As a Shipper you are required to classify a hazardous material prior to offering it for transportation; to do this you must be familiar with the definition of a hazardous material at 49 CFR 171.8.

Hazardous material means a substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has designated as hazardous under section 5103 of Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table (see 49 CFR 172.101), and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions in part 173 of this subchapter.

Since the definition of a hazardous material includes “…materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions…” it is critical that you know what those hazard classes and divisions are.  49 CFR 173.2 indicates the hazardous material classes and divisions determined by PHMSA for the classification of a hazardous material; they are:

• Class 1 Explosives
  • Division 1.1 Explosives with a mass explosion hazard
  • Division 1.2 Explosives with a projection hazard
  • Division 1.3 Explosives with predominately a fire hazard
  • Division 1.4 Explosives with no significant blast hazard
  • Division 1.5 Very insensitive explosives; blasting agents
  • Division 1.6 Extremely insensitive detonating substances
• Class 2 Compresses gases
  • Division 2.1 Flammable gas
  • Division 2.2 Non-flammable compressed gas
  • Division 2.3 Poisonous gas
• Class 3 Flammable and combustible liquid
• Class 4 Flammable and reactive solids
  • Division 4.1 Flammable solid
  • Division 4.2 Spontaneously combustible material
  • Division 4.3 Dangerous when wet material
• Class 5 Oxidizers and organic peroxides
• Division 5.1 Oxidizer
• Division 5.2 Organic peroxide
• Class 6 Poisonous/Toxic materials
  • Division 6.1 Poisonous materials
  • Division 6.2 Infectious substances (Etiologic agent)
• Class 7 Radioactive material
• Class 8 Corrosive material
• Class 9 Miscellaneous hazardous material
• Other Regulated Material: ORM-D

But what if your hazardous material is not listed by its technical name in the Hazardous Materials Table of 49 CFR 172.101 and it meets the defining criteria of more than one hazard class or division?  What then?  In that case, the Shipper must determine which of the hazards is the primary and which is the subsidiary – or subsidiaries if there is more than one.  The purpose of this article is to explain the procedure at 49 CFR 173.2a for classifying a hazardous material that has more than one hazard. (more…)

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) publishes a new edition of its International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code) every two years, with the current edition (2012, incorporating amendment 36-12) published in the Fall of 2012.  Each new edition of the IMDG Code has an interesting life-cycle as indicated below:

• The first calendar year after its publishing (2013 for the 2012 edition) is a transition year where either the current edition or its predecessor is valid.
• The second calendar year after its publishing (2014 for the 2012 edition) is the year when only that edition is valid.
• The third calendar year after its publishing (2015 for the 2012 edition) is a transition year again where either the current edition or its replacement (2014, incorporating amendment 37-14) is valid.
• The end of the third calendar year after its publishing (December 31, 2015 for the 2012 edition) is the end of the validity of the edition.

If you’re confused by the amendment cycle of the IMDG Code and unsure if you are referring to the correct edition to determine compliance, refer to this simple infographic:  The IMDG Code Amendment Cycle

The 2014 edition of the IMDG Code is expected to be published soon, below are some of the significant changes from the 2012 edition it contains:

• Updates have been made to provisions reflecting the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the safe transport of radioactive material.
• Column 16 “Stowage and Segregation”of the Dangerous Goods List has been split into two new columns:  16a “Stowage and Handling” and 16b “Segregation”.  Instead of descriptive text, these two columns now contain codes that are defined in Chapter 7 of the IMDG Code.
• Significant changes to Chapter 7.2, including more stringent segregation and stowage requirements for Class 4.3 Dangerous when wet and other water-reactive materials.
• Updates to the Dangerous Goods List include:
  • Proper shipping name for UN3268 has been changed from “AIR BAG MODULES, AIR BAG INFLATORS or SEAT-BELT PRETENSIONERS” to “SAFETY DEVICES”.
  • Proper shipping name and UN Number for asbestos is now UN2212 “ASBESTOS, AMPHIBOLE” or UN2590 “ASBESTOS, CHRYSOTILE”.
  • The entry for “CAPACITORS” has been divided into “CAPACITOR, ELECTRIC DOUBLE LAYER” UN3499 and “CAPACITOR, ASYMMETRIC” UN3508.
  • “PACKAGING DISCARDED, EMPTY, UNCLEANED” un3509 HAS BEEN ADDED BUT CAN NOT BE USED FOR TRANSPORT BY VESSEL.
  • A series of shipping names for various adsorbed gases have been assigned UN Numbers between UN3510 and UN3526.
• Special Provisions have been aded:
  • SP 367 through SP 376 (excluding SP 374 and SP 375).
  • SP 968 through SP 970.
• Special Provisions for shipping certain common items have been added or revised:
  • SP 376 through SP 377 for lithium batteries damaged/defective or for recycling or disposal.
  • SP 961, SP 962 (Vehicles or Internal Combustion Engines; see also SP 970).

The transportation of dangerous goods by vessel outside of the US and its territorial waters must comply with the IMDG Code.  It is possible that a carrier transporting dangerous goods by vessel within the US will comply with the IMDG Code as well, thus requiring your understanding and use of it.  Of course, any transportation of dangerous goods (referred to as hazardous materials by US regulations) within the US must comply with the Hazardous Material Regulations of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Regulations, both international and domestic require that you train all personnel who are involved in the transportation of the dangerous good/HazMat.  Contact me for this training.

More Questions?

• Where can I purchase a copy of the 2014 Edition of the IMDG Code?
• What is the Amendment 37-14?
• Is the IMDG Code available for my company’s intranet?
• Is the IMDG Code available on the web?

Even though it expired in June of 2010, you may be interested in learning about this conditional exclusion from regulation as a hazardous waste that occupies 40 CFR 261.4(b)(17) to this day.

The definition of a solid waste at 40 CFR 261.2(a)(1) includes any discarded material that is not excluded from regulation by:

• The conditional exclusions for certain solid waste at §261.4(a).
• A variance granted under §260.30 and §260.31.
• A non-waste determination under §260.30 and §260.34

Unless you can find an exclusion from regulation, everything you “throw away” (ie. discard) is a solid waste.  So, what then does it mean to “discard” something?

Pursuant to 40 CFR 261.2(a)(2)(i), a discarded material is anything that is:

• Abandoned
• Recycled
• Considered inherently waste-like.
• A military munition identified as a solid waste.

If you generate a solid waste – and you know that you do – it may be excluded from regulation if it is recycled in a manner prescribed by USEPA regulation.  Table 1 of 40 CFR 261.2 identifies five categories of solid wastes (two categories – Sludges and By-Products – are further subdivided into two sub-categories each, making a total of seven entries in Table 1) and identifies their regulatory status (solid waste or no solid waste) based on how they are recycled.  Not included in Table 1, but essential to its complete understanding is a Co-Product, which is referenced in the explanation of a By-Product.

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Like all hazardous material packagings, propane cylinders must be designed, manufactured, and tested to meet the specifications codified at 49 CFR 178.  Propane cylinders must also be requalified at periodic intervals to ensure they remain safe for use.  Unfortunately, all to often private citizens & businesses will use propane cylinders that have exceeded their requalification date.  Catastrophic failure of out-of-date propane cylinders has resulted in property damage, personal injury, and death.  Since propane cylinders must be marked to indicate their qualification status, it is easy to determine if your propane cylinders are safe for use.  To determine the qualification status of your propane cylinders, look for these markings on the cylinder:

A:  Manufacturing Date

Cylinders must be requalified within twelve (12) years of manufacture (by May 2017 in the illustration below).

B:  Requalification Date

If the cylinder is older than twelve (12) years, look for a “requalification date”.

If you ship, receive, or transport propane – or any other hazardous material – you must provide training every three years for your HazMat Employees.  Contact me for a free training consultation.

Refer to this guidance document from the PHMSA (English and Spanish).

If you discard anything from your home, business, or government office you are a generator of a solid waste.  As a generator of solid waste you are required to conduct a Hazardous Waste Determination to determine if your solid waste is subject to regulation – perhaps it is conditionally excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste if it is a Household Hazardous Waste – and what kind of hazardous waste it is (Listed, Characteristic, or both).

Once you have identified the hazardous waste you generate you are required to determine your hazardous waste generator status.  This is important since compliance with the RCRA regulations of the USEPA and your state will depend on your hazardous waste generator status.  It’s no surprise that the higher your hazardous waste generator status, the greater your regulatory burden.  The purpose of this article is to provide guidance in determining what wastes to consider and count when you are determining your hazardous waste generator status for the purpose of compliance with the RCRA regulations. (more…)

After completing the Annual RCRA Refresher Training for a client in St. Louis, I had some time to drive around before heading to the airport to continue journey for the week.  I stumbled upon a site that all St. Louis residents should be aware of and hopefully take advantage of.  It’s the St. Louis Household Hazardous Waste Collection site, located on the grounds of the Lemay Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Lemay HHW Facility
291 E. Hoffmeister
St Louis MO 63125

Its hours of operation are Thurs-Sat 9am-5pm.

The young man operating the site that day was kind enough to answer my questions and let me take some pictures.

Since I’m not eligible to bring my household hazardous waste here for disposal (the site is open to residences, not businesses, in St. Louis and Jefferson counties and the City of St. Louis), my interest was purely professional.

I do know that the waste generated by homeowners – not just homes, but some commercial and governmental site as well – is conditionally excluded from the definition of hazardous waste at 40 CFR 261.4(b)(1).  This USEPA exclusion for HHW extends beyond its collection at a state-approved collection site such as this one.  In other words, the waste collected at this program does not need to be managed as a hazardous waste, even after its collection.  Of course, the Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility that is responsible for final disposal of the HHW may prefer to manage it as a hazardous waste for the sake of its RCRA permit.  In addition, a state may require HHW to be managed as a hazardous waste once it leaves a collection site like this and goes to the TSDF for final disposal.

Unfortunately, the HHWSTL does not accept waste from a business.  If you generate a hazardous waste, then you must have some form of training for your Hazardous Waste Personnel.

When you look around your facility it’s important for you to know when you are looking at a product – and therefore not subject to RCRA – and when you are looking at a waste – and therefore subject to RCRA.  Unfortunately, not everything comes with a label reading, “Waste for Disposal” or “Product to be Used”.  But as the generator of any solid waste you are responsible to make this determination and be able to defend it to a State or Federal inspector.  Let’s say for example that during an on-site inspection an inspector for the USEPA’s hazardous waste enforcement division looks in one of your storage areas and proclaims, “those old drums of solvent over there look like waste to me.”  “They’re not,” you retort and then quickly add, “As a matter of fact we hope to put those solvents into use sometime soon.”  Right there you’ve got a problem on your hands and the challenge before you is to convince the inspector that the drums of solvent you are both looking at are not a waste but rather are a valuable product.  How are you going to do that?  Below are some questions you should ask yourself about the “products” you see throughout your facility.  The answers to these questions will help you to determine if what you see is a product or a waste.  Source:  Missouri Department of Natural Resources guidance. (more…)

The regulations of the USEPA at 40 CFR 264 and 265 are applicable primarily to Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDFs) that are required to operate under the conditions of a RCRA subpart C permit due to their handling of hazardous waste.  Some of these regulations, however, are also applicable to generators of hazardous waste; such as 40 CFR 264/265, Subpart C Preparedness and Prevention to which both a Small Quantity Generator of hazardous waste and a Large Quantity Generator of hazardous waste are subject.  Conversely, 40 CFR 264/265, Subpart D Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures is not applicable to an SQG though it remains applicable to an LQG.

Though States with an authorized hazardous waste program under RCRA are capable of making these regulations more strict and more broad, I have found that most States simply adopt both Subparts C & D by reference into their regulations.  In these States compliance with the USEPA Federal rule ensures compliance with State regulations as well.  Sometimes, however, a State can surprise you by throwing in some state-specific requirements after it has adopted the Federal rule.  One example of this is in Missouri where the MO Department of Natural Resources operates the hazardous waste program. (more…)

Anyone who reads the regulations applicable to generators of hazardous waste, either the Federal USEPA or those of your state (if it has an authorized hazardous waste program), will notice frequent references to Parts 264 and 265 to Title 40.  The full names for these two parts are:

PART 264—STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES

And…

PART 265—INTERIM STATUS STANDARDS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL FACILITIES

What’s confusing is that if you read these two Parts, they are pretty much the same.  So why the distinction?  The reason for having two sets of similar standards for owners and operators of hazardous waste TSDFs in the CFR goes back to the initial promulgation of the hazardous waste regulations by the USEPA based upon the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Through RCRA the US Congress mandated that the USEPA develop regulations for TSDFs that were in operation at the time the statute was enacted – and therefore were subject to the regulations immediately – and for TSDFs that would come into operation after the enactment of the regulations.  Congress wanted the standards for these two types of facilities (those of the present and those of the future) to differ only where absolutely necessary, hence the similar content of these two Parts.  The reason for two sets of regulations and for the few differences between them lies in the understanding that a facility in existence at the time the regulations went into affect could not be expected to be immediately in compliance, thus the “Interim Status” standards for TSDFs at Part 265 were designed to give these existing TSDFs time to come into compliance.

TSDFs that would be constructed after RCRA regulations were enacted were expected to be designed and built to meet those standards.  Therefore, these new facilities – or TSDFs of the future – were subject to the more strict regulations of 40 CFR 264.

Why does any of this matter to a generator of hazardous waste?  Throughout the USEPA regulations applicable to generators of hazardous waste you’ll find references to Part 265, like this one at 40 CFR 262.34(a)(1) which references the Use and Management of Containers and the RCRA Air Emission Standards, respectively:

(i) In containers and the generator complies with the applicable requirements of subparts I, AA, BB, and CC of 40 CFR part 265; and/or

Or, this at 40 CFR 262.34(a) which refers to – in order – the regulations for Preparedness and Prevention, Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures, and the training requirements (initial and annual) for all Facility Personnel:

(4) The generator complies with the requirements for owners or operators in subparts C and D in 40 CFR part 265, with §265.16, and with all applicable requirements under 40 CFR part 268.

And in some state regulations applicable to generators of hazardous waste you’ll find a reference to 40 CFR 264, like this one in Title 10, Division 25 of the Missouri Code of State Regulations which refers to the Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures:

(D) Contingency Plan and Emergency Procedures.  This subsection sets forth requirements which modify or add to those requirements in 40 CFR part 264 Subpart D.

In my experience, it really doesn’t matter to a generator of hazardous waste whether the reference is to Part 264 or 265.  What matters is that the generator researches the regulation and ensures that they are in compliance with it.