The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued a final rule to codify certain elements included in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, which was signed into law in December 2015 and mandates a revised phase-out schedule for DOT-111 tank cars used to transport crude oil, ethanol and other Class 3 flammable liquids.

Within a notice posted in the Federal Register, the PHMSA indicates the FAST Act also requires that each tank car be built to meet the DOT Specification 117 and each nonjacketed tank car retrofitted to meet the DOT Specification 117R be equipped with a thermal protection blanket that is at least 0.5-inch thick and meets existing thermal protections standards. In addition, the FAST Act mandates minimum top fittings protection requirements for tank cars retrofitted to meet the DOT Specification 117R.

The phase-out schedule for nonjacketed DOT-111 cars in ethanol service is May 1, 2023. The same deadline is set for jacketed DOE-111 cars in ethanol service and nonjacketed CPC-1232 cars in ethanol service. For jacketed CPC-1232 cars, the phase-out schedule deadline is May 1, 2025.

According to the rule, an estimated 27,037 nonjacketed DOT-111 cars were in ethanol service as of the end of 2015, along with 88 jacketed DOE-111 cars, 751 non-jacketed CPC-1232 cars, and 23 jacketed CPC-1232 cars.

A full copy of the rule can be downloaded from the Federal Register website.