Why are corrosive materials regulated for transport

The sector of the trucking industry that transports hazardous materials is under regulation by multiple federal, state and local agencies.

The following is an overview of the major laws enacted, the regulations, training requirements and other resources:. OSHA has limited jurisdiction of over-the-road vehicle operation. It does, however, cover emergency response personnel who respond to the incident.

The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of HMTA empowered the Secretary of Transportation to designate as hazardous material any "particular quantity or form" of a material that "may pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property. The Secretary also retains authority to designate materials as hazardous when they pose unreasonable risks to health, safety, or property.

The statute includes provisions to encourage uniformity among different state and local highway routing regulations, to develop criteria for the issuance of federal permits to motor carriers of hazardous materials, and to regulate the transport of radioactive materials.

RSPA develops and publishes the Emergency Response Guidebook, which is provided to state emergency management agencies for distribution to local responders. It contains basic hazard identification and response information for those who are first to arrive. RSPA also assists state and local authorities with enforcement and compliance training through the Transportation Safety Institute. As an example of the latter, FRA works with railroads, as part of its Safety Assurance and Compliance Program, to identify systemic safety issues, including issues pertaining to hazardous materials transportation, and to develop and implement plans to address them.

As noted earlier, NTSB conducts independent investigations of hazardous materials transportation accidents to determine probable causes and recommends corrective measures to DOT, other government agencies, and industry. Although NTSB does not have enforcement or regulatory authority, it monitors the actions taken in response to its recommendations, submits comments to DOT and other federal agencies on rulemakings, and testifies before Congress on matters related to hazardous materials transportation safety.

It also conducts periodic special studies of multiple accidents to determine recurring safety problems. Besides USCG, other federal agencies outside DOT have regulatory, enforcement, and related responsibilities pertaining to the transportation of hazardous materials. EPA designates certain materials as hazardous substances that are potentially harmful to human health and the environment if they are released in specific quantities. These designated substances are regulated by DOT in transportation.

EPA also requires generators of hazardous wastes to keep track of shipments of these wastes by maintaining detailed manifests of their movements from origin to disposal. The U. It has been transporting spent nuclear fuel for several decades as part of its research, defense, and cleanup missions. Most notably, its Office of National Transportation is responsible for planning and carrying out the multidecade program to transport spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste to a geologic repository.

Federal standards for the design and performance of packages used for certain shipments. Several other cabinet-level departments have notable responsibilities. The Department of Defense is responsible for establishing requirements governing the movement of most hazardous cargoes for military purposes.

Within the Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA is responsible for regulating hazardous materials used and stored in the workplace, which has implications for transportation. OSHA has set package marking and labeling requirements for materials it has designated as hazardous in the workplace.

It requires employers who use or store these materials in the workplace to maintain Materials Safety Data Sheets MSDS , which contain emergency response information. MSDS are familiar to many emergency responders, who use them at both fixed-site and transportation incidents. One way in which these varied roles and functions of the federal agencies are coordinated is through the National Response Team NRT.

NRT consists of 16 federal agencies with interests and expertise in various aspects of emergency response to hazardous materials incidents. In that capacity, NRT coordinates federal emergency response capabilities. TSA was created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of , which gave the agency comprehensive powers to identify security threats in all modes of transportation and to take actions to address them.

In particular, the two departments are examining enhanced security requirements for the rail transportation of hazardous materials that pose a toxic inhalation hazard. In the regulation of hazardous materials in transportation, federal rules preempt most state and local requirements.

State and local governments cannot make requirements that unreasonably burden interstate commerce, reduce the overall safety of the transportation system, or interfere with the uniformity of federal regulatory standards for instance, by developing different placard symbols. States and localities can limit movements of hazardous materials on public highways for clear safety reasons e. However, they have limited authority to impose permits and fees for hazardous materials transportation or to adopt hazardous materials regulations that differ from those of the federal government.

Traditionally, states had more freedom to regulate the intrastate transportation of hazardous materials. In , Congress made the federal hazardous materials regulations fully applicable to intrastate transportation, and conflicting state rules were thus preempted.

State and local governments are responsible for enforcing federal hazardous materials regulations, especially those pertaining to truck transport. See discussion of agency roles in the Federal Register, Volume 60, No. Federal Register, Volume 60, No. MCSAP encourages states to conduct more frequent roadside and terminal safety inspections to ensure that federal and state requirements, including federal hazardous materials regulations, are being complied with.

Historically, states have had less authority to enforce hazardous materials regulation pertaining to railroads, but changes in FRA provisions have given states more latitude to enforce the federal regulations. FRA has agreements with a number of states to conduct railroad inspections under federal authority. State and local governments respond to hazardous materials incidents. The first responders are often local police and fire units, who may be warned of a hazardous material only by the presence of placards.

Most local emergency responders are trained to recognize placards and take initial protective measures, but only a fraction are trained at the highest level of competence for dealing with threatened or actual hazardous materials releases. Metropolitan communities are more likely to have specialized teams trained and equipped to handle hazardous materials accidents than are rural areas. Some states have therefore established hazardous materials response teams to assist in major emergencies, with planning and coordination handled through state emergency management agencies.

To aid state and local governments in preparing for hazardous materials emergencies, Congress established the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness HMEP grant program in The grants are used by state and local authorities to develop and implement emergency plans, train public employees to respond to incidents involving hazardous materials, and determine flows and patterns of hazardous materials transported in their jurisdictions.

The grants are funded through registration fees collected from carriers and shippers of hazardous materials. The HMEP grant program and registration fee are discussed in more detail later in this report. The safety of hazardous materials transportation hinges on shippers and carriers fulfilling their respective roles. The role of shippers is especially important.

Most shippers have compelling economic reasons to ensure. Large shippers may tender and receive hundreds of bulk shipments and thousands of nonbulk shipments each day in their plants and distribution facilities. A single chemical plant, for instance, may have multiple loading and unloading areas for trucks and rail cars; these vehicles must be efficiently and safely loaded and unloaded to keep the plant in operation.

Even minor incidents can be disruptive and costly. Consequently, most shippers of large quantities of hazardous materials have active safety programs to monitor the condition of the vehicles and containers that carry their products and to ensure that they are securely loaded and readied for transport.

Most DOT rules pertaining to hazardous materials transportation are directed toward shippers, which are responsible for ensuring that shipments are properly classified, named, packaged, marked, and labeled.

In addition, shippers must ensure that their shipments are accompanied by shipping papers with instructions on emergency response. With few exceptions, shippers are required to provide a hour telephone number that can be used by emergency responders to obtain information about the hazardous shipment.

Trucking companies, railroads, and other carriers must abide by the rules governing the safe handling of hazardous cargoes, the routing of certain shipments, maintenance and inspection of vehicles, and temporary storage of hazardous materials en route.

For instance, federal rules govern the positioning in the train of rail cars carrying hazardous materials. As noted earlier, carriers must report incidents and releases involving hazardous materials to DOT. Many large shippers and carriers have specially trained emergency response teams that can assist in the response to a hazardous materials incident.

The chemical industry maintains a mutual-aid network of emergency response teams known as CHEMNET that can be deployed in a few hours to assist carriers and local emergency personnel in responding to chemical emergencies around the country.

Emergency responders can obtain hazard information and technical guidance from this hot line by giving the name of the product and nature of the emergency. Industry also has a role in promoting hazardous materials transportation safety through research, education, and training.

AAR oversees the setting of design standards for railroad tank cars. It also operates the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. The center, which receives some of its research funding from FRA and other DOT agencies, can conduct full-scale equipment tests and is often used by industry and government to test tank car designs, components, and construction materials.

It also coordinates classroom and field training on hazardous materials emergency response. The information derived from this research program has led to a number of changes in tank car design and operations to dramatically improve safety performance.

Supported by shippers, carriers, and their trade associations, TRANSCAER promotes transportation safety by assisting communities in preparing for and responding to hazardous materials transportation incidents.

DGAC, which has more than shipper and carrier members, provides hazardous materials training and information to facilitate compliance with federal rules and the following of good safety.

Another example of a public—private cooperative effort is the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance CVSA , which seeks uniformity in commercial vehicle inspections and enforcement activities. CVSA operates several safety-related committees, including a hazardous materials committee comprising state enforcement personnel, motor carriers, and federal officials.

The committee provides technical expertise related to hazardous materials transportation in an effort to reduce incidents and encourage uniformity and consistency in the application of the regulations. Box provides a summary listing of many of the entities having important roles in ensuring the safe and secure transportation of hazardous materials. Research and Special Programs Administration a. Carriers: truck, railroad, pipeline, barge, maritime about 45, dedicated; about , occasional.

Receivers: farms, disposal sites, refineries, factories, retailers, hospitals. NOTE: This list is intended not to be comprehensive but to summarize the organizations and entities identified in Chapters 2 and 3. Several international organizations not listed here, such as the United Nations, also serve in various standard-setting and educational capacities.

Railroad Ten-Year Trends: — Policy and Economics Department, Washington, D. Census Bureau. Washington, D. Heller, F. Hazardous Materials Shipments. National Research Council, Washington, D. Institute of Water Resources, Alexandria, Va. TRB Special Report Cooperative Research for Hazardous Materials Transportation: Defining the Need, Converging on Solutions examines the feasibility of a research program to find ways to ensure the safe transport of hazardous materials.

The report outlines how industry, state and local governments, and federal agencies could develop a cooperative program that would fill gaps in current research programs, and examines possible sources of funding. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website. Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one.

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Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available. Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free? Sign up for email notifications and we'll let you know about new publications in your areas of interest when they're released. Get This Book. Visit NAP. Looking for other ways to read this? No thanks. Page 18 Share. Page 19 Share. Page 20 Share. Page 21 Share. Shipment Types and Sizes. Page 22 Share. Even small but frequent wastes from ships, households, cars or agriculture increase the load to the environment.

For example one litre of oil can, under unfavorable circumstances, spoil litres of drinking water. A spill of hydraulic fluid from a truck can lead to environmental damages.

Recommendations and instructions for the handling, storage and transport of dangerous goods must be clear and unambiguous to avoid harmful or dangerous circumstances. Transport of dangerous goods does not pose under normal conditions a greater danger than any other transported goods if the responsible persons in the transport chain respect the existing recommendations and laws and are beware of the type of the hazards of the cargo. Picture 19 Picture 20 1. When incompatible substances mix with each other there is a possibility of a chemical reaction, which can produce enough heat to cause fire or explosion and can release dangerous gases.

For example, toxic nitrous oxides are formed when ammonium nitrate in fertilizers decomposes in a fire. Another example is the toxic gases which fume off when a spillage of concentrated sulphuric acid is absorbed in sawdust. Spillages are possible in the following situations: goods are not properly packaged handling loading, unloading, etc.

For example, when calcium carbide used in the production of acetylene and pyrotechnics comes to contact with water, it releases the extremely flammable gas acetylene used in welding flame and creates an explosion hazard. Careful handling is also important because the magnitude of the involved risk is not always obvious. One kilo of a certain chemical poses a hazard, but it is not necessarily true that ten kilos creates a ten fold hazard. The danger could be the same as for one kilo or it could be higher.

The pressure within sealed packages rises in the heat sunshine , and can lead to uncontrollable reactions. Changes in temperatures may affect both the qualities of a cargo and its packing material. The recommendations on package sizes as well as the load size should be respected. Common hazards in handling of chemicals are risk of explosion fire and smoke chemical health hazards: immediate or delayed poisoning, burns, allergies damage to the environment Many companies allow uncontrolled access by diesel engines believing that they cannot ignite gas or vapour.

This is incorrect: Four tons of hot, flammable hydrocarbon leaked out of the a plant while maintenance work was in process. A diesel engine was on in the area. The flammable vapour was sucked into the air inlet and the engine started to race. The driver tried to stop the engine by stopping the the fuel supply usual way of stopping a diesel engine but without success as burning material was coming in through the the air inlet.

Finally there was a flash-back and the flammable liquid was ignited to a fire. Another frequent incident is this type: a tank trailer tipped up because of the rear compartments were emptied first. If it is not possible to keep trailer connected to the truck,s driving unit the front comparments should be filled last and emptied first as the normal support cannot alone prevent the trailer from tipping. Picture 21 Picture 22 Picture 23 Picture 24 Picture 25 2.

Classes of dangerous goods The United Nations has published a book collecting the work of the Committee of Experts: Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. These recommendations aim to present a basic, practical scheme of provisions that will allow national and international regulations governing various modes of transport to develop within it in a certain uniformity.

The aim is to enable effective and successive transport and to ensure the safety of people, property, and the environment. Recommendations on the material, as well as the sizes, of packages are based on testing and experience.

Dangerous goods of classes 3, 4, 5. Substances and articles belonging to classes 1, 2, 4. These goods may be explosive liable to spontaneous ignition or combustion liberate flammable gases on contact with water contain infectious microorganisms that are known or reasonably believed to cause disease in animals or humans radioactive compressed, condensed or pressurized dissolved gases, or organic peroxides Examples of hazard classes:.

Explosives This class contains articles, preparations, and substances such as ammunition, TNT, dynamite, nitrourea, fireworks. Risks involved A transport accident involves acute risk of explosion. The pressure wave can be devastating, and flying splinters may cause great damage. The heat of the blast can result in a fire.

Some substances in this class have toxic properties, e. Transport of Class 1 articles or substances are subject to many restrictions, including quantity and temperature limits. They may also be incompatible with other goods. For example, dynamite should not go with detonators. Picture 26 Picture 27 2. Gases This class contains compressed gases liquefied gases refrigerated liquefied gases compressed gases, which, when packed for transport, are dissolved into a solvent.

The term "compressed" refers to gases under pressure but not in a liquid state. Gases are usually stored in cylinders. When the valve is opened or broken, gas alone is released.

The pressure of the cylinder depends on the type of gas it contains. The cylinders should always be kept within the approved temperature range to avoid a risk of overpressure causing an explosion hazard. Nitrogen Class 2. Condensed gases are in a liquid state at relative low pressure. The contents are released as liquids which quickly evaporate forming gas clouds. The size of the cloud can be considerable; for example, 1 litre of liquified petroleum gas LPG forms up to litres of gas.

Some condensed gases are stored at very low temperatures. They are transported in well- isolated containers called dewars. These must have a loosely covered opening to avoid dangerous overpressure. They pose special hazards due to their low temperature. For example, splashes of liquified nitrogen can cause frostbite and the gas cloud is an asphyxiant. In a train accident several tank wagons filled with liquified propane turned over spilling their contents.

The propane started to evaporate cooling the surroundings to oC, which is the boiling temperature of propane.

Several persons in the spill area were frozen to death. With good luck and tight security the highly flammable propane gas did not explode.