In the Feb. 2 Federal Register, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to more than triple the annual registration fee for shippers and carriers of hazardous materials.
The fee hike would go toward funding the national Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grants program, a $28 million endeavor.

PHMSA is giving stakeholders until March 4, 2010, to submit comments on the proposed rulemaking. If passed, the annual fee for those registrants not qualifying as a small business or not-for-profit organization would go from $975 (plus a $25 administrative fee) to $2,975 (plus a $25 administrative fee). The change would be applied to registration years beginning in 2010-2011. Small businesses and not-for-profit organizations would keep the same registration fee, which is $250.

The annual registration fee was last changed in 2006. PHMSA has been able to fully fund the grant obligation since fiscal year 2008 due to a surplus, but the surplus has recently been reduced to $1.5 billion.

The HMEP grants program provides federal financial and technical assistance to states and Indian tribes to "develop, improve, and carry out emergency plans." The grants are also used to train public sector hazardous materials emergency response employees to respond to accidents and incidents. It's also used to determine flow patterns of hazardous materials within a state and between states and determine the need within a state for regional hazardous materials emergency response teams.