Hazardous Materials: Liquefied Natural Gas by Rail

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts 172, 173, 174, 179, and 180 [Docket No. PHMSA-2018-0025 (HM-264)] RIN 2137-AF40 AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notification of conforming amendments. SUMMARY: PHMSA, in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration, is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations in response to the recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Sierra Club, et al. v. DOT, et al., No. 20-1317 (Jan. 17, 2025). DATES: These amendments are effective as of June 23, 2025. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan Larson, Transportation Specialist, by phone at 202-366-8553 or email at ryan.larson@dot.gov , Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590-0001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background On July 24, 2020, PHMSA, in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a final rule to amend the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to authorize the transportation of LNG in a new DOT-113C120W9 tank car and adopted additional operational controls for the safe movement of LNG by rail, effective as of August 24, 2020 (LNG by Rail Rule). [ 1 ] On August 18, 2020, several stakeholder groups filed petitions for judicial review of the LNG by Rail Rule. The petitione…