FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING FOR STATE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING AND TRAINING PROGRAMS

The Hazardous Materials and Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants program, administered by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), provides federal financial and technical assistance to states and Indian tribes to develop, improve, and implement emergency plans and train public sector emergency responders to respond to hazardous materials transportation accidents. The HMEP grants program is funded by registration fees collected from persons who ship or transport certain hazardous materials in commerce.

PHMSA is initiating a pilot study to catalogue additional sources of funding assistance available from both federal and state government agencies to support state hazardous materials transportation emergency response planning and training programs. Specific goals of the pilot study are to: (1) identify federal, state, territory, and other financial resources that are derived through fees on hazardous materials shippers and carriers and made available to local communities and emergency responders to plan and train for hazardous materials transportation incidents; and (2) determine whether these resources provide consistent funding streams for hazardous materials planning and training.

STUDY METHODOLOGY AND SCHEDULE

PHMSA intends to employ a multi-faceted approach to compiling information on available federal and state government funding for hazardous materials transportation emergency response programs:

• Using publicly available information obtained through literature and Internet searches, we will collect information on federal and state fees that are imposed on entities who ship or transport hazardous materials in commerce. We will also identify the purposes to which federal and state fees are dedicated. For example, fees may be collected to support state and local emergency response programs, to cover administrative costs, or deposited into the state’s general revenue funds. The results of this phase will be compiled in a preliminary report and posted on the PHMSA website no later than January 2, 2009.

• As a check on the accuracy of the publicly available information, we will validate our findings and fill potential information gaps through consultations with a limited number of states. States will be selected based on known information gaps and specific criteria to include: demographics and geographic distribution, hazardous materials transportation using U.S. Census commodity flow information that will be available in December 2008, and the number of emergency responders. Validated information will be updated in the preliminary report and posted on the PHMSA website in April 2009.

• We will assemble information on federal programs that make funding and other resources available to states to support hazardous materials transportation emergency response planning and training programs. We will work with the National Response Team’s Training Subcommittee to gather this information. Findings will be compiled in a Final Report and published on the PHMSA website no later than August 2009.

First Phase Draft Report