This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-02-867R 
entitled 'Department of Transportation Report on Transporting Hazardous 
Materials' which was released on June 18, 2002.



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June 18, 2002:



The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta:



The Secretary of Transportation:



Subject: Department of Transportation Report on Transporting Hazardous 

Materials:



Dear Mr. Secretary:



This letter is in response to the draft report we received on June 10TH 

that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has prepared in accordance 

with the requirement in the Department of Transportation and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act for FY 2002. As you know, section 352(b) of 

that act directs you, in consultation with the Comptroller General, to 

conduct a study of the effects on public health and safety, the 

environment, and the economy associated with the transportation of 

hazardous and radioactive materials. The act further specifies five 

matters to be addressed in the study and calls for a report to Congress 

within 6 months of the act’s enactment--that is, by June 18, 2002.



We have had no substantive consultation with DOT on the study and only 

received a draft report for review 1 week prior to its scheduled 

delivery date to Congress, although we offered several times since 

January to consult with DOT on the scope and design of the study. 

Consequently, we have not had the opportunity to perform a 

comprehensive review of the report’s contents or to make timely 

suggestions for possible modifications. Although the report provides 

detailed information on the transportation of hazardous and radioactive 

material, it does not fully address all of the matters raised by 

Congress.



The matters set forth in the appropriations act were challenging and 

difficult to address in the relatively short time provided by the act. 

The report provides extensive detail on public and private investments 

in maintaining the nation’s transportation infrastructure to ensure the 

safe transportation of all cargo, including hazardous and radioactive 

materials, as well as on plans to enhance transportation safety. It 

further provides a broad overview of the numerous federal programs 

designed to improve federal, state, and local responses to accidents 

involving hazardous materials. However, the report does not directly 

address the study requirement to assess the adequacy of these programs 

and the additional costs and time required to ensure their adequacy.



The report also provides detailed information on incidents involving 

the transportation of hazardous materials, but it does not link this 

information to the condition of the routes on which those incidents 

occurred. Such an analysis would:



have helped meet another important study requirement, namely, to 

examine the safety of specific transportation routes used or planned 

for hazardous and radioactive shipments. The report offers some 

important general considerations about how best to route hazardous 

materials and the limitations to rerouting. However, it does not 

discuss the actions that may be needed to ensure the safety of 

individual routes.



Please call me at (202) 512-2834 if you or your staff have any 

questions. We are sending copies of this letter to the appropriate 

congressional committees. We will also make copies available to others 

upon request.



Sincerely yours,



John H. Anderson, Jr.



Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues:



Signed by John H. Anderson, Jr.



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