The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has published a final rule in today’s Federal Register which takes the important step of incorporating the terms of a number of Special Permits and/or Competent Authority Approvals into the regulations as standard language. 

This is part of PHMSA’s ongoing streamlining effort, to make the regulatory process somewhat more user-friendly; by incorporating such permits and approvals into the standard text of the regulations, it eliminates the need for holders of such items to reapply for them in future as well as reducing the need for the administration and application of such programs.  It should be a nice money-saver and convenience for the affected parties.  It also has the attractive benefit of making the items applicable to the entire Hazardous Materials Transport Community vice the specific permit and/or approval holders—surely a “win-win” for shippers.

The new rule addresses any number of such issues, many of which are highly specific and apply only to very small and relatively specialized segments of the Hazardous Materials Community.  However, certain portions do apply rather more broadly and are worthy of particular note to the community in general:

–  Perhaps the broadest application concerns the carriage and marking of Limited Quantities of Ethyl Alcohol.  The terms of Special Permit DOT-SP 9275, noted by PHMSA as having been in effect “since at least 1985” are being incorporated (albeit with minor modification) into 49 CFR 173.159(g) to allow the carriage of up to 8 fluid ounces (glass containers) or 16 fluid ounces (non-glass containers) of this material without the requirement to mark the exterior of the package “Contains Ethyl Alcohol.”  Larger packages (up to one gallon) shipped under this section will still require the marking, however.  This action will be of special interest and welcome to beverage makers.

–   In what might conversely be counted as rather a loss of sorts for the specification packaging manufacturing industry, PHMSA declined a quite broadly supported effort to increase the basis weight variance allowance for various types of 4G packaging items from 5% to 10%.  PHMSA noted a “lack of historical supporting data” as far as the safety factors involved in the use in transport of such items, and declined to incorporate such changed language into the insertion of the terms of several different approvals into the relevant sections of the 49 CFR.  Basis weights are a manufacturing standard which to a degree affects the strength of construction of fiberboard packagings and is of particular interest and concern during recertification testing of such packagings.

–   DOT-SP 14479 concerns the use of alternative Proper Shipping Names for medical wastes, and thus the Hazardous Materials Table (HMT 49 CFR 172.101) is being modified to allow for the use of several under the entry for UN3291.  A new Special Provision (337) is also being added to delineate any handling procedures affected thereby.

–   As part of harmonization efforts with recently promulgated FAA rule changes, PHMSA is adding exceptions for both oxygen cylinders and oxidizers carried aboard aircraft operating within the State of Alaska.  Numerous Special Permits are affected by this incorporation.

Other new incorporations affect items ranging from the transport of non-DOT cylinders used in life rafts to things like Coal Tar Compounds and Ammonia.  Most of these items affect very specific segments of the Hazardous Materials Transport Community.  Overall, this incorporation should prove of benefit to the community, easing paperwork and making the terms of the affected permits and approvals available to a wider user audience.  Here is a link to the relevant rule:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-03-18/pdf/2014-05630.pdf

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. See our full line of solutions at www.labelmaster.com.  For more specific information on the GHS and products related to it, see www.labelmaster.com/GHS.