Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety and Oversight Improvements Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3404 To require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate regulations relating to the approval of foreign manufacturers of cylinders, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. BALDERSON (for himself and Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate regulations relating to the approval of foreign manufac- turers of cylinders, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Compressed Gas Cyl- 4 inder Safety and Oversight Improvements Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. REGULATION OF FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS OF 6 CYLINDERS USED IN TRANSPORTING HAZ- 7 ARDOUS MATERIALS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3404 IH (1) CYLINDER.—The term ‘‘cylinder’’ means 1 any cylinder specified under any of sections 178.36 2 through 178.68 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 3 tions (or successor regulations). 4 (2) FOREIGN MANUFACTURER OF CYLINDERS; 5 FMOC.—The term ‘‘foreign manufacturer of cyl- 6 inders’’ or ‘‘FMOC’’ means an entity that manufac- 7 tures cylinders outside of the United States that are 8 intended to be represented, marked, certified, or sold 9 as qualified for use in transporting a hazardous ma- 10 terial in commerce in the United States. 11 (3) IN GOOD STANDING.—The term ‘‘in good 12 standing’’, with respect to an FMOC, means that 13 the FMOC— 14 (A) is approved by the Secretary pursuant 15 to section 107.807 of title 49, Code of Federal 16 Regulations (or a successor regulation); and 17 (B) has demonstrated 3 years of compli- 18 ance with— 19 (i) part 107 of title 49, Code of Fed- 20 eral Regulations (or successor regulations); 21 and 22 (ii) chapter 51 of title 49, United 23 States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3404 IH (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Transportation. 2 (b) APPROVAL OF FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS OF 3 CYLINDERS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall promul- 5 gate regulations to provide that an approval pro- 6 vided to an FMOC pursuant to section 107.807 of 7 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 8 regulation), shall be for a period of not longer than 9 1 year, except as provided under paragraph (2). 10 (2) 5-YEAR APPROVAL.—The Secretary may 11 provide a 5-year approval of an FMOC pursuant to 12 section 107.807 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 13 tions (or a successor regulation), if the following re- 14 quirements are met: 15 (A) The FMOC attests that none of the 16 cylinders made by the FMOC are prohibited 17 from entry to the United States under section 18 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 19 1307). 20 (B) The FMOC certifies that— 21 (i) the information provided pursuant 22 to subsection (e) is accurate; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3404 IH (ii) the FMOC has a proactive respon- 1 sibility to inform the Secretary if any such 2 information materially changes. 3 (C) The Secretary determines that the 4 FMOC is in good standing. 5 (3) FACILITY INSPECTIONS.— 6 (A) DEFINITION OF OBSTRUCTS.—In this 7 paragraph, the term ‘‘obstructs’’ means taking 8 actions that are known, or reasonably should be 9 known, to prevent, hinder, or impede an inspec- 10 tion. 11 (B) PENALTIES.—The Secretary may sus- 12 pend or terminate an approval of an FMOC if 13 the FMOC obstructs or prevents the Secretary 14 from carrying out an inspection under section 15 107.807(c) of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 16 tions (or a successor regulation). 17 (4) INTERACTION WITH OTHER STATUTES, 18 AGREEMENTS, REGULATIONS.—Nothing in this sec- 19 tion may be construed to prevent the harmonization 20 of cylinder standards otherwise authorized by law. 21 (5) OTHER CAUSE FOR SUSPENSION OR TERMI- 22 NATION.—The Secretary may suspend or terminate 23 an approval of an FMOC on determination that the 24 FMOC knowingly or intentionally misrepresented re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3404 IH sponses to the Secretary required by law, including 1 under subsection (e). 2 (c) REEVALUATION BY REQUEST FOR RELATED VIO- 3 LATIONS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 6 retary shall promulgate such regulations as are nec- 7 essary to establish a process, as determined by the 8 Secretary, for any interested party to request a re- 9 evaluation of the approval of FMOC cylinders under 10 section 107.807 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula- 11 tions (or a successor regulation), to review the accu- 12 racy and safety of the actions of the FMOC. 13 (2) PETITION FOR REEVALUATION.—The regu- 14 lations promulgated under paragraph (1) shall allow 15 an interested party to file a petition if that party 16 has evidence of inaccurate, changed, or fraudulent 17 attestations or responses made by an FMOC to the 18 Secretary under subsection (e). 19 (d) NOTICE AND COMMENT FOR APPLICATIONS BY 20 FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS OF CYLINDERS.—On receipt 21 of an application for approval under section 107.807 of 22 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regu- 23 lation), the Secretary shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3404 IH (1) timely publish notification of the application 1 on the website of the Pipeline and Hazardous Mate- 2 rials Safety Administration; and 3 (2) provide 30 days for public comment on the 4 application prior to approval. 5 (e) ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS TO ENSURE SAFETY 6 AND COMPLIANCE WITH DOT PROCESSES.— 7 (1) ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.—The Secretary 8 shall require, as part of an application for approval 9 pursuant to section 107.807 of title 49, Code of 10 Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), that 11 the applicant answer the following questions: 12 (A) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 13 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 14 FMOC, has ever been subject to a civil mone- 15 tary penalty under title 49, United States Code, 16 relating to any actions carried out as an ap- 17 proved FMOC or during the application for ap- 18 proval under that section. 19 (B) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 20 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 21 FMOC, has been delinquent in the payment of 22 any civil monetary penalties or other fines or 23 fees under title 49, United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3404 IH (C) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 1 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 2 FMOC, is subject to the Do Not Pay Initiative 3 established under section 3354 of title 31, 4 United States Code, as of the date of the appli- 5 cation. 6 (D) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 7 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 8 FMOC, is listed in the Military End User List 9 of the Department of Commerce as of the date 10 of the application. 11 (E) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 12 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 13 FMOC, is identified by the Department of De- 14 fense as an entity listed under section 1237 of 15 the Strom Thurmond National Defense Author- 16 ization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (50 U.S.C. 17 1701 note; Public Law 105–261) as of the date 18 of application. 19 (F) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 20 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 21 FMOC, has been found guilty of a criminal 22 penalty or assessed a civil penalty under section 23 1760 of division A of the John S. McCain Na- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3404 IH tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 1 Year 2019 (50 U.S.C. 4819). 2 (G) Whether the FMOC applying, or any 3 entity controlling more than 10 percent of that 4 FMOC, is subject to a final antidumping or 5 countervailing duty order from the Department 6 of Commerce as of the date of application. 7 (2) DENIAL OF APPLICATION.—The Secretary 8 may deny under section 107.709 of title 49, Code of 9 Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation), an 10 application for approval under section 107.807 of 11 that title (or a successor regulation) based on the re- 12 sponses to the questions required under paragraph 13 (1). 14 (f) FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS LISTING APPROV- 15 ALS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 16 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 17 publish and maintain on the website of the Department 18 of Transportation a list of approved foreign manufacturers 19 of cylinders and the duration of those approvals. 20 (g) AUTHORIZING FOREIGN INSPECTIONS.—Not 21 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 22 Act, the Secretary shall revise section 107.807(d) of title 23 49, Code of Federal Regulations— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3404 IH (1) to require that in any case in which the 1 Secretary determines there is good cause, an inspec- 2 tion under that section shall be carried out annually 3 for such duration as the Secretary determines appro- 4 priate; 5 (2) to specify that a refusal of inspection under 6 that section shall result in a loss of the status of in 7 good standing; 8 (3) to allow the Secretary to request, at the dis- 9 cretion of the Secretary— 10 (A) production of test and production 11 records; and 12 (B) random sample testing; and 13 (4) to allow for the recovery of all associated 14 costs of foreign inspections to include travel, time, 15 and other costs, as determined by the Secretary. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS