In the July 11th 2014 edition of the US Federal Register, the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule conforming certain regulations within the US 49 CFR Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to those of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In docket PHMSA-2009-0063 (HM-250), PHMSA…
PHMSA Interpretation Clarifies Limited Quantity Marking Size Restrictions
The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency (PHMSA) has made public a recent Letter of Interpretation which further clarifies the issue of required marking size when applying the Limited Quantity Marking for ground transport in the United States. This is the marking referenced:
Webinar: A Smart Approach to Hazmat Compliance
Labelmaster’s Bob Richard will be hosting a Free Webinar on July 10th with the World Trade 100 titled: A Smart Approach to Hazmat Compliance
Interstate Commerce or Local Control? PHMSA Asked for a Decision
In two actions published in today’s Federal Register, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has made an application to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for an administrative determination on whether Federal hazardous materials laws would pre-empt requirements put in place by the cities of New York, NY and Pittsburgh, PA.
US Federal Railroad Administration Announces Intent to Issue NPRM — Mandate Train Crew Sizes, Other Measures
Fallout from the Lac Megantic, Quebec train derailment in July of 2013 continues for the rail industry in general with the issuance today of a press release by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) which announces FRA’s intent to issue a proposed rulemaking (or, NPRM) which will for the first time mandate the size of train…
USDOT/PHMSA Submits Paper for Upcoming UN Session on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) continues to respond to the disastrous train derailment in La Megantic, Quebec on July 6th, 2013. In that incident, an unmanned and unattended Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic (MM&A) freight train carrying crude oil derailed after a brake failure and subsequent uncontrolled…
PHMSA Releases Special Permit Actions
The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a set of actions on a wide variety of special permit activities in today’s Federal Register.
PHMSA Releases Special Permit Incorporations
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.
USDOT Issues Further Emergency Order Related to Crude Oil Transport and Classification
At approximately 1:15 AM EST on July 6th, 2013, a unit freight train of the cross-border operating Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic Railroad (MM&A) loaded with crude oil from the Bakken Shale Formations in North Dakota in the western United States suffered an as-yet unexplained failure of its automatic and manual braking systems while left unattended…
Crude Shippers face fallout from “Operation Classification”
Shippers of crude oil have now faced the initial fallout from the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT)/Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency’s (PHMSA)/Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) new “Operation Classification,” a spot inspection regimen designed to verify the accuracy of petroleum product classification and to try to increase the safety of crude shipments, particularly (but…