[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 57 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14497-14499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7257]
[[Page 14497]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Special Programs Administration
[Docket No. RSPA-99-5143 (Notice No.
99-1)]
International Standards on the Transport of Dangerous Goods:
Request for Comments
AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: RSPA invites comments on certain environmental substances
issues that will be considered by the United Nations Committee of
Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN Committee of Experts)
at a subcommittee meeting to be held in July 1999. These issues concern
the development of requirements for substances that are dangerous to
the environment and the criteria that will be used to define such
substances, including RSPA's recommendation of criteria for substances
transported in bulk quantities. The purpose of this notice is to afford
the public an opportunity to submit comments on these important issues.
DATES: Comments must be submitted by May 7, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Address comments to the Dockets Unit, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Room PL 401, 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, D.C.
20590-0001. Comments should identify the docket and notice numbers
(Docket No. RSPA-99-5143; Notice No. 99-1) and be submitted in two
copies. Persons wishing to receive confirmation of receipt of their
comments should include a self-addressed stamped postcard.
Alternatively, comments may be submitted by E-mail to
rules@rspa.dot.gov. The Dockets Unit is located on the Plaza Level of
the Nassif Building at the U.S. Department of Transportation at the
above address. Public dockets may be reviewed between the hours of 10
a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
Internet users may access all comments received by the U.S. Department
of Transportation by using the Universal Resource Locator (URL) at
http://dms.dot.gov/. An electronic copy of the document may be
downloaded using modem and suitable communications software from the
Government Printing Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202)
512-1661.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frits Wybenga, International Standards
Coordinator for Hazardous Materials Safety, RSPA, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Washington, DC 20590-0001; telephone (202) 366-0656.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
Subject to guidance and direction from the Department of State (49
U.S.C. 5120), the RSPA Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials
Safety represents the U.S. at meetings of the UN Committee of Experts
in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN Committee of Experts is responsible for
the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN
Recommendations) which forms the basis for the International Civil
Aviation Organization Technical Instructions on the Safe Transport of
Dangerous Goods by Air (ICAO Technical Instructions), and the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) International Maritime
Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code). Since 1990, through amendments to the
Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 100 through 180),
U.S. regulations have been substantially aligned with the UN
Recommendations. Although the UN Committee of Experts will consider
many issues affecting the UN Recommendations in its 1999--2000
biennium, RSPA believes that the importance of developing requirements
and criteria for substances that are dangerous to the environment is of
such significance as to warrant special consideration and public
involvement.
Background
In the absence of internationally harmonized criteria for
substances that are dangerous to the environment in the UN
Recommendations, varying environmental criteria and requirements
applicable to these substances have been included in national and
international transport regulations. The UN Committee of Experts seeks
to achieve international harmonization of these differing regulations.
Although discussion on the development of requirements and criteria for
these substances has been on the agenda of the UN Committee for a
number of years, RSPA believes that significant progress will be made
by the UN Committee of Experts in its 1999--2000 biennium as a result
of agreements by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) on internationally harmonized environmental
criteria.
UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and OECD
In 1992, UNCED endorsed the development of a standardized system
for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals commonly
referred to as the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). The goal of the
GHS is to promote common, consistent criteria for classifying chemicals
according to their health, physical and environmental hazards, and to
develop compatible labeling, material safety data sheets for workers,
and other information based on the resulting classifications. In
developing the GHS, it was agreed that OECD would coordinate the
development of health and environmental hazard classification criteria.
In November 1998, OECD endorsed the Harmonized Integrated Hazard
Classification System for Human Health and Environmental Effects of
Chemical Substances. The document is available on the internet at
``http://www.epa.gov/oppfead1/harmonization'' and may also be accessed
through RSPA's website (http://www.hazmat.dot.gov) under
``International Standards.'' The document includes internationally
harmonized criteria for classification of chemicals which are
``hazardous for the aquatic environment,'' a discussion of how OECD
arrived at the criteria, and an explanation of the application of the
criteria. It is the UN Committee of Expert's intent to use the criteria
in this document as the basis for its dangerous-to-the-environment
criteria.
OECD is currently developing a guidance document on how the
``hazardous-for-the-aquatic-environment'' criteria should be applied to
substances that are difficult to test and a standardized procedure for
classifying mixtures. Completion of both tasks is necessary in order
for the UN Committee of Experts to include criteria in its Model
Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.
U.S. Domestic Activities Relative to the Development of Criteria
The U.S. HMR have long included requirements for substances that
are hazardous to the environment, but do not include criteria for the
classification of such substances. As required by law (42 U.S.C.
9601(14)), substances designated by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) as hazardous substances are regulated as hazardous materials and
are listed in the HMR (Appendix A to Sec. 172.101). Substances that are
listed as marine pollutants in the HMR (Appendix B to Sec. 172.101) are
also regulated as hazardous materials. RSPA considers a criteria-based
system for regulating substances that are hazardous to the environment
to be more appropriate than the current list approach. Virtually all
other substances
[[Page 14498]]
subject to the HMR are regulated on the basis of their meeting hazard
classification criteria.
During congressional hearings following a July 14, 1991 train
derailment in Dunsmuir, California that resulted in the release of
20,000 gallons of metam sodium into the Sacramento River, RSPA and EPA
agreed to collaborate in developing criteria for substances that are
dangerous to the environment. In an October 1992 letter, the EPA,
pursuant to that agreement, provided RSPA with recommended criteria. On
the basis of an analysis, the EPA letter noted that for ``ecological
effects, * * * the most vulnerable endpoint is aquatic ecosystems.''
EPA recommended four possible options for aquatic toxicity criteria for
RSPA to consider for inclusion in the HMR. The ``hazardous-for-aquatic-
environment'' criteria subsequently developed by OECD are compatible
with the EPA recommended criteria. EPA also stated in their letter that
substances with an aquatic toxicity of up to 100 mg/L should not be
exempted. Pending the outcome of the ongoing work to develop
internationally harmonized criteria, RSPA delayed proposing the EPA
recommended criteria for inclusion in the HMR. Instead, U.S.
delegations led by EPA used the recommended criteria as a basis for
U.S. positions at the OECD meetings.
Following a June 30, 1992 train derailment in Superior, Wisconsin
that resulted in the release of 21,850 gallons of aromatic concentrates
into the Nemadji River, the National Transportation Safety Board
recommended (Safety Recommendation I-94-1) that EPA and DOT work
together to establish criteria to identify materials that are harmful
to the environment and evaluate the ``* * * severity of harm posed by
the release of these materials from bulk containers, including tank
cars, in transportation * * *'' The inclusion of criteria in the HMR
would be responsive to this recommendation.
United Kingdom (UK) Proposal
At the 20th Session of the UN Committee of Experts in December
1999, the UK provided an information paper proposing dangerous-to-the-
environment requirements for inclusion in the UN Recommendations. It is
anticipated that the UK proposal will provide the basis for the
discussion on dangerous-to-the-environment criteria at the 16th Session
of the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
to be held in July 1999. The paper is available through DOT's website
(http://dms.dot.gov/) by first accessing the Docket number of this
document and then the Notice number.
Under the UK proposal, substances which are not subject to
regulation under Classes 1 through 8 in the UN Recommendations, and
which meet the dangerous-to-the-environment criteria, would be subject
to regulation as miscellaneous dangerous goods under Class 9 and
offered for transportation in packaging tested at the Packing Group III
level of performance. Under the proposal, an offeror would be
responsible for determining whether a substance offered for
transportation meets the dangerous-to-the-environment criteria. The
paper proposes that substances meeting any one of several sets of acute
and chronic toxicity categories be regarded as dangerous to the
environment. The sets of criteria proposed by the UK for inclusion in
the UN Recommendations are from the OECD ``hazardous-for-the-aquatic-
environment'' criteria. They are as follows:
Acute Category I
Acute toxicity:
96 hr LC50 (for fish).................... 1mg/L and/or
48 hr EC50 (for crustacea).............. 1mg/L and/or
72 or 96hr ErC50 (for algae or other 1mg/L
aquatic plants).
Category: Chronic I
Acute toxicity:
96 hr LC50 (for fish).................... 1 mg/L and/or
48 hr EC50 (for crustacea)............... 1mg/L and/or
72 or 96hr ErC50 (for algae or other 1mg/L
aquatic plants) and the substance is not
rapidly degradable and/or the log Kow
4 (unless the experimentally
determined BCF <500). category:="" chronic="" ii="" acute="" toxicity:="" 96="" hr="" lc50="" (for="" fish)....................="">1 to 10 mg/L
and/or
48 hr EC50 (for crustacea)............... >1 to 10 mg/L
and/or
72 or 96hr ErC50 (for algae or other >1 to 10 mg/L
aquatic plants) and the substance is not
rapidly degradable and/or the log Kow
4 (unless the experimentally
determined BCF <500), unless="" the="" chronic="" toxicity="" noecs="" are="">1mg/L.
(The above abbreviations are defined in the OECD paper.)
RSPA believes that these criteria will be widely supported by
participants at the UN Subcommittee meeting because they are similar to
criteria already used by the IMO in identifying substances as Marine
Pollutants under the IMDG Code and are similar to criteria used in
European rail and highway transport regulations.
RSPA's Position and Request for Comments
As the U.S. representative at the UN Committee of Experts meeting,
RSPA is developing positions it will take on proposals that will be
considered at the July 1999 Subcommittee meeting. Consistent with past
practice, RSPA reviews all the positions it intends to take at public
meetings prior to participation in the upcoming UN meetings. RSPA
believes that the issues set forth in this notice are of such
significance as to merit a request for written comments prior to the
public meeting which will be held in June on a date to be announced
later in the Federal Register. RSPA currently plans to support the UK
proposed criteria and, in addition, consistent with the statement in
the October 1992 EPA letter, recommend that an acute toxicity level of
less than 100 mg/L be used for defining substances as dangerous to the
environment when being transported in bulk packagings having a capacity
exceeding 3000 liters. Commenters are requested to address the
development of requirements for substances that are dangerous to the
environment and the proposed criteria to define such substances,
including RSPA's proposed additional acute toxicity level
recommendation for bulk packagings with a capacity exceeding 3000
liters.
[[Page 14499]]
Issued in Washington, DC on March 19, 1999.
Alan I. Roberts,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.
[FR Doc. 99-7257 Filed 3-24-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
