On March 18, 2014 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a Final Rule which amends the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) and incorporates provisions contained in widely used and longstanding special permits and competent authority approvals. Special permits and competent authority approvals provide exceptions to the HMR and allow companies and individuals to package and transport hazardous materials in ways that vary from the regulations provided that they maintain an equivalent level of safety.
In 2009, the Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of the Special Permit program. The audit identified a need to review open special permits to determine those that should be made a part of the HMR, thus reducing the overall economic burden to the government and industry.
The Final Rule serves to identify such open special permits and competent authority approvals that have a proven record of safety and adopt them into the HMR. The specific permits that the Final Rule incorporates into the HMR concern limited quantities of liquids and solids which contain ethyl alcohol, and transportation of solid coal tar pitch compounds, spent bleaching earth, and certain ammonia solutions in UN1H1 and UN6HA1 drums.
PHMSA also revised 49 C.F.R. § 107.705(c), the process for renewal of approvals. Specifically, PHMSA will allow approval holders to continue to use their approval after their expiration date if the holders apply for a renewal at least 60 days prior to the expiration date. Previously, the holder had to request an extension.
The new regulation will take effect on April 17, 2014.
The Final Rule can be found here.
For more information on PHMSA’s Special Permit program and renewal of special permits, contact Glenn Wicks or Ronce Almond at (202) 457-7790.