Committee
on Transportation of Hazardous Materials (ATO40)
Minutes of Regular Committee Meetings
Annual Meeting, January 12, 2009
MEMORANDUM
To: Members and Friends, TRB Committee on Transportation of Hazardous Materials (AT040)
From: Richard Bornhorst, Secretary, (202-372-1426)
Re: Minutes of January 12, 2009 – Mid-year Committee Meeting
This document is available in Word format.
The TRB Committee on Transportation of Hazardous Materials met at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC on January 12, 2008. The agenda was distributed at the meeting and is also available on the committee's Web site.
1.
Introduction of
Committee Members
The meeting was called to order at 1:30 pm EST. Brief introductions were made by all present and Chairman Mark Lepofsky reviewed the tentative agenda. Attendees included the following 19 members:
Mark Abkowitz – Vanderbilt University
Paul Bomgardner – Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance
Christopher Bonanti – Federal Aviation Administration
Richard Bornhorst – U.S. Coast Guard (Secretary)
Ed Chapman – BNSF Railway
John Conley – National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc.
Sarah Dammen – ECONorthwest
Phillip Daum – Engineering Systems Inc.
Ron Duych – RITA/Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Robert Fronczak – Association of American Railroads
Emily Goodenough – Visual Risk Technologies
Charlie Hochman – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Gary Lanthrum – Department of Energy
Mark Lepofsky – Battelle (Chairman)
M. Rapik Saat – University of Illinois
John Salvesen – Odfjell
William Schoonover – Federal Railroad Administration
Robert Waters – Sandia National Laboratories
Elaine King – TRB
In addition, the following 34 friends and visitors were in attendance:
Jack Aherne – Transportation Security Administration
John Allen – Battelle
Christopher Barkan – University of Illinois
Thomas Baumgartner – University of Manitoba
Mark Brackstone – Egis Mobilite UK
Derek Bryant – Visual Risk Technologies
Samrat Chatterjee – Vanderbilt University
Michael Coltman – VOLPE/RTA/DOT
Francisco Gonzalez III – Federal Railroad Administration
Glen Harrison – Oak Ridge National Laboratories
Gill Hicks – Gill V. Hicks and Associates, Inc.
Ashok Kapoor – Department of Energy
Sowmya Karthikeyan – University of Illinois
Athaphon Kawprasert – University of Illinois
Rick Kowalewski – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Xiang Liu – University of Illinois
Don Loftis – Olin
O.J. Milano – Visual Risk Technologies
John Minor – Visual Risk Technologies
Thomas Moses – Spill Center
Rich Moskowitz – ATRI/ATA
Joseph Nicklous – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Stephen O’Connor – Department of Energy
Nancy Pfeffer – Network Public Affairs
Lydia Rainville – RITA
Monique van Assen - van Raamsdonh Ryhswaterstaat – DOT Netherlands
Robert Richard – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Bill Rogers – TRB
Mark Stehly – BNSF
Bill Tate – Battelle
Todd Treichel – Association of American Railroads
Michael Williamson – Cambridge Systems
John Wiegmann – Booz Allen
Kin Wong – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
2.
Review and
Approve Previous Meeting Minutes
Richard Bornhorst reviewed the meeting minutes from the Mid-year Committee meeting held in Washington, DC on May 15, 2008. He highlighted various aspects of the meeting minutes including session planning. The 2009 Summer Conference will be held July 19-22 in Seattle, Washington.
The meeting minutes for the Mid-year Committee meeting are available on the Committee home page at http://projects.battelle.org/trbhazmat.
Those who were not attendance that would like to be added to the e-mail distribution list for the Committee or would like to share information with the Committee, please send an e-mail to trbhazmat@googlegroups.com. The e-mail distribution is monitored so there should be no concern about the receipt of junk mail or “out of office” messages through the distribution system.
3.
Session
Summaries
Paul Bomgardner reported on the outcome of the session titled – “Issues and Emerging Technologies in Emergency Response to Incidents and Terrorist Threats Against Commercial Hazardous Material Transportation Systems.” This session featured the following presentations:
- Emerging HazMat Response Management Systems and Technologies presented by Thomas Moses.
- Railcar Monitoring and Tracking: Legislative and Industry Initiatives presented by Don Loftis.
- Safeguards and Security for Radioactive Materials Transportation presented by Lee Finewood.
- Emerging Technologies: Emergency Response Hindrances or Help? presented by Timothy Butters.
Bill Schoonover reported on the outcome of the spotlight session titled – “Transportation of Renewable Fuels: Risk and Preparedness in a Changing World.” This session featured the following presentations:
- Defining the Global Landscape presented by Joan Glickman.
- Emerging Concerns and Issues That May Get Missed in the Rush to Market presented by Jim Redding.
- What’s the Risk with Ethanol presented by Glen Miller.
- Emegency Response Concerns with Alternative Fuels presented Timothy Butters.
Sara Dammen announced that the Committee will co-sponsor a poster session with the Critical Transportation Infrastructure Protection Committee (ABE40) titled – “Transportation of Hazardous Materials” This session featured the following presentations:
- Risk-Based Model for Marshaling Dangerous Goods Railway Cars in Rail Yards presented by Morteza Bagheri, Frank Saccomanno, and Liping Fu.
- Improving the Safety of Transportation of Dangerous Goods, Part2: Numerical Study presented by Mohamed Mokbel Elshafey, O. Burkan Isgor, Omar Abd El Halim, and Ettore Contestabile.
- Improving the Safety of Transportation of Dangerous Goods, Part1: Experimental Study presented by Mohamed Mokbel Elshafey, Ettore Contestabile, Omar Abd El Hamlin, and O. Burkan Isgor.
Mark Lepofsky noted that in addition to the three papers being presented in the poster session, two additional papers would be presented during the committee meeting (see items 7 and 8 below).
4.
TRB Update
Elaine King, our TRB liaison, gave a brief update on TRB
activities. The theme for the 2010
Annual meeting will be “Investing in Our Transportation Future – BOLD Ideas to
Meet BIG Challenges.” The 2010 Annual
meeting will be held on January 10-14 in
TRB estimates that there were over 10,000 individuals in attendance this year.
Elaine mentioned that because of travel restrictions, TRB is reinforcing its commitment to enhancing communications within the Committees in order to reach out to those who cannot attend. She mentioned that teleconferencing capability should be arranged for Mid-year Committee meetings and e-mail distribution systems should be utilized as much as possible.
She also mentioned that Mark Lepofsky will be up for reappointment
as chair in April 2010. TRB will
appreciate feedback from the committee before he is reappointed. The Committee
thanked Mark for all of his hard work and invited him to continue on as
chairman.
Elaine also reminded the Committee about participation in
the TRB webinars. There will be three webinars
per month and the topics will vary depending on interest. TRB Committees are welcome to propose webinar
topics.
Mark Lepofsky mentioned the possibility of a webinar on alternative fuels based on broad interest in the topic and the success of the session on alternative fuels. Bill Schoonover mentioned that additional research is needed to find ways beyond the “E10” brick wall and this may be a topic of interest for a webinar.
Elaine mentioned that access to webinars will cost $100 per location so it is very important to have a specific audience in mind in order attract participation. Webinars are free for TRB sponsors, such as DOT. A webinar typically consists of two presentations with an e-mail discussion feature.
Mark Lepofsky also mentioned that an online hazardous materials transportation research library may be another way to enhance communications within the Committee.
Gary Lanthrum mentioned the Transportation Research Exchange or “T-REX” as a possible forum for sharing research on hazardous material transportation.
Elaine King informed the Committee that research needs statements within the TRB database will need to be reviewed periodically (every 3 years) in order to purge system of projects that have been completed or are no long necessary.
Mark Lepofsky mentioned the growth in the amount of papers submitted to TRB. Mark expressed gratitude to members of the Committee that participate in the paper review process. He also expressed special thanks to Cherry Burke for coordinating these efforts. Because of the volume of papers, most will go to poster sessions.
5.
Committee
Liaisons
Ron Duych reported on the activities of the Freight Transportation Data Committee (ABJ90). He mentioned that the Committee is in the process of developing a “strategic plan” and anyone who is interested is invited to participate in this work.
Elaine King mentioned that a number of the TRB Committees have yet to meet during the TRB Annual Meeting so there is little to report at this time.
6.
Hazardous
Materials Cooperative Research Program
Bill Rogers reported that the all of the first 4 projects under the Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP) are well under way. The projects are as follows:
- HM-01 – Local Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Data and Methodology Guidance. Principal Investigator: George O. Rogers, Texas Transportation Institute.
- HM-02 – Enhanced Incident Data fro Root Cause Analysis. Principal Investigator: Art Greenberg, Battelle.
- HM-03 – A Guide for Assessing Emergency Response Needs and Capabilities for Hazardous Materials Releases. Principal Investigator: Mark Lepofsky, Battelle.
- HM-04 – Emerging Technologies Applicable to Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety and Security. Principal Investigator: Bill Tate, Battelle.
In particular, Bill mentioned that the draft final report for HM-01 is due in February and the other three projects a little behind schedule due to contracting issues from the onset.
Bill also reported that the project panels for the two projects selected by the HMCRP for FY 2008 have been formed and contractors for the projects have been selected. Battelle was selected for HM-05 and HSA Engineers & Scientists was selected for HM-06. The two projects are in the process of being contracted. The projects are as follows:
- HM-05 – Evaluation of the Potential Benefits of Electronic Shipping Papers of Hazardous Materials Shipments
Principal Investigator: Mark Lepofsky, Battelle
- HM-06 – Development of an Environmental Hazard System for Hazardous Materials Transport
Principal Investigator: Richard Lewis, HSA Engineers & Scientists
Bill also reported that numerous projects were submitted to the HMCRP Technical Oversight Panel. On December 9th, 2008, the HMCRP Technical Oversight Panel selected 3 new projects for FY 2009. The projects are as follows:
- HM-07 – Accident Performance Data of Bulk Containers Used for Hazardous Materials Transportation
- HM-08 – Feasibility of a Single Transportation Worker Identification Credential and License
- HM-09 – Dry Ice Limits on Aircraft
Note that the deadline for panel member nominations for FY 2009 projects is February 6, 2009. Recommendations for panel members may be made by sending an email indicating the project and a resume to Ms. Adrienne Blackwell (ablackwell@nas.edu).
Bill mentioned that the National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) selected 11 new FY 2009 projects bringing the total number projects under the program to 28. The projects are as follows:
- NCFRP-18 – Synthesis of International Freight Scans
- NCFRP-19 – Truck Tolling – The role of Freight Markets and Industry Characteristics in Decision Making
- NCFRP-20 – Resources and Procedures for Developing Local Commodity Flow Databases
- NCFRP-21 – Accessing Private Data for Transportation Planning: Effective Practices and Promising Options
- NCFRP-22 – Applications of Benefit-Cost Analysis to Freight Project Selection: Lessons from the Corps of Engineers
- NCFRP-23 – Understanding the Transportation Factors and Economics of Locating Freight Intermodal and Warehouse Distribution Facilities
- NCFRP-24 – Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes
- NCFRP-25 – Generation and Attraction of Freight by Land Use Characteristics
- NCFRP-26 – Strategies for Measuring Costs of Freight Transportation
- NCFRP-27 – Industry Benchmarking as a Tool to Promote Environmental Goals in Freight Transportation
- NCFRP-28 – Truck Idling Scoping Study
A brief discussion was held on future funding for the HMCRP. The original funding provided through SAFETEA-LU will expire on September 30, 2009. Future funding for the program will be partially dependent on the next reauthorization bill and/or alternate sources of funding.
Michael Williamson gave a brief presentation on a project titled: NCFRP-09 – Institutional Arrangements in the Freight Transportation System. The primary purpose of the project is to identify institutional arrangements that can improve freight movement now and in the future. A resource guide will be developed that can be used to assist government agencies and industry in working together to improve transportation. Those who have comments regarding this project, please contact Michael Williamson at mwilliams@camsys.com.
7.
Communication
and Interpretation of Results of Railroad Hazardous Materials Transportation
Route Risk Analyses
Athaphon Kawprasert of the University of Illinois provided a PowerPoint presentation on railroad hazardous materials transportation risk analysis. Risk analysis is considered necessary for effective public policy and risk management strategies. The primary purpose of the research is to illustrate several new techniques to more effectively present, interpret and communicate risk results.
Athaphon presented various graphical techniques that enable risk metrics to be compared and contrasted in a geographical context and independent of a geographical context. These techniques enable decision makers and risk managers to identify high risk locations along the route of a railroad movement of hazardous materials. Railroad shipment lanes and segments that account for the greatest amount of risk are identified based on information regarding accident rates, release rates, and population densities nearby for each segment of track.
Use of these techniques enables decision makers and risk mangers to more effectively and efficiently apply safety resources to mitigate risk.
8.
A proof of
Concept Study for analyzing HazMat Transportation Risks in an All Hazards
Environment
Samrat Chatterjee of Vanderbilt University provided a PowerPoint presentation on a systematic and holistic approach to risk management taking into consideration natural hazards, accidents, and intentional acts in a single context. Samrat indicated that the research is in the developmental stages and intended result is an all hazards risk management (AHRM) approach to risk mitigation.
The research utilizes established assessment methods and data sources to express risk of a particular event or occurrence in monetary terms so that all risks can be evaluated on the same scale.
Samrat presented an early stage application of the AHRM approach by using an example involving the assessment of truck transportation of hazardous materials and earthquakes as two possible risks threatening areas in Tennessee. Although the example was limited in scope, it demonstrated the potential of implementing a holistic and systematic framework for analyzing overall risk based on multiple hazards.
Samrat also indicated that further research will be needed to develop a methodology to convert intentional acts into monetary terms so that they too can be integrated into the AHRM approach.
9.
Agency Research
Updates
Charlie Hochman gave a brief update on PHMSA activities related to hazardous materials research. He mentioned that PHMSA is actively involved with all of the HMCRP projects. He also mentioned that PHMSA is conducting research to develop non-destructive testing methods for composite cylinders and PHMSA is also looking at improved packaging for radioactive materials.
Bob Richard mentioned that PHMSA is also looking at new ways to keep up with new technologies developed in the private industry. For example, ethanol and batteries are two areas where technology is changing very rapidly. Industry needs to be more transparent with their new technologies under development in order to ensure safety and security in transportation. He also mentioned that PHMSA is developing a hazardous materials “roadmap,” which is available for public comment on the following site: http://hazmat.dot.gov/HMpubsreview/pubreview.html
Bill Schoonover gave a brief update on FRA activities. He mentioned that the final rule on improved tank cars for hazardous materials transportation is out. The effective date for the final rule is March 16, 2009. The rule addresses the re-design of pressurized tank cars used for the transportation of toxic-by-inhalation gases and liquids.
Francisco Gonzalez III also mentioned that the FRA is conducting on research on the tank car operating environment. Research will be conducted in Alaska to accelerate/simulate operating conditions in order to get more data. Liquid flow testing will be conducted on some of the valves and crash energy management structures will be evaluated.
Bill Schoonover also mentioned that the tank car research will be looking at the forces applied to tank cars during their operational life. For example, the research may be able to answer questions such as whether or not cracks are developing from track vibrations.
Christopher Bonanti gave a brief update on FAA activities. He mentioned that the FAA is conducting research and testing of various types of fire suppression systems, including halo and argon systems, intended for use on aircrafts. He also mentioned that the FAA is testing various fuel cell technologies and is conducting general research on catastrophic failures due to hazardous materials.
Ron Duych mentioned that RITA/BTS has posted 6 tables of data from the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) on their website: http://www.bts.gov/publications/commodity_flow_survey/. He also mentioned that North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) data and American Fact Finder data is also available.
Bob Richard asked a question regarding the availability of International Trade Data System (ITDS) data. Ron indicated tat RITA/BTS is in the process of making that data available.
Richard Bornhorst gave a brief update on USCG activities. He mentioned that the USCG is kicking off a new national study on possible security vulnerabilities related to LNG/LPG tankers in marine transportation.
Jack Ahern gave a brief update on TSA activities. He mentioned that TSA is developing Toxic by Inhalation (TIH) release probabilities models. He also mentioned that TSA is working with the Chemical Security Analysis Center in order to update accurate toxicology data. Through this research, TSA has found that current probability models are dependent on “source terms” specified by the modeler. These assumptions are based on smaller releases and are generally not correct for larger releases. Also, the current models do not adequately reflect the vaporization process for certain TIH substances such as chlorine.
Jack also mentioned that TSA will be looking at conducting research on tank car and storage tank protection from small arms and explosives in 2009.
John Allen asked a question regarding the possibility of government research to harmonize lists for security sensitive materials. Bill Schoonover and Bob Richard were of the opinion that each agency has a different list because the lists are applied in different ways. Nonetheless, Bob Richard mentioned that considerable work has been done harmonize lists and that there are very few instances where there are differences.
Gary Lanthrum gave a brief update on DOE activities. He mentioned that DOE is conducting research on the consequences of sabotage on spent fuel casks, spent fuel rods, and rodlets (small pieces of spent fuel rod). He also mentioned research to find ways to improve risk communication. Results of the research to date indicate that risk information provided by emergency responders is better received than if it is provided by an agency or industry because emergency responders are viewed as trustworthy communicators.
10. New Business/Research Needs
Statements
Mark Lepofsky reiterated the need to continue to develop Research Needs Statements (RNS) for the RNS Database. He mentioned that the Committee should not be overly concerned with the applicability of proposed research to the HMCRP because the research can be picked up by other research organizations, including other cooperative research programs.
Mark Lepofsky proposed the formation of a small sub-committee to develop RNS on behalf of the Committee. The sub-committee would help the HMCRP oversight panel with the development and selection of suitable projects related to hazardous materials transportation. Those who are interested in participating in this work, please send an e-mail to Richard.C.Bornhorst@uscg.mil indicting your interest.
11. New Business/Meeting Planning
(Mid-year)
Mark Lepofsky presented options for the Mid-year meeting. Through a consensus, the Committee decided to tentatively hold the Mid-year meeting in Washington, DC at the TRB headquarters on June 16. Our TRB liaison, Elaine King, is not available that day and potential alternatives are June 23 or June 24. Please let Rick Bornhorst or Mark Lepofsky know if you have a conflict on either of those days, particularly if it’s a meeting that may affect other members or friends of the committee. The Mid-year meeting will not be a part of the TRB Summer Conference which is to be held July 19-22 in Seattle, Washington.
12. Roundtable Discussion
To start the discussion, Mark Lepofsky queried the Committee on any issue that may of interest or may be an area for future work.
John Conley brought forth a concern that there is a lack of defendable statistical data to represent the safety record of the hazardous materials transportation industry. This is of particular concern when decisions are made in Congress or by government agencies without fully considering the costs to industry.
Bob Richard was of the opinion that having an exact number of hazardous materials shipments per day is, for all intents and purposes, unimportant. The “800,000 shipments per day” figure has been used in congress and in agency rulemakings primarily to frame the scope and size of hazardous materials industry. This figure is not used in the cost/benefit analysis conducted for each rulemaking.
Bob Richard stated that PHMSA already has a pretty good idea about what areas of the hazardous materials transportation system to focus resources on in order to improve safety. The five areas of particular concern are as follows:
- Downed aircrafts;
- Bulk releases of TIH materials;
- Releases due to tank rollovers;
- Incidents during bulk loading/unloading; and
- Undeclared shipments.
Bob Richard also mentioned that the 5800 reporting system could be improved to get better data on riskier hazardous materials and to provide better performance metrics.
Bob Fronczak proposed the development of a standard methodology for evaluating risk so that it would be possible to compare data across all modes. Knowing the risk in transportation would enable emergency responders to match their capabilities with their needs.
Bob Richard mentioned that emergency response capabilities will definitely be a focus of the new administration. He also mentioned that the HMCRP is conducting research on emergency response capabilities (See HM-03).
Mark Abkowitz suggested using the registration process to get better estimates on the number of hazardous materials shipments per day.
Bob Richard questioned the need for such a detailed estimate. TIH materials and explosives are of the most concern; however, they are low volume materials.
Mark Abkowitz was of the opinion that detailed information is needed. Congress is considering the installation and use of GPS on all placarded loads. Without a credible number it is hard to defend against proposal based on cost. In other words, it is hard to conduct a proper cost/benefit analysis without a concrete number.
Ron Duych mentioned that TIH materials and explosives can be documented through the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS). He also was of the opinion that most of the data exists for specific hazardous materials; however, it needs to be properly interpreted. Bob Richard agreed and noted that specific data can be hard to extract.
Kin Wong indicated that more detailed information on hazardous materials shipments and incidents would have to come from industry.
John Conley expressed an interest in getting data from incidents that are not traditionally reported to the government such information that is used by lawyers and insurance companies.
Bob Richard mentioned that PHMSA is working to get more authority under the next re-authorization bill that might allow for additional fact finding capabilities in the event of a hazardous materials incident.
Mark Lepofsky then opened the roundtable discussion.
Bob Fronczak mentioned that AAR is conducting a study on the impacts of the new tank car design and how to proceed with implementation. He mentioned that possibility of the formation of an industry consortium to work issues that may arise through the study.
Ed Chapman mentioned that BNSF Railway is still reeling from the new TSA regulations. In particular, the development of a new rail routing risk model is nearly complete.
Glenn Harrison mentioned that Oak Ridge National Laboratories is conducting research on behalf of the DOE on fixed nuclear facilities and their associated transportation needs. Work is underway to develop a system for tracking radioactive material sources from the former Soviet Union. Glen also mentioned that an ammonium nitrate commodity flow study and barge tracking study is being conducted for DHS. The status of the research is unknown at this time.
John Salvesen mentioned that the USCG recently published new requirements for salvage and marine firefighting for certain cargoes transported in bulk by vessel. He expressed concerns that there is a lack of qualified emergency responders in port areas to meet these new requirements.
13. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:30 pm EST.