Twenty Republicans tell PHMSA to drop plans to scrap rule allowing LNG rail transport

Twenty Republicans on the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee decried the Biden administration's plan to rescind a Trump-era regulation allowing LNG to move by freight rail.

Committee Republicans released a letter on Jan. 6 that called a proposed rule to suspend a July 2020 regulation authorizing LNG transport in rail tank cars "rushed and arbitrary." Such a proposal "will only contribute to our existing supply chain and energy issues," the Republicans said in a letter to Tristan Brown, acting administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The lawmakers asked the agency to "abandon this flawed proposal and keep in place the existing 2020 LNG by rail regulation."

"We must question whether the agency's explanation for proposing this rollback constitutes a reasonable decision," the Republican members said in the letter dated Dec. 22. "No evidence exists for PHMSA to reasonably conclude that the 2020 rule should be changed so soon after taking effect, and therefore this newly proposed rule is arbitrary, capricious, and unwarranted."

The letter was signed by committee ranking member Sam Graves, Republican-Missouri, and Railroads, Pipeline, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee ranking member Rick Crawford, Republican-Arkansas, along with 18 other committee Republicans.

2020 rule

In July 2020, the Trump administration amended the hazardous materials regulations, or HMR, to allow the bulk transport of LNG in rail tank cars that had "enhanced outer tank requirements," according to a notice in the Federal Register.

PHMSA then proposed a rule on Nov. 8, 2021, to suspend LNG-by-rail authorizations under the Trump-era rule. The suspension gives the agency the "opportunity to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the benefits and risks of rail tank car transportation of LNG in the companion rulemaking before any LNG moves by rail under the HMR," according to a November 2021 notice in the Federal Register.

The agency noted that "rail tank car transportation of LNG is neither occurring nor expected to occur in the near future."

Committee Republicans argued that transporting LNG by rail is safer and more efficient than moving the fuel by truck on highways. They also said LNG is a lower-carbon alternative to other fossil fuels at home and abroad, a notion challenged by some environmentalists concerned about the lifecycle emissions associated with the fuel.

State support

However, more than a dozen state attorneys general supported the Biden administration's proposed rule, saying PHMSA "lacked sufficient safety studies or an adequate analysis of environmental and climate impacts to support shipping LNG by rail."

The Trump-era rule was "based on a flawed and incomplete safety assessment" and did not adequately consider environmental justice impacts or the effects of upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions, according to the states.

The attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia sent a Dec. 23 letter to PHMSA sharing their support. The states said they looked forward to a future rulemaking that could include more safety, environmental and environmental justice protections pertaining to LNG freight authorizations.

"Accordingly, while repeal of the 2020 rule would be the most durable corrective action, the states support prompt suspension of those regulations in the meantime," they said.

PHMSA will examine comments it received on the proposed regulation through Dec. 23, 2021, as it develops a final rule.