On Aug. 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a proposed rule seeking to harmonize the hazardous materials regulations (HMR) with international regulations and standards. The rule would revise proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations and vessel stowage requirements.

On August 1, 2014, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which falls under the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), published an important proposed rule intended to improve the safety of transportation of large quantities of flammable materials by rail — particularly crude oil and ethanol. The proposal responds to several catastrophic railcar derailments, all involving crude oil and resulting in fatalities. The DOT also issued on the same day a companion Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR).

The growing number of rail mishaps involving oil is attracting much press attention and now regulatory attention as well. On May 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an emergency order requiring all railroads operating trains containing bulk quantities of UN 1267, petroleum crude oil, Class 3 that either originates or is sourced from the Bakken formation in the Williston Basin (Bakken crude oil) to notify State Emergency Response Commissions (SERC) about the operation of these trains through their states. This article discusses this important topic.

Most GHS adoptions will complete implementation by 2015, mandating that all mixtures must be classified according to the particular legislation of that jurisdiction. Although some variation will remain between labelling information and hazard category adoption, this greatly simplifies the process of classification and labelling for retail and consumer products. This level of harmonisation, together with the standardisation of transport labels, offers the promise of greatly simplifying and reducing the cost of label creation.

New proposed shipping rules that harmonize with international standards will require some study.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently signaled interest in revising the hazardous materials regulations (HMR) governing transportation of combustible materials. PHMSA seeks to harmonize domestic and international regulations applicable to transportation of combustible liquids.

On March 9, 2010, the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) narrowed its list of hazardous materials, or hazmats, that require security plans when transported in commerce. The new rule is effective on October 1, 2010.