Hazardous Materials Management - Preparedness

Preparation is critical to an appropriate incident response and our hazardous materials group developed the Union Pacific Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plan (HMERP) to address preparation. This is a performance-based plan designed to prepare for, and respond to, an emergency. The HMERP provides guidance to the individual reporting a release, as well as a list of training requirements for those responding to an incident. Each Union Pacific operating division undergoes an unannounced annual drill to ensure the HMERP is in place and followed by Union Pacific employees. The requirements include drills and exercises for specific plans for large oil storage tanks that fall under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Union Pacific is a charter member of TRANSCAER® - a voluntary national outreach effort focused on assisting communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous materials transportation incident. Union Pacific has won the TRANSCAER National Achievement Award annually since 2007.

We work with community emergency response personnel to implement preparedness tools and approaches, including sharing best practices and jointly educating our mutual team members. Providing no-cost training to public responders in Union Pacific's most substantial preparedness effort and includes:

  • Public responders may request training by emailing hmm@up.com
  • Union Pacific has identified fire departments that may respond to an incident along our network. The hazardous materials team members offer training and/or information to assist fire departments in their preparation for a potential incident within our network.
  • Training includes classroom and hands-on activities using real world railroad scenarios that consist of how to contact the railroad during an emergency, how to read shipping documentation, derailment, safety considerations, and what response assets the railroad can provide in the event of an incident
  • Hazardous materials team members perform large-scale training events in collaboration with Union Pacific's partners in TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response).

Training Courses Offered:

  • Railroad 101: First responder safety when responding to a railroad emergency
  • Crude By Rail Web-Based Training
  • 40-hour Tank Car Safety Course: In depth classroom and hands on training for first responders located in Pueblo, CO, Tarrant County, TX, Longview, TX, California, Oregon
  • Drills/Exercises: Specially designed training trailers brought to your town to simulate response to tank car leaks
  • Tank Car Valves & Fittings: Specially designed training trailers brought to your location as an introduction to tank cars.
  • TransCAER Events: Multi-day, mutli-modal training for multiple fire departments from a finite geographic area.

Product Specific Training: May include Crude Oil, flammable liquids, PIHs. Taught in conjunction with ACC product experts.