By Prokopis A. Christou, PE
The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), is proposing revisions to the current incident reporting requirements of the Hazardous Material Regulations and the prescribed incident report form. The current incident reporting requirements apply to carriers (transporters). The proposed revised requirements will also apply to warehouses and transfer facilities where hazardous materials are temporarily stored while in transportation. The major changes include:
The deadline for the immediate notification will be specified as within 12 hours of discovering the incident. The deadline for the written report remains the same, but now the person making the report must also provide a copy to the shipper at the same time.
According to RSPA, the revisions are intended to increase the usefulness of incident reporting data for risk analysis and management by government and industry and, where possible, provide regulatory relief. RSPA uses the incident report database during the rulemaking process. Agency inspectors also use incident reports during incident investigations. Investigations may result in fines or penalties for the carriers or shippers depending on who may have contributed to an incident.
The DOT requirements for incident notification and reporting are separate from, and do not affect other Federal and state incident reporting requirements. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many states have promulgated community right to know regulations that require reporting of certain environmental releases.
This proposed action affects U.S. carriers, transfer facilities, and warehouses that temporarily store of hazardous materials in transportation. It will also benefit shippers by requiring that they be provided copies of the incident reports involving their hazardous material shipment. This information can be useful for various purposes including insurance, cost recovery, carrier selection and monitoring, and agency communications about incident investigations.
The U.S. hazardous materials regulations also apply to international shipments of hazardous materials when in transit in the U.S. and its territories. What in the U.S. we refer to as hazardous materials, the rest of the world calls dangerous goods.
RSPA accepts comments on the proposal until October1, 2001
More information
Federal Register: 7/3/01, p. 35155
U.S. DOT Regulation: 49 CFR 171.15 and 171.16
Hazmat 101 News archives: http://www.hazmat101.com
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