I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3460

To amend the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 8, 1993

Mr. RAHALL (for himself and Mr. SHUSTER) introduced the following bill;

which was referred jointly to the Committees on Energy and Commerce

and Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to

authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1994, 1995,

1996, 1997, and 1998, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hazardous Materials

5 Transportation Act Reauthorization Amendments of

6 1993’’.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 Section 103 of the Hazardous Materials Transpor9 tation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1802) is amended in each of
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1 paragraphs (5)(B) and (6)(A)(iii) by striking ‘‘packages’’

2 and inserting ‘‘packaging’’.

3 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.

4 Section 105 of the Hazardous Materials Transpor5 tation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1804) is amended—

6 (1) subsection (a)(3) by inserting ‘‘hazardous

7 materials’’ after ‘‘shipped,’’;

8 (2) in each of subsections (a)(3) and

9 (a)(4)(B)(v) by striking ‘‘package’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘packaging’’;

11 (3) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (e)

12 and inserting the following:

13 ‘‘(1) a container or package, or a component of

14 a container or package, for the transportation of

15 hazardous materials is safe, certified, or in compli16 ance with the requirements of this title unless it

17 meets the requirements of all applicable regulations

18 issued under this title; or’’.

19 SEC. 4. REGISTRATION.

20 Section 106(c) of the Hazardous Materials Transpor21 tation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1805(c)) is amended by adding

22 at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(16) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO WAIVE

24 MANDATORY FILING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary

25 may waive the filing of a registration statement, or
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1 the payment of a fee, required under this subsection,

2 or both, for any person not domiciled in the United

3 States who solely offers hazardous materials for

4 transportation to the United States from a place

5 outside the United States if the country of which

6 such person is a domiciliary does not require persons

7 domiciled in the United States who solely offer haz8 ardous materials for transportation to the foreign

9 country from places in the United States to file reg10 istration statements, or to pay fees, for making such

11 an offer.’’.

12 SEC. 5. INSPECTION–.

13 Section 109(c)(1) of the Hazardous Materials Trans14 portation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1808(c)) is amended by

15 striking ‘‘packages’’ and inserting ‘‘packagings’’.

16 SEC. 6. PENALTIES.

17 Section 110(a)(1) of the Hazardous Materials Trans18 portation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1809(a)(1)) is amended by

19 striking ‘‘package’’ and inserting ‘‘packaging’’.

20 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 Section 115(a) of the Hazardous Materials Transpor22 tation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1812(a)) is amended to read

23 as follows:

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro25 priated for carrying out this title (other than section 117,
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1 117A, 118, and 121) not to exceed $18,000,000 for fiscal

2 year 1994, $18,540,000 for fiscal year 1995, $19,100,000

3 for fiscal year 1996, $19,670,000 for fiscal year 1997, and

4 $20,260,000 for fiscal year 1998.’’.

5 SEC. 8. TRAINING.

6 (a) SUPPLEMENTAL PUBLIC SECTOR TRAINING

7 GRANTS.—Section 117A of the Hazardous Materials

8 Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1815) is amended by

9 adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(j) SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING GRANTS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to further the pur12 poses of subsection (b), relating to training public

13 sector employees to respond to accidents and inci14 dents involving hazardous materials, the Secretary

15 shall make grants to national nonprofit employee or16 ganizations engaged solely in fighting fires for the

17 purpose of training individuals with statutory re18 sponsibility to respond to hazardous materials acci19 dents and incidents.

20 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds granted to an or21 ganization under this subsection may be used—

22 ‘‘(A) to identify regions or locations in

23 which fire departments are in need of hazard24 ous materials training;
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1 ‘‘(B) to prioritize such needs and develop

2 a means for evaluating specific training needs;

3 ‘‘(C) to train instructors to conduct haz4 ardous materials response training programs

5 and evaluate the efficacy of such training pro6 grams;

7 ‘‘(D) to purchase training equipment for

8 such training programs; and

9 ‘‘(E) to disseminate on a nationwide basis

10 the data developed, and the findings derived

11 from projects carried out, under this subsection.

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF TRAINING COURSES.—The Sec13 retary may only make a grant to an organization

14 under this subsection in a fiscal year if the organiza15 tion enters into an agreement with the Secretary to

16 use in such fiscal year—

17 ‘‘(A) a course or courses developed or iden18 tified under section 117A(g); or

19 ‘‘(B) other courses which the Secretary de20 termines are consistent with the objectives of

21 this subsection;

22 for training individuals with statutory responsibility

23 to respond to accidents and incidents involving haz24 ardous materials.
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1 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary

2 may impose such additional terms and conditions on

3 grants to be made under this subsection as the Sec4 retary determines are necessary to protect the inter5 ests of the United States and to carry out the objec6 tives of this subsection.

7 ‘‘(k) REPORTS.—Not later than September 30, 1997,

8 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the

9 allocation and uses of training grants authorized under

10 subsection (b) for fiscal years 1993 through fiscal year

11 1996 and grants authorized under subsection (j) and sec12 tion 118 for fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Such report shall

13 identify nonprofit organizations receiving training grants

14 and include a detailed accounting of all grant expenditures

15 by grant recipients, the number of employees trained

16 under the grant programs, and an evaluation of the effi17 cacy of training programs carried out.’’.

18 (b) FUNDING.—Section 117A(i)(2) of such Act is

19 amended—

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A) GENERAL PROGRAM.—’’

21 before ‘‘There’’;

22 (2) by indenting subparagraph (A), as so des23 ignated, and moving subparagraph (A) 2 ems to the

24 right; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM.—

4 ‘‘(i) FROM FEES.—There shall be

5 available to the Secretary for carrying out

6 subsection (j), from amounts in the ac7 count established pursuant to subsection

8 (h), $250,000 per fiscal year for each of

9 fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.

10 ‘‘(ii) FROM GENERAL REVENUES.—In

11 addition to amounts made available under

12 clause (i), there is authorized to be appro13 priated to the Secretary for carrying out

14 subsection (j) $2,000,000 per fiscal year

15 for each of fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997,

16 and 1998.’’.

17 (c) HAZMAT EMPLOYEE TRAINING PROGRAM.—Sec18 tion 118 of such Act is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘may’’ and in20 serting ‘‘shall, subject to the availability of funds

21 under subsection (d),’’;

22 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘National’’ and

23 all that follows through ‘‘Labor’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec24 retary’’;
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1 (3) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘hazmat em2 ployee’’ after ‘‘nonprofit’’; and

3 (4) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to the Secretary to carry out this section

7 $10,000,000 per fiscal year for each of fiscal years 1995,

8 1996, 1997, and 1998.’’.

9 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 117A(h)

10 of such Act is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (2)(H) by striking ‘‘and sec12 tion 118’’;

13 (2) in paragraph (6)(B)(i) by striking ‘‘and sec14 tion 118’’; and

15 (3) in paragraph (6)(B)(iii) by striking ‘‘and

16 section 118’’.

17 SEC. 9. FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.

18 Section 120 of the Hazardous Materials Transpor19 tation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1818) is amended by striking

20 ‘‘package’’ and inserting ‘‘packaging’’.

21 SEC. 10. COMPUTERIZED TELECOMMUNICATION DATA CEN22 TER PILOT PROJECTS.

23 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Transportation may

24 make grants to 1 or more persons, including a State or

25 local government or department, agency, or instrumental-
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1 ity thereof, to carry out a pilot project to demonstrate the

2 feasibility of establishing and operating a reporting system

3 and computerized telecommunication data center that is

4 capable—

5 (1) of receiving, storing, and retrieving data on

6 all daily shipments of hazardous materials trans7 ported by motor carriers of property;

8 (2) of identifying the types of hazardous mate9 rials being transported by a motor carrier of prop10 erty; and

11 (3) of providing information to facilitate re12 sponses to accidents and incidents involving such

13 shipments.

14 (b) SELECTION OF CARRIERS.—The pilot project to

15 be carried out under this section must involve 2 or more

16 motor carriers of property. One of the motor carriers se17 lected to participate in the project must be a carrier that

18 transports mostly hazardous materials. The other motor

19 carrier selected must be a regular-route common carrier

20 that specializes in transporting less than truck-load ship21 ments. The motor carriers selected may be engaged in

22 multimodal movements of hazardous materials with other

23 motor carriers, rail carriers, or water carriers.

24 (c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may

25 impose such terms and conditions on grants to be made
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1 under this section as the Secretary determines are nec2 essary to protect the interests of the United States and

3 to carry out the objectives of this section.

4 (d) COORDINATION.—To the maximum extent prac5 ticable, the Secretary of Transportation shall coordinate

6 a pilot project to be carried out under this section with

7 any existing Federal, State, and local government projects

8 and private projects which are similar to the pilot project

9 to be carried out under this section. The Secretary may

10 require that a pilot project under this section be carried

11 out in conjunction with such similar Federal, State, and

12 local government projects and private projects.

13 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost

14 of a pilot project carried out under this section shall be

15 100 percent, unless the grantee selected to carry out such

16 project agrees to a lower Federal share.

17 (f) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 1997, the

18 Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to Congress a

19 report on the results of pilot projects carried out under

20 this section.

21 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

23 $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Such

24 sums shall remain available until expended.
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1 SEC. 11. STUDY OF HAZARDOUS WASTES TRANSPORTATION

2 NEAR FEDERAL PRISONS.

3 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall

4 conduct a study to determine the safety considerations of

5 transporting hazardous wastes in close proximity to Fed6 eral prisons, particularly those housing maximum security

7 prisoners. Such study shall include, but not be limited to,

8 an evaluation of the ability of such facilities and the des9 ignated local planning agencies to safely evacuate such

10 prisoners in the event of an emergency and any special

11 training, equipment, or personnel that would be required

12 by such facility and the designated local emergency plan13 ning agencies to carry out such evacuation.

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

15 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor16 tation shall transmit to Congress a report on the results

17 of the study conducted under this section, along with the

18 Secretary’s recommendations for any legislative or regu19 latory changes to enhance the safety regarding the trans20 portation of hazardous wastes near Federal prisons.

21 SEC. 12. STUDY OF RADIO MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGIES

22 AND HIGHWAY SAFETY.

23 (a) ARRANGEMENTS WITH APPROPRIATE ENTITY.—

24 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment

25 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall enter

26 into appropriate arrangements with the National Academy
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1 of Sciences or any other appropriate entity to conduct a

2 comprehensive study and investigation with respect to

3 both commercial motor vehicles carrying hazardous mate4 rials and commercial motor vehicles generally of the fol5 lowing:

6 (1) Whether there is a safety justification for

7 regulating the use of radar detectors in such vehi8 cles.

9 (2) Whether there are ways in which radio

10 microwave technologies may be used to enhance the

11 safety of such vehicles, including by warning drivers

12 of such vehicles of—

13 (A) segments of roadway under construc14 tion, maintenance, or repair;

15 (B) obstructions on or adjacent to the

16 roadway, including accident sites;

17 (C) segments of roadway which have his18 torically higher accident rates; and

19 (D) conditions of restricted visibility

20 caused by snow, rain, fog, or dust.

21 (3) Whether there are ways radio microwave

22 technologies may be used in the application of intel23 ligent vehicle highway systems consistent with the

24 goals of the Intelligence Vehicle-Highway Systems

25 Act of 1991.
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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—The entity conducting the

2 study and investigation under subsection (a) shall consult

3 in all aspects of the study and investigation, including

4 study design, organizations representing the commercial

5 motor vehicle industry (including segments of the industry

6 which transport hazardous materials), manufacturers of

7 radar detectors, users of radar detectors, highway safety

8 advocates, and such other persons as such entity considers

9 appropriate.

10 (c) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary

11 of Transportation shall provide to the entity conducting

12 the study and investigation under subsection (a) any infor13 mation or data which such entity determines is necessary

14 for the purpose of conducting such study and investiga15 tion. The Secretary shall work with the States and other

16 appropriate organizations to develop, to the extent nec17 essary, any new information or data that is required to

18 carry out such study and investigation.

19 (d) REPORT.—The entity conducting the study and

20 investigation under subsection (a) shall report to the Sec21 retary and Congress its findings and recommendations

22 with respect to such study and investigation not later than

23 September 30, 1995.

24 (e) SECRETARIAL REVIEW AND REPORT.—Upon re25 ceipt of the report under subsection (d), the Secretary of
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1 Transportation shall commence a review of such report

2 and of Federal policies regarding the use of radar detec3 tors and other radio microwave technologies with respect

4 to both commercial motor vehicles transporting hazardous

5 materials and commercial motor vehicles generally. Not

6 later than 120 days after the date of the receipt of the

7 report under subsection (d), the Secretary shall report to

8 the Congress on the results of such review. Such report

9 shall include a description of any administrative action

10 (including the issuance or modification of regulations) that

11 the Secretary plans to take as a result of such review re12 garding the use of radar detectors and other radio micro13 wave technologies in such vehicles.

14 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘radio

15 microwave technology’’ means any device or mechanism

16 which emits or detects radio microwaves, including radar

17 detectors.

18 (g) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Transportation

19 shall expend, out of amounts deducted under section

20 104(a) of title 23, United States Code, not more than

21 $500,000 to carry out this section.

22 (h) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—

23 Nothing in this section shall alter in any way the authority

24 of the Secretary of Transportation to take any administra25 tive action which the Secretary is otherwise authorized to
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1 take or alter in any way the discretion which the Secretary

2 otherwise has in the exercise of such authority.

3 SEC. 13. PROHIBITION OF BILLBOARDS ON SCENIC BY4 WAYS.

5 Section 131(s) of title 23, United States Code, is

6 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c) of’’.

7 SEC. 14. USE OF FIBRE DRUM PACKAGING.

8 (a) INITIATION OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—Not

9 later than the 60th day following the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall

11 initiate a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether the

12 requirements of section 105(a) of the Hazardous Materials

13 Transportation Act as they pertain to openhead fiber

14 drum packaging can be met for the domestic transpor15 tation of liquid hazardous materials (with respect to those

16 classifications of liquid hazardous materials transported

17 by such drums pursuant to regulations in effect on Sep18 tember 30, 1991) with standards other than the perform19 ance oriented packaging standards adopted under docket

20 number HM–181 contained in part 178 of title 49, Code

21 of Federal Regulations.

22 (b) ISSUANCE OF STANDARDS.—If the Secretary of

23 Transportation determines, as a result of the rulemaking

24 proceeding initiated under subsection (a), that a packag25 ing standard other than the performance oriented packag-
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1 ing standards referred to in subsection (a) will provide an

2 equal or greater level of safety for the domestic transpor3 tation of liquid hazardous materials than would be pro4 vided if such performance oriented packaging standards

5 were in effect, the Secretary shall issue regulations which

6 implement such other standard and which take effect be7 fore October 1, 1996.

8 (c) COMPLETION OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—

9 The rulemaking proceeding initiated under subsection (a)

10 shall be completed before October 1, 1995.

11 (d) LIMITATIONS.—

12 (1) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY.—The pro13 visions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall not

14 apply to packaging for those hazardous materials

15 regulated by the Department of Transportation as

16 poisonous by inhalation under the Hazardous Mate17 rials Transportation Act.

18 (2) LIMITATION OF STATUTORY CONSTRUC19 TION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to

20 prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from issu21 ing or enforcing regulations for the international

22 transportation of hazardous materials.

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