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DOT Adopts Miscellaneous Amendments to the HMR in HM-218D

DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule entitled “Hazardous Material: Miscellaneous Amendments” in the Federal Register on January 28, 2008 under Docket No. HM-218D. In this report Mr. Altemos discusses the amendments which include a new shipping name and identification number for ethanol/gasoline fuel mixtures, changes and corrections to various other entries in the Hazardous Materials Table and the associated special provisions, updating of certain matter incorporated by reference, addition of a new definition for “household wastes”, revision and clarification of certain hazard communication requirements, clarification of the requirements applicable to the transportation of dry ice, and expanded exceptions for very small quantities of materials (such as may be used in pharmaceutical research).

DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule entitled “Hazardous Material: Miscellaneous Amendments” in the Federal Register on January 28, 2008 [73 FR 4699] under Docket No. HM-218D. PHMSA states in the final rule that the amendments to the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) are intended to update, clarify or provide relief from certain regulatory requirements governing the classification, packaging, or labeling of hazardous materials for transportation. Amendments include (1) a new shipping name and identification number for ethanol/gasoline fuel mixtures, (2) changes and corrections to various other entries in the Hazardous Materials Table and the associated special provisions, (3) updating of certain matter incorporated by reference, (4) addition of a new definition for “household wastes”, (5) revision and clarification of certain hazard communication requirements, (6) clarification of the requirements applicable to the transportation of dry ice, and (7) expanded exceptions for very small quantities of materials (such as may be used in pharmaceutical research). The effective date for the amendments adopted under the final rule is October 1, 2008, and immediate voluntary compliance was permitted. Some of the more significant amendments adopted under the final rule are outlined below. Ed. Note: This report is also posted on the HazMat Reference Gateway at www.hazmatship.com under U.S. DOT Rules and Rulemaking Reports.

Marine pollutants. Paragraph 171.4(c) currently excepts non-bulk packages containing marine pollutants from the requirements applicable to marine pollutants when transported by motor vehicle, rail car or aircraft (that is, by beginning the text of the paragraph with “[e]xcept when transported by vessel”). In response to a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Vessel Operators Hazardous Materials Association (VOHMA), PHMSA revised this paragraph to require compliance with the marine pollutant requirements “when all or part of the transportation is by vessel”. A similar amendment was made to the shipping paper exception appearing in § 172.203(l)(4) covering marine pollutants in non-bulk packages transported by motor vehicle, rail car or aircraft. These amendments remove the current option to transport (including description on a shipping paper) non-bulk packages of marine pollutants that do not meet the criteria for classification in any hazard class (other than Class 9 as a marine pollutant) as non-hazardous until arrival at the port for loading on the vessel, and, perhaps more significantly, from a port to final destination after having completed transportation by vessel.

Limited quantities. Section 172.315 of the HMR permits (as an option) that packages containing “limited quantities” may be identified by the UN limited quantities marking. This marking consists of the identification number (UN or NA, in the case of the HMR provision) within a square-on-point border meeting prescribed dimensional and other requirements. When this marking is applied, marking of the proper shipping name is not required. In the final rule, PHMSA amended this section to require that, if the package contains an “RQ” of a hazardous substance, the letters “RQ” must be marked on the package in association with the square-on-point limited quantities marking. In addition, § 172.324 - prescribing the marking requirements for non-bulk packages containing hazardous substances - was revised to require that when the package is a “limited quantities” package marked in accordance with § 172.315, the name of the hazardous substance(s) must be marked on the package, in parentheses, “in association with the identification number”.

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