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Alliance for Uniform Hazmat Transportation Procedures (The Alliance)
Regular Meeting of the Alliance Governing Board In Conjunction with COHMED
Salt Lake City, Utah
January 23-24, 2007
Meeting Summary
The Alliance for Uniform Hazmat Transportation Procedures consists of seven states that have implemented uniform forms and procedures for the permitting and registration of motor carriers of hazardous materials pursuant to 49 USC 5119. This approach, called the Uniform Program (UP), has been adopted by Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. A governing board made up of member Alliance states oversees activities related to implementation and operation of the Uniform Program. The Alliance is governed by several documents including the final report of the Alliance working group to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and the Uniform Program Administrator’s Manual. The Alliance is staffed by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).
Attending
Alliance Board Members:
- Jim Rhode, Nevada Highway Patrol, Chair of the Alliance Governing Board
- John Canty, Public Utility Commission of Ohio, Chairman
- Donna Redman, Nevada Highway Patrol
- Alan Abbott, West Virginia Public Service Commission
- Cindy Bahner, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
- Sherri Twidwell, Oklahoma Corporation Commission
- Larry AuBuchon, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (by telephone)
- Buzz Danzl, Minnesota Department of Transportation
Alliance Staff:
Guests:
- Chuck Gohring, Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT)
- David Giarratano, Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
- Rex Young, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Utilities
- James Simmons, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
- Ed Bowers, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Greg Bosque, Saforian, Inc.
- Noah Lazar, Saforian, Inc.
Opening
Chair Jim Rhode opened the meeting at 8:15 am. Introductions were made around the table.
The June 2006 summary from the meeting in Birmingham, Alabama was reviewed and approved on motion by Alan Abbott and seconded by Donna Redman.
Ed Bowers with FMCSA took a moment to thank Loretta Bitner for helping to ease his transition to being the FMCSA liaison to the Alliance.
State Reports
Each Alliance Board member gave a report on the Uniform Program in their state.
Illinois has 95-100 hazardous waste carriers, as well as additional separate special waste and medical waste carriers. Illinois is working to set up a one-stop shop to be more trucker friendly as a state. A discussion of nuclear shipment transportation ensued and the connection to the Alliance program. James Simmons said that FMCSA is working with Battelle in surveying routing restrictions to determine current practices and asked for assistance from Alliance states.
Nevada has 735 carriers, most of which are in the process of renewal. Nineteen are waste only carriers. The numbers have grown some through normal attrition and new carriers coming in.
Oklahoma: Forty-five hazardous waste carriers currently. Rules to implement the transition to permitting all hazmat is on hold due to the focus on the change from SSRS to UCR. The combination of the tax folks with the corporation commission is complete. She said a couple of carriers were cancelled due to insurance. Legislation is pending to move the Uniform Program from the Corporation Commission to the Department of Public Safety.
Ohio has 2,427 carriers, of which 299 are hazardous waste, which is up from last report. The big focus has been on implementation of UCR and the panic over losing millions of dollars.
West Virginia: 330 carriers participate in the program. It is business as usual.
Alaska has a total of 850 interstate carriers from an inventory they just completed. Current requirements are minimal. They are interested in the Alliance and are examining issues related to being non-contiguous. Many carriers are base in the Pacific Northwest. Alaska will join UCR in 2008 to be able to serve its carriers.
Missouri: MODOT held several meetings to gain support for participating in the Alliance over the past six months. Efforts have been coordinated with the DNR. There is support in the division and the department overall. Legislation was submitted, but UCR had priority. So joining the Alliance is not a legislative issue this year, but they hope it will be next year. Safety is the key issue in selling the program. MODOT’s performance-based approach requires that every program be able to show that it is meeting goals. Chuck Gohring is interested in any performance based information to assist their effort. MODOT runs the hazardous waste permit program, while DNR assists with the environmental analysis.
Minnesota has 613 carriers registered, 40 are hazardous waste, and 248 shippers are registered. The program generated $250,000 the past year. The peer review of the Minnesota Uniform Program took place last September. Buzz Danzl said he has 6 employees down from 8 to run several programs.
Michigan: Michigan has 80 hazardous waste carriers. Additionally, in a Michigan transporter program that parallels the Alliance program, there are 345 Liquid Industrial Waste credentials issued. Budget and travel restrictions continue in Michigan. No changes in the Michigan transportation regulations have been proposed.
NCSL Report: Jim Reed reported that a new cooperative agreement with FMCSA was completed on August 29, 2006. It provides $200,000 for the first year and is renewable at this amount for four additional years, subject to available appropriations. A funding lapse of about five months occurred due to this timing. He also said that the NCSL hazmat policy will be up for discussion and renewal at the NCSL Spring Forum meeting in April.
Buzz Danzl asked about any NCSL position on UCR and whether NCSL could lend any help on it. Jim Reed said he would check on this.
Federal Equivalency Status and Issues
Donna Redman of Nevada said that concerns have come up related to the issue of whether a state would have to shut down carriers if they are denied the federal safety permit. This is happening now before the states become equivalent with the federal program. The need exists to create a mechanism to deal with this. The issue is that the feds are denying based on federal criteria, and then how can the states issue permits to these carriers for the other non-federal hazmats they carry and/or continue to let them operate. The states will need to be able to access federal information such as crash rates. Nevada has already enacted administrative rules to implement federal equivalency.
Discussion and questions ensued.
The possibility of issuing a permit for transporting all the non-federal hazmat was discussed. Donna Redman moved to issue carriers permits exclusive of the four high risk hazmats for those carriers who don’t meet the federal criteria. John Canty seconded. Discussion ensued and it was agreed to table the motion on a motion by Cindy Bahner, seconded by Alan Abbott until Donna conducts additional research in support of the motion and the board reflects on it. It was suggested to discuss it in a conference call the week of February 20. Each state will research how this would change the administration of the program in their states.
On-Line Application
Greg Bosque and Noah Lazar presented the prototype of the on-line application. As they proceeded, several issues came up:
It is important to ensure that links stay active.
The Alliance needs to develop terms and conditions that the applicant agrees to. Jim Rhode sent out some samples prior to the meeting for board review.
Questions were raised related to password use and how an applicant would retrieve a forgotten password. It was not resolved.
With the application going on-line, the Alliance will need to think about changes that can be created in this format to make it better than the existing paper application.
The question came up of whether there is data from other sources that can be pre-populated in our application? Generally the answer was yes and to be able to link with other database efforts like FMCSA’s COMPASS. It was suggested that the Alliance interact with the CVSA information services committee- which is working on something called ASPEN.
Some of the questions posed by Saforian to be answered by the Alliance included:
--Password retrieval
--IRP percentage explanation—create field for an explanation of non-IRP methodology
--Reporting period timeframe-previous 12 months
--Part III fields
--Determination of base state (Jim will send administrator’s manual to Greg for base state determination process.)
--Calculation fee worksheet
--When does one year end and another start?
Long discussion ensued on how an application gets closed and submitted. Do base states get notified somehow when an application is completed? The consensus was to give applicants a message that says "you have completed the online application, please print a copy and mail along with payment." It was suggested to allow them to also print a copy for their records. Then, the program can let them start on next year’s application right away.
A privacy policy needs to be created governing how the data will be used, and Saforian asked for assistance in finding the links for various resources.
Additionally, the issue of hosting needs to be decided and agreements created between all the parties on how things will be done.
Certifications on the application were discussed. Are initials now necessary in the on-line application? After discussion, it was agreed to change the initials to a simple check box.
FMCSA Update
Ed Bowers gave the Alliance an update on FMCSA activities. He has been with FMCSA for 6 months, prior to which he served for 4 ½ years at TSA. He replaces Loretta Bitner and James Simmons is his super visor. Security is his background. He worked on getting the TWIC program going. TWIC primarily targets port workers.
FMCSA’s goal is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.
The federal Hazardous Materials Safety Program (HMSP) started up January 2005. He reviewed the HMSP qualifying criteria such a satisfactory safety rating, a security program and a certain low crash rate. A new monitoring system for HMSP has been set up using various data bases. One is an automated PHMSA registration check.
To date, forty-two percent have been approved, 42 percent have been denied and 11 percent are pending. He showed a table of HMSP activity in Alliance states and prospective Alliance states.
He wants to ensure that the MOU with the Alliance and the cooperative agreement with NCSL are in concert.
He wants to get additional funds to bump up the amount for the proposed study of the benefits of the Alliance. He is already beginning to develop the cooperative agreement renewal for 2007-2008.
The working group mandated by SAFETEA-LU is pending, awaiting funding. The clock starts ticking once funding is appropriated. He is trying to get the Alliance on the radar screen of Secretary Mary Peters.
Involving TSA and security issues in our effort could be helpful in moving forward. TSA has funding in this area. Cyber security requirements will be part of this, particularly with equivalency. People have recently left TSA who were working in the motor carrier security area, so things have slowed done some there.
The discussion of the on-line application resumed. Next steps were discussed, including handling the whole process on line, creating an administrative interface, access by state, generating reports, and E-commerce. Additional e-mail communications to assist the application process were discussed.
Saforian also discussed hosting requirements which include a service level agreement, physical server security, database access security, law enforcement access, fees and alliance budget and domain name.
Another issue is maintenance—tech support, annual changes, content/database requirements, response time and liability.
Timeframes for completion of this project were discussed. Saforian will make a list of what needs to be done to push the application to completion.
Second Day
Further discussion of the base state agreement will be deferred to the next meeting. The current draft will be circulated for comment. In addition, NCSL will do further research on incorporation and the repository and report on the history of the IFTA and IRP
Administrator’s Manual update
The team tasked with the update will meet by conference call. Cindy Bahner will head up the team of Reed, Canty, Abbott and Gohring to review the manual and suggest changes.
Minnesota Peer Review Results
John Canty, Cindy Bahner and Jim Reed conducted the Minnesota peer review on behalf of the Alliance on September 28, 2006. The peer review of Minnesota went well. In general the peer review team found the Minnesota program to be in compliance with Alliance program expectations. Issues of concern were discussed. They included:
Processing issues: Minnesota sends notices out 30 days prior to expiration. It was discussed and suggested that flexibility on this be added to the Administrator's Manual, p. 4-10 to allow for MN 30 days renewal mailing. Carriers expirations come on the day they were originally credentialed. A renewal letter is sent out on the first day of the month for all expirations (at least 30 days prior) in the next month.
Minnesota would like to see more complete uniformity of the program. Problem is in the different ways and different agencies that implement in each state.
Minnesota does not want Ohio to drop Part III because of the increased burden that would fall to them. Minnesota has to do Part III as part of its statute. The usefulness of Part III was discussed. The origins of Part III were discussed.
Based on how the review went, Cindy Bahner recommended that peer reviews be conducted in person to get the best picture of the state’s program.
The recommendations of the peer review team were discussed.
- Lack of participation in Alliance Governing Board meetings by Minnesota hazmat staff has been a problem and the ongoing absences have been noted at numerous board meetings. The review team is concerned that the lack of participation diminishes reciprocity, reduces Minnesota interaction with the other states, and takes away Minnesota's authority as a board member when votes are missed. Minnesota staff explained the difficulty in getting approved for out-of-state travel in the past, which my get better in the coming year. The review team recommended that Minnesota staff attend meetings again or at minimum call in to the meetings.
- Minnesota does not follow the Part III guidelines in the Administrator's Manual for processing information collected. It is recommended that Minnesota and Ohio, which are the states that do Part III, come to agreement on what should be done and bring a proposal to the Governing Board.
It was decided that as part of the Administrator’s Manual revision the steps for conducting the Part III check will be reviewed for possible streamlining.
Rex Young suggested the PHMSA special permit process as a possible model for the Part III investigation.
Alan Abbott moved that the board approve the Minnesota peer review and find Minnesota in compliance with Alliance program expectations. On second by Cindy Bahner, the motion received unanimous approval.
Outreach
Jim Reed will update the outreach matrix. Piggyback an update of this onto the next conference call.
Rex Young suggested an associate membership of states that are interested, but have not yet passed legislation. Set up a reduced dues schedule for associate members. This would allow for participation by interested states in the Alliance and show progress to FMCSA. Also, he suggested that the Alliance provide a scholarship to prospective states to travel to Alliance meetings. Such a program already exists. Finally, the Alliance should set up an exhibit booth at various meetings, such as the upcoming CVSA-FMCSA leadership meeting in May in Atlanta. He also suggested that the Alliance meet with Jeff Secrest, with the CView program at FMCSA.
Chuck Gohring asked that a power point be developed to identify the benefits to the state trucking associations. A more grass roots approach to let trucking companies and trucking associations know about the Alliance was suggested.
Consultant Study
The board reviewed a draft RFP for a consultant study. The connection to outreach was discussed. As part of the consultant study we would devise a strategy for approaching various constituent groups. The board was asked to send comments on the RFP to Jim Reed in 3-4 weeks.
Updating the informational brochure was discussed in connection with the study. It was decided to develop a new brochure by the June meeting.
Illinois Peer Review
The board conducted the peer review for Illinois. The peer review checklist was completed. Several Illinois applications were reviewed.
One issue that came up was verifying mileage. Most states do not verify mileage reported on applications due to the difficulty in getting access to IRP information.
Illinois was requested to send a letter to the Alliance identifying the two companies who are not allowed to transport in Illinois. As part of this discussion, it was decided to create a list of denied carriers. States will send this information to Jim Reed including name, address and USDOT number.
Rex Young mentioned that “query central” check has been included in MCMIS to make inquiries easier.
The board found Illinois in compliance with Alliance program expectations and made the following recommendations:
- Establish regular communication with other Illinois state agencies who interface with carriers receiving HW permits to share information.
- Set up a regular program of desk audits.
- Adhere to suggested Alliance application review criteria relating to data base queries, in particular getting access to MCMIS.
- Do periodic outreach and training to industry.
Other Issues
Donna Redman proposed that a new designation “UPX” be considered to show law enforcement that a carrier is authorized to carry the four federal hazmats in addition to other hazmat. This way the Alliance can permit a carrier using UPM even if the carrier had been denied the federal permit by the FMCSA. This is to be discussed during the February conference call.
There being no further business to undertake, the board adjourned. The next meeting will occur in conjunction with NCSTS on:
June 11-12, 2007
Hilton Indianapolis
120 W Market St
Indianapolis, IN 46204
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To Do List
- Provide James Simmons with information concerning hazmat routing restrictions in Alliance states--Alliance states.
- Find out NCSL's position and activities pertaining to UCR--Jim Reed.
- Hold conference call the week of February 20 to discuss: Donna Redman's proposal regarding the incorporation of the four federal hazmats into the Alliance program. Donna is to provide the proposal in writing ahead of time and the Alliance states are to research the impact of this proposal on their states. Jim Reed will arrange conference call.
- On same conference call, discuss outreach. Jim Reed to update outreach matrix.
- To move ahead with on-line application, Alliance will have to develop a "terms and conditions" statement, a privacy statement, determine hosting, develop agreements and assist Saforian with links to necessary information--Alliance states.
- Make contact with the CVSA information services committee--volunteer?
- Send Administrator's Manual to Greg Bosque for use in determining base state hierarchy--Jim Reed
- Create list of additional steps needed to go live with on-line application--Saforian.
- Circulate current base state agreement draft--Jim Reed.
- Conduct Administrator's Manual update-- Cindy Bahner will head up the team of Reed, Canty, Abbott and Gohring.
- Send letter to Minnesota finding its program in compliance--Jim Rhode, Jim Reed.
- Send letter to Illinois finding its program in compliance--Jim Rhode, Jim Reed.
- Examine concept of associate membership--agenda item for next meeting.
- Give input to Jim Reed on draft RFP for consultant study by February 20--All Alliance states.
- Create a new Alliance brochure by June meeting--Reed, Bahner, Redman.
- Create list of denied carriers.-- Alliance states will send names, addresses and USDOT numbers of denied carriers to Jim Reed who will circulate a final list to be updated regularly.
 Hazmat Alliance
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