Safe transport of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway, and water.

BACKGROUND The US Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Office of Hazardous Materials Safety is the Federal safety authority for ensuring the safe transport of hazardous materials by air, rail, highway, and water. Federal Hazardous Materials (HM) Law and HM regulations (HMR) currently require shippers of HM to create a shipping paper that conforms to requirements in 49 CFR 172 Subpart C and provide the paper to the carrier. Shipping papers are an important part of necessary hazard communication that, along with placarding, marking and labeling, keep the transportation of HM safe and reliable. Shipping papers are intended to: - Communicate hazard information from the shipper to the carrier; - Provide hazard information to handling and acceptance personnel (to include Pilots, Captains, drivers); - Provide verification to the operator that the shipment complies with HMR requirements; - Provide pertinent information to emergency response personnel in the event of an HM incident; and - Provide pertinent information to the appropriate authority as part of an incident investigation. PHMSA is investigating the possibility of leveraging technologies to improve HM transportation by allowing companies to communicate hazard information electronically in lieu of using paper shipping documents. In intermodal transportation of HM, often carrier personnel at seaports, airports and rail yards are required to enter information from a shipping paper into the carrier's information system. These redundant data entry efforts can lead to incorrect information and deficiencies in the shipping paper farther down the logistics chain, which can delay or frustrate shipments and lead to enforcement and fines. A standardized electronic communication of shipping paper information may eliminate the need to re-enter information, therefore reducing frustrated shipments, congestion and increasing efficiency. PHMSA is also interested in a standardized system of communicating shipping paper information between shippers and carriers that incorporates a method to immediately and accurately notify and inform emergency responders in the event of a HM incident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has made two recommendations about improving the electronic transfer of hazard information to emergency responders. PHMSA is currently working to define the regulatory guidelines necessary to amend the current HMR shipping paper requirements to allow the electronic transfer of hazard communication shipping paper information in lieu of paper documentation. PHMSA is evaluating the potential for electronic communication of hazard information to improve safety and increase efficiencies in the transport system by: - Facilitating the flow of hazard information to emergency responders prior to arrival on a HM incident scene; - Increasing the amount of information available to emergency responders prior to arrival on a HM incident scene; - Improving the accuracy of hazard communication by having the party most familiar with the product create the data file; and - Creating a standard communication vehicle for multimodal shipments, therefore reducing the need to redraft documents at ports, rail yards, etc. DESCRIPTION The primary purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gather information on available technologies that will allow companies involved in the transportation of HM the ability to safely, effectively and efficiently communicate hazard information between shipper and carrier, and when necessary or requested, to emergency responders and/or regulatory enforcement personnel. PHMSA is seeking solutions that are broad-based and not tool-driven. It is imperative that the proposed solutions have the ability to communicate specific hazard information to emergency response personnel without any added requirements on response agencies and have the capability to communicate with agencies with diverse technological capabilities (e.g., urban HM Response Team and rural volunteer fire department). PHMSA's success in improving safety with the use of electronic documentation in lieu of shipping papers depends on its understanding the pertinent technologies. The purpose of this RFI is to help PHMSA understand what electronic communication technologies are available to HM transportation entities and the capabilities of the technologies to transfer hazard information in the following situations: - From shipper to carrier (and freight forwarder, etc); - From carrier to operator (pilot, captain, driver, engineer, etc); - From carrier to regulatory inspection and enforcement personnel; and - From carrier to various emergency response agencies (Urban HM Response Team to rural volunteer fire department). NOTE: Any communication method must not require any additional tools (bar code readers, scanners, etc.) be used by regulatory, enforcement, and emergency response personnel. CAPABILITY STATEMENT REQUIREMENTS This is a Request for Information (RFI) announcement only. This is not a request for competitive proposal or qualifications. PHMSA will use the results from this RFI to determine the appropriate acquisition strategy. A party's response to this RFI does not bind the Government or party into any agreement. All vendors with an appropriate product relating to the requirements set forth in this RFI are invited to submit a Capability Statement and contact information. The Capability Statement should discuss the product's capabilities as against the requirements, the product's system requirements, the product's integration specification (if available), and any other specific and pertinent information that would enhance PHMSA's understanding of the information submitted. Please indicate in your response which capabilities can be provided via commercial off the shelf software versus custom developed solutions. For requirements that are met by commercial off the shelf software, please also include the product name, release number and release date. PHMSA must receive the written capability statement no later than July 30, 2008, at 4:00 PM EDT. Submit one hard copy to Eric L. Hilton, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement, ATTN: PHA-30, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Room E22-229, Washington, DC 20590. Submit also on electronic copy in PDF format to eric.hilton@dot.gov In all correspondence to the PHMSA Office of Contracts and Procurement, please reference RFI/Sources Sought number_DTPH56-08-SN-0003. Facsimile submissions will not be accepted. All respondents to this notice are urged to send in their capability statements via an express service (e.g. UPS, Federal Express). DO NOT send in statements via regular mail or courier services because of delays that may be encountered due to mail security screening measures and building access security requirements. An electronic copy is also required and must be submitted by e-mail in PDF format to Mr. Eric L. Hilton. NOTE: Direct inquiries concerning this announcement to the PHMSA Office of Contracts and Procurement, ATTN: Mr. Eric L. Hilton, Contract Specialist via e-mail at eric.hilton@dot.gov or Mr. Warren Osterberg, Contracting Officer via-mail at warren.osterberg@dot.gov. Any inquiries made to Government officials other than those identified in this RFI are strictly prohibited.