[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 
[email protected]. 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