Hazardous Materials Transportation Act

Summary of Hazardous Materials Transportation Act

A component of the Transportation Safety Act of 1974 aimed at controlling the packaging, labeling, documenting, and handling of hazardous substances moving in the interstate and foreign commerce of the United States, by all modes of transportation. The act authorizes the secretary of transportation to promulgate regulations for the transportation of hazardous materials, which include, inter alia, explosives, flammables, combustibles, poisons, radioactive substances, corrosives, compressed gases, and etiologic agents. A comprehensive compendium of regulations, on a commodity-by-commodity basis, addressing standards of packaging and prescribing the form of documentation for hazardous shipments, was published in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 49), with effect from July 1, 1976. CFR 49 contains the definitive Federal statement on hazardous materials shipments, preempting earlier Federal regulations and transportation industry practices such as those devised by the International Air Transport Association (I AT A). Moreover, CFR 49 generally requires that imported and exported merchandise comply with its requirements, which presents difficulties to shippers inasmuch as most nations subscribe to the Dangerous Goods Code of the International Maritime Organization. This means exporters must comply not only with CFR 49 but also with international regulations; the two sets are not always entirely compatible.

Exemption is made in CFR 49 for limited quantities of consumer products containing hazardous substances (e.g., cosmetics containing alcohol) if the products are properly marked. International regulations, however, grant no such exemption.

(Main Author: William J. Miller)