Carl T. Johnson was sworn-in December 28, 2007, by Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters as the second administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Nominated by President George W. Bush on Oct. 30, 2007, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 19, Johnson was most recently the president of the Compressed Gas Association.

"All in PHMSA can be proud of our vital mission and the important role our programs play in promoting public safety, environmental protection, and system performance." Krista L.Edwards PHMSA Deputy Administrator

"I am delighted to honor the agency's greatest asset – YOU," said Deputy Secretary Barrett. "Your skill, dedication, and commitment make a difference every day in the safety of the American people."

A surprise was in store as Barrett was presented with a special edition front cover of the PHMSA newsletter showing his return to earth on the space shuttle "Enterprise." During his tenure as PHMSA administrator, Barrett pushed the agency to engage more in "enterprise" consensus building with stakeholders on important pipeline and hazardous materials safety initiatives.

Exemplary Achievement (Eagle)
Individual Eagle Award
Susan Gorsky, Gwen Hill

Team Eagle Award
BP Alaska Team
Jim Curry
Jim Pates
Kimbra Davis
William Gute
Rob Guisinger
Bill Flanders
Jon Strawn
Chris Hoidal
Kristi Bonnett
Bruce Hansen
Larry Disbrow
Benjamin Fred

The Administrator's Special Recognition Award
One PHMSA Biofuels Team
Felicia Boyd
Kia Gaskins
Joy Kadnar
Shane Kelley
Michael Khayata
Dave Lehman
Karina Munoz
Joe Nicklous
Warren Osterberg
Suzette Paes
Tonya Schrieber
Larry White
Tom Seymour
Candace Simon
Bob Smith
Spencer Watson
Cameron Satterthwaite

Peer Awards
Catrice Prailow
Blenda Perez
Michelle Glode

Superior Achievement – Bronze Medal
Individual Awards
Jack Albright
Linda Daugherty
Jesse Dobbs
John Jacobi
Rick Kowalewski
Sherri Pappas
Duane Pfund
Candace Simon

Team Awards
Gas Integrity Management Core Team
Zach Barret
Allan Beshore
Jeff Gilliam
Greg Hindman
Juan Mendoza
Clyde Myers
Steve Nanney
John Pepper

Control Room Management Team
Karen Bulter
Charles Helm
Byron Coy

Hazmat Enforcement National Recruitment Campaign & Training Academy Team
Colleen Abbenhaus
Kevin Boehne
Marilyn Burke
Daniel Derwey
Robert Glotfelty
John Heneghan
Billy Hines
Ray LaMagdelaine
Rhonda Malloy
Vincent Mercadante
Ryan Posten
Dell Sidbury
Doug Smith
John Williams

Rail Safety and Security Team
Susan Gorsky
Mike Hilder
Charles Hochman
Vince Lopez
Ed Mazzullo
Hattie Mitchell
Joe Nicklous
Michael Stevens
Ben Supko
Cheryl West Freeman

[PHOTO: PHMSA Regulations Officer Susan Gorsky (ctr) receives the Administrator's Eagle Award from PHMSA Deputy Administrator Krista L. Edwards and Deputy Secretary of Transportation Thomas J. Barrett for unsurpassed leadership in the Office of Hazardous Materials Standards. Refer to page 1 of the PDF]

[PHOTO:Administrator’s Special Recognition Award – One PHMSA Biofuels Team. Refer to page 4 of the PDF]

[PHOTO:PHMSA investigator Jason Williams stands in front of the collapsed I-35 bridge that once spanned the Mississippi River. Refer to page 1 of the PDF]

When the I-35 bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River on August 1, one of the first DOT officials on scene was PHMSA's own Jason Williams, a Washington, DC, headquarters-based hazardous materials safety investigator. As fate would have it, Investigator Williams had traveled to Minneapolis that day, following the trail of evidence in an investigation arising out of a release of toxic materials in Maryland.

"When I heard about the collapse, I knew I was only blocks away from the scene, as I had crossed the I-35 bridge earlier in the day," Williams recounted from his memory of the events.

Williams said he immediately contacted the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Crisis Management Center (CMC), providing DOT's first on-scene report of the bridge collapse. At the CMC's request, Investigator Williams represented DOT and assisted Minnesota authorities at the on-site incident command center.

Williams was selected to be a member of the initial multi-agency team to survey the extensive damage at the I-35 bridge collapse site. What wasn't immediately known was that the bridge had fallen over, but did not damage, a rail tank car containing residual amounts of sulfur, a flammable and combustible hazardous material. Authorities were able to utilize Williams' hazardous materials investigation expertise by getting his assessment of any immediate risk to public safety. Two rail cars containing non-hazardous loads of plastic pellets did rupture but did not pose a danger to the public, or of spilling into the Mississippi River.

Williams continued to provide hourly updates to the DOT CMC of the ongoing multi-agency investigation. Also, he assisted in the coordination of arrivals of both Transportation Secretary Peters and the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation team.

Williams was later joined by Hazardous Materials Safety Investigator Robert Clatterbuck from PHMSA's Central Region Office in Illinois. Both investigators continued to help staff the incident command center until Federal Highway Administration engineers relieved them of their duties.

[PHOTO:PHMSA Deputy Administrator Krista L. Edwards (lt.) and NTSB Metallurgist Ravi Chhatre (rt.) view the excavated Dixie Pipeline that ruptured outside of Carmichael, Miss. Refer to page 2 of the PDF]

On November 1, tragedy struck outside of Carmichael, Miss., a quiet community of rolling hills and beautiful green forests. The failure of a Dixie Pipeline Company 12-inch propane pipeline resulted in the deaths of two individuals, injury to four others, and the destruction of several surrounding residences due to an associated fire.

Within hours of the pipeline explosion, two inspectors from PHMSA's southern region office in Atlanta, Ga., were dispatched. The inspectors, Mike Khayata and Mike Swarchzkoff, continue to participate in the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) investigation of the pipeline accident.

PHMSA Deputy Administrator Krista Edwards visited the accident site accompanied by John Hess, PHMSA planning and preparedness manager, and Patricia Klinger, the agency's external communications director. During her visit, Edwards conferred with NTSB Vice-Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt and Investigator in Charge Rod Dyke to share information concerning the pipeline.

Prior to leaving the site, Acting Administrator Edwards met with, and expressed condolences to the victims' families. Edwards also held discussions with local emergency response officials, law enforcement and the American Red Cross.

The cause of the Dixie Pipeline failure remains under investigation.

[PHOTO: Stacey Gerard PHMSA Chief Safety Officer. Refer to page 2 of the PDF]

Congratulations went out in October to PHMSA Assistant Administrator and Chief Safety Officer Stacey L. Gerard on her selection for the 2007 Presidential Rank Award. Gerard is one of only 45 professionals government-wide, and the only DOT executive, selected for recognition this year in the category of Distinguished Executive.

The 2007 Presidential Rank Award is Gerard's second. In 2004, Gerard was one of 11 USDOT officials selected for the Presidential Rank Awards in the category of Meritorious Executive.

"Recipients of this award are dedicated to delivering results, and their service is advancing President Bush’s agenda for improving the management and performance of the Federal Government," said Linda M. Springer, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Each year, President Bush recognizes and celebrates a small group of career Senior Executives with the President's Rank Award for exceptional long-term accomplishments. Winners of this prestigious award are strong leaders, professionals, and scientists who achieve results and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service.

For an agency as determine to prevent accidents as PHMSA, it's always a good time to promote the practice of "Safety Culture" and its benefits in anticipating and averting events. Over the years, the agency has learned it takes a great amount of vigilance to keep accidents from occurring, even if an organization has a good safety record.

But, just what is safety culture? The question was recently discussed with members of the American Gas Association in September. According to PHMSA, there is no "standard" for what is a good safety culture. The agency says high performing or highly reliable organizations know that safety is something well beyond regulation and much more than compliance.

Within itself, PHMSA and its leadership consider safety culture a clearly defined set of values that is communicated and demonstrated by top management. These values are ultimately shared throughout the organization, focusing on the importance of safety and keep the safety roles balanced favorably with company production or profit interests.

"A good safety culture is said to promote a trusting and open environment for discovering and resolving safety problems," said Stacey L. Gerard, PHMSA Assistant Administrator and Chief Safety Officer.

In essence, safety culture involves the values, attitudes, competencies and behaviors of a group or individual within an organization. In order to progress from a good to great safety culture, an organization and its people should determine the level of commitment, set goals for proficiency in safety programs, and acknowledge and facilitate good communication between management and personnel.

PHMSA is currently working with leaders to improve corporate performance through integrity management programs by utilizing information to drive down risk and improve safety. This is a great foundation to improve safety performance.

The agency feels companies should consider opportunities to improved established procedures and documentation, and follow through on decisions to evaluate effectiveness. PHMSA is encouraging companies to do their own management assessments and commit to a plan to improve safety performance.

"We want to work with industry leaders building on our collaboration methods and exploring best practices to strengthen efforts to anticipate adverse events. We also want to move beyond examining the failure of controls in place and explore leading indicators that could be used to prevent unfortunate consequences," said Gerard.

Operation Warfighter is a temporary assignment or internship program for Service members who are undergoing therapy at military treatment facilities in the United States. Operation Warfighter is designed to provide recuperating Service members with meaningful activity outside of the hospital environment that assists in their wellness and offers a formal means of transition back to the military or civilian workforce. If you would like to participate, please contact Alison Levy, Departmental Selective Placement Coordinator, Disability Resource Center, USDOT HQ, W56-439 at Phone: 202-366-5305 or Email: alison.levy@dot.gov.

[PHOTO:In support of President Bush's pledge to cooperate and work with Brazil on ethanol research and development issues, PHMSA Chief Counsel David Kunz provided opening remarks at the October international pipeline conference in Brazil. Refer to page 3 of the PDF]

PHMSA is stepping up efforts to facilitate high-volume transportation of ethanol and other biofuels. A notice published in the August 10 Federal Register highlighted PHMSA's ongoing effort to identify and address technical and safety issues associated with movement of biofuels by pipelines and other modes.

The President’s "20-in-10" initiative calls for reducing gasoline consumption and expanding consumption of alternative fuels, including biofuels, 20 percent in 10 years from 5 billion gallons in 2007 to 35 billion gallons in 2017.

Pipelines have long been the primary mode for high volume transportation of gasoline and other refined petroleum products in the United States. However, today most biofuels are transported by marine vessel, rail, and highway. A large pipeline can transport roughly two million barrels of product a day. By comparison, it takes 9,375 large semi-truck tankers, twenty-four 100-car unit trains, or ten 15-unit barge tows to transport two million barrels.

PHMSA is working with other federal agencies, industry, standards organizations and first responders to determine adequate design and operating standards for moving biofuels and biofuel-gasoline blends in existing and new pipelines. An agency research goal is to strengthen the reliability of existing pipelines and foster designs that accommodate the different physical properties of alternative fuels. PHMSA also is working with the emergency response community to enhance understanding of first responders measures for incidents involving biofuels.

PHMSA is currently accepting comments on the adequacy of existing regulatory definitions and standards for biofuels, research and development requirements, and preparation of emergency responders.

[PHOTO: PHMSA Training and Information Specialist Dan Halberstein accepts the Secretary’s Partnering for Excellence Award for the Multi-Modal Lithium Battery Enterprise Government Safety Team. Refer to page 4 of the PDF]

"Thanks to the remarkable group of men and women who are the United States Department of Transportation, our Department was on the move in every sense of the word in 2007. …I feel privileged to work with such a talented and devoted group of people, and I am especially pleased to congratulate today’s award recipients." Mary E. Peters, Secretary of Transportation

Presidential Rank Awards
Distinguished Executive Stacey Gerard

Secretary’s Award for Meritorious Achievement (Silver Medal)
William Gute
John Heneghan

Secretary’s Award for Excellence
Felicia Boyd
Blenda Perez

Secretary’s Team Award
811: Call Before You Dig Team

Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Equal Employment Opportunity/ Affirmative Action
Billy Hines

Secretary’s Partnering for Excellence Award
Multi-Modal Lithium Battery Enterprise Government Safety Team

DOT has announced a multi-modal initiative to leverage data sharing, standardization and business intelligence.

In October, PHMSA signed a joint cooperative agreement with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) to develop the Hazmat Fusion Center, the first shared information network for the nation’s first responders.

"Our new partnership will help us do a better job accessing and sharing DOT, IAFC to Develop Hazmat Fusion Center information to improve the safety of hazardous materials transportation," said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Krista Edwards. "It will help prevent accidents and improve our capability to respond to those we cannot prevent."

A commitment of over $1 million in federal funding will allow the creation of a first-ever national central repository for hazardous materials incident reporting over a secure web portal and a toll-free telephone system.

Through key information sharing, the Hazmat Fusion Center will provide crucial knowledge for decision makers on the transportation and delivery of hazardous materials. The data collected and analyzed through the Center will support data-driven effective practices and help mitigate future hazardous materials incidents.

[PHOTO: Joy Kadnar (lt) and Melanie Barber (seated ctr) of PHMSA's Office of Pipeline Safety pose with the SABIT participants following pipeline overview briefings. Refer to page 5 of the PDF]

With world-class pipeline engineers as part of its professional staff, PHMSA took advantage of an opportunity to train Eurasian energy transportation officials. The effort was part of the U.S. Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration's Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT) program.

The SABIT program is a federal government portal for foreign counterparts to receive insight into America's oil transportation industry, including pipeline safety, construction and maintenance.

Participants were selected from a wide group of Eurasian countries whose energy sectors and economies are experiencing extraordinary growth and transition, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and the Ukraine.

During its SABIT session, PHMSA covered all aspects of its pipeline safety mission from regulating the construction, operation, and maintenance of varying pipeline types to the past, current and desired technologies needed to maintain safety.

The SABIT program provides foreign participants the ability to utilize their learning of U.S. energy operations to implement change and improvements in their own domestic transportation networks and enhance their abilities to successfully work with U.S. energy partners.

In a separate international information exchange effort, PHMSA briefed foreign diplomats from Thailand on energy transportation safety related to liquefied natural gas (LNG). The briefing explained PHMSA's role in LNG facility permitting and the agency's coordinated efforts with other federal counterparts, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard, to maintain safe operations of land and marine-based LNG facilities. PHMSA's hazardous materials safety staff also provided additional details on the Department's regulations for the safe packaging and transportation of compressed gasses.

[PHOTO: Hazmat first responders on scene at a rolled cargo tank truck incident. The gasoline shipment was off loaded to another tank truck. Refer to page 6 of the PDF]

PHMSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are working together to develop plans to address cargo tank rollovers.

A recently completed "Cargo Tank Roll Stability Study" contracted by FMCSA with Battelle evaluated four complementary approaches to reducing the number of cargo tank truck rollovers: redesigning the vehicle, redesigning the highways, deploying electronic stability aids, and improving the training of drivers.

As a possible outcome of the Battelle DOT to Address Cargo Tank Rollovers study, efforts are underway to establish a tank truck safety task force with involvement from PHMSA, FMCSA, the National Tank Truck Carriers Association and other key stakeholders. This group would consider a multifaceted approach to reducing rollovers through enhanced tank truck designs, increased driver awareness, use of electronic stability control systems, and other measures that can be effective to address the challenge.

The average annual number of cargo tank rollovers nationwide is 1,265. The portion of rollovers that occur on freeways is approximately 15 to 20 percent, with cargo tank rollovers accounting for 31 percent of the heavy vehicle rollover fatal crashes. Not all of these rollovers involve hazardous materials.

Both PHMSA and the FMCSA are currently analyzing studies that show the benefits of electronic stability control (ESC) systems employed on vehicles to prevent rollovers. ESC systems, in essence, apply the brakes when a vehicle is in danger of rolling over due to excessive speed or as a result of a sudden turning, braking, over compensating or other driver errors.

PHMSA and the FMCSA also are focusing on driver training and raising driver awareness of the potential hazards and frequency of rollover incidents through a broad outreach and media campaign. This campaign kicked off with a series of three safety summits held November 14, in St. Louis, Mo.; November 28 in Baltimore, Md.; and December 4, in Oakland, Calif.

[PHOTO:Participating in the October 31 signing were (top lft-rt) DOT Deputy Secretary Thomas Barrett, FMCSA Associate Administrator for Safety William Quade, PHMSA Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety Theodore Willke, PHMSA Deputy Administrator Krista Edwards, (bottom lft-rt) FRA Associate Administrator of Railroad Development Mark Yachmetz, FAA Assistant Administrator of Security and Hazardous Materials Lynne Osmus, and OST Director of Safety, Energy and Environment Linda Lawson. Refer to page 6 of the PDF]

In an effort to advance DOT's priority to harness 21st century solutions that enhance transportation safety, PHMSA, in collaboration with other federal agencies, signed a memorandum of agreement October 31 establishing an Intermodal Hazmat Intelligence Portal (HIP). The HIP allows the Department to share and improve data and to focus its efforts on the prevention of high-risk incidents, particularly those of high consequence to people and the environment.

The HIP is a multi-modal initiative to leverage data sharing, standardization and business intelligence. This new intelligence fusion center and knowledge management portal will support risk-based, data-driven decisions of federal agencies, emergency responders, and the law enforcement community. DOT recognizes the need to use quality data, analytical techniques and collaboration tools to help manage, minimize and mitigate the risks to public safety and security.

The HIP agreement established specific management oversight and data collection and sharing guidelines for DOT's Operating Administrations and the U.S. Coast Guard.

[PHOTO: The first graduating class of the PHMSA hazardous materials training academy. Refer to page 7 of the PDF]

From August 6-17, PHMSA's Office of Hazardous Materials Enforcement hosted its first-ever training academy for a class of 12 new hazardous materials investigator recruits at the Transportation Safety Institute in Oklahoma City, Okla. The 12 recruits were selected from a pool of 1,200 applicants.

"The new members of the team are a talented group of professionals who bring much to the table from a variety of transportation experiences and law enforcement," said PHMSA Director of Hazardous Materials Enforcement Ryan Posten.

The training staff, led by Hazardous Materials Enforcement's National Field Training Coordinator Vincent Mercadante, included a mix of senior PHMSA hazardous materials enforcement investigators, attorneys from the PHMSA Chief Counsel's Office, and instructors from the U.S. Coast Guard's Container Inspection Training Assistant Team.

The hazardous materials investigator recruits were put through their paces keeping up with a curriculum of regulatory interpretation, enforcement and legal proceedings and policies; report and investigation writing; interview and evidence gathering techniques; photography; and general safety training. They also were trained to understand the regulations and requirements for a number of hazardous materials packagings and U.S. DOT specification cylinders.

The initial hazmat training will be followed- up with an additional 8 to 10 weeks of specialty training to include hazardous materials packaging manufacture, testing, and requalification; materials classification; and accident investigation and root cause analysis.

Ten of the 12 new hazardous materials investigators will be remotely located in their respective regions. This is an effort by PHMSA to increase efficiencies and responsiveness by having investigators located geographically near the hazardous materials packagers, shippers and carriers they regulate. The following is a list of the new investigators and their posting locations.

Beside being readily available electronically via the PHMSA website, DOT expects that over two million free copies of the upcoming 2008 revised edition of the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) will be published and distributed to fire fighters, police and emergency services personnel across the nation. The ERG is an internationally recognized guide designed to aid emergency first responders at the scene of a transportation incident involving hazardous materials. It is DOT's goal to have the ERG readily accessible in both the electronic and paper format.

The ERG is republished every four years to incorporate the latest updates and changes in domestic and international regulations. The 2008 ERG will reflect changes to certain hazmat proper shipping names and United Nations numbers. There will be over 50 proper shipping name and identification number changes, as well as the addition of a listing for lithium ion batteries. Since this will be the first publication of the ERG since the merging of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Programs, the white pages will include two pages with information on pipeline markers.

"We are excited that several recommended changes from the first responder community were incorporated into the 2008 edition and will make it easier for them to locate information more readily," said ERG Project Manager Candace Simon.

One recommended change from the first responder community was the need for additional color coordination of highlighted sections of the ERG.

The fix incorporated highlighted materials that will direct first responders to additional isolation hazard information.

First responders should see their copies of the next ERG shipped in early 2008. For additional information visit: http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/ guidebook.htm.

Travelers can minimize the fire safety hazards posed by aerosols, ammunition, lighters, lighter fluid, matches, and fireworks by reading the tips on PHMSA's expanded "SafeTravel" website http://SafeTravel.dot.gov. A variety of consumer-use hazardous materials are only safe for transportation when packed and handled properly. PHMSA is bringing this message to travelers through a coordinated media and stakeholder outreach campaign called SafeTravel, which aims to raise public fire safety awareness nationwide. Since April, the website has seen a fivefold growth in hits to over 10,000 a day. SafeTravel information is now linked to several major airlines, government agencies, universities, travel associations and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

New Hires

[PHOTO: PHMSA Homepage. Refer to page 8 of the PDF]

www.phmsa.dot.gov

[PHMSA FOCUS LOGO]

U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

Office of Governmental, International & Public Affairs
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202) 366-4831 Fax: (202) 366-7431

PHMSA Administrator Carl T. Johnson

Editor-in-Chief G. J. Delcambre
gordon.delcambre@dot.gov

Editor/Design Ruben Ingram
ruben.ingram@dot.gov

Reporter Damon Hill
damon.hill@dot.gov

Check out PHMSA Focus online at http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/news/newsletters.html