[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 41 (Friday, March 22, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION BILL

                                 ______


                             HON. TOM DeLAY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 22, 1996

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of small business owners who 
find themselves caught up in an expensive regulatory maze left by 
amendments to the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act passed in 
1990. This act greatly broadened the Secretary of Transportation's 
authority to regulate the transportation of hazardous materials. Though 
it was intended for large carriers of toxic materials which can pose a 
risk to public health or safety, it has spilled over and poisoned the 
small business man instead.
  One study, which focused on the pest control industry, found that 
compliance of these rules and regulations cost the industry $135 
million annually. These costs arise from truly burdensome Federal 
regulations which require pest control operators and employees to keep 
complex documents and markings for shipping and containers on a daily 
basis. And all of this is for small quantities of relatively benign 
materials, most of which are nearly identical to pest control products 
which we can all buy in home supply and garden stores--like Raid, for 
example.
  The legislation I have developed will relieve these burdens while 
maintaining the same high standards for safety. My bill simply amends 
the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act by providing an exemption 
for small commercial vehicles which are transporting common ``Raid'' 
like materials which do not pose a risk to public health or safety.
  Specifically, a vehicle with a gross weight of 10,000 pounds or less 
will be exempted unless it is transporting a material, such as a 
fumigant, which the Secretary of Transportation deems to require 
placarding.
  Let us keep small business healthy. With this bill we can stop 
poisoning the small business man with unneeded regulations that hurt 
both him and us. I hope you will join myself and my colleagues who have 
cosponsored this important legislation.

                          ____________________