vapor Pressure Proposal

Posted on 5/26/2020 by Roger Marks

DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has withdrawn a proposal to establish vapor pressure limits for crude oil and other Class 3 flammable hazardous materials.

After reviewing comments submitted in response to its January 2017 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), PHMSA will no longer consider imposing vapor pressure standards for crude oil, other unrefined petroleum-based products, or Class 3 flammable liquids by any mode of transport.

In its notice of withdrawal, PHMSA cites a study conducted by the Sandia National Laboratories that found vapor pressure of crude oil is not a significant factor in the severity of fires or fireballs that result from accidents.

Therefore, PHMSA believes that imposing vapor pressure testing requirements “is not justified because such a regulation would not improve the safety of transporting crude oil by rail.” For more details on the study, the comments PHMSA received, and PHMSA’s decision, read the notice in the May 20 Federal Register.

Hazmat Ground Shipper–Additional Rail Requirements

To help rail shippers and railroads maintain compliance with changing US DOT standards for hazmat shipments, the new Hazmat Ground Shipper—Additional Rail Requirements Online Course covers the complex rules for this unique mode of transport.

Designed to help offerors meet DOT’s function-specific hazmat training mandate at 49 CFR 172.704(a)(2), the course covers the requirements for shipping hazmat by tank car, freight container, and bulk or non-bulk packages.

Learn more about the course and sign up here.

Tags: crude oil, hazardous materials, hazmat by rail, PHMSA

Find a Post

Search for:

Compliance Topics

Compliance Archives

Attending Lion Technology classes should be mandatory for every facility that ships or stores hazmat.

Genell Drake

Outbound Lead

The instructor was very knowledgeable and provided pertinent information above and beyond the questions that were asked.

Johnny Barton

Logistics Coordinator

Much better than my previous class with another company. The Lion instructor made sense, kept me awake and made me laugh!

Marti Severs

Enterprise Safety Manager

The instructor was very engaging and helped less experienced people understand the concepts.

Steve Gall

Safety Leader

Lion is at the top of the industry in compliance training. Course content and structure are updated frequently to make annual re-training enjoyable. I like that Lion has experts that I can contact for 1 year after the training.

Caroline Froning

Plant Chemist

This is the best RCRA training I've experienced! I will be visiting Lion training again.

Cynthia L. Logsdon

Principal Environmental Engineer

Lion does a great job summarizing and communicating complicated EH&S-related regulations.

Michele Irmen

Sr. Environmental Engineer

Excellent. I learned more in two days with Lion than at a 5-day program I took with another provider.

Francisco Gallardo

HES Technician

Having the tutorial buttons for additional information was extremely beneficial.

Sharon Ziemek

EHS Manager

This was the 1st instructor that has made the topic actually enjoyable and easy to follow and understand. Far better than the "other" training providers our company has attended!

Lori Hardy

Process & Resource Administrator

Download Our Latest Whitepaper

Find out what makes DOT hazmat training mandatory for employees who sign the hazardous waste manifest, a “dually regulated” document for tracking shipments.

Download

By submitting your phone number, you agree to receive recurring marketing and training text messages. Consent to receive text messages is not required for any purchases. Text STOP at any time to cancel. Message and data rates may apply. View our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.