The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) yesterday published the newest rulemaking under its HM-233 Docket family. This incorporates various aspects of previously issued Special Permits (SP’s) into the body of the regulations. Specials Permits are administrative actions that grant specific users permission to do something outside of the normal body of the regulations. These are reviewed by PHMSA on an ongoing ten-year basis for consideration for potential inclusion in the Regulations.
Readers should note the new action delivers many items of note, including:
- A variety of new marking requirements (albeit mostly under relatively and or limited special circumstances)
- Modification to the Limited Quantity Marking Exceptions in 49 CFR 172.315 for PG II and PG III materials which many shippers may find useful
- Revisions to the Hazardous Materials Table (HMT, or DGL in international parlance)
- Significant changes to rules regarding UN Spec Cylinders
- A helpful new exception covering “Display Packs” for retail use
- A variety of other packaging modifications
- New allowances for reclassification of some high-viscosity bulk flammable liquids
- New exceptions for shipments of waste limited quantities and ORM-D materials.
- Changes to rules governing Chemical Oxygen Generators with only one positive means of preventing activation and lacking approval stamps.
- Modifications to rules regarding the use and transport of various portable tanks and rail tank cars
Some of the above items would benefit from further exploration and will be covered in greater detail in a new posting next week. The rule also has a very interesting forward and preamble section which discusses the program genesis and how it works; this is well worth a review.
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