On April 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a guidance document addressing the transfer of hazardous material shipping papers during the current COVID-19 pandemic. PHMSA has received many questions related to the transfer of shipping papers between shippers and carriers, and the difficulties with maintaining…
DG Digest: DOT announces $1 billion in infrastructure grants
The first week in March finds the nation confronting a potentially serious health threat in the form of the new COVD-19 coronavirus. The biggest positive actions we as regulatory and EHS professionals can take to help our fellow employees is to encourage everyone to not panic, and to employ common sense precautions like thorough hand…
The hazmat pro’s guide to Game of Thrones, Season 8
At last, the moment for which hazmat pros have waited untold winters! The final season of Game of Thrones starts Sunday. Everyone in the Dangerous Goods galaxy knows Game of Thrones is really about hazmat transport. For all its swordplay, palace intrigue and dragons, the show addresses the same issues hazmat pros deal with every…
Hazmat hopes 2019: Top Dangerous Goods professionals share their wishes
Work in Dangerous Goods long enough, and you may find yourself wishing things were different. Couldn’t that new IATA regulation be worded more clearly? Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to explain Limited Quantities to your customer—for the third time? And how exactly does a 2mm-thick label border make a hazmat shipment safer?…
DG Digest: DOT, EPA and Other Agencies Set Semi-Annual Priorities
It’s the week prior to the Labor Day holiday in the United States; regulatory activity is slow as most of official Washington lingers in the August recess and vacation period soon to close out. Meanwhile our thoughts are with those affected by Hurricane Harvey, and the emergency responders who are assisting them. Here’s the latest…
DG Digest: PHMSA Names a New Deputy Administrator; FRA and FMCSA Withdraw Sleep Apnea Standards
August is the month that Washington, DC takes off. Congress is not in session and many officials get of town—the city is famous for its humid and uncomfortable August weather. However, despite this the last week was fairly busy on the regulatory front, with a number of agencies announcing relevant action. Here’s the update: PHMSA…
What every hazmat shipper should know about tagboard hazmat placards
Lightweight, durable tagboard hazmat placards keep Dangerous Goods shipments compliant at a fraction of the cost of permanent vinyl placards. With Labelmaster’s huge selection of tagboard placards now sharply discounted (for a limited time only), we’ve been getting lots of good questions about them. (Also some weird ones, but we’re used to that.) Here are…
DG Digest: New York State Proposes Skirting Lax Federal Environmental Policy
PHMSA/OSHA June rolls the summer in with continuing low levels of US regulatory activity; perhaps the biggest news is the preparations under way for the big July UNECE meeting over in Geneva, Switzerland. Will new international proposals impact the regulatory outlook here? We’ll keep an eye on it for you! Meanwhile, here is this week’s…
DG Digest: despite persistent rumors of movement, HM-215N remains in limbo
Happy Daylight Savings Time! Hopefully the famed “National Jet Lag Day” has not caused you too much angst. Statistics show that the Monday following the “Spring Forward” time shift is a peak day for traffic accidents, so please be extra careful. Regulatory activity continues at fairly low ebb, although it does seem to be slowly…
DG Digest: OSHA delays beryllium final rule and Trump issues E.O. on Waters of the United States Rule
The beginning of March continues to be slow with regulatory news as the “regulatory freeze” is still in effect in the United States. Reliable sources continue to tell us the release of the USDOT/PHMSA HM-215N UN Harmonization should be any day now….stay tuned! Here’s a summary of other industry news from last week: OSHA On…