The EnviroBlog

US DOT has increased civil penalties for violations of Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR).  While these types of penalties may seem marginal to large companies that work with hazardous materials, the daily application of the penalty assessment means that amounts can become substantial very quickly and a pain in any large organizations pocket. Below are the new penalty amounts as of July 31, 2019: Penalty Previous Current Maximum penalty for HMR law violation (49 U.S.C. 5123(a)(a)) $79,976.00 per day per violation $81,993.00 per day per violation Violations resulting in death, serious illness, severe injury, or substantial property damage $186.610.00 $191.316.00 Minimum penalty for hazmat training violation $12.00 per day per employee $493.00 per day per employee The importance of hazardous materials management compliance is highlighted each times PHMSA raises these penalty amounts.  Let u...

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...

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...

Each year the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) reviews the Hazardous Materials Regulations to identify and clarify any errors or unclear rules.  These amendments are not drastic by any means.  However, they should clarify any inconsistencies and/or typographical errors that could be mistakenly interpreted.  Some notable changes are below. ·          In CFR 49-171.8, the last sentence of the definition of “Hazardous Materials” was  amended to be consistent with other references to the definition throughout the Hazardous Materials Regulations. ·          In CFR 49-172.101, Special Provision B37 is erroneously applied to Column (7) for the Packing Group I entry of “Cyanide solutions, n.o.s.”  The Special Provision has been removed.  In addition, The proper shipping name for isomer entries for “Aminophenols” was changed from regular font to i...