[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 99 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 99
To provide for the establishment of a hazardous materials cooperative
research program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 4, 2007
Mr. Cummings introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science and Technology, and in addition to the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of a hazardous materials cooperative
research program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Hazardous Materials Cooperative
Research Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
Congress finds the following:
(1) There are more than 1,000,000 shipments per day in the
United States of materials identified as hazardous by the
United States Department of Transportation. These shipments are
estimated to total 2,100,000,000 tons of hazardous cargo per
year and to comprise more than 18 percent of the total freight
tonnage moved in the United States annually.
(2) Hazardous materials are shipped by all transportation
modes and it is estimated that there are currently 400,000
large trucks, 115,000 railroad tank cars, and 3,000 tank barges
dedicated to the shipment of hazardous materials.
(3) More than a dozen Federal agencies have regulatory,
enforcement, and operational responsibilities for ensuring the
safety and security of hazardous materials shipments. In
addition, a variety of State and local agencies have
responsibility for developing and enforcing State-level
regulations and for responding to incidents involving hazardous
materials.
(4) Decisions regarding the packaging and routing of
hazardous materials shipments, the development and
implementation of procedures to ensure both the safety and
security of such shipments, and the regulation of hazardous
materials shipments are made by industry groups and government
entities at a variety of levels and in all modal
administrations of the Department of Transportation on a daily
basis.
(5) The Federal agencies involved in the regulation and
oversight of hazardous materials shipments as well as State and
local governments, carriers, shippers, and other groups conduct
on-going research on the transportation of hazardous materials.
However, much of this research is program or mode-specific and
as such is focused on addressing only the regulatory,
inspection, enforcement, or operational needs of the group
undertaking the research.
(6) There is a documented need for the establishment of a
cooperative research program that will engage all modes and
actors, both public and private, involved in the transportation
of hazardous materials in conducting cross-cutting assessments
of hazardous materials transportation issues that are national
and multi-modal in scope and application.
SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS MATERIALS COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--From the amounts made available under section 5127
of title 49, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation may
obligate not to exceed $2,000,000 per fiscal year to develop and
administer a hazardous materials cooperative research program.
(b) Governance.--The Secretary of Transportation shall establish an
independent governing board to select projects and studies to be
carried out under the hazardous materials cooperative research program.
The Board shall be comprised of one voting representative from the
following:
(1) The Federal Aviation Administration.
(2) The Federal Motor Carrier Administration.
(3) The Federal Transit Administration.
(4) The Federal Railroad Administration.
(5) The Maritime Administration.
(6) The Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
(7) The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration.
(8) The Department of Homeland Security.
(9) The Department of Energy.
(10) The Environmental Protection Agency.
(11) A State department of transportation.
(12) A State emergency management agency.
(13) A nonprofit organization representing emergency
responders.
(14) A hazmat employer.
(15) A nonprofit organization representing hazmat
employees.
(16) A hazardous materials shipper.
(17) A hazardous materials manufacturer.
(18) An organization representing the hazardous materials
manufacturing industry.
(19) A research university or research institution.
(20) Additional representatives as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
(c) Research Studies.--Under the cooperative research program, the
governing board shall select cooperative research studies of hazardous
materials transportation that are cross-cutting in nature and that
consider issues not adequately addressed by existing Federal or private
sector research programs. Priority shall be given to research studies
that will yield results immediately applicable to risk analysis and
mitigation or that will strengthen the ability of first responders to
respond to incidents and accidents involving transportation of
hazardous materials.
(d) Implementation.--The Secretary of Transportation shall make
grants to, and enter a cooperative agreement with, the National Academy
of Sciences to carry out activities under this Act.
(e) Definitions.--In this Act, the terms ``hazmat employer'' and
``hazmat employee'' have the meaning given those terms in section 5102
of title 49, United States Code.
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