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Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)FRA has broad statutory authority to regulate all areas of railroad safety. See 49 USC § 20101 et seq. Pursuant to its statutory authority, FRA promulgates and enforces a comprehensive regulatory program that addresses the three major elements of the railroad system: the rolling equipment, the track and signal system over which the rolling equipment operates, and the rules for conducting such operations. See e.g., 49 CFR parts 209-236. FRA is also responsible for enforcing the hazardous materials regulations (HMR) promulgated by PHMSA (49 CFR parts 171-180). The HMR classify hydrogen, in its various forms, as a hazardous material, and specifically as a flammable gas. See 49 CFR § 172.101 (column 3 of Hazardous Materials Table). Accordingly, the transportation of hydrogen would be subject to the packaging and hazard communication requirements of the HMR. Specific to the transportation of hydrogen by rail, Part 174 of the HMR contains general operating, handling, loading, and unloading requirements specific to the rail transportation of hazardous materials and detailed requirements for the handling and transportation of flammable gases such as hydrogen. See 49 CFR § 174.200-174.204 for provisions specific to flammable gases. Although under the HMR, hydrogen may be transported as a compressed gas or a cryogenic liquid (see 49 CFR § 172.101, 173.302, .304, .314, .316, .318, and .319), as a practical matter, because of cost considerations and the limited number of specialized rail tank cars capable of safely transporting hydrogen in its gaseous form, most hydrogen transported by rail would have to be in a cryogenic liquid form. See 49 CFR § 173.314(c) and 173.319 (authorizing DOT class 107 tank cars for transportation of hydrogen as a compressed gas and DOT class 113 tank cars for transportation of hydrogen as a cryogenic liquid).
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