EMA
The Energy Marketers of America (EMA) recently met with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to discuss placarding rules applicable to fuel transportation. EMA appreciated the candid exchange and PHMSA's openness to hearing directly from the fuel marketing industry about the practical, day-to-day compliance challenges members face on the road.
EMA commended PHMSA for its recent final rule, Hazardous Materials: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens on Fuel Transportation (91 FR 1433, Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0080), which restored the longstanding low-flashpoint placarding exemption for most commercially available petroleum distillates. Building on that progress—and consistent with Executive Order 14192 ("Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation") and Executive Order 14156 ("Declaring a National Energy Emergency") — EMA outlined two additional opportunities to make fuel transportation regulation more efficient without compromising safety.
Support Removal of Expansive Language from Section 10607
EMA is urging PHMSA to support the removal of the phrase “or by other modes of surface transportation frequently used to transport freight” from Section 10607 of the House Surface Transportation Committee mark (or its removal in conference). Although the provision responds to freight-train derailments and hazardous-material spills, the broader wording could extend new placard-durability requirements to highway fuel cargo tanks.
Removing the language would allow PHMSA to focus squarely on the rail-safety concern that prompted the provision, consistent with the existing Part 172 framework that already accommodates mode-specific placarding requirements for rail (see 49 CFR §§ 172.508 and 172.510).
If the phrase remains, the impact on the motor fuels industry would be substantial. EMA estimates that approximately 66,800 tank trucks and 124,100 tank trailers operate nationwide. A mandatory highway placarding change could impose more than $200 million in aggregate compliance costs—costs that would fall disproportionately on small and family-owned fuel marketing businesses. A rulemaking of that scope would likely require a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel, a process that could be avoided entirely with narrower, rail-specific statutory language.
Extend the Low-Flashpoint Placarding Exemption to E15 Blends
EMA also recommends that PHMSA extend the low-flashpoint identification number exemption under 49 CFR § 172.336 to expressly cover E15 blends. As federal policy increasingly supports year-round sale of E15, a growing share of the fuel transportation fleet will carry this blend. Current exemption practice does not extend to it, requiring carriers to display an additional, higher-flashpoint identification number that offers no meaningful safety benefit.
Discussions with Minnesota first responders confirm that emergency response protocols do not change based on the presence of E15 specifically. Responders identify the lowest-flashpoint product on the placard, consult the appropriate Emergency Response Guidebook, and select foam accordingly—whether the blend is E10 or E15.
EMA takes hazardous materials transportation safety seriously and remains committed to gathering additional information directly from the emergency response community. The association welcomes further engagement with PHMSA on this proposal, including the opportunity to share more data on firefighting foam selection and first-responder practices as research continues.
