By Prokopis A. Christou, PE
In 2000, the Research & Special Programs Administration (RSPA), a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) agency, changed the registration program to expand applicability and increase the registration fees for "persons" who transport or offer for transportation hazardous materials. Under those changes, offerors and carriers either paid $300 (for small businesses) or $2000. RSPA uses the funds from the registration program to provide grants to local emergency responders for training, preparedness and awareness.
Because RSPA collected $8.5 million more than the limit set by U.S. Congress for this program, RSPA is proposing to reduce the fees to $275 and $500 respectively over the next seven years starting with the registrations due June 30, 2001. RSPA is, also, proposing to reduce the fees for not-for-profit organizations. They would pay the same fees as small businesses.
The proposed DOT action would decrease the annual registration fee for seven years. Companies that paid for multiple years would receive a refund for the overpayment.
For more information read the proposed rule in the Federal Register, Dec. 7, 2001, p.76890.
USA Federal Agencies--Home Pages
Federal Registers Online at GPO:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
US Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/
Occupational Safety & Health Administration: http://www.osha.gov/
US Department of Transportation: http://www.dot.gov/
National Center for Health Statistics:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchswww/default.htm
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html
Emergency Response, Hazardous Materials, Transportation Safety
NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration:
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/index.html
US DOT Hazardous Material Home Page:
http://hazmat.dot.gov/
CHEMTREC® (U.S.) a service of American Chemistry Council (formerly CMA):
http://www.chemtrec.org/
CANUTEC (Canada):
http://www.tc.gc.ca/canutec/en/menu.htm
Material-Container Compatibility at Cole Palmer:
http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/chemcomp/icrd2.asp
Motor Carrier Safety Ratings at SAFER:
http://www.safersys.org/
Union Pacific Railroad (for tank car tracing):
http://my.uprr.com/PUB/PET/index.shtml
CSX Transportation (for tank car tracing):
http://www.csxt.com/
AAR NetRedi (for tank car tracing):
http://www.railinc.com/
Material Safety Data Sheets, Hazards of Materials
MSDS Search: http://www.msdssearch.com/
Chemicals and Toxic Substances:
http://www.lehigh.edu/~injrl/subindex/chemtox.html
About the Author
Prokopis Christou, P.E. has 14 years of diverse experience in managerial,
technical, and teaching responsibilities in environmental, safety,
transportation, regulatory, and engineering matters. Email: prokopis@hotmail.com