The rules for shipping hazmat by ground, air, and vessel are changing rapidly in 2013. Twice already this year, the U.S. DOT has published final rules updating and changing the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The most recent rule, published on March 11, makes major changes to the HMR, including:
· Revising the 120-page Hazardous Materials Table;
· Clarifying and removing some special provisions;
· Changing the requirements for shipping papers and proper shipping names;
· Updating the training recordkeeping requirements for hazmat employers.
In addition to these revisions, a number of existing rule changes are already affecting shippers nationwide, including:
· Ground shippers must follow a new sequence for Basic Descriptions on shipping papers;
· New rules for lithium batteries and auto parts;
· The phase-out of the ORM-D air allowance;
· Shippers must comply with the 54th edition of IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations, including new rules for chemicals under pressure, di minimus quantities and lithium batteries;
· Vessel shippers must comply with the 2012 IMDG Code, which includes hundreds of changes to the ocean shipping rules.
Lion Technology will present a series of Multimodal Hazmat Shipper Certification Workshops across the region this spring.
Each four-day program consists of the two-day DOT (ground) workshop and one day each of IATA (air) and IMO (vessel) training. The complete program will be presented in St. Louis on April 30–May 3, Chicago on May 6–9, Pittsburgh on June 3–6, Detroit on June 11–14, and Cleveland on July 17–20.
The two-day Hazardous Materials Transportation Certification workshop, covering the DOT ground shipping rules only, will be presented in Grand Rapids on May 6–7, Indianapolis on May 9–10, Cincinnati on May 13–14, Columbus on May 16–17, and Rochester on June 17–18.
