PHMSA, through its Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, regulates  shippers and railroads transporting hazardous materials by rail and other  modes. Immediate hazards to health. Risks of fire or explosion. 7. Selected Railroads Carry the ERG and Train Documents; Responders Use This Information and Additional Sources to Determine How to Take Action

		All Selected Railroads Told Us They Carry the ERG, While Some Also Carry Supplemental Information

Selected railroads typically carry two sources of emergency response  information—the train documents and the ERG—to meet the emergency  response information requirements in federal regulations. According to FRA  and PHMSA officials, the ERG’s use is not required by regulation, but is  viewed by the rail industry as a national standard for emergency response  information requirements. Our review of selected train documents showed that the  selected railroads included this information in their train documents. This information includes a basic description of each  hazardous material being transported on that train, including the  identification number and proper shipping name, as well as an emergency  response telephone number, which is provided by the shipper of the  regulated hazardous material (see fig. Six of the 7 Class I railroads and 5 of the 11 selected Class II  and III railroads included this supplemental information in their trains’  documents. According to Emergency Response Stakeholders, Emergency Responders Primarily Use the Train Documents and the ERG in the First 30 Minutes of a Rail Incident before Obtaining More Specific Emergency Response Information

According to the four emergency response associations we spoke to,  when responding to a rail accident involving hazardous materials,  emergency responders primarily rely on information from the train  documents and the ERG during the first 30 minutes. The NTSB report on the Paulsboro, New Jersey, incident highlighted  inconsistencies between recommended evacuation distances in the  supplemental emergency response information in the train documents  and the ERG for two of the hazardous materials on the train, chlorine and  vinyl chloride. NTSB provided a technical  comment about AAR’s response to their recommendation to revise  discrepancies between emergency response information found in AAR’s  database and the ERG, which we incorporated. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to examine: (1) what emergency response  information is carried on trains by selected railroads that transport  hazardous materials and how responders use it and (2) how the  supplemental emergency response information carried on trains of these  railroads compares to the information in the Emergency Response  Guidebook (ERG). We selected seven Class II and seven Class III  railroads that carry hazardous materials and are ASLRRA members,  using PHMSA’s Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Incident Reports  Database and a member list provided by ASLRRA. We  determined that the supplemental emergency response information  associated with the sample of hazardous materials in the reviewed train  documents from the 10 railroads was reliable for the purposes of our  report and objectives because all of the information came from the AAR  Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Database.
Why GAO Did This Study

In November 2012, a train derailed in Paulsboro, New Jersey, releasing about 20,000 gallons of vinyl chloride, a hazardous material. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found, among other issues, that the supplemental information in the train's documents on responding to emergencies involving vinyl chloride was inconsistent with and less protective than emergency response guidance in the ERG . Congress included a provision in statute for GAO to evaluate the differences between the emergency response information carried by trains transporting hazardous materials and the ERG guidance. This report examines (1) what emergency response information is carried on trains by selected railroads transporting hazardous materials and how responders use it, and (2) how selected railroads' supplemental emergency response information compares to information in the ERG .
GAO reviewed the ERG and other relevant literature and met with DOT and NTSB officials, among others. GAO interviewed all 7 larger Class I railroads and 11 smaller Class II and III railroads that carried hazardous materials in 2015. GAO compared the supplemental emergency response information with ERG information for 72 frequently shipped hazardous materials from a nonprobability sample of train documents provided by 10 of the 18 selected railroads.

What GAO Found

To help emergency responders safely handle rail accidents involving hazardous materials, selected railroads transporting hazardous materials typically carry two sources of information: the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Emergency Response Guidebook ( ERG ) and information in the trains' documents. Federal Hazardous Material Regulations require railroads and other hazardous material transporters to carry emergency response information that describes immediate hazards to health and risks of fire or explosion, among other things. Representatives from all 18 railroads GAO interviewed told us that they carry the ERG on their trains. According to DOT officials, the ERG's use is not required by regulation, but the rail industry views it as a national standard for emergency response information. Our review of selected train documents showed that they always have a basic description of each hazardous material being transported, including the identification number and proper shipping name, as well as an emergency response telephone number. Six of the 7 Class I railroads and 5 of the 11 selected Class II and III railroads also included emergency response information in these documents. According to four emergency response associations, in the first 30 minutes after a rail incident, emergency responders primarily use the train documents to locate and identify hazardous materials and use the ERG to identify potential response actions.
ERG differed from the supplemental emergency response information which is provided by the Association of American Railroads' (AAR) Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Database. AAR decided in August 2016 to discontinue the database, removing the potential for discrepancies between the ERG and the supplemental emergency response information from AAR going forward.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making recommendations. DOT and NTSB provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated.