The US Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration rescinded a requirement for unit trains carrying crude oil and other flammable substances to use electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) braking systems. The US Department of Transportation agency said it based its Sept. 24 action on a regulatory impact analysis (RIA) that found the requirement’s expected costs would be more than its expected benefits.
Railroads still will be free to use ECP brakes on their unit trains, it emphasized.
The 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act required further analysis of the ECP brake requirements, including physical testing, to improve general knowledge and understanding of how much more effective ECP brakes are compared to other brake systems, PHMSA said. The law also required DOT to determine whether the ECP brake rules were justified based on expected costs and benefits, it added.
PHMSA said the updated RIA incorporated new brake testing by DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration, which were reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. It also incorporated recommendations from Government Accountability Office, and updated costs and benefits of the ECP brake provision based on current economic conditions.
The updated RIA found that the expected costs of ECP brakes are higher than the expected benefits, and therefore the FAST Act required DOT to repeal the ECP brake requirement.
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