Evaluation of the Use of Electronic Shipping Papers for Hazardous Materials Shipments (2012)

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97 There is a technology that many emergency responders and carriers already have and that many others will obtain in the near future that could be capable of providing remote reading of ESP information. This technology could be incorporated into a concept for an initial system that would be designed to retrieve emergency response and regulatory compliance/ enforcement information from hazmat vehicles from a dis- tance. This could be possible even with vehicles owned by small operations with legacy equipment and relatively limited electronic commerce capabilities. A system based on this con- cept could provide benefits until such time as a more com- prehensive program such as the U.S. DOT Dynamic Mobility Applications program attains functionally similar capability. During the research, this technology development was noted to have potential for facilitating stand-off detection of hazmat contents in the near-term. It would capitalize on a wireless capability that industry is already advancing. The wireless tech- nology is based on the IEEE 802.11n standard that is found in new electronic devices such as laptop computers, PDAs, and smartphones. Thus, it capitalizes on COTS hardware and soft- ware that many emergency response, regulatory compliance, and law enforcement officials already have. The concept can work for a shipment that changes vehicles, changes modes, and crosses international borders. The conceptual system is meant for surface modes of transportation. Its capability cannot be used for hazmat emergency response or regulatory compliance without further research and development. This technology could be implemented through a solution that uses a data repository that would be much less resource- intensive than a central database. Its implementation could be limited to only the most dangerous types of hazmat, such as PIH/TIH. In this concept, a shipper initiating a placarded hazmat shipment for surface transportation would communi- cate with the initial carrier and enter into this data repository (i.e., temporarily store) the shipment’s ESP and associated emergency response information linked to the transport- ing vehicle. Any of the three data intake methods discussed in Section 3.7 (scanned electronic copies, web portal, and electronic submission) could be used for ESP entry to the data repository, allowing basic legacy resources of small operations to be used as well as more sophisticated means. In the data repository, the shipment would be associated with the unique ID of a low-cost WiFi transponder affixed to the power unit (e.g., truck tractor, locomotive, tugboat) for the shipment. The WiFi transponder automatically and frequently (e.g., every 4 minutes) transmits its unique ID, which is the only information it would be capable of transmitting. The ESP information would thus be correlated with one and only one power unit ID that allows it to be quickly identified. If the power unit transporting that hazmat shipment is involved in a serious accident or incident, its operator may be incapacitated and the vehicle may not be approachable due to conditions on the ground. Consequently, the hard copy ship- ping papers with emergency response information cannot be retrieved. The placard may not be visible even with binocu- lars due to darkness, fire, smoke, fog, brush, vehicle structural damage, or position. In that case, the unique ID transmitted by the power unit’s WiFi transponder can be detected regard- less of visibility or weather at a stand-off distance of up to 250 meters by an emergency PC, PDA, or smartphone. (It is recognized that the Emergency Response Guidebook calls for much greater isolation and/or protective action distances for spills of certain chemicals.) Emergency responders, using the unique ID of the hazmat shipment’s power unit, could call up the ESP information for the shipment online and retrieve it from the data repository. The same information could be remotely accessed the same way for a regulatory compliance inspection or enforcement need. No information on the contents of the hazmat shipment itself or proprietary information such as its origin, destina- tion, or customer would be electronically available at the vehicle. Rather, ESP information on the shipment could only be accessed by emergency response, regulatory compliance, and law enforcement officials on an authorized, need-to-know A P P E N D I X D Technology That Can Benefit Stand-Off Detection of ESP by Emergency Response and Regulatory Personnel

98 basis. When the shipment is located in the data repository, its ESP information could be downloaded and printed if a printer is available. In the event of a serious accident/incident, emergency responders would be able to know at a distance what hazmat substance they are dealing with. That awareness could buy them precious minutes of reaction time and enable them to make more informed decisions about what to do next (e.g., conduct a local evacuation) and other actions. When an en route placarded hazmat shipment is transferred to another participating carrier, the second carrier would—on its own or through communication with the shipper—ensure that its ESP power unit ID association is entered into the data repository. The original carrier will either repurpose its power unit and re-enter the ID, now associated with new information (effectively deleting the previous power unit ID record), or, if not immediately reallocated, allow the ID association to time out and expire. This re-assignment could continue through a series of shipment transfers (including intermodal transfers) until the shipment is delivered to the consignee. When a new ESP power unit ID association is entered before the old one expires, the data repository would default to the new pairing and automatically delete the old one. Potential top-level advantages include: • More rapid access to hazmat shipping paper information for emergency responders during an incident; • More efficient identification of shipping information by regulatory compliance/enforcement personnel on a need- to-know basis; • Reduced injuries, fatalities, and property damage related to serious hazmat incidents; and • Reduced carrier/shipper liability from an incident. This conceptual system recognizes the special place held by emergency responders and motor carriers. The importance of emergency responders is clear in the HMCRP Project 05 SOW. The importance of motor carriers is implied by the large num- ber of hazmat shipments transported by them, the relative geo- graphic freedom within which those shipments move, and the much greater number of power units (tractors) for WiFi tran- sponder placement than larger power units such as locomotives or tugboats. A motor carrier with 20 or fewer vehicles likely has only simple communication systems, but even small carriers should be able to work with the envisioned system. This capability has the potential to help protect the health and safety of the responders and the public. It can help reduce the exposure of responders to unexpected releases of toxic materials as well as to boiling liquid expanding vapor explo- sions (BLEVEs) and other types of explosions by knowing what substance or combination of substances emergency respond- ers are facing. With better information, emergency respond- ers will also be able to more effectively conduct evacuations of at-risk populations in the vicinity of an incident. Although dif- ficult to quantify, reductions in injuries and fatalities associ- ated with more rapid and effective response to incidents could have tangible benefits for a number of stakeholders. Finally, two of the three envisioned ESP data repository access methods envisioned could enable vehicle enforcement/ compliance officials inspecting the contents of a hazmat vehicle to improve the accuracy and speed of their reporting. This could be accomplished by obtaining an electronic copy of the ship- ping papers for the vehicle being inspected and quickly enter- ing this information in their report. This should also enable the vehicle operator to realize a time savings and consequent cost savings that would result from a shorter inspection period.

Abbreviations and acronyms used without definitions in TRB publications: AAAE American Association of Airport Executives AASHO American Association of State Highway Officials AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ACI–NA Airports Council International–North America ACRP Airport Cooperative Research Program ADA Americans with Disabilities Act APTA American Public Transportation Association ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials ATA American Trucking Associations CTAA Community Transportation Association of America CTBSSP Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program DHS Department of Homeland Security DOE Department of Energy EPA Environmental Protection Agency FAA Federal Aviation Administration FHWA Federal Highway Administration FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FRA Federal Railroad Administration FTA Federal Transit Administration HMCRP Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 ITE Institute of Transportation Engineers NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASAO National Association of State Aviation Officials NCFRP National Cooperative Freight Research Program NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NTSB National Transportation Safety Board PHMSA Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration RITA Research and Innovative Technology Administration SAE Society of Automotive Engineers SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (2005) TCRP Transit Cooperative Research Program TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (1998) TRB Transportation Research Board TSA Transportation Security Administration U.S.DOT United States Department of Transportation