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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05202008 - C.28 TO: Board of Supervisors �E-s Contra FROM: Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee Costa (Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, Chair) - _ - = -��' County srq�o� DATE: April 21 , 2008 --- SUBJECT: Proposed federal regulation on railroad tank cars SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS AUTHORIZE the Chair of the Board to sign the letter in Exhibit A providing comments on the proposed federal regulation requiring freight railroads to develop stronger tank cars for carrying hazardous materials, as recommended by the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee with support from the Hazardous Materials Commission. FISCAL IMPACT NONE. The cost of obtaining the stronger tank cars would be paid for by the railroads. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS The United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) on March 31, 2008 released a proposed regulation requiring all freight railroads that carry hazardous materials to obtain and use stronger tank cars that are able to withstand puncture five times better than existing tank cars. Comments are due on the proposed regulation by June 2, 2008. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOM TION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE (S). Survisor alu ry e B. Uilkema Si or Ma N. Pie ho ACTION OF BOARD ON ZO 2-609 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED S OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE v UNANIMOUS (ABSENT _) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: _ NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE ABSENT:_ ABSTAIN: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: John Greitzer/ (925/335-1201) ATTESTED W 22 cc: Community Development Department (CDD) JOH CULLEN, CLERK OF J. Bueren, PWD THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS H. Henderson, ECCFPD AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR M. Kent, HSD K. Richter, CCCFPD B , DEPUTY W. Rupf, Sheriff R. Sawyer, HSD G:\Transportation\Committees\TWIC\2008\Board Orders\may 20 tank cars.doc RAILROAD TANK CARS April 21, 2008 Page 2 BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS (Continued) The rule will require freight railroads to develop and acquire stronger tank cars over an eight- year period. U.S. DOT anticipates it will take two years to design and begin construction of tank cars meeting the new performance standard. In the remaining six years of the implementation period, the proposal requires "steady replacement of existing tank cars with those meeting the enhanced performance standard." Fifty percent of each tank car owner's fleet must comply with the enhanced performance standards five years into the implementation period. This rule was developed in reaction to several deadly tank-car accidents that occurred in recent years. These include a January 2002 derailment in Minot, North Dakota that resulted in one death and 11 serious injuries due to release of anhydrous ammonia, a June 2004 train collision in Macdona, Texas that killed three and seriously injured 30 others due to inhalation of chlorine vapor, and a January 2005 train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina in which nine people died from inhaling chlorine vapors. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the latter two accidents were caused by errors by the train crew; the Minot, North Dakota accident was caused by an undetected faulty rail. In addition to requiring stronger tank cars that are more resistant to puncture,the regulation also establishes a maximum speed of 50 miles per hourfortrains carrying poison inhalation hazards, and a slower maximum speed of 30 miles per hour in areas where trains are not signal- controlled, unless the trains are using the new stronger tank cars. Train speeds in these non- signaled areas currently are limited to 49 miles per hour by federal standards. The strengthening standard specifically requires new tank cars to be able to resist shell puncture at an impact of 25 miles per hour and to resist front ("tank-head") puncture at up to 30 miles per hour. Federal research indicated these standards, together with the speed limits, would provide adequate protection in the event of accidents. The puncture-resistance speeds of 25 and 30 were established because the research determined that the "car-to-car" speed in which individual train cars strike each other, after the initial incident, was estimated to be half the original operating speed of the train. The Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee reviewed the proposed regulation on April 21 and recommends the Board pass along one comment to the U.S. DOT regarding the rule, namely that the reliance on stronger tank cars —which may be heavier cars — could have unintended consequences. More information would be helpful on whetherthe strongertank cars would do more damage to other cars or objects they collide with, and what their impacts would be on maintenance needs and costs for railroad lines. This could be relevant for the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern lines through Contra Costa County, which are used by passenger services including the Capitol Corridor, the San Joaquin, and the cross-country Amtrak Zephyr trains. Staff also discussed this item with the County's Hazardous Materials Commission on April 24, and the Commission offered the additional comment that resistance to ballistics needs to be specifically considered in the development of stronger tank cars. This comment, along with the comment from the Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee, is reflected in the letter for the Chair's signature shown in Exhibit A. Exhibit B is a summary of the new regulation. The Board of Supervisors Contra John Cullen County Administration Building Costa Clerk oBoard athe 651 Pine Street,Room 106 and County Administrator County Martinez,California 94553 � (925)335-1900 John Gioia, I"District Gavle B.Uilkema,2"' District Mary N.Piepho,3"District Susan A.Bonilla,41"District Federal D.Glover,5"'District May 20, 2008 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Fax (202) 493-2251 Re: Docket Number FRA-2006--25169 Hazardous Materials: Improving the Safety of Railroad Tank Car Transportation of Hazardous Materials Agency: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Transportation (DOT) Action: Notice of proposed rulemaking. To Whom It May Concern: The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on May 20, 2008 reviewed the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking referenced above, as posted in the Federal Register, Volume 73, No. 63, Tuesday, April 1, 2008 / Rules, Page 17818 etc. The Board of Supervisors has long-standing concerns about the dangers of hazardous materials transported by freight trains through our communities. We welcome the proposed rule and hope it will lead to a reduced risk of toxic spills or leaks due to accidental derailments, other accidents, or intentional attempts at vandalism or sabotage. Our Hazardous Materials Commission also reviewed the proposed rule, on April 24, 2008, and provided their input to the Board of Supervisors. The Commission shares our concern about the potential dangers of hazardous materials. We offer the following comments, reflecting our views and those of our Hazardous Materials Commission, to help the U.S. Department of Transportation craft the most effective Final Rule possible. 1. If the stronizer steel to be used in the new tank cars is heavier than the steel used in existing cars, there could be impacts from the greater weight of the trains. More information would be helpful on whether the stronger tank cars would do more damage to other cars or objects they collide with, and what their impacts would be on maintenance needs and costs for railroad lines. This could be relevant for the Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern lines through Contra Costa County, which are used every day by intercity passenger services including the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin routes, as well as the cross-country Amtrak Zephyr trains. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Letter May 20,2008 Page 2 of 2 2. The new steel should also be more resistant to ballistic penetration, not just to collision-type damage. We hope this will be the case. If ballistics have not been included in the technology of the new steel, we request this be added as a requirement. Sincerely, KJ Fe era] D. Glover, Chair Co tra Costa County Board of Supervisors FDGUG G:\Transportation\Committees\TWIC\2008\Board Orders\march 1 1 non_emerg exhibit A.doc c: The Hon. Dianne Feinstein,U.S. Senate The Hon. Barbara Boxer,U.S. Senate The Hon. Ellen Tauscher, 10'h CA District The Hon. George Miller, 7°i CA District The Hon. Jerry McNerney, l 1'h CA District Members,Board of Supervisors J.Bueren,Public Works Director S.Goetz, Community Development Department H.Henderson,Chief,East Contra Costa Fire Protection District K.Richter,Chief,Central Contra Costa Fire Protection District W. Rupf, Sheriff R. Sawyer, Health Services Department Hazardous Materials Program 2 EXHIBIT B Of TRA& F01ftft, SQP M 0 V 1 N 6 T N E = AMERICANFderal Railroad Administration �? ECONOMY Background STATES&P U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROPOSED RULE: RAILROAD TANK CAR SAFETY STANDARDS Background The primary safety concern in the transportation of hazardous materials by rail is the prevention of a catastrophic release in close proximity to populated or environmentally sensitive areas where the consequences of an accident could include significant loss of life,widespread injuries, or environmental damage. Of paramount importance in this context is the safety of hazmat commodities classified as toxic or poison inhalation hazards(PIH) such as chlorine and anhydrous ammonia,that pose especially serious threats to human health. While the vast majority of hazardous materials shipped by railroad tank car each year arrive at their destinations safely and without incident,there have been accidents in which the tank car head or shell was breached and PIH material was released. As a result of such accidents--including those in Macdona,TX, Graniteville, SC, and Minot,ND--the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration(PHMSA)and the Federal Railroad Administration(FRA)initiated a comprehensive review of design and operational factors that affect rail tank car safety and developed this Proposed Rule to dramatically improve the accident survivability of railroad tank cars hauling PIH materials. Summary of the Proposed Rule The proposed rule will apply to all rail tank cars used to transport PIH materials. The goal of the proposal is to provide improved tank car integrity under the most commonly identified derailment and collision scenarios, significantly enhancing the safety of the public from these very low probability,but high-consequence, incidents. The proposal sets forth a combination of enhanced tank car performance standards and decreased operating speeds to accomplish this goal. The proposed new performance-based standard will increase by 500 percent on average the amount of energy the hazmat tank car must absorb during a train accident before a catastrophic failure will occur. This can be achieved with innovative designs,materials, and technologies available today and in combination with operating speed restrictions. The proposal establishes a maximum speed limit of 50 mph for PIH tank cars. The proposed speed limitation would restrict the operating speed of all tank cars transporting PIH materials to a maximum of 50 mph; a measure effectively already in place today through voluntary actions adopted by the rail industry for the majority of PIH shipments. As a temporary measure, the proposed rule also requires a maximum speed limit of 30 mph for PIH tank cars that do not meet the performance standards and are operating in non- signaled or"dark" territory. The 30 mph speed restriction is based on FRA's finding that a disproportionate number of incidents resulting in loss of PIH material occurred in dark(non-signaled)territory. In lieu of complying with the 30 mph speed restriction,railroads may implement alternative safety measures, such as switch position monitoring systems, track integrity circuits, enhanced operational safeguards, or positive train control technology. As tank cars meeting the enhanced performance standard enter the fleet,this 30 mph restriction will be phased out. The proposal requires PIH tank cars to be designed and manufactured with enhanced tank car head and shell puncture-resistance systems capable of withstanding the proposed performance tests without loss of lading. The proposed rule requires that PIH tank cars have a shell puncture-resistance system capable of withstanding a side impact at 25 mph. Derailment dynamics modeling results indicate that the secondary car-to-car impact speed is approximately one-half of initial train speed. Thus,requiring tank cars to withstand head and shell impacts of at least 25 mph by limiting the speed of those tank cars to 50 mph ensures that, in most instances, a tank car would not be breached if involved in a derailment or other similar type of accident.To address the higher forces associated with direct impacts in train-to-train collisions,the tank-head puncture-resistance system would be required to survive an impact at 30 mph. The proposed rule requires that certain older PIH tank cars in use today be removed on an accelerated schedule from carrying PIH materials. Additionally,because of concerns that have been raised about the ability of PIH tank cars manufactured prior to 1989 with non-normalized steel to resist the propagation of fractures that can lead to catastrophic failure, such tank cars will be phased out of PIH service no later than five years after the effective date of the rule.This portion of the tank car fleet represents the oldest cars and those that are the most cost and safety efficient for early replacement. The proposal permits an increase in the gross weight of tank cars from 263,000 pounds to 286,000 pounds to offset the potentially increased weight of an enhanced tank car. This measure should enable shippers to continue meeting customer demands without significantly increasing the total number of PIH shipments. The proposed rule allows eight years for compliance with the enhanced tank-head and shell puncture-resistance standards. FRA anticipates that it will take two years to design and begin construction of tank cars meeting the new performance standard. In the remaining six years of the implementation period,the proposal requires steady replacement of existing tank cars with those meeting the enhanced tank-head and shell performance standard. Fifty percent of each tank car owner's fleet must comply with the enhanced performance standards five years into the implementation period. Cost/Benefit Summary The proposed rule requires replacement of the entire fleet of tank cars used to transport PIH materials, estimated at 15,300 tank cars, within eight years from the final rule's effective date. FRA evaluated the costs and benefits of the proposed rule over a thirty-year period—the economic life cycle of a typical tank car. The majority of the benefits are expected to accrue from the reduction in the number of casualties arising from accidents and derailments involving tank cars that transport PIH materials. In addition, additional savings should be realized from a decrease in property damages, including damages to tank cars and railroad track; environmental remediation; track closures;road closures; evacuations; and litigation. In total,FRA believes that these accrued benefits over a thirty year time frame will total approximately$665 million. Taking into consideration actual and planned voluntary industry initiatives to introduce more crashworthy PIH tank cars,FRA estimates the implementation costs over the thirty-year period will total approximately$350 million. For more information contact: Federal Railroad Administration Public Affairs 202-493-6024 March 31, 2008