News bulletin – regulations

NEWS BULLETIN

REGULATIONS

NEW TO DGSA?

New requirements for consignor-only operators in the dangerous goods supply chain – sometimes referred to as ‘office-only’ businesses – have come into force at the start of this year, with the expiry of a transitional provision under ADR and RID. All consignors now have to have a qualified dangerous goods safety adviser (DGSA), either on their staff or under contract. As was evident at the VCA Dangerous Goods Seminar in June 2022, this requirement is news to many, despite it being in ADR/RID for some years.

To help those who might now find themselves in scope of the DGSA requirement, the UK Department for Transport has produced a 15-minute video, explaining the rule changes and clarifying what is meant by ‘consignor’ in ADR/RID. The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3wi36XFN_qU.

NEW MODEL LICENCE

The Czech Republic has issued a new version of its ADR driver training licence, taking advantage of recent discussions at WP15 that determined it was possible to include additional security devices on the licence. The new Czech model is the same as the version required up to the end of August, except that it includes new security features on the reverse, including guilloche patterns, microtext and UV text.

ADR SPREADS IN AFRICA

Uganda has acceded to the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR), becoming the 54th contracting party. Uganda is the first country in the region to sign up to ADR but may not be the last, as the East African Community is prioritising the alignment of road transport regulations in order to facilitate commerce on the main road corridor inland from the port of Mombasa, Kenya.

ROAD REGISTRATION GUIDELINES

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) has posted on its website new ADR Guidelines for the determination of the first date of registration of road vehicles. The Guidelines were adopted by WP15 at its 110th session in November 2021 to clarify the situation, as some vehicles are not necessarily ‘registered’ as such, which causes problems when applying transitional provisions.

The Guidelines state that, when registration is not mandatory or only takes place at the first periodic inspection, the date of entry into service should be used. The Guidelines themselves, published in English, French and Russian, can be downloaded from the UN ECE website, along with a number of other similar guidelines on the application of ADR, at unece.org/guidelines-telematics-applicationstandards-construction-and-approval-vehiclescalculation-risks

CLASS 7 WITH PHMSA

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), has published proposals to amend the US Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to maintain alignment with international provisions for the transport of radioactive materials. Specifically, the proposal involves incorporation by reference of the 2018 edition of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (SSR-6) and also updated editions of the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) standard N14.1 on the packaging of uranium hexafluoride for transport. There are also editorial changes designed to update, clarify or correct existing requirements.

The changes appeared in a notice of proposed rulemaking published on 12 September 2022.

PHMSA TAKES IT EASY

US PHMSA has issued a notice of enforcement policy that will allow the use of international standards that entered into effect on 1 January 2023, while it continues to consider the adoption of these amendments.

The policy, published in late November 2022, refers specifically to the 2023-2024 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions and Amendment 41-22 to the IMDG Code.

PHMSA and its modal partners will temporarily exercise enforcement discretion against offerors or carriers of hazardous materials packages that are marked, labelled or transported in accordance with these revised regulations until otherwise stated. The one exception is the use of fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) portable tanks, the use of which is under review by PHMSA.

In addition, PHMSA will not take enforcement action against shippers or carriers transporting polymerizing substances in accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations that are in effect on December 31, 2022, while it considers future regulatory amendments.

The full text of PHMSA’s notice can be found at www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulatorycompliance/phmsa-guidance/phmsa-noticeenforcement-policy-regarding-international.

ASK PHMSA

US PHMSA has also issued a notice responding to comments and announcing the publication of a finalised list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on its website. In March 2022 PHMSA said it would convert several historical letters of interpretation (LOIs) applicable to the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) into FAQs so that they can be consulted more widely. PHMSA received several comments and was prompted to host a webinar to explain the changes more thoroughly.

In particular, some parties were concerned to know whether the publication of an existing LOI as a FAQ on the website would end the applicability of the original LOI. PHMSA clarified that the FAQ initiative is complementary to the LOI process and that it has no intention of discontinuing the LOI process nor of rescinding any of the near 7,000 LOIs on its database.

Instead, by making the interpretations publicly available, PHMSA is seeking to facilitate better public understanding and awareness of HMR. Its initial list of 12 FAQs concentrate largely on questions asked by private individuals and infrequent shippers of hazardous materials. Another set of FAQs is already in preparation.