The EnviroBlog

LITHIUM BATTERY SHIPPING RULES MANDATORY On August 6, 2014, PHMSA updated the lithium battery shipping provisions of the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR 171-180). The lithium battery shipping rules are a step closer to harmonizing the US regulations with evolving international standards. A Historical Timeline of Dates Voluntary compliance with the new rules began immediately (Aug. 6, 2014), and the initial compliance deadline was 180 days after promulgation (Feb. 6, 2015). PHMSA later extended the deadline for shippers to August 7, 2015 . Equivalent provisions for air and vessel shippers were part of the 56th Edition of IATA's Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) and the 2014 Edition of the IMDG Code (Amendment 37). The IATA DGR rules have been in force since January 1 of this year, and mandatory compliance with the 2014 IMDG Code starts on January 1, 2016. What Changed for Lithium Battery Shippers? 1.     PHMSA's new lithium battery shipp...

In November 2016, the above mentioned rule was finalized, which marked a historic update to the Federal RCRA regulations as it pertains to hazardous waste generators.  The major changes in the rule went effective May 30, 2017.  Authorized states will have to adopt the more stringent regulations typically by July 1, 2018 (July 1, 2019 if state law change is required).  If you aren’t already, you need to ask yourself immediately, when and how are we affected?  The following are the noteworthy changes and states affected in the region: All regions An overall re-org and re-structuring of 40 CFR 262 to streamline navigation and understanding. For example previously known conditionally exempt small quantity generators (CESQGs) are now known as very small quantity generators (VSQGs). Updated retention policies for waste determination records. More stringent regulations An expansion of the marking and labeling requirements for hazardous waste containers in ...

On June 2, 2016 US DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule making miscellaneous changes to the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The rule removed the packing group (PG) II designation for Organic peroxides and Self-reactive Substances. Effective July 5,2017 any organic peroxide shipped as UN3101 through UN3120 and any Self Reactive Substance shipped as UN3221 though UN3240 is no longer required to include a Packing Group (PG) in the shipping description on the manifest or shipping paper. The reason for the removal of the requirement for the packing group designation was for alignment with the International regulations. The PHMSA received comments and requests for voluntary use of the PG designation for domestic transportation because of the number of pre-printed shipping papers and labels in use. The PHMSA issued a guidance memo stating that stocks of preprinted shipping papers and package markings may be continued in use as previou...