Unless an exception exists, the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR) of the USDOT/PHMSA require the use of the four hazard communication methods when a hazardous material is offered for transportation; these are:

• Shipping Papers
• Placards
• HazMat Labels
• Markings

Markings are information affixed to the outside of the package, freight container, or transport vehicle used to communicate information about the hazardous material inside.  This article will explore one of the requirements for marking a non-bulk HazMat packaging: the  consignee’s or consignor’s name and address. (more…)

Your compliance with the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR) of the USDOT/PHMSA will depend upon, among other things,

• The type of hazardous material to be shipped;
• The method of transportation:  motor vehicle, rail car, vessel, or aircraft;
• The type of packaging; and,
• The weight of the packaging and/or the HazMat.

The purpose of this article is to make known the terms used by USDOT/PHMSA regarding the weight of a shipment of HazMat and its impact on compliance with the HMR. (more…)

This article contains a transcript of an important USDOT/PHMSA interpretation letter.  Unfortunately, since it is greater than ten years old, it no longer is available on the Administrations website:  HazMat Interpretations.  If you wish for an original of the letter you should contact the Hazardous Materials Information Center.

June 4, 1998

Mr. Joseph Grebe
Manager, Testing and Technical Service
Greif Bros. Corporation
1201-A South Houk Road
Delaware, Ohio 43015

Dear Mr. Grebe:

This is in response to your letter dated March 20, 1998, regarding the package marking requirements in 49 CFR 178.503(a)(4)(ii) under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180).  Specifically, you ask us to define the terms “net mass” and “gross mass.”

The term gross mass is defined in § 171.8 as “the weight of a packaging plus the weight of its contents.”  The term “net mass” means the weight of the contents in a packaging.  The difference between the two terms is the fact that you include the weight of the packaging in determining its gross mass but you do not include the weight of the packaging when determining its net mass.  Therefore, a steel open head drum that weighs 35 kilograms and has a maximum net mass of 400 kilograms would be correctly marked as “1A2/X435/S…” in accordance with § 178.503(a)(4)(ii).

I hope this satisfies your request.

Sincerely,

Delmer F. Billings
Chief, Standards Development
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards

The transportation in commerce of any quantity of a hazardous material will be subject to the Hazardous Material Regulations of the PHMSA.  In general, the regulations of the FMCSA will apply to the persons that transport passengers or property by motor vehicle (ie. carriers).  Both agencies, however, have exceptions and exemptions from full regulation.  Determining the applicability of these two distinct sets of regulations to the transportation of hazardous materials is the purpose of this article. (more…)

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.

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.

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.

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.

August 1 through August 31, 2013

PHMSA – Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR):

Rules and Regulations:

None

Proposed Rules:

None

Notices:

Lac-Mégantic Railroad Accident Discussion and DOT Safety Recommendations Pages 48224 – 48229 [FR DOC # 2013-19211] PDF | Text | More

USEPA – Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA):

Rules and Regulations:

None

Proposed Rules:

None

Notices:

Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System: Identification and Listing of Special Wastes; Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities Pages 46940 – 46947 [FR DOC # 2013-18706] PDF | Text | More

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.

Published July 12, 2013 in the Federal Register (FR Vol. 78, No. 134, 41853), the Safety Advisory is issued by the PHMSA of the USDOT in coordination with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and in consultation with the Federal Railroad Administration of the USDOT.  Its scope is limited to those persons who heat a rail tank car to prepare its hazardous material contents for unloading or transloading (defined below).  Its purpose is to prevent accidents that occur as a result of the heating of hazardous materials contained in rail tank cars.  To achieve its purpose, this Safety Advisory:

• Provides safety precautions and recommended guidance for persons engaged in heating a hazardous materials in a rail tank car for the purpose of unloading and transloading, and;
• Reminds subject persons of current regulatory requirements for these activities.

(more…)

In 1999 and again in 2002, accidents occurred as a result of the process of heating rail tank cars for unloading hazardous materials.

On February 18, 1999, a rail tank car, which was on the unloading rack at the Essroc Cement Corporation (Essroc) Logansport cement plant near Clymers, Indiana, sustained a sudden and catastrophic rupture that propelled the tank of the rail tank car an estimated 750 feet and over multistory storage tanks.  The 20,000-gallon rail tank car initially contained about 161,700 pounds (14,185 gallons) of a toxic and flammable hazardous waste that was used as a fuel for the plant’s kilns.  There were no injuries or fatalities. Total damages, including property damage and costs from lost production, were estimated at nearly $8.2 million. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of Essroc to develop and implement safe procedures for heating rail tank cars for unloading hazardous waste (i.e., toluene diisocyanate matter wastes). This lack of procedures resulted in the over-pressurization of the rail tank car due to chemical self-reaction and expansion of the toluene diisocyanate matter wastes.

On September 13, 2002, a 24,000-gallon-capacity rail tank car containing about 6,500 gallons of hazardous waste catastrophically ruptured at a transfer station at the BASF Corporation chemical facility in Freeport, Texas.  The rail tank car had been steam-heated to permit the transfer of the waste to a cargo tank motor vehicle for subsequent disposal.  The waste was a combination of cyclohexanone oxime, cyclohexanone, and water.  As a result of the accident, 28 people received minor injuries.  Residents living within one mile of the accident site had to shelter in place for five and one-half hours.  The rail tank car, cargo tank, and transfer station were destroyed.  The force of the explosion propelled a 300-pound rail tank car dome housing about 1/3 mile away from the rail tank car.  Two storage tanks near the transfer station were damaged which resulted in the release of about 660 gallons of the hazardous material oleum.

The Federal Railroad Administration has identified involving heating of rail tank cars that did not result in death or injury.  The NTSB investigated the Freeport, Texas accident and determined that the probable cause of the rupture of the rail tank car was over-pressurization resulting from a runaway exothermic decomposition reaction initiated by excessive heating of the hazardous waste material.  The NTSB determined that BASF’s failure to monitor the temperature and pressure inside the rail tank car while the hazardous waste was heated in preparation for unloading contributed to the accident.  As a result of its investigation of the Freeport, Texas accident, the NTSB recommended that PHMSA, in cooperation with the OSHA and the EPA, develop regulations that require safe operating procedures to be established before hazardous materials are heated in a rail tank car for unloading; at a minimum, the NTSB recommended that the procedures should include the monitoring of internal tank pressure and cargo temperature (NTSB Recommendation R-04-10; December 15, 2004).

See http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/recletters/2004/R04_10.pdf.

In a response to the July 6, 2013 train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, and before the investigation into the crash is complete, on  August 2nd the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the USDOT announced its intent to prevent similar accidents caused by trains operating on mainline tracks or sidings from moving unintentionally. (more…)

(1) Five or more tank car loads of any one or any combination of materials poisonous by inhalation as defined in 49 CFR 171.8, and including anhydrous ammonia (UN 1005) and ammonia solutions (UN 3318); or

(2) 20 rail car loads or intermodal portable tank loads of any one or any combination of materials listed in (1) above, or, any Division 2.1 flammable gas, Class 3 flammable liquid or combustible liquid, Class 1.1 or 1.2 explosive, or hazardous substance listed in 49 CFR 173.31(f)(2).

See 49 CFR 173.115 for the definition of Division 2.1 flammable gas, 173.120 for definition of Class 3 flammable liquid; and 173.50 for the definition of the various classes of explosives.