Announced via the website of the Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (DOT PHMSA): as a result of numerous stakeholder comments, PHMSA will respond to concerns regarding difficulty in achieving full compliance by the original date set forth in the timeline mandated by the August 6th, 2014 final rule. The agency announced that it will extend the mandatory compliance date of HM-224F for transport modes other than by aircraft. As originally published, HM-224F requires mandatory compliance starting on February 6, 2015 unless otherwise specified. The newly announced extension will extend the mandatory compliance date until August 7, 2015 for non-air transport of lithium cells and batteries.
View the PHMSA announcement here
Note that the August 6th final rule published under Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0095 (HM224F) amended hazard communication and packaging provisions for the safe transport of lithium batteries by further aligning the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) with applicable provisions of the international regulations (including the United Nations Model Regulations, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (ICAO Technical Instructions) and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code. The final rule modified provisions contained in the U.S. hazardous materials transport regulations affecting the safe movement of packages containing lithium cells and batteries in commerce.
Follow the link here to view PHMSA’s August 6th 2014 federal register publication
Further information regarding the final rule is summarized at the Labelmaster blog page located here
Labelmaster is a full service provider of goods and services for the Hazardous Materials and Dangerous Goods professional, shippers, transport operators, and EH&S providers. Please see our full line of compliant solutions at www.labelmaster.com.
