Rule Proposed to Simplify Shipping Processes for Truck Drivers

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced a new, proposed rule that would provide close to $100 million in annual cost savings for businesses and consumers. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) would improve supply chains by modernizing and simplifying hazardous material transportation regulations that impact truck drivers hauling fuels. It will enhance safety standards across highway, rail, and vessel modes of transportation.

 

“Hazardous materials are a significant share of the essential goods routinely shipped in the United States, and the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make it more affordable and straightforward to safely move these materials through our supply chains,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “The proposal we’re announcing today streamlines requirements while maintaining safety measures, helping to reduce costs for businesses and consumers and make it easier for drivers to do their job.”

 

Specifically, the proposed rule updates and modernizes regulations to accommodate the latest technologies, business practices, and understandings of hazardous materials, including updates in packaging practices for hazmat transportation.

 

Highlights of the proposed rule include:

 

“This proposal focuses on ways to reduce regulatory burdens for America’s truck drivers and increases the overall efficiency of America’s critical energy transportation supply chains that impact every job and industry throughout our economy," said PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown. “These proposed changes build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s successful work to ensure America’s supply chains are the safest and most efficient in the world, utilizing the latest data and transportation technologies.”

 

The proposed rule was submitted to the Federal Register in conjunction with additional actions announced on National Manufacturing Day (October 4th) by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure the future is Made in America. The proposed rule aims to support supply chains vital to the transportation sector—ensuring manufacturers can safely and affordably get resources they need to make, package, and ship goods to markets across America and throughout the world.

 

The proposed rule has been submitted to the Office of the Federal Register for publication and can be accessed in the related documents section of this page. PHMSA will accept comments on the proposed rule up to 90 days after it publishes in the Federal Register.

 

A final rule issued by EPA on Tuesday requires most water systems in the United States to identify and replace all lead pipes within 10 years of the compliance date, which will be set when the rule is officially published in the Federal Register. All affected water systems must have a service line replacement plan in place by the compliance date, according to the prepublication copy of the rule (PDF). The rule also lowers the action level for lead in water from 0.015 mg/L to 0.010 mg/L, which EPA says, “will result in more water systems installing and re-optimizing optimal corrosion control treatment.” The agency estimates that there are approximately 9.2 million lead service lines in use across the nation.

 

A statement issued by the CEO of the American Water Works Association expresses support for the rule as well as concerns regarding technical and cost-related challenges. For example, AWWA notes that removing the entirety of all lead service lines could be complicated by the fact that some service lines are partly on private property and not owned by a water utility. The rule requires water systems to replace all lead service lines that are “under their control,” and AWWA urges EPA to provide “further explanation to assure water utilities are operating within their legal authority.” AWWA’s statement also indicates a potential gap between allocated funding and the cost of implementing the new rule. The organization estimates that the total cost of replacing lead service lines nationwide could exceed $90 billion, whereas a fact sheet (PDF) published by EPA notes that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $26 billion over five years to address lead in drinking water.

 

Several U.S. communities are already working to replace lead pipes, EPA’s news release explains. For example, Milwaukee Water Works in Wisconsin is on track to replace 3,400 lead service lines this year, and Michigan’s Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is set to replace more than 8,000 lead service lines in 2024. The agency says its new rule will create jobs in local communities as water systems must accelerate the removal of affected pipes.

 

A NIOSH health hazard evaluation published in 2021 discusses lead exposures to workers charged with replacing lead service lines. NIOSH personnel observed two crews of four workers employed by a municipal water department. Workers typically attached a new copper line to the existing lead line and extracted it, pulling the new one into place. In some cases, removal required workers to blow a steel cable through the existing line with compressed air, resulting in discharges of large amounts of aerosolized lead. NIOSH found lead on employees’ hands, inside work gloves, in work trucks, and in workers’ locker rooms. Some workers wore their respirators incorrectly.

 

A separate NIOSH “workplace solutions” document published last year highlights ways to reduce workers’ lead exposure during water service line removal and replacement. A few tasks that can result in lead exposures to workers include cutting or handling lead pipes, excavating lead-contaminated soil, and changing filters on vacuums used to collect lead dust.

 

The EPA recently announced that Hilcorp North Slope, LLC, will pay $223,868 for violations of the Resource Conversation and Recovery Act at their Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, facility.

 

Several regulatory requirements were not met by Hilcorp, including failure to make a hazardous waste determination, failure to send hazardous waste to a designated facility, failure to place waste in satellite accumulation containers, failure to mark or label hazardous waste and failure to train facility personnel.

 

Hilcorp cooperated during settlement negotiations and instituted new measures to prevent future violations.

 

“These regulations exist to protect human health and the environment,” said EPA Region 10 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Ed Kowalski. “When companies fail to make an accurate hazardous waste determination and don’t label containers or maintain an accurate inventory of hazardous waste they can put their employees, the general public, and the environment in danger.”

 

EPA works with its federal, state, and tribal regulatory partners to assure compliance with statutes and regulations governing the management of hazardous wastes and underground storage tanks. Currently, all states and territories have been granted authority to implement the base or implement additional parts of the RCRA program with the exception of Alaska and Iowa. Most of the compliance monitoring responsibility under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act is delegated to the states and local authorities. EPA provides oversight of compliance monitoring activities in the RCRA program to ensure facilities are properly inspected.

 

 

Chemical products manufacturer AB Specialty Silicones, LLC will pay $1.3 million in penalties after an explosion and fire at its Waukegan plant in May 2019 claimed the lives of four workers.

 

OSHA reached a settlement agreement with the company after an investigation revealed AB Specialty Silicones failed to ensure electrical equipment complied with OSHA standards. The company also used propane-powered forklifts to transport flammable liquids in areas where employees handled flammable liquids and gases.

 

As part of the agreement, the company has temporarily ceased production and use of silicon-hydride emulsions at all facilities until a new process area for production is designed by an engineering firm.

 

"This agreement will never replace the four workers lost in this preventable tragedy, but it's a step in the right direction," said OSHA Regional Administrator Bill Donovan in Chicago. "OSHA will continue to hold AB Specialty Silicones accountable for improving their safety culture by working with industry experts, and both management and employees to develop and continually test safety measures, emergency response procedures and training employees in hazard recognition."

 

On Oct. 1, 2024, the Administrative Law Judge overseeing the case before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission accepted the parties' notification of settlement and terminated proceedings.

 

As part of the agreement, AB Specialty Silicones agreed to do the following:

 

AB Specialty Silicones will pay the penalty in 12 quarterly installments through Sept. 1, 2027. If a payment is missed, the entire penalty becomes due immediately.

 

Headquartered in Waukegan, Illinois, AB Specialty Silicones is a manufacturer and distributor of specialty silicone chemicals.

 

 

The EPA issued the fifth Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Test Order requiring testing on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under EPA’s National PFAS Testing Strategy, the latest action taken under EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap to confront contamination from “forever chemicals” nationwide.

 

This action orders Innovative Chemical Technologies, The Chemours Company, Daikin America, Inc., Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, and E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company to conduct and submit testing on 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluorooctyl prop-2-enoate, also known as 6:2 fluorotelomer acrylate or 6:2 FTAc. 6:2 FTAc is used to manufacture plastics, resins, textiles, apparel, leather and other chemicals. Between one million and 20 million pounds are produced per year.

 

“PFAS in our air, water, and in our bodies cause serious health effects like cancer and heart and liver problems,” said Michal Freedhoff, the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “That’s why it’s so important for us to collect as much information as we can on these chemicals – to learn more about the potential environmental and human health impacts of PFAS and take any necessary steps to address them.”

 

Summaries of studies of 6:2 FTAc exposures to rodents suggest it causes changes in blood cell counts, liver and kidney size, and animal behavior. Further, the chemical structure of 6:2FTAc suggests that it may cause cancer.

 

PFAS such as 6:2FTAc can build up in our bodies and the environment over time. Even small amounts can significantly contribute to people’s long-term exposure and health risk for cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children.

 

EPA finds that 6:2 FTAc may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, given the hazard and exposure concerns for this chemical specifically and for PFAS generally. The information EPA receives under this order, especially toxicity information, will improve the agency’s understanding not only of human health effects of 6:2 FTAc, but also of the potential effects of over a hundred PFAS that are structurally similar to 6:2 FTAc. The information will also add to EPA’s overall knowledge of this category of PFAS.

 

The companies subject to the test order may either conduct the tests as described in the order, including testing of physical-chemical properties and health effects following exposure, or provide EPA with existing information they believe EPA did not identify in its search, but which satisfies the order requirements.

 

EPA encourages companies to jointly conduct testing to avoid unnecessary duplication of tests and will also consider possible combinations of tests that cover several required endpoints to reduce time, costs and the use of animal subjects.

 

The order employs a tiered testing process, as TSCA requires. The results of all but one of the first-tier tests are required to be submitted to EPA within one year of the effective date of the order. Hydrolysis as a function of pH is a first-tier test and its completion is required within 390 days of the effective date of the order.  The results of these first-tier tests will inform the decision as to which additional tests are necessary or how they may need to be conducted. The order and any data submitted in response to this order will be made publicly available on EPA’s website and in the applicable docket on the Regulations.gov page, subject to confidentiality considerations under TSCA section 14.

 

 

In the National PFAS Testing Strategy, EPA assigned PFAS into smaller categories based on similarities in structure and physical-chemical properties. EPA is issuing test orders for PFAS in specific categories that lack toxicity data to inform the agency’s understanding of the potential human health effects.

 

As EPA continues to further develop the strategy, refine its universe and categorization of PFAS, and consider stakeholder feedback, the agency has also increased the weight it places on the potential for exposures when identifying specific PFAS on which to require testing.

 

 

Developing TSCA section 4 test orders is a complex and resource-intensive process involving many scientific and regulatory considerations, as explained in this Overview of Activities Involved in Issuing a TSCA Section 4 Order. Given the complexity of the testing requirements, a broad spectrum of experts across the agency worked to determine testing methodology and needs, as well as to address other details of drafting and issuing an order, such as assessing the order’s economic burden.

 

Additionally, one order often applies to multiple companies. EPA must identify these companies and their associated points of contact. To improve the transparency of the process, EPA also works to resolve confidential business information claims that could prevent EPA from publicly connecting the company to the chemical substance prior to issuing test orders.

 

 

Corn syrup and starch producer Roquette America, Inc., of Keokuk, Iowa, has agreed to pay a $207,488 civil penalty and donate emergency response vehicles to the Keokuk Fire Department to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act’s chemical risk prevention provisions.

 

According to the EPA, the company stores over 10,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, a regulated toxic substance, and failed to comply with regulations intended to protect the surrounding community from accidental releases.

 

Anhydrous ammonia presents a significant health hazard because it is corrosive to the skin, eyes and lungs. High levels of exposure may lead to choking and death.

 

“It is critical that companies that handle dangerous chemicals like anhydrous ammonia comply with the safety requirements of the Clean Air Act,” said EPA Region 7 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division Director David Cozad. “EPA is committed to protecting communities from potentially catastrophic chemical releases, particularly those communities disproportionately affected by environmental harm.”

 

An EPA inspection of the Roquette America facility in March 2022 revealed multiple Clean Air Act violations, including failure to conduct safety audits and address hazards, and failure to update emergency contact information.

 

In addition to paying the civil penalty, the company also agreed to spend about $122,000 to purchase two pickup trucks and outfit them as emergency response vehicles. The trucks will be donated to the Keokuk Fire Department.

 

EPA identified the community surrounding the Roquette America facility as a potentially sensitive area because of historic and ongoing exposures to pollution. EPA is strengthening enforcement in overburdened communities to address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of industrial operations on vulnerable populations.

 

The Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Plan Rule regulations require facilities that use regulated toxic and/or flammable substances to develop a Risk Management Plan that identifies the potential effects of a chemical accident; identifies steps a facility is taking to prevent an accident; and spells out emergency response procedures should an accident occur. These plans provide valuable information to local fire, police, and emergency response personnel to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies in their community.

 

EPA has found that many regulated facilities are not adequately managing the risks that they pose or ensuring the safety of their facilities in a way that is sufficient to protect surrounding communities. Approximately 150 catastrophic accidents occur per year at regulated facilities. These accidents result in fatalities, injuries, significant property damage, evacuations, sheltering in place, or environmental damage. Many more accidents with lesser effects also occur, demonstrating a clear risk posed by these facilities.

 

 

A final risk evaluation published by EPA on Sept. 23 identifies “unreasonable” risks to workers associated with the chemical Tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) under certain conditions of use. According to the agency, TCEP is a colorless liquid that is currently used in the U.S. to manufacture paints and coatings for some structural and automotive applications. It’s also used as a flame retardant and plasticizer for some aerospace applications, including in polymers used in equipment and products in the industry. TCEP’s uses in laboratory chemicals, in paint and coating manufacturing, in paints and coatings for industrial and commercial use, and in aerospace and automotive applications are of concern to EPA, which stresses that the chemical “has the potential to cause kidney cancer, damage the nervous system and kidneys, and harm fertility.” Individuals who work with liquid formulations that contain TCEP are at unreasonable risk from both inhalation and dermal exposures, the agency explains.

 

“Workers with the greatest potential for exposure to TCEP are those who spray TCEP-containing paints or coatings, and workers who are involved in processing a [two]-part resin used in paints, coatings, and polyurethane resin castings for aerospace applications,” EPA states in its news release.

 

TCEP was designated as a “high-priority” substance by EPA in December 2019. Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the agency must move ahead with risk management efforts now that it has determined TCEP to be an unreasonable risk. The agency plans to release a proposed rule under TSCA that aims to protect people and the environment from the risks identified in its final evaluation of the chemical.

 

To learn more or to download the final risk evaluation, visit EPA’s risk evaluation webpage for TCEP.

 

 

EPA Requires City of Tolleson, Ariz. to Comply with Chemical Safety Laws