Early press reports suggested that the February 25 order issued by USDOT Secretary Foxx applied only to rail shipments of crude produced in the Bakken shale region of North Dakota and neighboring jurisdictions. While the lead paragraph of the DOT News Release announcing the order might give that impression, the actual scope of the order extends to all rail shipments of crude oil, whether produced conventionally or from any shale play.

The actual order can be accessed through a further link in the DOT news release referenced above. It requires shippers of crude by rail to "conduct testing of a sample of a bulk quantity of petroleum crude oil ... prior to offering that bulk quantity [for] transportation in the United States" (emphasis supplied). This language suggests, as a minimum, that samples of each and every trainload of crude must be tested prior to dispatch. The testing must be "capable of determining the petroleum crude oil's flash point; boiling point; corrosivity to steel and aluminum; presence and content of compounds such as sulfur/hydrogen sulfide; percentage presence of flammable gases; and, the vapor pressure at 50°C."

In addition to imposing a testing mandate, the order requires shippers to treat all shipments of class 3 petroleum crude oil as falling into Packing Groups I or II, even if the crude otherwise might meet the criteria for Packing Group III. The effect of this provision, according to the news release, is to "require[e] the use of a more robust tank car."

The emergency order became effective immediately on February 25, 2014.

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