Feds Eye New Hazmat Carrier Regs

Federal regulators plan to offer a new regulation early next year that will prohibit flammable liquids from being transported in unprotected product piping on existing and newly manufactured cargo tank trucks.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said it is reversing its 2006 decision to withdraw a similar retrofit regulation because the agency is being pressured by Congress after a new analysis of PHMSA wetlines incident data revealed higher fatalities and injuries than previously thought.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been urging PHMSA, part of the Department of Transportation, to require the retrofits since 1998.