Removing Residue Placard Regulations for Rail Cars

This is in response to your December 5, 1996 letter regarding recent changes made to placarding requirements for rail cars. You expressed concern for the safety of rail employees and the public because of these changes.

On June 5, 1996, the Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) issued a final rule that requires the display of the traditional "loaded" placard on all tank cars containing hazardous material. This rule applies to all hazard classes with the exception of Class 9 materials, which do not require placards. As of October 1, 1996, shippers and railroads may no longer use a RESIDUE placard to communicate the hazards of a material contained in the tank.

The preamble to the June 5 final rule (enclosed) explained that the primary purpose of a placard is to convey the presence of a hazardous material, a "trigger" to emergency response personnel that additional information about the contents of the bulk package is needed before entering a danger zone. RSPA further explained that the use of a RESIDUE placard may lead to a false sense of security, because after unloading a tank car, the tank has remaining product in it (i.e., a residue). Some shipments of liquefied compressed gas, unloaded through equalization of pressure, retain as much as one-third of the original load.

As stated in the preamble, during a five-year period the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) found 22,000 occasions of improperly applied placards. The use of the RESIDUE placard contributed to this high number. FRA's investigations show that most violations result from a shipper's failure to reverse the traditional "loaded" placard to display RESIDUE, failure to apply the appropriate placard, and failure to display the placard so that it reads from left to right.

With respect to the safety of railroad employees and the public, the Department considered the overall risk to the public. A partially-filled tank car exposed to fire can rupture as violently as a full tank car, thus presenting a similar hazard to emergency responders. In fact, in some circumstances a partially-filled tank car may rupture in less time than a full tank car, because it has less thermal mass (the ability of the product in the tank to absorb the heat from the fire). When considering the effect of fire on a bulk package, the continued use of a RESIDUE placard- may improperly influence the decision-of the on-scene commander. Clearly, by obtaining a copy of the shipping papers or freight car movement documents, emergency response personnel will gain basic information on the hazards present and the shipper's emergency response telephone number, resulting in better informed decisions about any precautions or evacuation measures needed to secure the incident site.

When placing rail cars containing a hazardous material in a train, train crews must consult the shipping document to find out if the car contains a full load or a partial load (i.e., a residue) of a hazardous material. If a train crew cannot determine the load status of the car, the crew should place the car in its most restrictive position -- that of a car containing a full load.

I assure you that the Department considered the overall risk to railroad employees and the public prior to adopting the final rule. When considering the effects of a fire to the tank, the amount of product that may remain in a tank after unloading, and the number of violations issued, the Department found good cause to change the regulation.