On its website the US Government Printing Office makes a wealth of Federal publications available for review and download; one of these is the Federal Register.

Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

The Federal Register is a great way to look down the road and see potential changes to the regulations long before they are put into effect (sometimes The Rulemaking Process takes years before a final rule is issued, if ever).  Knowledge of these potential changes provides you with several advantages:

• Additional time to modify your business operations to comply.
• Awareness of on what topics the regulatory agencies intend to focus their efforts.
• The ability to register your concerns, complaints, suggestions, etc. in order to modify the proposed rule before a final rule is issued.  It can be done, really!
• Make changes to your training program to account for changes that become effective before the next training cycle.
• Alert you to the need to re-train your employees prior to their next scheduled training cycle, if necessary.
• Keep you abreast of changes to the regulations that affect your business and/or your industry group.

A very good example of important news being announced in the Federal Register is the very recent announcement of the US DOT’s extension of the authorization for use of the ORM-D classification.

See below for a brief summary of announcements in the Federal Register by the US EPA on the subject of Hazardous Waste and the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the US DOT on the subject of Transportation of Hazardous Materials.  Please note that this is my best effort to identify the relevant announcements in the Federal Register that may be of interest to generators of hazardous waste and shippers of hazardous materials.  I encourage you to review the list of Federal Register publications yourself to ensure regulatory compliance.

January 2013

Transportation of Hazardous Materials:

• FINAL RULE – Hazardous Materials: Harmonization with International Standards (RRR) Pages 987 – 1100 [FR DOC # 2012-31243]
• FINAL RULE – Hazardous Materials: Harmonization With the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods: Model Regulations, International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code, and the International Civil Aviation Organization Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air Pages 1101 – 1118 [FR DOC # 2012-31242]
• PROPOSED RULE – Hazardous Materials: Transportation of Lithium Batteries Pages 1119 – 1120 [FR DOC # 2012-31244]
• NOTICE – Actions on Special Permit Applications Pages 3965 – 3966 [FR DOC # 2013-00704]
• NOTICE – Notice of Applications for Modification of Special Permit Pages 3966 – 3967 [FR DOC # 2013-00707]
• NOTICE – Notice of Application for Special Permits Pages 3967 – 3968 [FR DOC # 2013-00706]
• NOTICE – Notice of Delays In Processing of Special Permits Applications Pages 3968 – 3968 [FR DOC # 2013-00702]

Management of Hazardous Waste (RCRA)

• PROPOSED RULE – Fall 2012 Regulatory Agenda Pages 1624 – 1631 [FR DOC # 2012-31502]
• NOTICE – Waste Import and Export; Inquiry To Learn Whether Businesses Assert Business Confidentiality Claims Pages 2669 – 2672 [FR DOC # 2013-00575]
• NOTICE – Public Comment on EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2014-2016 Pages 5799 – 5800 [FR DOC # 2013-01706]

Information can be helpful but it’s useless if you are not able to make sense of it, determine how any changes to the rules and regulations (final or proposed) will affect your operations, and communicate the necessary information to your personnel.  I can help you do that.  Please contact me for a free consultation to determine your regulatory requirements and how training can help you to attain and maintain compliance.