Holiday reminder – if you’re shipping to a destination with the expectation of a pre-December 25th arrival, time is just about up! If you are consigning dangerous goods, the holiday doesn’t excuse us from ensuring compliance, so let’s all bear down through the rush and ship things in accordance with what we know is correct! Meanwhile, here’s the week’s regulatory news:
USPS
In a significant new proposed rule, the US Postal Service is asking for comment on a prospoasl to upgrade packaging requirements for hazardous materials consigned via the USPS, and to again revise requirements pertaining to the consignment of lithium batteries. Again, this is a proposal at this point. The proposal states:
When shipping hazardous materials, the following rigid outer packaging is required: (a) Hazardous materials shipments weighing 20 pounds or less, the outer package must be 200 lb. burst test or 32- edge crush test package or equivalent, at minimum. (b) Hazardous materials shipments weighing more than 20 pounds, outer packages must be 275 lb. burst test or 44-edge crush test or equivalent, at minimum.
A number of changes regarding lithium batteries are also proposed, including to some marking and packaging standards. Comments on this proposal are due no later than January 16th, 2024. See the full details of this comprehensive proposal here:
Transport Canada
The Ministry has published an extensive proposal that if adopted will modify many aspects of the TDGR. It’s a broad proposal, covering subjects as diverse as International Harmonization both US and UNMR regulations, to new requirements governing rail transport, and a host of administrative and corrective actions. Comments on this rather extensive set of changes are due by February 22nd, 2024. See the full proposal right here:
The Ministry also published a bulletin intended to help stakeholders understand its requirements for completing various modal shipping documents. The bulletin includes no changes to the existing regulations but is instead intended to be more of a helpful “how-to” type document. See it here:
PHMSA
The agency announced an ICR related to its service delivery to stakeholders in the hazmat community. If you’ve been considering ways to provide constructive feedback to our regulators, perhaps this is an item you may find of interest. See the details here:
EPA
The agency announced that it will be considering the addition of several new substances to its high-risk evaluation process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). See the action and list of substances at the link:
FMCSA
The agency issued a late year set of information collection requests. The requests cover accident recordkeeping, vehicle inspection and repair, carrier operating authority licensing requirements, and motor carrier record change requests. See the ICR’s at the links below:
OSHA
The agency issued another in a series of ICR dealing with the Ethylene Oxide Standard. This chemical is very hazardous and its use in industry is closely monitored. See the ICR here:
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