Drone operators in the U.S. are going to be impacted by some big regulatory changes in the near future. Drones, referred to as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), currently are not to be operated within 5 miles of an airport without notifying the airport operator/control tower, and are limited to an altitude of 400 feet. The…
D.O.T. moves to ban e-Cigs in checked bags
On October 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an interim final rule banning passengers and crew from storing electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other battery-powered electronic smoking devices in checked bags on passenger airlines. This final ruling will be effective seven days after the upcoming posting…
Congressional politics threaten PTC extension bill
Just when American railroads were perhaps starting to breathe a bit easier about the December 31st, 2015 Positive Train Control (PTC) deadline account the seeming agreement in the House of Representatives about extending the deadline to 2018 under a pending bill HR 3651, new political roadblocks to passage appear to be arising. On Wednesday October…
IATA Lithium Battery workshop concludes; undeclared and non-compliant shipments pose biggest risks
Last week, I was part of the Labelmaster team that attended the Lithium Battery workshop hosted by IATA in Montreal. For those of us who’ve been following the twists and turns of the regulations governing the air transport of lithium batteries, we might be forgiven for thinking there would be nothing new to see and…
Congress advances bill to delay Railroad PTC Mandate
The US House of Representatives has introduced legislation to delay until 2018 the current deadline for US railroads to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) systems on their tracks. As discussed in a previous blog on the subject, the nation’s railroads have jointly stated the physical impossibility of completing such an inter-operative system by the end…
EPA revises pesticide protection regulations for agricultural workers
On September 28, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they have completed the much anticipated revisions to the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) found in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR) Part 170, ensuring that agricultural workers will have similar health protections as workers in other industries. The plan to…
PHMSA/FAA Meet to Discuss Concerns on Lithium Battery Transport
The US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held a joint public meeting in Washington, DC on September 18th. The principal topic of discussion was the situation regarding the transport of lithium batteries via aircraft. This past summer, many individual airlines took action to limit the…
PTC Alert! The Positive Train Control Deadline Creates a Potential Transportation Crisis
UPDATE: Congress advances bill to delay Railroad PTC Mandate Will January 1, 2016 be the day the trains stop? As America’s railroads and Congress fail to agree on extending the December 31 deadline for implementing Positive Train Control systems, that threat inches closer to reality. The railroads have threatened to essentially shut down all service…
ICAO releases new Addendum/Corrigendum updating Technical Instructions for Dangerous Goods
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has released a new Addendum and Corrigendum revising the 2015 – 2016 Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air, commonly referred to as the ICAO TI or simply TI. The TI are the set of regulations that, together with national regulations like the 49 CFR…
New DOT/PHMSA Interpretation Brings Some Clarity to the Lithium Ion Watts Issue
In a formal Letter of Interpretation dated August 19th, 2015 to Mr. Mike Revis USDOT/PHMSA stated categorically that a Lithium Ion Battery being shipped under the exceptions granted in 49 CFR 173.185(c) may have cells which feature watt hour ratings greater than 20 watt hours as long as the battery itself remains less than one…