U.S. Congress Protects Public Against Hazardous Waste in Transit
The U.S. Congress has historically taken significant steps to protect the public from the dangers associated with hazardous waste during transportation. In 1974, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act was enacted in response to increasing concerns about the movement of hazardous materials, particularly after a series of accidents in the early 1970s highlighted the inadequacies of existing regulations. This law consolidated various fragmented regulations and empowered the Department of Transportation to define hazardous materials and enforce safety standards across multiple transportation modes.
Key provisions of the act included the prohibition of transporting certain hazardous materials on passenger aircraft, the establishment of regulatory authority over packing and labeling, and a framework for penalties against violations. While the act aimed to create uniformity in hazardous materials regulation, it inadvertently led to a complex regulatory environment with varying state regulations, sometimes inconsistent with federal standards. This complicated the ability to secure insurance for transporting hazardous materials across jurisdictions.
Overall, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act is regarded as a foundational regulation that not only regulated hazardous materials but also fostered the development of safety training programs and increased public awareness regarding environmental protection in the context of a growing chemical industry. The ongoing evolution of these regulations reflects the continued importance of public safety and environmental stewardship in the face of complex transportation challenges.
U.S. Congress Protects Public Against Hazardous Waste in Transit
Date January 3, 1975
The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975 regulated commerce by improving the protection afforded the public against risks connected with the transportation of hazardous materials by air, sea, rail, and road.
Also known as Hazardous Materials Transportation Act; U.S. Statutes at Large 88 Stat. 2156; Public Law 93-633; U.S. Code 5 § 552a
Locale Washington, D.C.
Key Figures
Warren G. Magnuson (1905-1989), U.S. senator from California who introduced a bill in the Senate to address public risk from the transportation of hazardous materialsHarley O. Staggers (1907-1991), U.S. congressman from West Virginia and chair of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee who introduced a version of the bill in the House of RepresentativesGerald R. Ford (1913-2006), president of the United States, 1974-1977
Summary of Event
In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed the Transportation Safety Act of 1974, which was designed to overcome long-standing problems in transportation safety statutes. The law represented a declaration of congressional discontent over inadequate coverage provided by existing regulations; this discontent had been heightened by increased hazardous materials movements and accidents in the early 1970’s and by a corresponding lack of enforcement of such regulations then in place as the Hazardous Materials Control Act of 1970 and the Railroad Safety Act of 1970.
The history of hazardous materials regulation dates back to the Civil War. In 1866, the first federal law was passed regulating explosives and flammable materials. It was not until the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887 that the federal government began a concerted effort to impose some degree of regulatory uniformity on all modes of transportation. The first real regulatory attempt was the Explosives and Combustibles Act of 1908, which addressed safety on railroads, the most popular domestic mode of transportation of the time.
In 1966, authority to regulate the transportation of hazardous materials was transferred to the newly formed Department of Transportation. The secretary appointed to head the department held a cabinet-level position and had responsibility for all transportation safety standards, including those governing hazardous materials. Under this system, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the U.S. Coast Guard were all allowed to promulgate their own independent regulations, which were published in different parts of the Code of Federal Regulations. The National Transportation Safety Board was also created to determine and report causes of transportation accidents and to conduct research into accident prevention. The Department of Transportation secretary formed the Hazardous Materials Regulations Board, which was staffed by the Office of Hazardous Materials to coordinate hazardous materials activities within the department.
Even with the passage of the Hazardous Materials Control Act in 1970, persistent departmental, administrative, and organizational difficulties prevented the enforcement of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. Accidents during the early 1970’s convinced Congress that Department of Transportation mismanagement and poor allocation of resources were contributing to the failure. In spite of the Railroad Safety Act of 1970, rail safety did not improve, largely because the rail industry was unwilling or unable to repair substandard tracks and structures. Economic insolvency and reorganization of rail carriers, inflation, and lack of tax incentives prevented capitalization for significant rail-line infrastructure repair. The energy crisis also contributed to the problem by necessitating greater dependence on train traffic along decaying and neglected rail beds and tracks.
In an effort to consolidate regulatory activities and to give the secretary authority over all modes of transportation, Congress passed the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1974. The final House of Representatives bill, as amended by Senate conference action, consisted of three major sections, or titles. Title I, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, was perhaps the most important of the three sections. Title II was essentially designed to amend and improve the Railroad Safety Act of 1970. Title III, which was designed to divorce the National Transportation Safety Board from any political influence, made that investigative body separate from the Department of Transportation and answerable only to Congress.
The major provisions of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act expanded the Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction to include all interstate or foreign trade, traffic, and commerce. (The act has been interpreted so that intrastate movements also fall within the department’s regulatory sphere.) The act also authorized the classification and designation of “hazardous materials”—a term that had not been legally defined before—as materials in quantities and forms that the secretary of transportation determines may pose an “unreasonable risk” to health, safety, or property when transported in commerce. (These materials explicitly included, but were not limited to, explosives, radioactive materials, etiologic agents, flammable liquids or solids, combustible liquids or solids, poisons, oxidizing or corrosive materials, and compressed gases.) In addition, the act prohibited transportation of radioactive materials on passenger aircraft, except for medical and research isotopes.
The Department of Transportation was also authorized to issue regulations related to packing, handling, labeling, and routing of hazardous materials; this provision significantly expanded the definition of “transportation community” to include those who manufacture, test, maintain, and recondition containers or packages used to transport hazardous materials. The act also provided for registration of shippers, carriers, and container manufacturers and reconditioners and spelled out procedures for regulatory exemptions. The Department of Transportation was empowered to conduct surveillance activities, conduct inspections, establish record-keeping requirements, and assess civil and criminal penalties for violations. Lastly, the act defined the relationship between federal regulations and those of state and local governments, preempting local rules found to be inconsistent with the federal programs.
One of the first implementations of the act was in the form of regulatory rule making. A major provision of the act was the empowerment of the Department of Transportation to make rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. This led to a plethora of dockets dealing specifically with hazardous materials transportation as technology and circumstances warranted. In 1976, one year after the passage of the act, the process produced Docket No. HM-112, a massive new regulatory framework for the transportation of hazardous materials.
Shortly after the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act was enacted, the secretary of transportation created the Materials Transportation Bureau within the Research and Special Programs Administration of the Department of Transportation, replacing the old Office of Hazardous Materials of the Hazardous Materials Board. This bureau became the lead agency for hazardous materials regulations, while the various administrations continued to be responsible for their individual safety regulations. The inspection and enforcement authority, however, was divided between the bureau and the administrations. The exception to this new organization is the carriage of hazardous materials in bulk by water, which is completely regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1985, the Materials Transportation Bureau was abolished, and its responsibilities were transferred to the Office of Pipeline Safety and the Office of Hazardous Materials Transportation. The latter office became the major entity in establishing both national hazardous materials regulations and safety and training programs that reach state and local governments. The impact of this organization over the years has been to create huge industries in training programs, safety equipment manufacturers, database and information companies, and other safety-related activities.
In response to increased international, interstate, and intrastate movements of hazardous materials, state and local governments have taken greater regulatory roles in the effort to protect their respective publics. Although the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act authorized the Department of Transportation to regulate intrastate movements, the department has been hesitant to do so, and this reluctance has motivated the states to enact their own regulations. The Department of Transportation was also empowered to begin a national registration but elected to leave this up to the states. The regulatory role for state and local governments is preserved under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, section 112, as long as local regulations do not conflict with federal standards. It is clear that Congress intended to preclude a multiplicity of state and local regulations when enacting this provision, but the preemption of federal standards and uniformity has frequently occurred. There has been no comprehensive effort by the Department of Transportation to resolve these inconsistencies and interjurisdictional differences.
Significance
The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act is considered the grandfather of modern hazardous materials regulation. The act consolidated several earlier, fragmented regulations, and it authorized Department of Transportation officials to define a “hazardous material.” This regulatory basis constituted the foundation of many future regulations and was referenced in several subsequent statutes.
The law, however, has resulted in state and local governments creating a huge regulatory environment that requires licensing, registration, permits, routing, and emergency-response programs and organizations. Many of these regulations are inconsistent with the spirit of the act and vary from state to state, and the lack of uniformity in state laws has contributed to an insurance crisis. Transportation frequently involves multiple jurisdictions, making insurance for movement of hazardous materials sometimes impossible to obtain.
The empowerment of the Department of Transportation to enforce its own regulations through civil and criminal penalties was a major provision of the act. Rather than have infraction citations adjudicated and engage in lengthy and costly criminal litigation, however, the department in practice usually elects to mete out civil penalties.
The Hazardous Materials Transportation Act produced a new regulatory climate. It created vast new federal, state, and local infrastructures and industries and helped to bridge the gap to international intermodal shipments. Its effect on environmental protection, moreover, can only be estimated. Safety is difficult to quantify, and cost-benefit analyses seem inappropriate in regard to human life or ecological disaster. Clearly, however, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act in many ways improved public and environmental well-being in a growing chemical-industrial society.
Bibliography
Bierlein, Lawrence. Red Book on Transportation of Hazardous Materials. 2d ed. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1988. Excellent reference for students and a definitive source for businesses subject to hazardous materials regulation. Covers most segments of these complex regulations.
Keller, J. J., and Associates. Hazardous Materials Guide: Shipping, Materials Handling, and Transportation. Neenah, Wis.: J. J. Keller, 1980. Contains the specific regulations governing classifying, packaging, labeling, placarding, documenting, and reporting that were promulgated by the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. Also included is a succinct history of hazardous-materials regulations.
Martin, William F., John M. Lippitt, and Paul J. Webb. Hazardous Waste Handbook. 3d ed. Burlington, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000. Straightforward and comprehensive manual designed to help supervisors and inspectors find information quickly.
“Transportation Safety.” Congressional Quarterly Almanac 30 (1975): 698-703. Editorial about congressional lawmaking substantially criticizes transportation shortcomings within the Nixon administration. Follows the evolution of the HMTA through the Senate and House.
University of Texas at Austin. Policy Research Project on Highway Safety. Hazardous Materials Transportation in Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Policy Research Project Report 82. Austin, Tex.: The Project, 1987. Two chapters of this study deal specifically with hazardous-materials transportation problems in Texas. Extremely useful for understanding the chronology of federal and state regulations. Emphasizes the role state and local governments have assumed in dealing with local transportation problems and how these efforts have coordinated with federal regulatory imperatives. Includes bibliographic references.
U.S. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. Transportation of Hazardous Materials. OTA-SET-304. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986. Provides a good overview of the impact of hazardous materials transportation regulation on domestic commerce and public safety from the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975 to 1986. Study data and statistics are presented and interspersed with the study panel’s critical analysis of regulatory shortcomings and regulatory inconsistencies among federal, state, and local agencies.
U.S. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. Transportation of Hazardous Materials: State and Local Activities. OTA-SET-301. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986. Follow-up to the federal transportation study cited above quantifies the tremendous growth of state and local infrastructure and activity spawned by the act of 1975 and the emerging role of the federal government.
Wagner, Travis. The Hazardous Waste Q&A: An In-Depth Guide to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990. Bases questions on thousands of inquiries received by the EPA and the author’s own experience consulting on hazardous wastes for the private sector.