‘‘(C) a vessel to the extent it is regulated 
under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act of 
1972 (33 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.). 
‘‘(2) FIREARMS.—This chapter and regulations 
prescribed under this chapter do not prohibit— 
‘‘(A) or regulate transportation of a fire-
arm (as defined in section 232 of title 18), or 
ammunition for a firearm, by an individual for 
personal use; or 
‘‘(B) transportation of a firearm or ammu-
nition in commerce. 
‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—Unless the Sec-
retary decides that an emergency exists, a special permit 
or renewal granted under this section is the only way a 
person subject to this chapter may be granted a variance 
from this chapter. 
‘‘(h) APPROVALS.— 
‘‘(1) FINDINGS REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Prior to issuing an 
approval or granting renewal of an approval 
pursuant to part 107 of title 49, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations, the Secretary shall determine 
that the person is fit, willing, and able to con-
duct the activity authorized by the approval in 
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a manner that achieves the level of safety re-
quired under subsection (a)(1). 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making the 
determination under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall consider the person’s safety his-
tory (including prior compliance history), acci-
dent and incident history, and any other infor-
mation the Secretary considers appropriate to 
make such a determination. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
NOTICE.—The Secretary shall 
publish in the Federal Register notice that an appli-
cation for an approval or renewal of an approval has 
been filed and shall give the public an opportunity 
to inspect and comment on the application prior to 
issuance. 
‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—This subsection does 
not require the release of information protected by 
law from public disclosure. 
‘‘(i) NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Secretary shall imme-
diately modify, suspend, or terminate a special permit or 
approval if the Secretary finds that the person who was 
granted such special permit or approval has violated such 
special permit or approval or the regulations issued under 
this chapter in a manner demonstrating that the person 
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is not fit to conduct the activity authorized by the special 
permit or approval. 
‘‘(j) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(1) develop and implement written standard 
operating procedures to support administration of 
the special permit and approval programs; 
‘‘(2) update such procedures periodically; and 
‘‘(3) make such procedures available to the pub-
lic on the Department of Transportation’s Internet 
Web site. 
‘‘(k) FEES.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish a reasonable fee for processing applications 
for, and ensuring compliance with the terms of, spe-
cial permits and approvals. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION
ON
COLLECTION.—No fee 
may be collected under this subsection unless the ex-
penditure of the fee to pay the costs of activities and 
services for which the fee is imposed is provided for 
in advance in an appropriations Act. 
‘‘(3) FEES CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COLLEC-
TIONS.— 
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smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec-
tion 3302 of title 31, any fee authorized to be 
collected under this subsection shall— 
‘‘(i) be credited as offsetting collec-
tions to the account that finances the ac-
tivities and services for which the fee is im-
posed; 
‘‘(ii) be available for expenditure only 
to pay the costs of activities and services 
for which the fee is imposed; and 
‘‘(iii) remain available until expended. 
‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 12 months 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
Secretary, after providing notice and an opportunity 
for public comment, shall issue regulations to imple-
ment this subsection.’’. 
(b) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.—Not later than 6 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall complete all actions necessary to adopt a regu-
lation to define the term ‘‘public interest’’ for the purposes 
of section 5117(a)(1)(B) of title 49, United States Code. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap-
ter 51 is amended by striking the item relating to section 
5117 and inserting the following: 
‘‘5117. Special permits, approvals, and exclusions.’’. 
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SEC. 402. UNIFORM HAZARDOUS MATERIAL STATE REG-
ISTRATION AND PERMIT PROGRAM. 
(a) UNIFORM FORMS AND PROCEDURES.—Section 
5119 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 5119. Uniform hazardous material State registra-
tion and permit program 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND CONDUCT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish and carry out a program to develop uniform 
forms and procedures for States to register, and 
issue permits to, persons who transport, or cause to 
be transported, hazardous material by motor vehicle 
in accordance with this chapter and the regulations 
issued to carry out this chapter. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF EXISTING STATE ALLI-
ANCE PROGRAM.—In establishing the program under 
this subsection, the Secretary shall consider the pro-
gram of uniform forms and procedures for reg-
istering and issuing permits to persons who trans-
port, or cause to be transported, hazardous material 
by motor vehicle developed by the alliance of States 
known as the ‘Alliance for Uniform Hazmat Trans-
portation Procedures’. 
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 years after 
the date of enactment of the Hazardous Material Trans-
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portation Safety Act of 2009, the Secretary shall issue 
regulations to carry out this section. 
‘‘(c) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND 
SUPPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 
planning and transition assistance to States in order 
to encourage State adoption of the program estab-
lished by the Secretary under this section. 
‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Assistance awarded to a 
State under this subsection may be used only to as-
sist the State in transitioning the existing registra-
tion and permitting programs of the State to the 
program established under this section. 
‘‘(d) RELATED EXPENSES.—For purposes of section 
5125(f)(1), expenses related to transporting hazardous 
material may include costs incurred in implementing and 
administering the program established by the Secretary 
under this section, including costs of establishing or modi-
fying forms, procedures, and systems. 
‘‘(e) TRANSITION OF STATE PROGRAMS.—Beginning 
on the effective date of the regulations issued to carry out 
this section, a State may enforce registration and permit-
ting requirements for motor carriers that transport haz-
ardous material in commerce only in accordance with the 
program established by the Secretary under this section. 
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‘‘(f) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section or the reg-
ulations issued by the Secretary to carry out this section 
shall limit the amount of a fee a State may impose or 
collect for registering and issuing permits to persons who 
transport, or cause to be transported, hazardous material 
by motor vehicle. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the 
amounts made available by section 31104(i) of title 49, 
United States Code, a total of $1,000,000 shall be avail-
able to carry out subsection (b).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap-
ter 51 is amended by striking the item relating to section 
5119 and inserting the following: 
‘‘5119. Uniform hazardous material State registration and permit program.’’. 
SEC. 403. REGULAR REPORTING ON USE OF FEES. 
Section 5125(f)(2) is amended by striking ‘‘, upon 
the Secretary’s request,’’ and inserting ‘‘biennially’’. 
SEC. 404. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HAZARDOUS MATE-
RIAL SAFETY PERMIT PROGRAM. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
conduct a study, and transmit to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate a report, on the implementa-
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tion of the hazardous material safety permit program 
under section 5109 of title 49, United States Code. 
(b) MATTERS TO BE REVIEWED.—In conducting the 
study, the Comptroller General shall review, at a min-
imum— 
(1) the list of hazardous materials requiring a 
safety permit; 
(2) the number of permits that have been 
issued, denied, revoked, or suspended since inception 
of the program and the number of commercial motor 
carriers that have never had a permit denied, re-
voked, or suspended since inception of the program; 
(3) the reasons for such denials, revocations, or 
suspensions; 
(4) the criteria used by the Federal Motor Car-
rier Safety Administration to determine whether a 
hazardous material safety permit issued by a State 
is equivalent to the Federal permit; and 
(5) the Secretary’s actions to improve the per-
mit application process. 
(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Comptroller General 
shall include in the report any recommendations the 
Comptroller General has for improving the hazardous ma-
terial safety permit program. 
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(d) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 5109(b)(1) is 
amended by striking ‘‘a class A or B explosive’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘a Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 explosive’’. 
SEC. 405. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 5129 (as redesignated by section 104 of this 
Act) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 5129. Authorization of appropriations 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to carry out this chap-
ter (except sections 5107(e), 5108(g)(2), 5113, 5115, 
5116, and 5119), the following amounts are authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary: 
‘‘(1) For fiscal year 2010, $39,800,000. 
‘‘(2) For fiscal year 2011, $51,296,000. 
‘‘(3) For fiscal year 2012, $58,641,920. 
‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2013, $61,414,758. 
‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2014, $62,643,054. 
‘‘(b) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY PRE-
PAREDNESS FUND.—There shall be available to the Sec-
retary, from the account established pursuant to section 
5116(i), for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 the 
following: 
‘‘(1) To carry out section 5115, $198,000. 
‘‘(2) To carry out sections 5116(a) and 
5116(b), $21,800,000, except that no less than 
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$13,650,000 shall be available to carry out section 
5116(b). 
‘‘(3) To carry out section 5116(f), $150,000. 
‘‘(4) To publish and distribute the Emergency 
Response Guidebook under section 5116(i)(3), 
$625,000. 
‘‘(5) To carry out section 5116(j), $1,000,000. 
‘‘(c) HAZMAT TRAINING GRANTS.—There shall be 
available to the Secretary, from the account established 
pursuant to section 5116(i), to carry out section 5107(e) 
$4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 
‘‘(d) CREDITS TO APPROPRIATIONS.—The Secretary 
may credit to any appropriation to carry out this chapter 
an amount received from a State, Indian tribe, or other 
public authority or private entity for expenses the Sec-
retary incurs in providing training to the State, authority, 
or entity. 
‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts made 
available by or under this section shall remain available 
until expended.’’. 
Æ 
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