103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2178
AN ACT
To amend the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to
authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1994, 1995,
1996, and 1997, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Hazardous Materials Transportation Act Amendments of
1993’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.
SEC. 2. REGISTRATION.
Section 106(c) (49 U.S.C. App. 1805(c)) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(16) AUTHORITY
OF
SECRETARY
TO
WAIVE
MANDATORY FILING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary
may waive the filing of a registration statement, or
the payment of a fee, required under this subsection,
or both, for any person not domiciled in the United
States who solely offers hazardous materials for
transportation to the United States from a place
outside the United States if the country of which
such person is a domiciliary does not require persons
domiciled in the United States who solely offer haz-
ardous materials for transportation to the foreign
country from places in the United States to file reg-
istration statements, or to pay fees, for making such
an offer.’’.
SEC. 3. TIME FOR SECRETARIAL ACTION.
(a) SECTION 107.—Section 107(a) (49 U.S.C. App.
1806(a)) is amended by inserting at the end the following:
‘‘The Secretary shall issue or renew the exemption for
which an application was filed or deny such issuance or
renewal within 180 days of the first day of the month fol-
lowing the date of the filing of such application or the
Secretary shall publish a statement in the Federal Reg-
ister of the reason why the Secretary’s decision on the ex-
emption is delayed with an estimate of the additional time
necessary before the decision is made.’’
(b) SECTION 112.—Section 112(c)(1) (49 U.S.C.
App. 1811(c)(1)) is amended by inserting after the second
sentence the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall issue a deci-
sion on an application for a determination within 180 days
of the date of the publication of the notice of having re-
ceived such application or the Secretary shall publish a
statement in the Federal Register of the reason why the
Secretary’s decision on the application is delayed with an
estimate of the additional time necessary before the deci-
sion is made.’’
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 115(a) (49 U.S.C. App. 1812(a)) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated for carrying out this title (other than sections 117,
117A, 118, and 121) not to exceed $18,000,000 for fiscal
year 1994, $18,540,000 for fiscal year 1995, $19,100,000
for fiscal year 1996, and $19,670,000 for fiscal year
1997.’’.
SEC. 5. TRAINING.
(a) SUPPLEMENTAL
PUBLIC
SECTOR
TRAINING
GRANTS.—Section 117A (49 U.S.C. App. 1815) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(j) SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to further the pur-
poses of subsection (b), relating to training public
sector employees to respond to accidents and inci-
dents involving hazardous materials, the Secretary
shall make grants to national nonprofit employee or-
ganizations engaged solely in fighting fires for the
purpose of training individuals with statutory re-
sponsibility to respond to hazardous materials acci-
dents and incidents.
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds granted to an or-
ganization under this subsection may be used—
‘‘(A) to identify regions or locations in
which fire departments are in need of hazard-
ous materials training;
‘‘(B) to prioritize such needs and develop
a means for evaluating specific training needs;
‘‘(C) to train instructors to conduct haz-
ardous materials response training programs
and evaluate the efficacy of such training pro-
grams;
‘‘(D) to purchase training equipment for
such training programs; and
‘‘(E) to disseminate on a nationwide basis
the data developed, and the findings derived
from projects carried out, under this subsection.
‘‘(3) USE
OF
TRAINING
COURSES.—The Sec-
retary may only make a grant to an organization
under this subsection in a fiscal year if the organiza-
tion enters into an agreement with the Secretary to
use in such fiscal year—
‘‘(A) a course or courses developed or iden-
tified under section 117A(g); or
‘‘(B) other courses which the Secretary de-
termines are consistent with the objectives of
this subsection;
for training individuals with statutory responsibility
to respond to accidents and incidents involving haz-
ardous materials.
‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary
may impose such additional terms and conditions on
grants to be made under this subsection as the Sec-
retary determines are necessary to protect the inter-
ests of the United States and to carry out the objec-
tives of this subsection.
‘‘(k) REPORTS.—Not later than September 30, 1997,
the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the
allocation and uses of training grants authorized under
subsection (b) for fiscal years 1993 through fiscal year
1996 and grants authorized under subsection (j) and sec-
tion 118 for fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Such report shall
identify the ultimate recipients of training grants and in-
clude a detailed accounting of all grant expenditures by
grant recipients, the number of employees trained under
the grant programs, and an evaluation of the efficacy of
training programs carried out.’’.
(b) FUNDING.—Section 117A(i)(2) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A) GENERAL PROGRAM.—’’
before ‘‘There’’;
(2) by indenting subparagraph (A), as so des-
ignated, and moving subparagraph (A) 2 ems to the
right; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM.—
‘‘(i) FROM
FEES.—There shall be
available to the Secretary for carrying out
subsection (j), from amounts in the ac-
count established pursuant to subsection
(h), $250,000 per fiscal year for each of
fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
‘‘(ii) FROM GENERAL REVENUES.—In
addition to amounts made available under
clause (i), there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary for carrying out
subsection (j) $1,000,000 per fiscal year
for each of fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997,
and 1998.’’.
(c) HAZMAT EMPLOYEE TRAINING PROGRAM.—Sec-
tion 118 is amended—
(1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘may’’ and in-
serting ‘‘shall, subject to the availability of funds
under subsection (d),’’;
(2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘National’’ and
all that follows through ‘‘Labor’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec-
retary’’;
(3) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘hazmat em-
ployee’’ after ‘‘nonprofit’’; and
(4) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(d) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary to carry out this section
$3,000,000 per fiscal year for each of fiscal years 1995,
1996, 1997, and 1998.’’.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 117A(h)
is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2)(H) by striking ‘‘and sec-
tion 118’’;
(2) in paragraph (6)(B)(i) by striking ‘‘and sec-
tion 118’’; and
(3) in paragraph (6)(B)(iii) by striking ‘‘and
section 118’’.
SEC. 6. COMPUTERIZED TELECOMMUNICATION DATA CEN-
TER PILOT PROJECTS.
(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Transportation may
make grants to 1 or more persons, including a State or
local government or department, agency, or instrumental-
ity thereof, to carry out a pilot project to demonstrate the
feasibility of establishing and operating computerized tele-
communications emergency response information tech-
nologies that are used—
(1) to identify the contents of shipments of haz-
ardous materials transported by motor carriers;
(2) to permit retrieval of data on shipments of
hazardous materials transported by motor carriers;
(3) to link systems that identify, store, and
allow the retrieval of data for emergency response to
incidents and accidents involving transportation of
hazardous materials by motor carrier; and
(4) to provide information to facilitate re-
sponses to accidents and incidents involving hazard-
ous materials shipments by motor carriers either di-
rectly or through linkage with other systems.
(b) SELECTION OF CARRIERS.—The pilot project to
be carried out under this section must involve 2 or more
motor carriers of property. One of the motor carriers se-
lected to participate in the project must be a carrier that
transports mostly hazardous materials. The other motor
carrier selected must be a regular-route common carrier
that specializes in transporting less than truck-load ship-
ments. The motor carriers selected may be engaged in
multimodal movements of hazardous materials with other
motor carriers, rail carriers, or water carriers.
(c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may
impose such terms and conditions on grants to be made
under this section as the Secretary determines are nec-
essary to protect the interests of the United States and
to carry out the objectives of this section.
(d) COORDINATION.—To the maximum extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary of Transportation shall coordinate
a pilot project to be carried out under this section with
any existing Federal, State, and local government projects
and private projects which are similar to the pilot project
to be carried out under this section. The Secretary may
require that a pilot project under this section be carried
out in conjunction with such similar Federal, State, and
local government projects and private projects.
(e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost
of a pilot project carried out under this section shall be
100 percent, unless the grantee selected to carry out such
project agrees to a lower Federal share.
(f) REPORT.—Not later than December 31, 1997, the
Secretary of Transportation shall transmit to Congress a
report on the results of pilot projects carried out under
this section.
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995 and 1996. Such
sums shall remain available until expended.
SEC. 7. STUDY OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPOR-
TATION BY MOTOR CARRIERS NEAR FED-
ERAL PRISONS.
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall
conduct a study to determine the safety considerations of
transporting hazardous materials by motor carriers in
close proximity to Federal prisons, particularly those hous-
ing maximum security prisoners. Such study shall include
an evaluation of the ability of such facilities and the des-
ignated local planning agencies to safely evacuate such
prisoners in the event of an emergency and any special
training, equipment, or personnel that would be required
by such facility and the designated local emergency plan-
ning agencies to carry out such evacuation. Such study
shall not apply to or address issues concerning rail trans-
portation of hazardous materials.
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor-
tation shall transmit to Congress a report on the results
of the study conducted under this section, along with the
Secretary’s recommendations for any legislative or regu-
latory changes to enhance the safety regarding the trans-
portation of hazardous materials by motor carriers near
Federal prisons.
SEC. 8. USE OF FIBRE DRUM PACKAGING.
(a) INITIATION OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—Not
later than the 60th day following the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall
initiate a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether the
requirements of section 105(a) of the Hazardous Materials
Transportation Act as they pertain to openhead fiber
drum packaging can be met for the domestic transpor-
tation of liquid hazardous materials (with respect to those
classifications of liquid hazardous materials transported
by such drums pursuant to regulations in effect on Sep-
tember 30, 1991) with standards other than the perform-
ance oriented packaging standards adopted under docket
number HM–181 contained in part 178 of title 49, Code
of Federal Regulations.
(b) ISSUANCE OF STANDARDS.—If the Secretary of
Transportation determines, as a result of the rulemaking
proceeding initiated under subsection (a), that a packag-
ing standard other than the performance oriented packag-
ing standards referred to in subsection (a) will provide an
equal or greater level of safety for the domestic transpor-
tation of liquid hazardous materials than would be pro-
vided if such performance oriented packaging standards
were in effect, the Secretary shall issue regulations which
implement such other standard and which take effect be-
fore October 1, 1996.
(c) COMPLETION OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDING.—
The rulemaking proceeding initiated under subsection (a)
shall be completed before October 1, 1995.
(d) LIMITATIONS.—
(1) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY.—The pro-
visions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall not
apply to packaging for those hazardous materials
regulated by the Department of Transportation as