The USDOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) requires carriers and shippers of certain hazardous materials to annually register and pay a fee (read all about it here).  The fees collected are added to the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) Fund which is used to provide funds for grants distributed to states and Indian tribes for hazardous materials emergency response planning and training and to certain professional organizations for training purposes through the Hazardous Materials Grants Program.  So, it may help you to know that the fees you pay are helping to make communities safer!  And if that doesn’t do it for you, then you should at least be pleased that the fees are being reduced for 2013/2014. (more…)