Hazardous Materials: Reducing Costs to Domestic Shippers and Carriers of Limited Quantities
Key claim: PHMSA’s final rule lets shippers and carriers use a reduced-size marking for limited-quantity hazardous materials transported by highway, rail, or vessel, cutting undue compliance costs.
Abstract
(Rule · Transportation Department, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by allowing regulated entities to use a reduced sized marking for limited quantity shipments of hazardous materials by highway, rail, or vessel.
Why this matters
Limited-quantity hazmat shipments are ubiquitous across highway, rail, and vessel modes, so a smaller allowable marking directly affects packaging design and per-package compliance costs for domestic shippers. The change is narrow — it adjusts marking size, not the underlying hazard communication scheme — but it signals PHMSA’s continued incremental deregulatory tuning of the Hazardous Materials Regulations.