DOT Hazmat regs to change this Fall
By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 4/1/1998
Washington, D.C.--There's a lot changing on the hazardous materials front -- at least from the perspective of the Department of Transportation. In fact, so many things are changing it's hard to pick out the key points, says one environmental consultant. But there are some important issues distributors dealing with hazardous materials should be aware of.Effective Oct. 1, 1998, DOT regulations will be extended to cover intrastate transportation, says Scott Birchfield, senior environmental consultant at the Environmental Resource Center in Cary, N.C. Birchfield says this could have a significant impact on small and mid-sized companies working within their own states because they will now have to abide by federal regulations when transporting hazardous materials. Birchfield notes that there will be exemptions for certain industries, such as agriculture.
While issues surrounding hazardous materials would seem to apply most to chemical distributors, there are many products on the shelves of general line and other distributors' houses that are classified as hazardous. Those products could include lubricants, cleaning compounds, paints and disinfectants, and anything in a gaseous state, says Birchfield. With that in mind, distributors carrying small quantities of any of these products to customers -- as samples or for product demonstrations -- should be aware of another change in the DOT regulations. Effective last October, the DOT initiated a "materials of trade" exception.
A material of trade is defined as a hazardous material, other than a hazardous waste, "carried on a motor vehicle for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the operator or passengers; to support the operation or maintenance of the motor vehicle; or by a private motor carrier in support of a principal business, other than transportation," according to the DOT. The exception provides relief from the regulations for small quantities of most hazardous materials, but the excepted quantity is dependent on its hazard class, division and packing group. In general, Birchfield says for liquids, you cannot be carrying anything larger than nine gallons. For solids, he says the material generally cannot be heavier than 66 pounds.
The exemption essentially allows people to do what they've always done. Birchfield notes that while small quantities of hazardous materials were subject to regulations prior to last October, the rules were never enforced. However, Birchfield cautions that the exception is important because it allows the DOT to enforce what they could not enforce before. He explains that while the DOT could once turn a blind eye to the issue, officials now have a specific rule to point to if someone is carrying too much of a material in question.
"Essentially, this makes it legal for people to do what they've done all along," says Birchfield. "But it's still a real big deal."
There has also been a change to the rules for shipping packages which Birchfield says has "thrown a lot of people in a quandry."
Essentially, all shipments of DOT-regulated hazardous materials after Oct. 1, 1996 in containers of less than 450 liters or 450 kilograms were supposed to be in containers that meet the United Nations' international container standards. On Sept. 26, 1996, however, the Research and Special Programs Administration added a provision authorizing the continued use (until Oct. 1, 1999) of non-bulk packagings that comply with the specifications and shipping standards in place prior to Oct. 1, 1996. Containers shipped under that rule, however, must have been filled prior to Oct. 1, 1996 and could not have been opened since they were filled, Birchfield says.
While the need to convert to UN standards means work for companies selling and transporting hazardous materials, it's good news for some manufacturers and distributors of materials handling products. In early January, for instance, Hoover Materials Handling Group issued a press release touting its line of UN standard intermediate bulk containers. Hoover is a manufacturer of packaging solutions based in Alpharetta, Ga.
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