The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act: Hazardous Materials Regulations-part Ii
| Jurisdiction | United States,Federal |
| Citation | Vol. 16 No. 1 Pg. 59 |
| Pages | 59 |
| Publication year | 1987 |
1987, January, Pg. 59. The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act: Hazardous Materials Regulations-Part II
Three days after having completed a six-week drivers' training course, Kathy Swan climbed behind the wheel of a truck that was carrying Class A explosives. She had 621 miles of truckdriving experience. In August 1984, only five runs later, Swan was behind the wheel of another truck carrying torpedoes, another load of Class A explosives, and was headed toward the "Mousetrap" in Denver.(fn1) Traveling too fast to negotiate the Mousetrap, she slammed on the brakes. The truck carrying the cargo fell on its side, screeched through the turn and finally came to a halt. Luckily, the torpedoes did not explode,(fn2) but traffic was delayed for many hours. Had Swan complied with the federal routing regulation, the accident would not have occurred.(fn3)
This incident focused the attention of Colorado's citizens and lawmakers on the transportation of hazardous materials. To prevent a recurrence of this type of accident and to avoid other potential problems, several Colorado municipalities(fn4) have passed hazardous materials ordinances. These ordinances adopt the federal Hazardous Materials Regulations ("HMR"),(fn5) permitting local enforcement of these regulations.
The HMR, promulgated by the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT') pursuant to the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act ("HMTA"),(fn6) governs hazardous materials when transported in commerce. Since state and local governments seek to regulate these materials, attorneys concerned with carriers' and shippers' liability should become familiar with the HMR.
Part I of this article, authored by Joel W. Cantrick and entitled "The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act: Preemption of State and Local Laws," was published in the December 1986 issue at page 2216. That installment provided an overview of HMTA, the federal regulations and their relationship to state and local laws concerning hazardous materials transportation. This Part II discusses the HMR in detail.
Colorado's Transportation of Hazardous Materials Act(fn7) ("Colorado's Act") authorizes the Public Utilities Commission ("PUC") to promulgate rules and regulations for interstate and intrastate transportation of hazardous materials by motor vehicle. The PUC has adopted the HMR.(fn8) The HMR governs all modes of transportation, but Colorado's Act limits the state's enforcement of the HMR to motor vehicle traffic. Thus, although the federal government regulates the transportation of hazardous materials by railroad, aircraft or vessels, this state does not.(fn9)
In determining whether a commodity is regulated by the HMR, a shipper or carrier first must ascertain whether or not cargo is a hazardous material. The HMR defines a hazardous material as
[a] substance or material, including a hazardous substance, which has been determined by the Secretary of Transportation to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety and property when transported in commerce, and which has been so designated.(fn10)
Utilizing this definition, a threshold question for the shipper or carrier is whether the material being shipped has been designated as a hazardous material. To answer this question, the inquirer first must turn to Part 172, Title 49, of the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R.").
Part 172, containing six subparts, serves two purposes. First, using two lists, it designates commodities as a hazardous material for purposes of transportation. The Hazardous Materials Table ("HMT")(fn11) lists over 2,000 hazardous materials. Until recently,(fn12) hazardous substances were either included in the HMT or set forth in
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 ("CERCLA")(fn13) list immediately following the HMT. Effective January 1, 1987, references to hazardous substances have been removed from the HMT, and the CERCLA list has been replaced with an appendix to the HMT.(fn14) The appendix lists hazardous substances with their reportable quantities.(fn15) Generally, the HMT or its appendix will...
To continue reading
Request your trial